 It's family day at up in Adams. We are soft launching our brand new studio and it came with a baby. It also came with an amazing six year old named Maya who's got a hot take list. What do you want to say, Natalia? Where are your eyes? Where are your eyes? Where's your nose? Very good. She's a genius. Listen, we have a great show for you today. We have former NFL defensive lineman turned WWE superstar, AJ Francis. He's got WrestleMania on Sunday plus CBS College basketball insider, Maya, Chacha, Maya, Mama, Dada. And we've got John Rothstein on the show breaking down the final for Hamilton. Hammer time is here. Hamilton is going to take a look at the new bears. Do you like the bears, Maya? Yes, you do. More than the chiefs? No. Okay. Well, we've got him breaking down DJ Moore up in Adams family edition. Starts now. Goo Goo Gaga. A shrine to Joe Burrow here. I've got my Anderson Pock album here. Aaron Rodgers knocked on his back leaving the NFC North. Lamar Jackson behind me. This is so exciting. I just got in here so I don't quite know the intricacies of the studio. But Lisa, our amazing director, can we take another wide shot? This is insane. We have an all new monitor. They completely gutted the studio. This desk is so major. I don't even know what to do with myself right now. But we are going to have a lot of fun. And there's a lot of NFL stories going around. Yes, we're talking about Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson on repeat right now. But all eyes of the NFL world are on the Ravens and company. Listen, we over this week have heard from a lot of GMs and even owners at the annual league meeting out in Arizona where they go and they talk about their billionaires and their yachts and all of that. But they also sort of discuss these major topics. And the second we were hearing and seeing these tweets from Lamar, everybody was rushing to everyone asking, why him? What's going on? Why don't you want him as a team? And we were hearing from lots of people about why they decided not to pursue Lamar. And there was a wide range of answers. But I do think Falcon's owner, Arthur Blank, who was one of the best dancers in the game, gave us one of the most earnest answers. Here's what he said, looking at it objectively, I'd say there's some concern over how long can he play his style of game. Hopefully a long time, but he's missed five, six games each of the last two years. Each game counts a lot in our business. So he, this is different. It's, you can have your opinions on it, you know, injury concerns and all of that. It's just interesting to hear somebody say it finally, right? Because I think Lamar would make the Falcons a significantly better team. I don't think anybody out there can argue me on that. And it's probably a mistake not to pursue him. But the reasoning is something a lot of teams probably are feeling but don't necessarily want to say. And there is some validity to it. If you just look at the numbers and objectivity of the situation, his ability to stay in the field with the way the Ravens use him was something I remember I brought up back on the Good Morning Football set his rookie year back in 2018. But I think what's being missed in all of this and why I wanted to start my show with Lamar is just to give everybody a little something to chew on on our up and Adams Friday, which is a real Thursday, but we start summer Fridays early around here. It's a predicament based on the assumption that Lamar has to play in an offense built around his legs in order to have any success in the national football game. And I do think that assumption is off base because we've only seen him in this Greg Roman style offense. So we truly don't know, honestly. But anybody who's followed Lamar closely and as closely as I have covering this thing day in, day out knows that he has developed significantly as a passer. You can find quotes of me saying it, you can find video of me saying it, you're in, you're out. You don't want to eliminate his legs entirely, but I'm just going to put this out there as a what if. What if there's another level to his game in an offense that, oh, I don't know, lets him open up things as a passer more. Or I don't know, you can put more talent around him at receiver. I feel like we collectively don't allow ourselves to open that gate in our brains that say, well, maybe he could be better at a different offense. Maybe he doesn't have to rely on his legs the whole time. And maybe, oh, I don't know, he's still only 26 years old. I can't stress that enough. And let's be honest, the Ravens were paying Lamar relative peanuts for five years and didn't do a great job of using that financial advantage to build up the roster and support him. It's just true. Lamar had three all pro tier Olinemen during his MVP season in 2019. A multiple time Pro Bowl running back in Mark Ingram, friend of the show. He had Hollywood Brown, he got to have the Speedster, even the guy like Hayden Hurst playing alongside Mark Andrews. Now granted, injuries and there's been a lot of bad luck in Baltimore with that. But you cannot tell me that this roster hasn't taken big steps back as the team has said, see ya to guys like Hollywood and Orlando Brown. They let stars like Matthew Judon walk. They have missteps in the draft process and they sort of fail to make a big splash in free agency. I love the Ravens, I support the Ravens. Baltimore is literally one of my favorite places in the NFL to take in a game. But there's, it's fair to say there's been a bit of a lack of investment, especially in the receiver spot and it's a head scratcher. Now again, the bad luck factor, you had the Rashad Bateman stuff, you had the J.K. Dobbin stuff, Ronnie Stanley, all had multiple seasons worth of injuries and that can't be ignored. But it's not hard to see why Lamar is a little bit frustrated with the way things have gone and with the narrative that's being spun and with the lack of response from the organization and sort of protecting what might be going on in-house. So he's been the glue that has held the whole thing together and has kept the team competitive. His teammates are out there saying that speaks volumes. If you have teammates coming out there and saying, we love you, but go get paid, we love