The "Missed MVPs" Edition

The Charlotte Hornets have the unique distinction of trading both Kobe Bryant and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander without those future NBA MVPs playing a single game in the Queen City.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's time for Clemson Sports Talk with Lawton Swanny.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.
Hell everybody, and Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is this show that shakes the South. Lay Clemson
Sports Talk for you each and every afternoon as you
make your way around the great state of South Carolina
and beyond, listening to us on incredible stations like Fox

(01:03):
Sports Radio fourteen hundred in the Midlands, around the world
on the iHeartRadio application. Download it today, it's free. The website.
Put the dot com on it, dog Garnet, that's Clemson
Sports doal dot com. A zero three four five h
zero zero eighty six. That is the text line in
the phone line. And don't forget to show the Shakespeare

(01:23):
south Land. Brought to you in part by our good friends
over at METS Plumbing. Seven three two drip Drip, drip drip,
you know the jingle seven three two drip. That's Mets Plumbing,
mets Plumbing dot com. That's the website. All right out
of the gates. We now know who is in control
of the NBA Finals. Will update you on that. Also,

(01:47):
at the College World Series, we had a bit of
a milestone, if you will. Yesterday we had a little
bit of a holdover due to a rain delay until
this morning, and now we've got a second team that
is in control of their destination alongside with the coastal

(02:08):
Carolina Chanta clears. More on all of that coming up
in just a little bit. So in the NBA last night,
Big Game five being played in Oklahoma City, I gotta
say this, and indeed, Oklahoma City did come away with

(02:33):
the victory, a convincing victory in my opinion, one one
oh nine. But there were moments in that game, specifically
in the third quarter, where it looked like Indiana might
figure out how to win this ball game, might figure

(02:53):
out how to take a three to advantage back home.
But incredible play by Jalen W. Williams forty points in
the game on fourteen to twenty five, nine to twelve
from the free throw line. Dude, he hit a fade
away late in the ballgame that was just beautiful. And
Oklahoma City controlled things throughout until a ninety five ninety

(03:14):
three score. As I said, things narrowed in the third
quarter and it was ninety five ninety three, So a
two point ballgame with eight minutes and thirty seconds remaining.
I mean, it looked like Game One all over again,
where Oklahoma City controlled throughout and Indiana was going to

(03:37):
make a run Instead, now Oklahoma City will go back
on the road to Indianapolis with a chance to close
it out. Interestingly, I came across the guy on social
media I think it was on TikTok last night as
I was scrolling along, and he was complaining about the

(03:58):
length of the NBA Playoffs, and I get it. I
feel the same way, and I know there were people
disappointed that there wasn't a game played on Father's Day.
The thing that blows my mind is that we went back.
I went back. This is not some new thing. When

(04:19):
it comes down to how long it takes the NBA
to Finals to be played. I thought it was a
modern era excuse me, not error, a modern era thing,
but it wasn't. I went back to the eighties and
that it was taken as long as this is taken
either way. Though last night, the big question that everybody

(04:43):
has coming out Tyrese Haliburton. I mean, he has been
phenomenal for Indiana throughout the playoffs, and the questions about
his performance of six from the field far from three,
just four points scored in the game on four free throws.

(05:07):
And during that game it started to come out that
he was dealing with a calf injury. And look in
that moment, I don't know what the right answer is.
If he sits and doesn't play because he's injured, people

(05:29):
will chew this guy up. And if he plays poorly
and he's injured, people will chew this guy up. Like
I don't think there's a great answer for Tyrese Haliburton.
And his injury is clearly significant given the numbers that

(05:52):
he put up. He grabbed it this calf multiple times
in the game, had that giant rap on it at
one point. But if Halliburton can't recover before game six,
and the difference in like you trying to recover before

(06:17):
game six and Tyrese Haliburton trying to recover other than
his youth, it'll be the means to which he'll be
able or to be guided to be healthy all the
the you know, the stimulation that they'll give it through

(06:38):
electronic massaging, and like the amount of attention they'll be
able to give to it, like hyperbaric and you know,
just all of the incredible trainers and athletes that these
athletes at this level get. They're going to give him
the best opportunity possible to make a go at it.

(07:04):
But you gotta be a lot better than he was.
And if you think about it, with eight minutes to go,
where you're down by two, how is that game going?
If Halliburton's healthy and if he's being the guy that
he's been the entire for the rest of the series
or for the rest of the playoffs. Even could make

(07:27):
an argument that the Pacers would probably have been in
the lead in that moment. But Oklahoma City got the Pacers,
as we would say in poker terms, playing on tilt,
a lot of turnovers, twenty three turnovers in the game.
There was a stretch where I think they turned it
over in the fourth quarter late four or five straight possessions,

(07:49):
just turning it over, leading the score and opportunities for
Oklahoma City as they took over and again eight thirty
on Thursday on ABC Game six and a chance for
the Oklahoma City Thunder to close out the NBA playoffs.
And I wonder at this point, kind of given the

(08:14):
way Jalen Williams has played over the last three or
four games in the NBA Finals. You know, when the
Eastern Conference Finals ended, Tyrese Haliburton. There's a meme this
out there. It's a video. Maybe not maybe a meme
is not the best word for it, but there's a
video out there of Tyler Tyrese Haliburton, And it looked

(08:36):
like Halliburton thought that he was gonna win the Eastern Conference,
the Eastern Conference MVP, the Larry Bird Trophy, so much
so that when they were announcing in the winner of
the Eastern Conference player of the you know, Most Valuable Player,

(08:58):
when that was being kind of off, Halliburton looked to
be taking a step forward only to hear Pascal Siakam's
name announced as the winner. And people kind of made
a little bit of a joke about it on social media, like, oh, look,
he thought he was gonna win it. I'm not so

(09:20):
sure that when you look at and again, the finals
are not over. But if Oklahoma City does win the championship,
given the way that Jalen Williams has played, is there
a chance I'll be in a small one that he

(09:46):
somehow wins the Most Valuable Player of the NBA playoff
or of the Finals. I don't think that will happen
because of some of the numbers that Shake Guild Just
Alexander has put up thirty eight, thirty four, twenty four,
thirty five and thirty one. But in these games where

(10:13):
the Rubbers really meeting the road for Oklahoma City, Jalen
Williams has outscored Shake gild just Alexander. Now, Alexander clearly
in the first two games was the better player of
those two individuals, putting up thirty eight and thirty four
in the first two games in the series, and I

(10:35):
think that will carry over. But in these especially in
Game five, which I mean you could argue the win
on the road. In Game four and Gild just Alexander
scoring thirty five was huge, But in the biggest game
of the season so far, which was Game five last night,

(10:58):
Jalen Williams scored five forty and he's been on a tear,
so I think it's still gilg just Alexander. I think
with one more solid performance from him in Game six,
he would certainly win the MVP. But if Jalen Williams

(11:22):
were to come out and have a monster final game
and Alexander has another twenty someidd point performance like he
did in Game three, then maybe that ends up in
the hands of Jalen Williams, the MVP, But we'll see.
I think it's still still shake gilg justs Alexander's to lose,

(11:44):
and he's already the league MVP, and he is playing
really good basketball right now. Hard to believe he's already
seven years into the league. He still feels like such
a young guy. He's twenty six. But he got to
the league in twenty eighteen, selected with the eleventh pick

(12:04):
in the draft by the Charlotte Hornets and was subsequently
traded immediately to the Los Angeles Clippers for the twelfth pick,
which they took Miles Bridges in two future second round selections.
The problem with that is it's a repeat of what
happened essentially with Kobe Bryant, where the Charlotte Hornets selected