you, figure your thing out, those are people who are championing him because they know a lot more about what's going on than we do. So listen, whether it's Baltimore under Todd Monkin or whether it's somewhere else, give him a check, give him a chance at a supporting cast that he deserves and let him show off his arm a little bit. I think it'll be worth the investment but I do appreciate Arthur Blank there sharing some candid words and it seems to be something people don't wanna say because nobody ever wants to harken to an injury or predict that or anything but it's something that these GMs and everyone certainly discusses. All right, we are in our new studio. It is time to bring on our very first very special guest. By the way, we got somebody who's competing in WrestleMania this weekend. We have the NCAA insider of all insiders that knows everything about the tournament but we also have an official Disneyland expert who has hot takes and likes to throw a hand maker at me once in a while. Maya, you wanna come on? All right, here's Maya. So here's what we did this week. She came from Chicago, we went to Disneyland. She told you guys her favorite Disney princesses. She did not mention Ariel but here she comes. We get a chair for her? All right, we're gonna get a chair for you. My love, look at this outfit. Can we get a little fit check? You've got hair in, you've got this whole situation. All right, and you were here with another top five list as I understand it. Is this where you want her? Do you want her over here? Okay, we want her over there. Well, you step down really quick. We'll put you right over there. Okay, so on a bounty paper towel that I got on sale at Walmart, you have written your five favorite, what is it? What is your top five list for the day? Well, it is my favorite rides on Disneyland. Love it, let's do it. Give me number five first. Can you give me number five first? The cars ride because it went really fast and I did not really like really fast. Oh, so it was number five. See, that's probably one of my favorite ones. Okay, what's number four? Yeah, I wanted it on for you. Oh, that's, you're the best. Okay, number four. Number four, Mickey and Minnie Railway. Yes, there's some new Mickey ride. Yes. It's super fun. I'm surprised that that's on your list, but you are wearing Mickey earrings. And I think I've spent $6,000 on buying you Mickey and Minnie stuff your entire life, so that makes sense. Number three. Incredible coaster because it went really fast and went upside down. It was my first time and I thought I couldn't make it third. Okay, so the Incredicoaster, she was like a millimeter away from not being able to go on this ride and she's never been on a roller coaster in her life and I believe and I don't know if the control can tell me like the scariest ride at Disneyland, right? You go upside down on this thing. It's unbelievable. I was losing my mind on it. It was completely terrifying and I thought when I got out of it that she's either gonna be passed out or crying or like the happiest kid alive and she was the happiest kid alive. So you did it. All right, number two. Number two. Second best ride at Disneyland. Wendy and Peter Pan ride. Classic. Yeah. It's the first one we went on. Yep. What did you like about it? Well, it, so me and... Chacha. Chacha. Went on this ride and it made you feel like you're actually flying. Yeah, I'm Chacha. Chacha means aunt in Polish. Sure, everyone out there, yeah. They're like, wait, what? Okay, okay, and so we loved Peter Pan. We saw Tinkerbell. The whole bit. Number one. Thunder Mountain Railroad. So this is the first roller coaster you ever went on. It was so fun that we were all the way in California Adventure Park and at the end of the day we had to walk all the way back into Disney in the middle of a parade at Disney to go back on that ride one last time before we went home. That's a pretty good list. I'm just gonna ask you, Pire to the Caribbean, not on your list. Yes, why? Is because on my list it says pirate boring. Why was it boring? You didn't like it. I think everyone loves that ride. You're not a fan. I'm not a fan because it went splashing in my hair. Yeah, we did not do it with a small roll. That was a very controversial decision. It was too slow and my sister went to sleep. Yes, yes, did we take a one-year-old on Pire to the Caribbean and into the haunted house mansion? Yes, we did, absolutely. Maya, that's a great list, great job. Amazing, thank you, appreciate you. We're gonna take a short break. Do you want to say we'll be right back? I'll be right back. We'll be right back. I'm up and out as we go. AJ Francis on the show has got John Rothstein with your final four predictions. It's all happening in our brand new studio. Ooh, la, la. So much fun, our very first guest is a... Our first guest in the new studio is a former NFL defensive tackle who played for the Patriots, the Dolphins, the Seahawks, the Giants and Washington is an accomplished rapper. Maybe we'll get some bars here today on a Thursday morning. And now a WWE certified superstar, AJ Francis, AKA Topdoll. I haven't seen you in years. I know it's been great to be back with you again. I mean, we used to do this in New York and now we're out in LA. I didn't expect LA to be the cold and rainy city. Yeah, not fun. That was crazy, but I need that highlight package because I was looking good. We will bring it for you. We have it for you. We have SmackDown tomorrow. Are you excited? I had very much so, like a year ago, watching WrestleMania from home, not being a part of the festivities. After everything I wanted to do while I was in WWE, being back now, being able to be a part of WrestleMania weekend in LA, it's incredible. I'm very, very excited. Do you have a favorite WrestleMania moment? Yeah, like, as a fan? Just either. Yeah, I would say WrestleMania 18, the Rock vs. Hulk Hogan in Toronto. Hulk Hogan was the reason that I first started wrestling when I was like one years old and the Rock is the reason that I'm sitting before you today. So the two of them have one of the greatest matches of all time at WrestleMania 18 and that would be my favorite. Now, last time I saw you, I'm just gonna say, you look a little different. I do. You look a lot different. Yeah. How