(12:26):
Kobe Bryant and traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers
for Vlatti, Divot and some picks. The Hornets have become
the poster child for what could have been in NBA history.
Is both of those players have gone on to be
League MVPs. Kobe a Hall of Famer, Giljess Alexander certainly

(12:55):
trending towards the Hall of Fame, and yet in nineteen
ninety six and in twenty eighteen, two different basically generations
of basketball in Charlotte have been lost because of poor

(13:15):
planning on the part of management and not recognizing what
was right in their hands. Kobe Bryant goes on to
be a five time NBA champion, two time Finals MVP,
League MVP in eight and an eighteen time in an
eighteen time All Star, and Gilgess Alexander is on the

(13:38):
cusp of his first NBA championship and if the Numbers
hold a Finals MVP and so somehow Charlotte has probably
become now the face of the face of what not

(14:02):
to do when you have a chance to take one
of the top picks in the draft. And then combine
that with the situation where I can't remember the entire
story on it, but as the finals were getting going,
there were conversations about Paul George and Paul George's impact

(14:29):
on the Pacers and Oklahoma City because of all the
trades that took place throughout his time in the NBA,
but his departure in both situations paved the way for
key players to be brought in for the construction of

(14:53):
these teams that are now playing for the NBA Championship.
In twenty seventeen, the Pacers traded Paul joy Words to
the Oklahoma City Thunder and in return they acquired Victor
Oladipo and Demontes Sabonis. Oladipo blossom into an all star
player that helped lead the Pacers into the playoff. Sibonis

(15:15):
also developed in a strong player, eventually becoming a key
piece in another trade for the Pacers that when they
traded Sabonis to Sacramento, that's when they acquired Tyrese Halliburton,
who has become kind of the franchise player and certainly
the player that has led Indiana up until this calf

(15:36):
injury that he's now got this far into the playoffs.
On the flip side, after two seasons with the Thunder,
Paul George was traded to the Clippers. The Thunder received
a significant amount of capital in this including Shai Gilgess Alexander,

(15:57):
and Delano Gallerani excuse me, in multiple first round picks.
Go Just Alexander developed into an MVP, helping lead the
Thunder to the finals, and the draft picks that they
used helped them acquire Jalen Williams, who we just talked
about earlier, that scored forty points. So, in essence, trading

(16:18):
Paul George allowed both the Pacers and the Thunder to
acquire the assets available that formed the core of their
current championship contending teams. And yet Paul George is the catalyst.

(16:40):
But he has never been a guy that's had a
chance to play in the NBA finals. He's played in
conference finals, but never the NBA finals. And you know,
I don't know what his career will look like Paul

(17:02):
or will finish like. I should say he's I think
a better player Paul George than most people probably give
him credit for. I think he's sort of falling in
line with some of the other guys in the league
that have bounced around from team to team and don't
necessarily make their teams better. Kevin Durant would be one

(17:26):
of those, James Harden would be one of those, Russell
Westbrook would be one of those. Paul George would be
one of those. And the irony of that is all
four of those guys, at some point in their career
played for Oklahoma City and now not all together. Of course, Westbrook, Durant,

(17:49):
and Harden all were there together when they I think
they made a run to the NBA Finals back then too,
but did not win it. Oklahoma City, but anyway, maybe
they didn't make the finals. I really can't remember, but
I guess the broader point being like in the NBA
and right now, I see people trying to figure out,
how are they gonna land Kevin Durant, How are they

(18:11):
gonna bring Kevin Durant in? Why? Why do you want
to bring in Kevin Durant. He's thirty six years old.
He's not gonna make your team any better, no better.
And I just think that of the like like Lebron

(18:35):
James gets a lot of criticism from people because of
the lack of championships that he won with all the
opportunities that he had in the NBA Finals, and I
understand that criticism, but you can't deny he makes his
teams better the other guy. Like when Lebron left Cleveland,

(18:57):
go look at what happened when he left Cleveland. Times
when he left Cleveland. But Kevin Durant, I can't tell
you really a time He's made a team better. I
can't really tell you a time that James Harden has
made a team better. And even when you've tried to
pair three stars together and you include one or more

(19:20):
of those guys, the team has not gotten better. And
and to me, that's what makes whether you like Lebron
or not, that's what makes him one of the great players.
In my opinion. All the stats of the longevity and
how athletic he is still his age is beyond bizarre.
It's like he's not from this planet. But at least
he's made his teams better. And that's something that I

(19:44):
cannot say for some of these other guys in the NBA.
And that's why I still enjoy watching Lebron James. He
makes his teammates better. Keep it a lot. We'll update
you on a gym on the bump out in Omaha
right after this Clemson Sports tal Lawton swam with you
on a Tuesday afternoon. Mike, you've a coming up our

(20:05):
number two. Don't forgive out our friends at Alumni Hall
on the corner of Campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson.
It's Alumni Hall for all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise. Hats,
t shirts, Tailgate gear, and Moore go check them out
today online at Alumni Hall dot com or in store.
It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All right, So,

(20:29):
the College World Series yesterday in an elimination game featuring
the top seed, the favorite at the beginning of the
College World Series, Arkansas versus the team with the longest
odds to get there and win it, Murray State the Racers.

(20:51):
And it was quite the performance by gage Wood, the
pitcher for Arkansas. Is he pitched just the third ever,
the third ever no hitter at the College World Series.
I mean, it was phenomenal and it should have been

(21:12):
a perfect game.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Now.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
We could talk about some of the ins and outs
of the nuances of that in just a minute. But
the kid pitched one hundred and nineteen pitches, had nineteen strikeouts,
did not give up a hit in the game. In

(21:32):
his interview at the end of the ball game on
the field was one of the most refreshing postgame interviews
I've seen in a while. And not only that, but
onen route to pitching that no hitter, the next to

(21:57):
last guy he had to strike out was a kid
from his hometown, which is also pretty wild given that
it's Arkansas versus Murray State. And we'll hear what he
talked about. Engage would talked about his his teammate. But
here was the final call and ultimately the nineteen strikeout

(22:21):
in the no hitter, one two great. I mean, it

(22:49):
was quite a moment. It was an electric moment. As
I tweeted, I've never really liked Arkansas, but it couldn't
help rooting for gage Wood in that moment. But even
better than that moment was this time that he spent
with ESPN's Dana Wixelman after the game and talking about

(23:10):
just the moment and his his his friend from his hometown.
I mean, it's it's incredible. What a performance by gage
would electric.

Speaker 4 (23:20):
Daddy, Hey, you you.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
Just came over here and gave a hug to Connor
hunting him laying because.

Speaker 6 (23:27):
I mean, I work out with that guy in the
off season, and you know, like I didn't expect to
see him hear, I mean, and like I got to
play against him. You know, he got there a year
late than from when I graduated. But I mean, I
work out with that guy in the off season. You know,
he's a grinder. He wears his tail off every day
and hitting my scramble buddy too, And I mean, I'm

(23:48):
looking forward to working with him every off season going forward.

Speaker 7 (23:51):
You know, he's he's gonna.

Speaker 6 (23:52):
Be a he's gonna get drafted one day. You know,
he's a solid shortstop.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
I think he was Freshman of the.

Speaker 6 (23:56):
Year for them, So of course I'm gonna go over
there and talk to my guy like, I mean, I'm
on cloud nine and their season ended, but you know,
I mean we go telling my loving great job and
keep working.

Speaker 5 (24:07):
You just threw the third no hitter in the history
of this event. How do you describe your emotions.

Speaker 6 (24:12):
I shouldn't have hit the guy.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
That's it.

Speaker 6 (24:15):
That's all I gotta say.

Speaker 5 (24:16):
When did you realize something special was happening?

Speaker 6 (24:19):
I mean I didn't throw a pitch out of the
stretch for a while. I was like, oh, in.