much weight have you lost and how short of time? In about the last eight months, I've lost 105 pounds. I was like 370 when we re-signed to WWE and then 265 now. It took a lot of work, a lot of water, a lot of good choices with food, a lot of days and nights. This is my boy. This is what's so annoying about men. You just stop drinking like diet soda and you drop 100 pounds. See, the problem was it was a diet. It was straight sugar soda. Really? Yeah, and then, you know, a lot more, drinking like two, three gallons of water a day now, like a good, like we said earlier, it's the truth, I go to the bathroom every half hour, but it's, you can either go to the bathroom every half hour or you can beat 370 pounds. There's choices there. What's motivating you? You know, the guys at the top of the car, the guys I see in the locker room, they got great bodies, great physiques and they work all the time on their physiques and like, I wanna get to where they're at and like, I don't wanna be the big chubby guy. I wanna be the big shredded guy. Can I just ask you why you don't wanna be the chubby guy? Because listen, everybody's shredded now. When I look at WWE, everyone's shredded, everyone's an athlete. So why not be, you know, you're always looking to stand out, right? I would wanna put on the most weight and then just sit on people. I mean, that's an option. Like the old days. Yeah, see, I mean, I could do that, just like Andre the Giant. But the thing is, to me, in this new age of wrestling, the way that the guys move around and the way that they are athletically gifted is just like trying to be a different person is something that I could do and something that I did do very well as you showed the highlight. But I also enjoy sleeping through the night and not coughing, you know, on my own spit while I'm sleeping because I am trying to like actively make better decisions with my life because I've been through a lot and I have a lot of family history with different medical things and I had to take care of myself. You lost your mom when she was really young. Yeah, yeah. Actually, we were on studio together and when it happened, it was in New York and I found out in between our sets and that was, yeah, it was, and I had went out there and I mean, did the thing with you guys and you know, I pushed through it to finish what I was supposed to do there, but like that was a rough day and that really puts it in the back of your mind. Like my mom died, she was 46, I was 28 at the time. Like if I lived her life, then my life's already halfway over. So I had wanted to start making better decisions. It's good perspective for everybody watching. We can all use that. You are living your dream and I think I'm so happy that I get to sit and talk to you and I'm wishing you, like, I don't want, I will watch SmackDown tomorrow just to cheer you on. I will, I will absolutely because you're someone who I talked to years ago and you went through it, you know, went team to team in the NFL, you did your thing and you sat with me years ago now before the pandemic and said, what I really want is WWE and now you're doing it and you're popping off. How did you do it? Man, it was, you know, I'm blessed with the fact that I played in the NFL and WWE is really big on athletes, right? So you got college athletes now that have NIL deals with the WWE before they even leave college, right? So like back then it wasn't like that for me. I knew getting to the NFL was all I had to do to make sure that I would get a tryout in WWE because like I said, they love pro athletes. And so I get to an opportunity to go to try out and I killed it and then six months later I was signed. So like it was only a year between the end of my football career and the beginning of my WWE. My man, we love it. You have your persona, top dollar. We're gonna get into all of that and you can see it on SmackDown. I mean, WWE fans are going crazy for you, which is amazing. But you, you know, you played for all the teams that I mentioned, which means you had a stop in Seattle. I want to talk about that really quick. I asked you before we came on what was your favorite stop in your NFL career. You said that. Are you surprised Pete Carroll's still doing this? No, because Pete is like a fountain of youth himself. You know what I'm saying? Like he personally gets you energized every day. Like you would think a lot, a lot of coaches, players at least, hear their coaches and they're like, oh man, I'm not trying to hear him. He just keeps running off. But Pete actually makes you want to like do things. Like and everything in Seattle is just competition based. Like practice is harder than games sometimes. But like everything else is cool. Meetings are cool. Lifting is cool. The city's cool. It was my first time living on the West Coast. So like, and we made the playoffs it's the only time I ever made the playoffs. So it was like definitely my favorite time. On that team, who would have had the best persona? I mean, Pete Carroll, could I add some? Michael Bennett. Oh gosh. Michael Bennett for sure. Michael Bennett was on that team. Michael Bennett was on there at Camp Chasler. Sherm, Richard Sherman. Like I play with all those guys. I know. So who would be the best WWE persona? Bennett. Yeah, it would be Mike. Cause he's got the size, the athleticism, the gift of gab, but you know, Sherm also has that too. Yeah. You got that dance though with Bennett. Yeah, true. Bennett can dance. Yeah, true also. That's good. Okay, now let's talk quickly about you were in Washington. Were you with Kirk Cousins then? Yes, I was. So let's just, his persona has taken a bit of a turn. Yeah. Hey, Jay, let's talk about this. Because he was like. You were from Captain Kirk, the Kirk O'Banks. Yes, so then, you know, he was Mr. Michigan State, Sparty on, nerd, and then this happened. Hey, big drip, Kirk. I see you. Hey, it's funny cause like Kirk is, he has his personality, he always did it like. Did he? Yeah, he just didn't show it off. No, no, no. Tell me what his personality is then. What are you talking about? He's like the nerdy homeboy that hangs with all the brothers on the team. No, nerdy homeboys that hang with the guys on the team do not drive conversion vans and have like bumper stickers. Like