Speaker 5 (24:24):
Your fastball, How did that feel to you? Ah?

Speaker 6 (24:27):
I mean it's coming out pretty good. It felt like today.
I mean it's nice and warm, so it's feeling pretty good.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
Your family's here watching. We saw pictures of them and
their emotions. How meaningful have they been to you in
your journey?

Speaker 6 (24:39):
I mean they're everything you know. They sacrifice a lot
of time and money and everything to take me all
over the country to play baseball, you know, and I
can't thank them enough. And even my high school coaches
that are here right now. In my high school strength coach,
that would be where I am today without Price homes.

Speaker 5 (24:55):
Yeah, you're an Arkansas kid, You're representing Arkansas. What's this
programming too?

Speaker 7 (24:59):
You?

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Everything?

Speaker 5 (25:01):
You know?

Speaker 6 (25:01):
I mean, it's something that I'm focused on. We got
to keep winning, you know, if we want the whole thing.

Speaker 5 (25:06):
Hey, last one in this elimination game. Dave Van Horne
has talked to you guys about how bad he wants
this for you. What's he what does he mean to
you in this program?

Speaker 6 (25:14):
I mean it's everything, you know, Like everybody says that
there's one thing missing in that trophy room. His you know,
he's gonna go down this one of baseball legends, and uh,
every day we're working to get that for him.

Speaker 5 (25:28):
Congratulates, you're gonna give up quick. Congratulations, Thank you.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
I mean that was such a cool interview. And to
hear him talking about his friend from home and how
you know, you know when he says emotion in his voice,
you know, this is a guy. I work. I work
within the offseason, and I didn't expect that to see
him out in Omaha, like, because that's how the long
shot that that Murray State was. And in that moment

(25:54):
where he's had this phenomenal game, he takes the time
to acknowled his friend. First, that was awesome, and then
you also have to love his answer, I shouldn't hit
that guy. And that's kind of the that's kind of
the big moment in the game was there were a
couple of players from Murray State that got hit. One

(26:17):
of them was reviewed and deemed an out. They said
the guy didn't galaway or he leaned into the ball.
The other ended up being the only base runner in
the entire ballgame. And it was the only reason that
gage Wood did not pitch the first ever perfect game

(26:37):
in the history of the College World Series. So just
a un believable moment. A no hitter, nineteen strikeouts as
the Arkansas Razorbacks hang on yesterday, and it wasn't a

(26:57):
dominant victory by the like you know, you think, oh well,
if you if you had a perfect game, you probably
smoke the opponent. Far from it. Give Murray State credit.
I mean, just losing three to nothing and being in
the game in the waning moments of that contest. I

(27:21):
mean that tells you everything about the heart of that
team as well. All Right, quick breat we'll come back.
We'll talk a little more about the College World Series
when we return. Stay with us, rocking and rolling along
with you the show, The Shakespeare, south Land Clemson Sports Talk.
So today, there are a couple of baseball games out
at the College World Series that will take place. First

(27:46):
off underway as we speak, Oregon State and Louisville in
an elimination game. The winner of that matchup, which is
Game nine, will play Coastal Carolina tomorrow at two pm
in what would be an elimination game for either Oregon

(28:08):
State or Louisville. All Right, so that's the upper half
of the bracket as we've called it. Arizona's already eliminated.
We're down to three teams there in the bottom half
of the bracket. Yesterday, as we mentioned, Arkansas beat Murray
State to eliminate the Racers three nothing behind an incredible
no hitting performance, a no hitter from gage Wood. Fun

(28:33):
to watch, energetic. All of that. We'll talk with Mike.
You've about that as well, coming up in our number two.
But after that, LSU and UCLA faced off for the
right to be the team in control of their own destination,

(28:57):
kind of taking the cat bird seat like Coast this
time in the bottom half of the bracket. That game
pushed over because of weather to this morning. I think
they had a nine o'clock local start time ten o'clock Eastern,
and LSU beat UCLA nine to five. Now for the Bruins,

(29:17):
what that means is they have to bounce back tonight
at seven o'clock after an early start. They have to
play again at seven o'clock tonight against Arkansas, who has
a quick turnaround from their victory yesterday, then again tomorrow.

(29:38):
On Wednesday at two o'clock it'll be Coastal versus the
winner of Louisville and Oregon State, which is underway. And
then at seven o'clock tomorrow night it'll be LSU versus
the winner of today's contest between Arkansas and UCLA. So

(30:02):
pretty quick turnaround. As things maneuver out in Omaha, and
there is still the three game series that begins on
Saturday at seven o'clock. The Championship series on ESPN Game
two on Sunday at two thirty on ABC, and then
if necessary, Game three on Monday at seven thirty in

(30:24):
primetime on ESPN. And it's kind of crazy because, like
when we talk about how quickly this field from eight
whittles down, I mean, the whole thing just started on Friday,
right at two pm Eastern, and here we are on Tuesday,

(30:50):
and by the end of tonight we're gonna have half
of the field gone, and we're gonna have, potentially by
tomorrow night, we're gonna have just the two teams remaining
with a bit of a respit between Wednesday and Saturday's

(31:12):
beginning of the Championship Series. I mean, the Championship Series
out in Omaha is like an entity in and of itself.
I mean, it really is. Obviously it's a three game series,
regardless of how many games you've lost now that they've
got this format, but it's pretty incredible to think about,
like if these series end, if everybody takes care of

(31:32):
business and Coastal Carolina and LSU win tomorrow, we'll have
several days before they get back on the diamond. I mean,
it allows both teams to get the full reload and
then for the other team, And this is why they
do it like that, because if somebody doesn't win and

(31:53):
they have to go to an additional game, I mean,
you could see where one team would be more significantly
worn down if you didn't have at least a day break.
So they build that in. But man, right now, it
does feel like LSU and Coastal Carolina are on a

(32:17):
bit of a collision course. Now for Coastal, one good
thing I will say, you know, the two favorites were
LSU and Arkansas, and those teams I think you could
probably make the argument if you dissected the rosters that

(32:39):
not only are they the two best rosters, they're probably
the two deepest pitching staffs. And what would be hugely
beneficial for Coastal Carolina would be for Arkansas. Well, I mean, look,
it'd be nice, I'm sure for Coastal for Arkansas to
be eliminated, given they were the favorite. But let me

(32:59):
let the scenario play out, because I'm not sure UCLA,
who just played LSU, finished that game this morning quite
ready for that rematch. But if Arkansas wins today, right
think about this, Arkansas would have played on Monday. Arkansas,
now they didn't have to pitch anybody else because of

(33:20):
the no hitter. But Arkansas could would play today on Tuesday,
they then play tomorrow night on Wednesday, and if they
were to win on Wednesday, it forces LSU to play
another game, all right, and then that would be an
elimination game on Thursday. And if Coastal was fortunate, and

(33:42):
if Coastal could run a clean slate through Wednesday's matchup
and be done on Wednesday by six pm, awaiting their
opponent for Saturday. And if that opponent just happened to
be Arkansas, who's had to go through four consecutive days

(34:02):
and maybe multiple pitchers and getting past LSU. And again, look,
if it was UCLA in the same situation, I mean,
it'd be better for them if UCLA were to beat Arkansas.
And then if UCLA were to go out and beat
LSU back to back and run through their bullpen, I mean,
that would be better for Coastal Carolina. I don't think
that's gonna be the scenario. I think the more likely

(34:22):
scenario is Arkansas wins, and then Arkansas is the team
that pushes LSU and those two teams beat up their
bullpen a little bit. On Thursday, in that final game,
and that may give the wait for it, the Chanta clears.
Did I say that right?

Speaker 8 (34:39):
Everybody say it with me? Shanta clears. Shanta clears, not Chanticleers.
Schanta clears, not Chanticleers. The Chanticleers a real advantage I
think in that best of three series. But still a
lot of work left to be done for all the
teams out of Omaha. Final segment one Around the Bend,

(35:00):
Stay with Us, final segment of our number one Clemson
Sports Salt lots wine with you on a Tuesday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (35:12):
All right. So the other day I was sitting around
and there was a episode of It wasn't like thirty
for thirty, but it was kind of similar, and it
was about the lost perfect Game. And I bring this
up for two reasons. You may recall Armando Galarraga and

(35:39):
the perfect game that he had in Jim Joyce, who
missed the final call. It was a bang bang play,
but it was a brutal moment because baseball has only
had a handful of perfect game. He would have become

(36:01):
at that time. Armando Galarraga in twenty ten would have
become the twenty first pitcher in Major League history to
have a perfect game. And that's how close gage Wood
was out in Omha. I mean, it was a hit
batter away from a perfect game for him. But I

(36:23):
bring this up not because necessarily of Armando Galarraga, which
was on June second, twenty ten. I bring this up
not because of the game in Omaha and what happened there,
but in a matchup between Tampa Bay and Baltimore, like

(36:50):
it's it is hard to say that you would see
a worse call because this was not for a no hitter.
This was still early in the game, and you might say, well,
why wasn't there a challenge by Baltimore. Baltimore at that

(37:14):
point somehow had already used their challenges. And there is
a play at first base that is not a bang
bang play. And I want to make sure I said
this right, because it's the opposite. The runner is called out,
but in this situation he is clearly safe. Like it's

(37:34):
a bad call like the Jim Joyce call, it's actually
worse in the sense of the gap and the you
know when the moment that everything's happening in the play. Obviously,
the circumstance of a perfect game being on the line
again were not a part of it, but you will
hear the runner cross the bag and you might be

(37:57):
able to hear the ball hit the mitt. After that,
it's a little bunt of the third baseline. Uh And
and then I mean, this is what it sounded like.

Speaker 3 (38:10):
Sixth sense for the raids.

Speaker 4 (38:12):
And here's John Schlow putting down the butt and the
throw to first.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
He harsh the call no challenge.

Speaker 4 (38:20):
Boy, you're right, no challenge and he are safe. And
here comes Kevin Cash Cash to get Josh Lowell out
of there, and he's not happy with Bruce Grekman down there.
John's Michael John smartly moving Josh Lowe out of there,
and boy, Kevin Cash not happy. He wants to express that.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
And I mean, this isn't even gonna be close, all right.
His foot is on the bag, he is safe, and
the ball is probably six to seven feet away from
the glove. I mean, it's unreal, Like I don't even
know how you. I don't know how you missed that call.

(39:08):
And I am I am somebody that has said I
do not want replay, not the way we currently use it.
And people are saying, why has umpiring gotten so bad?
How is it that you know umpires can miss plays

(39:32):
like that. One guy saying, bring on robots. I've seen enough.
Humans have had their shot. I don't won't replay to
the minutia of what we do where we're like watching
every little tick and every little split second. I don't

(39:53):
want that. What I think I want is I want
what I would call instead of review, correctible mistakes, egregious
correctable mistakes, not bang bang at the play. You know,

(40:20):
I think that should still be left up to the
team to call for that review. You know, boom boom,
right there at the plate or right there at first
base boom boom. It's just like so close you can't tell.
But when when you have something like that happen, and
when you go when you go find this play? Stash

(40:42):
of Strider perfect name off of the former Clemson Tiger
and current Atlanta Breid pitcher Spencer Streider. The Stash of
Strider tweeted that out if you go watch that, I don't.
I don't know why that's not a play that should

(41:02):
instantly be overturned by some higher authority. I don't want review,
but that play can't be wrong. And in my mind
I fast forward to say, this is the world series, okay,
and say a team does not have any challenges left

(41:28):
and say that that is the end of the game.
And there's a runner on third and the umpire calls
that guy out. That determines what team wins the World
Series and what team doesn't. And everybody, as they used
to say when I was getting everybody in their mama,
can see that that was the wrong call. It was six.

(41:51):
The ball was six seven feet out of the glove.
We can't continue down this path that we're gonna have
some challenges and we're gonna have some review use and
not get that stuff right because ultimately it could cost
a team a World Series And you gotta just what
live with that call? Bull butter Our two, Mike, you'vea
joined us. Stay with us.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
Each time for clips and sports talk with Luwton Schwan.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
It is our number two. That's drive time writer on
the show Shakespeare south Land, Clemson Sports Salt Lord Swan
with you on a Tuesday afternoon. Mike, you have a
Gamecockcentral dot Com coming up on the program momentarily.

Speaker 4 (43:09):
Again.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Follow Mike on Twitter at Mike Underscore UVA and the
show that Shakespare south Land brought you in part by
our good friends over at mets Plumbing seven three two drip, drip,
drip drip. You know the jingles seven three to two drip.
That's mets Plumbing, mets plumbing dot com. That's the website
as well. Mike, Welcome in, my man. How are you?

Speaker 7 (43:29):
I'm doing good? How you doing?

Speaker 2 (43:31):
I'm good? Man? Lots to get to here on the show.
I want to start first. Did you have a chance
yesterday to watch any of Gage Woods and Gauge Wood
and his performance out in Omaha man for Arkansas pitching
a no hitter. I know he I know he joinked
the guy and that blimished the perfect game, But did

(43:53):
you get a chance to take that in?

Speaker 7 (43:55):
Yeah? How do you know that he's doing to guy?
Was it the fact that the very first question he
was asked after the game, after throwing the first no
hitter and over sixty years in Omaha, He's like, yeah,
I shouldn't have joinked that guy. What an awesome performance,
What an awesome answer, What an awesome moment? You know?
And I don't know about you, Swanny. I think I

(44:17):
do because I feel like I've got to know you
pretty well over the last couple of years. I don't
know how some of your listeners felt watching it yesterday
if they did, But for someone that doesn't have a
dog in the fight, I mean, I've been pulling for Coastal,
but just watching these games, that's the kind of stuff
that I want to see. I could care less what
team it is. I think I've said this on your

(44:38):
earwave just last week. You know, the whole SEC thing.
To me, I'm not one of those people pounding my
chest say an sec s he I just want to
see good competition. I could care less. I mean, I
personally would have loved to see Murray State going to
Cinderella like run. But to see that performance yesterday, I mean,
those are the things that make o Maha so special.

(45:02):
You know, we see so much talent year in and
year out. And maybe it's just me in the sense
that I've come around to the sport a little bit
later because I didn't grow up in a college market.
I grew up in a pro market. But I've really
fallen in love with watching the College World Series and
to be able to see something like this yesterday was
just remarkable.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
Yeah, I think you know when he the celebration where
he had, you know, he he had the word Arkansas
on his chest, and I'm with you, like I have
no dog in this school at school, right, I have
no dog in this fight. But that was an awesome moment.
And then I think the only other thing that could
have made it maybe a little bit more unique would
have been not necessarily it wasn't his former high school teammate,

(45:45):
but it was a kid who played his high school
after he left. That they actually worked together work in
the off season. Do it sounds like they do a
little golfing together too, just to think about, you know,
if that kid had been the final kid, whether it
was a strikeout or whether that guy you know got
the hit that ended at all. Like, the storyline that
was created in that ninth inning was phenomenal. The whole

(46:08):
thing was phenomenal.