what are you talking about? Hey man, you know, he went to Minnesota. He had to change his vibe up a little bit. When he left DC, like, I thought he was gonna be in DC forever. I mean DC still hasn't got a quarterback there. He's got that check. You know what I'm saying? They just kept backing up that Brink's truck into his backyard. And he could have kept doing that in DC and they decided they wanted to go a different direction and it's worked better for Minnesota. Hey, you're being too nice. How can Kirk Cousins work on his persona? Like have you seen the man dance? Yes, wear more chains, you know what I'm saying? More, we need more. We need more. Kirk Cousins. We need more chains. Oh gosh, that's absolutely terrible and terrifying. Okay, let's talk about audience here. I know what it's like to be at an NFL stadium. You know what it's like to play in front of fans. How does it compare to the crowd at WWE situation? So it's completely different because fans at football games are reactionary. Like they react to what happens on the field, right? And so like if good things are going for the home team, the crowd's going crazy. If bad things are going for the home team, it's pretty much silent. In WWE, fans are going to be a part of the show. They're going to be interactive. Got it. So if it's boring that they're watching, they're not just going to sit on their hands. They're going to literally chant boy. You know what I'm saying? Like if they love what they're seeing, they're going to chant, this is awesome. They're going to do everything. Like whatever they got to do to get themselves involved. And that's cool because you can play off that as a performer. Like I say things a lot of the times, like especially when we go to like DC, like I'm from DC and I played in DC. But like the whole time I was on the mic, all I did was talk bad about the commanders, right? Because I knew all that would do is big them. Hate me, which is my objective, right? OK, so if you were to say what your persona is in Top Dala, what give me like what your persona is? Hip hop CEO, street guy that is ready to throw down in all times and it will not let you play with his name. See, because Top Dala is a cool name, but it's the kind of name that people try to like play with and come up with other ways. And I use, I don't know if you've ever seen The Wire, but I use like Marlowe Stansfield in The Wire. And I'm always like, my name is my name. OK, you do that. That's my thing. So like that's how I, someone calls me, you know, they call me flop dollar or they call me bottom dollar or something. And I got to make amends to that and let them know that my name is my name. That's how we do that. So when you, do you like do things that fall flat ever in front of the crowd? Like do you do a workshop at like a comedian? Yeah, no, I went to do a dive one time and my leg was like, you ain't diving, big fella. Really? And I got caught on the top rope and it happens. It's live TV, but you got to keep going with it. Like I'm still recovering from, like my leg is still recovering from that. That was months ago, but it's like, you still got to just push through and cut. I mean, it's just like in football, like if I played, when I was on the Dolphins, I played a whole game with a torn meniscus. You just got to do what you got to do. OK, they want me to, what did they want me to ask? The finishing move? Yes. OK, can we see this finishing move? Top Dala finishing move. I think we have some footage of it. Here it is. What do you call this? Talk me through. Oh, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ. So right here. Oh my gosh. This is called the world's strongest wasteland. All right, Maya, get over here. We're going to practice this. Because the move for the guy I'm holding in my arms is called the world's strongest slam. And the move for the guy in my shoulders is called a wasteland. So I call it the world's strongest wasteland. And why was your niece about to come and put through a table? I can come here whenever she want. I want to come over here and sit with me? No, OK. I was joking. I thought maybe, would you want to try that? I mean, you went on the biggest roller coaster in the world. This is Top Dala. This is my friend AJ. I like your jacket. Doesn't she look cool? Want to come sit with me? All right, let's keep talking here. So you are here in Los Angeles. He's going to be in WrestleMania, wrestling, which is super fun. You are participating in the Andre the Giant Battle Royale tomorrow. Give me the lowdown. Like, what's the best storyline? So the Andre the Giant Moral Battle Royale is a traditional over-the-top battle royale. The only way that you can be eliminated is by being thrown over the top rope. A lot of greats have won it. You got guys like Jey Uso, who won it recently. Look at that. Yeah, and he's one of the top guys on the card right now in one of the biggest storylines. So there's a lot of opportunities that get to be given to people when they win this. And I'm very much looking forward to winning. Yeah, is there camaraderie between you guys, like in an NFL locker room? Or is it like you're in? Yes and no. Yes and no. It's just like NFL locker room. We're like. Are y'all in one locker room, though? So it's like you're in there with your competition? Yeah. Yeah, so it's just like the NFL. So like, I might be. No, because Richard Sherman's not out there with Michael Crabs. You're in the same locker room before a game. No, but he's in the locker room with other defensive backs who he got to earn a job over. Yeah, that's true. So it's like, I might be best friends with an offensive lineman. But when we do one-on-ones, we ain't homeboys. I got to eat. You got to eat. We're out here working for it. And it's the same way in WWE locker room. Like, we're all cool. We kick it back there. We play video games. We play cards. It's a great time. But at the end of the day, everybody's trying to get to that top spot. And if you've got to step on somebody to get there, that's just how I be. Yeah, so that's what it is. Now, if I had a WWE persona, what would it be? Or a name or a good kind? Slay K. Slay K. OK, I like that. I don't know where my finishing move would be. Just talking someone to death. Just trying to talk to