Speaker 7 (46:11):
And what I really like too is they let it
breathe to in the moment. The guy that was doing
play by play, he does games for the Red Sox.
He's really good at what he does. Also covers the NHL.
I'm blanking on his last name at the moment. His
first name is Mike, but he dies amal job. And
that's one thing that you know I really appreciate is

(46:32):
when the play by play man he lets the moment
speak for itself. You know, I think as a kid,
I'm just like, is he still there? But the older
you get and you appreciate those moments you get in,
you get out, and you let the moment speak for
itself before you say something before you I guess the

(46:53):
best way to phrase it, as a mentor of mine,
would say, you don't want a word stampede it. You
don't want to in crow. So that was something else
about it. It was a great moment, and the moment itself
was able.

Speaker 2 (47:06):
To be captured.

Speaker 7 (47:07):
I felt like if you were watching it on TV
in a way that it should have been where you
were able to watch it watch the reaction was very authentic.
And you know, Lookswani, we talk about this. It feels
like every couple of weeks about college sports and where
it's going, and more so with football and basketball. But
to see moments like that, like you said, pointing to
his shirt Arkansas and just the reaction from his teammates,

(47:30):
that's what makes college sports still what it is today,
and it's still very special despite all these changes we've
seen in recent years.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
On Twitter at Mike Underscore UVA Gamecockcentral dot com, part
of the On three network, joining us here on the
program Today's Mike Eva. So, Mike, one of the other
conversations that is always bound to come up, and we'll
circle back to the College World Series momentarily. But when
you have this venue and not necessarily Rosenblatt, I mean,
obviously that's the new stadium out there, but for so

(47:59):
many years this tournament being played in Omaha, the question becomes, Hey,
would people be in favor of having the national Championship
game always be played at one venue? Say be it
the Rose Bowl or whatever. I mean, what's your stance
on the future of the Coach Ball Playoff And would
you like to see a scenario where the National Championship

(48:21):
Game is played in the same venue every single season.

Speaker 7 (48:26):
I wouldn't be opposed to it, But here's the issue.
I feel like you have to do it somewhere in
the middle of the country. And the reason why I
say that is Swanny. I think back to a couple
of years ago when Clemson played Alabama out in California,

(48:47):
and give credit to the Tiger fans because they showed up.
But I think you and I may have talked about
it around that time. I certainly talked about it with
guys like Taj Boyd and you know, probably David Hood
and Matt Conley and the other guys that cover Clemson.
But I just thought to myself, I'm like, man, you know,
and this is one of the good problems you have.

(49:09):
Certainly during that time period as a Clemson Tiger fan,
there was just so much traveling. There was just so
much traveling going on if you're a fan, and to
have to go all the way out there, financially, that
was tough. That was tough. So I say that because
as much as I like the Rose Bowl, I don't

(49:29):
think and I can't and I can only go based
off of the things that I've I've been told I've
never been able to experience in person. Certainly it's on
the bucket list to go out to Pasadena and watch
a game at the Rose Bowl. But from an accommodation standpoint,
it doesn't sound like the Rose Bowl from the facilities
they have, right, We're talking about concession stands, we're talking

(49:51):
about parking, we're talking about the restrooms, right, it doesn't
seem like that would probably be very feasible to do
and work in a way that you would need to.
But on top of that too, just from a travel standpoint,
I think you'd have to have it in some type
of neutral site. And when I say neutral, I'm talking
about the middle of the country. But as we all know,

(50:13):
regardless of what you do, you're gonna piss off a portion,
if not an entire conference or two because of the location.
If you do that, regardless of where the location.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
Is, no, you're all over it. I mean, Jerry's World
out in Dallas probably makes the most sense. But everybody
wants to talk about the granddaddy of them all, the
Rose Bowl. And of course I think the people at
the Rose Ball also sort of look down their nose
at the rest of college football and say, hey, we
are you know, the Krim de la Krim, and this
is where if there's ever a site that it needs

(50:43):
to be. I'm not sure that I would agree we're
going to the West coast either, Mike, to be honest,
all right, let's bring it back to the East coast.
Let's bring it back to Coastal Carolina. They're head coach.
After the game yesterday, the Shanta Clear say it with
me now, Chanta Claire two days ago, whatever his post
game was, that was amazing. But man, they're in control
of their side of the bracket right now, and I

(51:05):
tell you they're playing really good baseball, Mike. They're not
back on the diamond again until tomorrow at two o'clock
start versus the winner of today's matchup with Oregon State
and Louisville, which just got underway a little bit ago.
But man, what are your thoughts on Coastal and the
job they've done so far twenty five consecutive wins.

Speaker 7 (51:27):
They're pitching coach Matt Williams phenomenal, And as a old
time Boston sportscaster would say, when you had a player
that would go to another team, why can't we get
players like that? Gamecock fans are saying, why can't we
get pitching coaches like that? This is a guy they
had and they fired him last year, So Matt Williams

(51:48):
was not the problem Gamecock fans. So I bring that
up because that's a guy that's probably going to be
in the running to be assistant coach of the Year.
So I bring that up more than anything. S wanting
to bring it local, right, bring it back. Certainly we're
talking about ghost so we're talking about an in state team.
But from a Gamecock perspective, that's something I've seen a
lot of. The pitching has just been phenomenal. I love

(52:08):
the way they play. They're fun in the sense of
how they play the game because they're aggressive on the
base path. They do the little things right. I mean,
I can't speak for Clemson fans. I can tell you
for years watching South Carolina baseball, not just this past year,
just the little things doing the little things right. They
get bunts down, Swanny. It's a hell of a concept

(52:30):
being able to play small ball and be able to
actually get a bunt down instead of going and trying
to bunt it and the ball goes flying off the
top of your bat and it's a foul ball and
now you're down oh one though, right, So they do
the little things right. They're fun on the base path,
but it certainly starts with their pitching and being able
to see what they've done over these last couple of weeks.

(52:50):
Because I've shared this that I hopped on the bandwagon
very late with the Seana Clears because I didn't really
have a reason to follow them until postseason play. They
are a team that can beat you in a multitude
of ways. It's not just because of their pitching, but
they're pitching certainly, that's where it starts with Man.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
They are a fun group to watch and just you
kind of get the feeling watching them that they're a
confident group right now. They feel that they can be
on the diamond with anybody. We'll see how it all
shakes out for them. And of course LSU this morning
in a rain delayed game, taking a decided advantage on
the other side of the brackets. This thing is geared
up for You know, if you can win, Man, you

(53:30):
really do get in the driver's seat on either side
of your bracket. Out in Omaha. All right, Mike Eva
with us here on a Tuesday. Mike, So, the news
out of South Carolina this week. We're conversations surrounding South
Carolina quarterback Leonora Sellers. Not that Lenora Sellers is leaving,
Not that Lenora Sellers is getting paid a ton of
money by South Carolina, which he is getting paid a

(53:50):
good amount, but the teams were offering him upwards of
eight million dollars to leave. Holy moly, Mike, Like I
know we've kind of normalized the transfer portal. I know
we've kind of normalized Nil. I can't normalize that type
of money with these college athletes. It just blows my mind.

(54:12):
What are your thoughts on that story and what can
you tell us about the situation.

Speaker 7 (54:18):
Yeah, So the interesting thing is, and I've shared some
of this on game Cock Central in recent months. I
don't know if I've shared some of this on your earwaves,
and maybe I haven't even shared some of it publicly.
I didn't put some additional tweets out yesterday when I
saw that story to add to that having conversations with
some of Seller's teammates in the spring, because guess what,

(54:40):
guys talk, right, there were teams that were still trying
to encourage Leonora to enter the transfer portal after the spring.
I can tell you that even going into the spring
that there was at least one SEC team because obviously
the rules, right, if you do it after the spring
period with the SEC, you have to sit out. If
you do it before hand, you know you're all right.

(55:02):
I can tell you that from what from my understanding,
that there was at least one SEC team that was
UH that made an offer up to four million dollars
the eight million dollars. I haven't heard as much in
terms of being able to get more intel on it
other than like I said, I did know that there

(55:23):
were two schools that were really pushing for him, and
one was four million. The other deal was close to
four million, And like I said, there were some other
schools trying to get him to enter the portal after
spring football and unfortunately for them, they weren't able to
get it done. And I've talked to Leonorous about this
in the past, and that was something else that I

(55:43):
added on social media. Swanty. And I know some people
they they they see like, you know, oh he loves
the city. Well oh gee, I go no, no kidding no,
But this guy, he understands. And I've had a conversation
with him both on offer. This is a guy that
truly a pres where he is. And I'm not just
saying this to add salt to the wound Clemson fans,

(56:06):
but we know how big that rivalry is and how
it can make legends. After that game, his life changed
in Columbia. Anywhere he goes, people are coming up to
him wanting photos. His life's changed, and he's spoken to
me about that. So because of that, he feels the
love from Colombia, so naturally, what's going to be the
feeling back. He loves the community, he loves being in

(56:28):
the area, and he understands that he can do something
in terms of building the legacy at a place that
we've seen in the past. Yeah, no national championships, but
when you have success, Gamecock fans are going to remember
you forever and we can go down a long look
Marcus Ladimer still talk to him about him till this day.

Speaker 2 (56:48):
Well, I'll bring one up right now with this next
statement because William Qualkinbush on Twitter, he joins the show
on Mondays, but he tweeted out earlier today that the
two best quarterbacks in college football in twenty twenty five
could but be playing in the Palmeadow State. He said,
think about that. Not since Taj Boyd and Connor Shaw,
there's a name for the Gamecock fans out there have

(57:08):
the two quarterbacks in our rivalry been household names. Klubnick
and Sellers appear set to top Boyd and Shaw in
that regard, and it could be an all timer for
that matchup in Columbia November, which we now know will
be at noon. But hey, yeah, more on that in
a minute. But what are your thoughts on that that

(57:30):
you know, these two quarterbacks could very well be maybe
not the top two, but certainly both of them in
the top five.

Speaker 7 (57:36):
I think it's awesome for the rivalry because as someone
that's not from the state, I quickly learned, and we've
talked about this ad nauseum on your program, I quickly
learned that regardless of what school you go to, regardless
of you know where you're from, everyone's gonna ask you
you pulled for Cleum Center for South Carolina now Swanee.

(57:57):
I know there's some people that won't believe me when
I say this on here, I don't have a dog
in the fight. Certainly, I cover the game Cocks, and
I've built relationships with those guys. But at the same time, too,
I have guys that I've built relationships with over at Clemson.
I mean I talked with Taj Boyd a good bit
still to this day. So I want to see the
guys that you know they want them to do well.

(58:19):
I mean, I think that's just natural, right. So I
think being able to have two guys as talented as
as club Nick and sellers are and certainly, if the
teams can do well, what will that do That will
bring more attention to that game. Think back to last
year and how much attention was placed on that game.
And I know there's probably some Clempson fans that are

(58:40):
listening to this. They're looking at their radio and they're yelling, well,
that's because South Carolina wasn't doing anything for the last
decade before, right, and now they started to be able
to get some wins. Now in this rivalry, they've won
two out of the last three. They're trying to make
this competitive because if it is just the one side
button bhooping contest, yes, it's not gonna be as fun

(59:02):
from a national standpoint. It might be funny Clemson certainly
not gonna be funny comp in Columbia, but to be
able to have the talent they have right now at QB,
if both teams do well, regardless of what time it is,
and I know we'll talk about that, but it will
certainly bring more attention to a rivalry that I feel
like does not get the national recognition that it certainly deserves.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
All Right, and we'll head right there. We got about
two and a half minutes Mike noon kickoff, announcing that
in June, that's weird. I know a lot of that
onus has fallen on the SEC and they're scheduling, But
for crying out loud, Mike, I like the build up
that we get in November, kind of wondering is gonna
be a night game? It's gonna be a day game?
Like Man, I don't love this.

Speaker 7 (59:45):
No, and it's disappointing. I'm disappointed that there wasn't at
least a flex placed on it simply because look, I'm
sure there's gonna be some Clempson fans that hate it.
And I try to tell Gamecock fans a year ago
it was a good thing that they were playing at
a noon kickoff, because it takes away, you know, in
my opinion, some of that home field advantage Compared to

(01:00:06):
playing at night in Clemson. I would say the same
thing with South Carolina being able to play at night.
I think it is a totally different environment. That's not
to say it still won't be hostile, but it's just different.
On top of that, too, I think from a player's standpoint,
it's easier, especially when you're a road team, to be
able to get up and you're able to go right
to the game. You don't have to worry about being
in the hotel all day. Yes, South Carolina when they're

(01:00:27):
home they stay at a hotel, but it's just different.
You're in more of a routine when you do that.
So I think it is certainly beneficial for the visiting team.
Having said that, I hate it for the fans because
I know that there's a lot of fans for South Carolina.
They pay a lot of money to use those tailgate spots,
and yeah, they're gonna have to get up a little
bit earlier. And Swannee you know this, and I'm sure
it's the case out in Clemson from covering this rivalry

(01:00:51):
that Friday beforehand Man in Colombia. It's a lot of
fun because there's a lot of familiar faces on both sides.
Clemson fans, Gamecock fans. They come to get other. They
go out, whether it be at Hall's or whatever restaurant.
Sometimes there's some music events going on and everyone gets together. Well,
guess what, some people are gonna probably be calling it
earlier night because they're gonna want to get up to

(01:01:12):
go tailgating. So I know it's one of those. Oh
woe is me, poor poor fans that have to wake
up a little bit earlier. But you know what, I'm
right there with you. I feel bad, even though, even
though I'm sure there's a lot of my colleagues that
are happy that it's earlier because they like to just
get it done with instead of waiting until nighttime. Fans,
I'm here with you. I feel your pain.

Speaker 2 (01:01:30):
Mike you'va gamecoccentral dot Com on Twitter at Mike underscore UVA. Mike,
have a great week, my man.

Speaker 7 (01:01:37):
You two Swanti appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
There you go, Mike you'va again gamecoccentral dot Com. Hanging
out with us here on a Tuesday afternoon. All right,
getting a little later start on the program so we
can give a little update on some of the action
in Omaha today. Plus there was an overnighter, as we
mentioned earlier, as weather impacted the matchup between UCLA and

(01:02:00):
LSU last night. We'll talk about all of that when
we return right here on the show. The Shakespare south
Plane is Clemson Sports Talk on Fox Sports Radio fourteen
hundred and on the iHeartRadio app. Lawton Swamwi did the
show that shakespare south Land on a Tuesday. Don't forget
about our friends' Alumni Hall on the corner of campus
on College Avenue, downtown Clympson, the stones throw away from
historic Rigsfield. It is Alumni Hall for all your officially

(01:02:23):
licensed Clemson merchandise, Clemson hats, t shirts, tailgate gear, fancy
stickers for your vehicles. They're hat walls. Incredible. Not to
mention that you can become a member of the Alumni
Hall Rewards program and save some money while you shop.
Speaking of shopping at Alumni Hall, if you shop online
through our website, Clempsonsports tell dot com we'll get a

(01:02:44):
little love back from Alumni Hall. Go check it out today.
You'll have to just be a Tiger fan. As we
mentioned the other day, a ton of other programs in
the Alumni Hall umbrella, or under the Alumni Hall umbrella.
It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All right. So
out in Omaha, early going, and again I am a

(01:03:05):
little bit ahead of schedule, if you will. Louisville led
Oregon State at my last chance to view it one
to oh early, so good matchup going on there, and
and Oregon State made a couple of great plays. One