somebody. I think that's what it would be. OK, I think that's kind of it. I think are we good? What else do we want to ask you about? What else do you want to talk about? I'm just really excited to be here in LA. Want to talk about music? Yeah, let's do that. I mean, what's going on with your music? I know that that's a huge part of your career. You could basically have done anything that you wanted to with wrestling right now. But you could have a music career, right? It's cool, because music has always been my lifeblood. And yet, I found a way to incorporate it into what I love in WWE. And it's cool, because my crew hit row, me, myself, B-Fab, Ashanti, the Adonis, the three of us, like we are like a big family, right? So we're like, even though we are a group in wrestling, like we don't do nothing without each other. Like for example, last night, we went to Roscoe's. And then on the way home, my car got a flat tire. So in the rain in Crenshaw, we was putting a donut on the back tire, you know what I'm saying? So like, but I called him, I was like, yo, I need your help, you know what I'm saying? And they was like, all right, cool, they just came through. Well, it's not supposed to rain here. I know, that's what I'm saying. I was told that it never rains in Southern California. The taxes are too high here. It's not good to rain. So it's like, but you dropped a new song. Yeah, I got a new song coming out. I just debuted it last night on DJ Who Kid for Shade 45. Okay, let's hear it. You debuted it last night? Yeah, yeah. That's amazing. Okay, let's listen. So much bread, I got a wheel, and that's really real. Got a crib like Uncle Phil, and that's really real. Whoa! Where can we hear it? It's really real. When it comes out, it'll be on all platforms, but it has not, it hasn't been released yet. It's just, I'm doing my, my press board now, getting everybody's ears open to it so that I can drop it very soon. Has there been a successful athlete turned rapper? Yeah, there's a little bunch. Who's the best rapper? You got Dame Dala, it's the pride. Dame Dala is actually a good rapper. There's a lot of athletes that have songs, but they're not good rappers. Yeah, Conrad and my ear are saying Shaq has bars. Oh, Shaq definitely has bars. Shaq has a song with Biggie. It's one of my favorite songs. Yeah, you can't not mention eight girls and cause they'll just be sad. You got them and Nate's got bars. Nate, Nate be spittin' too, you know. Every time me and Nate were on set together, you know I always had to show them who the real spitter was, but you know that's my guy. He's passionate. Do you have any that you wanna drop some bars for us? You got a little something? Yeah, I mean, you know what? Tomorrow's the Andre, I'll do something for you. All right. Here we go. Last week, I got the text I was gonna be in the Andre. First thing I did was hit a shantay. That's the way you start mania in LA after party with shorties at the telé. The telé, brachian will contribute to sensation and jubilation across the nation. The day my haters dreaded like a Haitian. From the top of giant shoulders, you can see what's shaking. Not John Tentor, but I see the earthquake in and avalanche of hating. Rap God forsaken. Kiss my, no hesitation. Yeah, that's cool. Woo, AJ! Thank you. Check out his new music. Good luck to you and Smetha and say good luck, Maya. Good luck. Say, kickbook. We love you, AJ. I'm about to get some gear made like that. That looks cool. That's live. She looks a lot cooler than I do. She got blue hair, like I got it all going on. She could be in the WWE. She could. You can use that right here on the bananas. Got it crimped like a cocoon. Time to welcome back a fan dual family member, the co-host of the College Hoops Today podcast and an insider for CBS Sports. He is this close, this close to finally getting some sleep sometime in the next month or so. John Rostine, everybody. How you feeling? How you holding up, John? Never better, Kay. We sleep in May. Yeah, we certainly do. Where in the world is John Rostine right now? Are you at the Final Four? And I want to know what your favorite host city was that you ever got to visit? Well, I am in Houston right now for the Final Four, but in terms of a favorite host city, I think proximity to everything is obviously the biggest key to having a great Final Four experience. So I firmly like Indianapolis. I think it's an easy flight from New York. I think everything is very, very tight. A lot of people like New Orleans. I am not a big fan of the food in New Orleans, to be told. So I would say those two though, people seem to enjoy and also San Antonio is very cool with the Riverwalk. But you know, Kay, as the years move along, I find myself being more focused on the task at hand. Got it. I think that's one of the things that go along with the Final Four, probably much like you see at the Super Bowl, everybody's going out, they're schmoozing. I want to be dialed in. I want to be focused. I want to be getting tasks done so that when I land at LaGuardia next Tuesday, I can obviously see a whole lot of sky. It's kind of like that scene in the movie with Tom Cruise, the firm in 1992. His brother in the movie, okay, was in prison. And Tom Cruise says to him in a key scene in the movie, anything I can do for you. And he says, yeah, just get me out of here and show me to a place where I can see a whole lot of sky. When you're in prison, you know, he says you can get through the days, you can even eat the food, but you really don't understand how much you missed the sky. Right now on Tuesday, I'm really looking forward to getting to a place back in the greatest city in the world where I can see a whole lot of sky. And the movie references do not stop there. We're going to get right back to them. Listen, host cities, I got to get you excited about these. Maybe we should try to get one in Positano next year. Okay, just for the record right now, when my wife and I took a water taxi, okay, from Prayano to Positano, I was scared to death that, A, my phone was going to fall into the water, and then two, but we were going to get attacked by a shark. I was, you know, for all intents and purposes, I think very, very like, okay, with a lot of my surroundings, but the amount of times that I was obviously subjected to jaws as a kid has really scorned my ability to go into salt water. So I definitely have anxiety about that. But Positano, while it's beautiful, I don't think it has really the serene feeling of a place like Prayano. It kind of feels like, you know, if you're going to, let's just say Woodbury Commons, like during Thanksgiving, we can FD finish your turkey. There we go. That was a lot of information, more than I asked for, but I appreciate it. You were a man who picks Indianapolis over Positano for the NCAA Final Four Tournament. We love to see it, and we officially share a trauma bond of jaws, which is incredible. We'll get into that at some point. But let's talk about this. What happened to Texas? You gave me the team I was juiced for. It's almost like every team you give me fails because I'm cursed. Well, what happened to Texas was this. Dylan DeSue, who was Texas's best player in the NCAA Tournament through the first two rounds, averaged 23 and a half points and 10 rebounds in the first two games of the NCAA Tournament for the Longhorns, only played a total of two minutes in the sweet 16, did not play in the lead eight. That obviously hurt Texas's depth, but Texas still was able to dominate Xavier and hold the lead over Miami for 30 minutes before Miami's guards just took over the game. And the thing that we're starting to see right now is that Miami is playing chess while everybody else is playing checkers. They are forcing you to match up with them. It's not the other way around. Okay, what can I say? Miami basketball, more guards than Shawshank. There. More guards than Shawshank. Oh my goodness. All right, John, so Texas is done. The first thing you ever told me when I met you on this show was that this tournament is going to have more parity than the last 20 years. I thought you were being hyperbolic. You are not wrong. This is a final four. My friend, that no one saw coming. Nine seed, two five seeds and a four seed. So this is the first time ever that we'll have a final four without a one, two or three seed is a low seeded final like this. Good for the tournament. I think for people from the periphery who wanna tune in to see obviously the top brands associated with the sport, like we saw a year ago. Duke, Carolina, Villanova, Kansas. Those people may have trouble being pulled in casually on a Saturday for a final four party. But if you're a sports fan or you're a fan of college basketball, you can truly appreciate the unpredictable nature of the NCAA tournament because you are not getting this type of a final weekend in any other sport that we have on our globe. Okay, think about this for a second. Florida Atlantic was picked fifth in the conference USA preseason poll and Florida Atlantic wanna combine 32 games in the two seasons prior to this one. The Owls have won 35 games, but playing a final four. Their opponent on Saturday, San Diego State had not won an NCAA tournament game under Brian Dutcher prior to this season. San Diego State will play Florida Atlantic in the final four. And Miami, a program that went to the elite eight last year and is not synonymous with blue blood programs in college basketball, lost three starters. Charlie Moore, Kam Auguste and Sam Ordenberg from last season's team that lost in the elite eight to Kansas and took it a step further and will play Yukon in the final four on Saturday. The Huskies obviously the lone blue blood program in this final four. Okay, I'll say it again. It's not anarchy. It's just college basketball. It's just college. But I'm trying to think of it as that's like the bears and the colds facing off into the next Super Bowl. It's unbelievable. This year's one shining moment, always special going to be extra special with all of these underdogs, of course. If you have to pick right now, what is your one shining moment from all of March? Florida Atlantic advancing to the final four at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden and Dusty, we sleep in May, the head coach of Florida Atlantic having a Jay Wright type moment, hugging his best player, Janelle Davis, when the final buzzer goes off and completely remaining stoic, calm and always in control, much like Jay Wright was seven years ago when Chris Jenkins made a game winning shot at the buzzer for Villanova to win a national championship. Wow, what is the closest you've ever come to shedding a tear during the tournament? Fantastic question. I think in 2014, I was so firm all season long that Shabazz Napier was going to be the best guard in college basketball. And I felt all season long that he was the best guard in college basketball. And when he put Connecticut on his back and led them to wins over Iowa State and Michigan State to go to a final four and that coincided with the day that Aaron Harrison made a three point shot in the final seconds for Kentucky to beat Michigan in roughly the same spot where he made a shot on the left wing two nights prior to beat Louisville. I just said, I am so grateful that I get to take part in this. But like Pat Riley says, Kay, the most important thing is the next thing. So I'm a goal oriented person. And as you know, like Sylvester Stallone said and over the top, he's the most underrated movie that he has on his resume, the world meets nobody halfway. So because of that, I keep going to the next thing to try and keep striving to be better on my next appearance. And you are. So I'm knocking out the park and I would do it all of the time. Okay, I know that you love Dusty May. We're gonna skip that because you've already given him your love. And I know that's the thing. So I do wanna talk to you before we get into some movie comparisons or references here. You have something going on over at FanDuel, right? You have a final four Rothstein special Moneyline Parley this weekend. What is it? Well, I think we're gonna have Yukon winning their game against Miami. And we got San Diego State winning against Florida Atlantic. Setting up Yukon, San Diego State which is a rematch of the 2011 Sweet 16 played in Southern California in Anaheim when Kemba Walker and the Huskies beat Kawhi Leonard and the Aztecs 12 years ago. I can't believe that that tournament run is 12 years ago, but Kay, you know what we say is we get