(01:03:28):
guy was deep deep in the whole little spinner Rooney
the first base bang got the runner uh and then
a diving catch in the outfield to end the inning
for Oregon State. So some good defensive plays by the
Beavers out as both LSU and Coastal Carolina have now

(01:03:48):
really positioned themselves in the cat bird seat. As I
mentioned earlier, when you look at the College World Series
and the way it is set up, those two teams,
by virtue winning their first two games, really are in
control of their portion of the bracket. Now the final
is a three game series, so unlike the old days
before that situation where it was just a kind of

(01:04:12):
a straight I can't remember when that changed. I know
we looked back at it the other day, but when
it kind of ended with a double elimination at the end,
and if one team already had a loss and they
lost one game, it was I think over with But
now you know, with this scenario with the two fourteen brackets,
Coastal by Virtual being two to zero, they await the

(01:04:32):
winner of this game between Louisville and Oregon State that's
taking place right now. That game's tomorrow at two PM,
and if Coastal wins, they're sitting on there. Took us
until Saturday waiting for their Championship series matchup. That Championship
Series matchup will come against one of three teams at

(01:04:53):
this point. Tonight at seven o'clock, Arkansas and UCLA will
play in an elimination game, and the winner of that
will play LSU tomorrow, and then that game's at seven o'clock,
and if LSU were to win that game, regardless of
if it's Arkansas or UCLA, then both LSU and Coastal

(01:05:15):
would be sitting on there. Took us until Saturday at
seven pm on ESPN for game one of the three
game series out in Omaha. So that's where we are.
We had nearly a perfect game. As I mentioned earlier
in the program, I can't recall really ever rooting for Arkansas.
I known when I was in high school. Arkansas had

(01:05:37):
Nolan Richardson as their head coach and they won the
national championship in the next season. I got a chance
to go watch them play, and we went up to
Columbia to see them face the game Cocks and got
to meet Corlis Williamson and those guys. After the ballgame
from Arkansas because my high school head coach when back

(01:05:59):
in the late eighties, there was a kid in my
hometown named Willie McDuffie that was a pretty high level recruit.
And I think I'm I'm gonna go off the cuff
here and say, Nolan Richardson coached that. I think he
was at Tulsa. I'm gonna just throw this in the
Google machine real quick to make sure. But Nolan Richardson

(01:06:20):
coached at Tulsa, as I recall, and at that time
he may have been an assistant or the head coach.
Let me see, yeah, nineteen to eighty and eighty five,
he was the head coach at Tulsa before he went
to Arkansas, and at that time he was recruiting Willie
McDuffie to come play at Tulsa, and he had met
my coach, and I guess my coach in high school
connected with him. This would have been, you know, thirteen,

(01:06:41):
fourteen years later. But we got to talk to coach
Richardson after the game, meet some of the players and
all that. But I've never been an Arkansas fan, not
really in any sport. I read a little bit for
Chad Morris when he was there, obviously as the head
coach in football, but not in any other sport. I mean,
wasn't really ever rooting for them, but it was hard

(01:07:02):
not to find yourself captivated yesterday, as I mentioned, with
the Arkansas starting pitcher gage Wood and the job that
he did in that no hitter, and even more so,
and I want to play it one more time for
those of you just joining us. His postgame interview is
the reason that you love sport because one of the
guys he struck out the next to last batter. He

(01:07:22):
had nineteen strikeouts and one hundred and nineteen pitches, nineteen strikeouts,
and he faced a kid. I mean again, they're both kids,
but he faced a guy who is from his high
school and they didn't play together in high school, but
they knew they know each other. They work together now
in the off season. And just listen to what gage

(01:07:45):
Wood says and it makes you go, man, this is
what it's all about. What a performance by gage Wood.
Electric Tenny, Hey.

Speaker 5 (01:07:54):
You just came over here and gave a hug to
Connor Cunningham laying because.

Speaker 6 (01:07:59):
I mean, I work out with that guy in the
off season, and you know, like I mean, I didn't
expect to see him here. I mean, and like I
got to play against him. You know, he got there
a year late than from when I graduated. But I mean,
I work out with that guy in the off season.
You know, he's a grinder. He works his tail off
every day and hit my scramble buddy too, And I mean,

(01:08:20):
I'm looking forward to working with him every off season
going forward. You know, he's he's gonna be a he's
gonna get drafted one day. You know, he's a solid
short stop. I think he was Freshman of the Year
for them, So of course I'm gonna go over there
and talk to my guy, like I mean, I'm on
cloud nine and their season ended, but you know, I
mean we go tell him my love him, great job,
and keep working.

Speaker 5 (01:08:39):
You just threw the third no hitter in the history
of this event. How do you describe your emotions?

Speaker 2 (01:08:44):
I shouldn't hit the guy, That's it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:47):
That's all I gotta say.

Speaker 5 (01:08:48):
When did you realize something special was happening?

Speaker 6 (01:08:51):
I mean, I didn't throw a pitch out of the
stretch for a while.

Speaker 7 (01:08:54):
I was like, oh, in you're fastball.

Speaker 1 (01:08:57):
How did that feel to you? Ah man?

Speaker 6 (01:09:00):
That's coming out pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:09:00):
It felt like today.

Speaker 6 (01:09:02):
I mean it's nice and warm, so it's feeling pretty good.

Speaker 5 (01:09:05):
Your family's here watching. We saw pictures of them and
their emotions. How meaningful have they been to you in
your journey?

Speaker 6 (01:09:12):
I mean they're everything.

Speaker 5 (01:09:12):
You know.

Speaker 6 (01:09:13):
They sacrifice a lot of time, the money and everything
to take me all over the country to play baseball,
you know, and I can't thank them enough. And even
my high school coaches that are here right now. In
my high school strength coach, that would be where I
am today without Price Holmes.

Speaker 2 (01:09:28):
In a huge moment in his life. This kid's recognizing
all those other individuals, including the team that he just
beat and a friend. Man, it was awesome. It was
absolutely awesome. Clympson Basketball. You might not know the roster,
but they finally done something I've been wanting them to
do for years. I'll tell you about when we return.
Lawton swan with you on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok. We are

(01:09:48):
where you are. Follow us at Clympson's Sports. Join the
thirty five thousand plus followers that we've got on Twitter,
thirty five hundred on TikTok, and I don't even posting
anything over there really anymore? I need to get back
on it. Man, TikTok's still blowing up, all right. So
I talked about Clemson basketball the other day and the

(01:10:08):
fact that when you look at this roster in twenty
twenty five, twenty twenty six, I mean, you don't know
anybody like Dylan Hunter, yes, Ace Buckner maybe, but like,

(01:10:30):
what are these guys? What does this team going to
look like? Or nobody knows? But what's one thing I've
always said about Clemson basketball here on this program for
over a decade, nearly twenty years when we were doing
just the podcast back in the day, why don't you

(01:10:51):
offer every top recruit? Right? And Clemson, Look, they tried
with a little local product, Zion Williamson a couple of
years ago, and now they're trying again, as they have

(01:11:12):
offered top ranked twenty twenty seven prospect Baba Oladotan, now
the James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.
This kid is the number one overall prospect in the country.
He garners a five star ninety eight player rating and

(01:11:38):
has a two four to seven Composite rating of point
ninety ninety nine. Four six foot nine hundred and seventy
five pounds and like this should be the calling card
of every Clemson recruiting class now. Naturally, teams like Kentucky

(01:12:02):
and others who tend to be in the mix for
kids of this stature are the favorites. I would say
in the minds I have a lot of people, but
if you're a Clemson fan, I mean, it's a good
thing to hear, for sure. And we'll see if we

(01:12:24):
can get Faxon Childress on the program this week as well,
because you know, Faxon loves his Clemson hoops. Faxon loves
his Clemson sports. But one of the things I noticed
was Faxon was tweeting at one point about this situation,

(01:12:47):
and he said, I've always thought an attractive part of
the cell for Clemson is the chance to be legendary
and the face of a program. And a guy like
Ola Dotan possesses the talent to be that guy. And
that's what amazed me. Clemson was unable to sell to

(01:13:09):
Zion Williamson and they've never been able to secure a legitimate, legitimate,
excuse me, top flight player like that. And if they
could somehow figure out how to pull this off, dude,

(01:13:30):
that would be huge, And the biggest problem is, again,
you're in an era where it's a one and done scenario,
so you got you gotta turn this thing around quickly.
But at least they offered. And that's sometimes for Clemson,
at least in my experience, half the battle. I mean,

(01:13:53):
I've always said that if I were in charge at Clemson,
there would not be there wouldn't be a top fifteen
player any year that didn't have an offer from me
every single season. Why wouldn't you offer the top fifteen guys?

(01:14:21):
I can't think of reason that you wouldn't do it. Like,
imagine for a second the thought process, Like what has
to go between your ears to say we're not going
to offer that kid?

Speaker 7 (01:14:38):
You want answers?

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
I think I'm a title answer the truth.

Speaker 1 (01:14:42):
You can't handle the.

Speaker 2 (01:14:44):
Truth like he doesn't. There's no reason that every single
player in the top fifteen every season doesn't have an
offer from you. They're not all going to commit, and
oh whoa what if they do? Like, what's the what
is the downside? Can I ask you that what is

(01:15:08):
the downside? Because I can't think of one? Like Okay,
so you say to me, well, Swannee you do recognize
that there are players that you were more likely to
get and maybe they don't come because you've offered these
other kids. No, what kid's going, Well, I'm not gonna
go to school there because you offered some big name.

(01:15:31):
There was a kid named Tyron Stokes class of twenty
twenty six, number one player in the country in this class,
committed to Notre Dame. No offer from Clemson. Why would
there not be an offered from Clemson? Second rated player
twenty twenty five class, Brandon McCoy from Saint John Bosco
High School, DJ Lellyunglola, same high school, offer from Clemson.

(01:15:55):
Number two player in the class twenty twenty six, no offer.
Third best player Christian Collins twenty twenty six recruiting class
offer from Clemson. No offer from Clemson. Like, what does
it hurt if you if you offer the kid fourth

(01:16:16):
best player in the country out of Saint John Bosco,
same high school. Two guys that went to DJ's high
school offer from Clemson. No offer from Clemson, Like I
would be offering all of these cats if I were
the head coach Georgia Tech. Does doesn't mean you're gonna

(01:16:37):
get them, but Georgia Tech. You go look at like
a list of players and the offers text name will
likely be there. Just put your name in the mix.
What does it hurt? At least Clemsons put their name
in the mix in the twenty twenty seven class. All right,
quick break, we'll come back. We'll put a bow on

(01:16:59):
the show that it takes to South lank Clemson Sports
are right here. Well, Fox Worts treet your fourteen hundred
plus will update you on how things are shaken out
at the College World Series of the matchup between Louisville
and Oregon State. When we get back on a steamy
Tuesday afternoon here in the midlands of South Carolina, stay
with us.

Speaker 3 (01:17:19):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answers to the questions
what have you done for me lately? And what have
you done? Always are the same. We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:32):
Final segment on a Tuesday coming up tomorrow, Josh Graham
joined the program, his second guest appearance here on the program,
and hopeful that we'll be able to connect with facts
and Childress, if not tomorrow, but maybe Thursday, Timbray on Thursday,
and of course Will Van der Voort on Friday. So
it's hard to believe how quickly the weeks move, but

(01:18:54):
they do move here in the summer. And I know,
you go, what do you mean how quickly the weeks move, Swanie,
It's a day. I'm just telling you. In this business
what I do, this moves fast. And maybe it's because
I have the comparison of also teaching for a living
and knowing that I'm consistently that you know, those days,

(01:19:18):
those weeks can go by really slow. But man, when
I've only got to do two hours of radio wo wee,
it moves quick, all right. Checking in on things out
in Omaha. The greatest show on dirt. Louisville currently leads
Oregon State at least in my timeline. Three nothing in
the top of the fourth inning with Oregon State at

(01:19:42):
the plate, and again, this is a loser leaves town match.
Anytime I can reference old school wrestling, WHOA right here?
You know I'm gonna do that. The winner of this
match will face Coastal Carolina tomorrow. Will be an elimination
game for the winner of Louisville and Oregon State. Coastal

(01:20:07):
would have to be beaten twice. Then, of course, tonight
at seven o'clock, as we mentioned earlier, Arkansas and UCLA
face off in a loser leavestown match, and the winner
of that game will face LSU tomorrow night, and if
LSU were to win, they would advance to the Championship series,
which begins on Saturday. And I think at this point

(01:20:30):
most people in the state of South Carolina are looking
at Coastal and really rooting for the Chanticleers to go
get another national championship. Just the profile it feels. It
feels a little bit like what Gonzaga would have felt
like had they ever won a national title. It feels
a little bit like what Boise State would have felt

(01:20:53):
like if they could ever won a national championship. In football,
it's amazing when you kind of take a step back
sometimes and think about the budgets of some of these
programs and the amount of money that's spent, and when
you come from the Sun Belt, you're battling with the

(01:21:14):
big boys. Like I guarantee you if this ends up
being Coastal Carolina versus LSU, there is no way. In
my opinion, there's no way that the world of college
sports or and the fans around the country aren't all
in on the Chanticleers. You're just it becomes David the

(01:21:39):
versus Goliath, and fans across the country regardless. It's kind
of you know, people wanted to see Murray State win. Like,
the only thing that really affected how people felt about
Murray State out of the College World Series, in my opinion,
was the fact that Arkansas got a no hit or going.
And once you hit about the sixth there's withinning, people

(01:22:00):
start to go all right, let's just see a no
hitter now out in Omaha, Oregon State did scratch a
couple of runs back top of the fourth pretty quick
with no outs to make it three to two off
of a big two run bomb. So we'll see how
this one is going to shake out. As we started
this segment in my timeline of the world, Louisville felt

(01:22:22):
pretty much in control. But that was a no doubter,
a absolute screaming shot out of the ballpark. The picture
for Louisville just hung his head me. He knew the
sound of that one. You knew what it was going

(01:22:42):
to be. Out of there so College World Series action,
and that was Oregon States as a team. That was
their twenty third home run in this NCAA tournament, and
that leads all teams, and so a little pitching change
forthcoming for lou as the Beavers and the Cardinals battle

(01:23:03):
to stay alive out in Omaha. Tonight in the NHL,
we might dish out Lord Stanley's Cup as Florida leads
Edmonton three games to two. Florida looking to win back
to back NHL championships as they topped Edmonton four games
to three a year ago. Florida's been back to the

(01:23:28):
championship three consecutive seasons. They fell to the Las Vegas
gold Knights in twenty twenty three, they won last year,
and tonight they could win their second consecutive championship. They'd
be the first team to win back to back titles
since the Tampa Bay Lightning in twenty twenty and twenty

(01:23:49):
twenty one, and Tampa Bay during that stretch, made three
consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals, which means that
the state of Florida, wait for it, has been represented
in the Stanley Cup Finals for six consecutive years, and

(01:24:14):
if Florida wins tonight will have won four of those championships.
There you go, Strange times, huh, state of Florida dominating hockey. Yep,
say that with me now, all right, we'll be back
tomorrow four o'clock. Until then, it's always I'll take care
now and goat tigers