older. The days are long, but the years are short. You're blowing my mind right now. You were on the heater. You are like Miami right now in those guards you're talking about. Okay, no, I don't want it. They're telling me, asking me to ask you who's gonna win it all. I don't wanna know yet. I wanna enjoy March as it is and I don't wanna talk about who's gonna make it to that next step. So we did 80s movies which we know that you were obsessed with. There's four teams left. So we're going to bring it back and do some movie madness with March Madness. Let's do it. I'm gonna ask, give you a team. We're gonna go through all four teams in the final four and you give me their movie comparison and why. Who's Florida Atlantic? What movie? The Mighty Ducks with Emilio Estivés because this is a Disney movie right now unfolding in front of our eyes. You know, we have, I believe, what was the lead kid in that movie? Charlie Conway. Charlie Conway, but it was, he was on, was it Dawson's Creek? Yeah, Pacey, of course. Pacey, there you go. Joshua Jackson. So this was him before fame. John, do you know how excited I am that I just knew something that you didn't know? That was the first time there was a glitch in the matrix. There was the first time that you didn't know. I feel so special that I watched Dawson's Creek. You got Adam Banks. I was more for the record. I was more 90210 than Dawson's Creek, but you know. Okay, that's fine. That's cool. But Adam Banks, you got, you know, cakey ringer. Well, true story. Go ahead. True story and you will appreciate this because we're gonna go from Dawson's Creek to 90210 at Ithaca College where I spent three years before going on to the real world. I, because of, you know, I guess the way I wear my hair and I guess I had longer sideburns. I was, and I guess, you know, I worked at the paper. I was, you know, totally teased all the time that I was Brandon Walsh. Brandon Walsh, hey. I carry a 90210 special place in my heart. Ross and I wouldn't call that being teased. I'd call it the compliment of a lifetime. Team Brandon all the way. All right, let's go with San Diego State. Name the movie. Over the top. Cause much like Sylvester Stallone's movie about arm wrestling when he was a truck driver in 1987. San Diego State is tough. It's rugged. It has to make the most out of what it has. San Diego State definitely reminds me of Stallone and Over the Top. I'd never heard of Over the Top. I'd never seen Over the Top. I read the movie description and had a nice little laugh this morning. You haven't seen The Godfather. Yeah, I know. I mean, I'm serious. Like the next time there's a Blizzard, you are so set for at least six hours and 50 minutes, which is the amount of time of The Godfather epic. I'll watch The Godfather when you drink a cup of coffee. All right, how about this? Next one, let's go with Yukon. Yukon is Rambo because they're ripping through the NCAA tournament like a chainsaw through butter. And I mean, I think the one thing we have to look at when it comes to Yukon is Yukon much like, you know, again, another Stallone reference. They have a singular focus and that is to dispose of their opponents. And think about this. Yukon has still not lost a non-conference game this season. Woof. Okay, last one. We talked about it earlier. Miami, name the movie. Carlitos Way, one of the most forgotten movies in Al Pacino's career, but it's absolutely outstanding. Sean Penn was off the charts in this movie as Al Pacino's attorney, David Kleinfeld. Terrific cast. It's a New York movie, as you know. I don't know if you know this, but when I was at Ithaca College and I dreamed of being an on air announcer and living in New York, I used to watch 80s movies based in New York kind of on a loop to get myself always focused on the end goal. I wouldn't say Carlitos Way was in that, but it was usually cocktail, Wall Street and the secret of my success. Those three cocktail, Wall Street, secret of my success, all the time to think about the bigger task at hand. Yeah, can you recite every line to these movies? I imagine yes. A lot of them, but you know, to be determined today. Today I'm focused on obviously trying to get through the final three games of the season. Again, what Pat Riley says, the next thing, that's the most important thing. It's true. And we also are focused on the, we sleep in May, parlay, get over to FanDuel and get that done. We appreciate that and all the work you've done for us and for FanDuel and for NCAA fans and everywhere we appreciate. You have fun this weekend. I'm rooting for chaos. Remember K, it's not anarchy, it's just college basketball. And as soon as you find out the answers in college basketball, somebody else is gonna change the questions. I've never heard of Carlitos Way either. What are these, are you making them movies? Oh my god. Adam's hates fun. For Carolina shipping wide receiver, DJ Moore to Chicago for the Bears plan to pair him with their. Atta boy, Ryan Poles. The Bears pulled off the first blockbuster move of the off season when they trade the number one overall pick to Carolina in exchange for a pack of draft picks and wide receiver DJ Moore. So while the picks are great, DJ has me so excited about what's going on in Chicago. If you know anything about me, I'm always like DJ Moore, always a thousand yards and 90 different quarterbacks that aren't up to snuffs throwing in the ball. And he somehow is consistent and gets it done. And I love this. I've been a fan of his for a long time and the Bears ranked dead last in the league in 2022 and it comes to production at the wide receiver position. So it seems like the perfect match on paper, but how does it look on film? Matt Hamilton, it's time for Hammer Time. You can't touch this. Hmm. Hammy, I got a new studio. It looks amazing. And I got to tell you, if Maya was bored by the pirate ride, I can't wait until she watches, watches me break down some nexus and oats. It's gonna be a real treat for her. And we are very excited. You and I were talking about this on the phone yesterday as I was at Whole Foods, running around like a psychopath. Tell everybody about that. Just buying parsley, buying butter. I mean, I don't know who you are, but. I was at, I drove myself to Whole Foods. I parked, I went in, I bought butter and parsley. It was like a whole new me. It was crazy. Hammer, let's get serious about this. DJ Moore to Chicago. I'm excited. Should I be? I'm sure there's big playability there that you want to break down. Yeah. And as you mentioned, he's been so productive over the course of his five years in the league so far with 10 different quarterbacks thrown in the ball. And he has some elite traits. And while he's averaged over a thousand yards a season, I think he's only scratching the surface of his potential because of that inconsistency that he's had a quarterback. So let's take a look at that film now and look at some of these traits on display against one of the league's best corners in Patrick Sartan. He's gonna be facing press man here. And to be press man, you have to be physical. DJ is not the biggest guy, but he gets physical when he has to. Look at how he uses his arm to clear out some space here, create a pathway to get vertical. And what he's gonna do here is work back towards the middle of the field. That may seem a little counterintuitive to work back into the defender. What he's doing is what we call holding the numbers, creating space to the sideline to give his quarterback room to drop in the ball. And then he's gonna look back, locate the ball. What that does too is it slows down Sartan, makes him have to turn and try to locate it. And that gives him just enough of an edge to be able to climb back on top of the corner. And you see the space that's still left because of the way he held the numbers, just enough room for the quarterback to drop that ball in. And we'll watch it again uninterrupted. All the little subtleties, all the little details, give him that edge. And you look at the frustration from Sartan, throwing his hands up to his head. You can't do anything better than Sartan did there. And DJ Moore still got the best of him. He put up 100 yards and it touched down on him. The only other receiver to put up 100 yards like that on him was Devonte Adams this year. And he can do it against man. He can also do it against zone. You'll see him here running a dig against the Niners playing cover two. He's gonna sit down in that window. He identifies coverages as well as any receiver. But what's special here is what he can do after the catch. He's in an actual literal pentagon of defenders here. And watch what he's able to do to get out of this. I've never seen a spin move like that. He basically goes to the ground, spins out of this and he turns a modern game into a big play. He is an explosive play machine. Oh yeah, against the number one defense in the NFL. So he's just a big play machine, his ability to get vertical and make plays after the catch. And this is what Justin Fields needed, not just the number one target to help him maximize his abilities, but it also has an organization for the Bears. Now you can really truly evaluate what you have at quarterback and fields. Because with the lack of talent around him, you couldn't really fully evaluate him as a passer last year either. Nobody really stepped up and DJ Moore, I love his game, you love his game. We, you and I have worked together for seven years now, always saying like he's so unheralded and underrated. I like that for him though. And I like that for him going to Chicago to sort of sneak attack on everybody. The big playability, if you look at it, he's been in the league for a bit, 2018. He ranks fifth among receivers in explosive plays in that time, which is really amazing. And then, yeah, there you go. Anything else be good? No, I'm excited to, I'm excited to see it. I'm excited to see if the Bears excited for fields. I know Bears fans have been waiting for a receiver like this probably since Brandon Marshall. So it's going to be a fun time in Chicago this year. Hamilton, don't undersell it. The Bears didn't have a single receiver go over 500 yards last season. Now they have Moore and Claypool and Mooney and Fields is going to rock out. They're going to the Super Bowl! Final four style, we'll be back on the Pan Ams. It's off launch on our new studio here in Los Angeles. Beautiful, rainy, Seattle, California. All right, new studio looking good, says Paige. Paige probably loves it. We're talking about D.G. More and that Chicago fit. And then, Hey Hey says, great job Maya. New studio looks amazing. Definitely not like that Pirates ride. The boring Pirates ride, Matt Hamilton. As we bring Hammy into the mixer, this desk is entirely too big for me. I look like an ant man. Hammy. Paul Rudd. Yeah, a shout out to Paul Rudd. It's pretty cool though, huh? Yeah, it is. It looks beautiful. And I don't know, I don't know what I feel about all that change in the Pirates ride. I have good memories, at least with the one in Florida. Have you been on the ride? My brother is a kid, so, yeah. Have you been on the ride? When I was a kid, I enjoyed it, but it's been a while. There's like nothing special. A couple of drops, but it's in the dark. And then you're like, all right. And then it's just like skeletons. And then you just see like mock-ups and Johnny Depp. And you're just like, this isn't, this is. And I think technology has come such a long way. Like there's this new Mickey ride. And you're just like, what's real and what's not. It's actually terrifying. Like it's the Jeep, whatever the chat, the AI stuff. I was like, is this what this is? Like am I in this, like, am I in the matrix? What's going on? Cause you can't actually tell what's real and what's not. Yeah, that's true. Technology does have a way of putting things like that. Making things like that like terrible. Did you watch Succession? I did, did you? I did, I watched it. Listen, you parents out there, I got a lot of things to say. And that's my current obsession. Here's my current obsession. Is it trying to understand, when do, when do parents watch Succession? How could you possibly, Maya, come over here. Come and provide everybody. How could you, my current obsession is Maya. Can, there we go. Maya Kay, come over here. Because we had the best time in California. Come up here. Jump up here. Anything you wanna say to everybody before you leave? Do you wanna move here? Yes. Yay, move to rainy California. Okay, so bye everybody, have a good weekend. Bye. Bye.