The Sports Reverends - Season 24/25 - Episode 8 - PERCEPTION vs. REALITY!

[00:00:13] Welcome to the Sports Reverends Podcast. My name is Dan. I'm joined with my big bro. We know him also as The Coach. He is a coach on the basketball court. He's also a coach in the stock markets. And I am a minister downtown Toronto. I'm also a chaplain for Toronto Fire. And we have a special show for you today. You know, lots of shows. They will give you something to take away.

[00:00:43] Our takeaway for you is something very special. Something probably different than most shows. We're going to point you to the source that has helped us through all of our problems. And our hope is that it will help you as well. You know, you're going to hear some hot sports takes, some pretty high analysis sports takes. But the most important part is what you'll hear is our unapologetic faith through the lens of sports.

[00:01:09] And that's going to be a source for you. That's going to help you in every area of your life. That's what we can promise. That's what we can guarantee. That's our experience. Coach, before we dive in and you tell us about the show, how are you doing?

[00:01:26] Great! I'm... We're coming up to a couple days of vacation for here for the end of the week. So I'm pretty stoked for that. We're having an actual fall versus Winnipeg where it's probably going to be freezing. Things are great, man. Things are great.

[00:01:39] How about you? How was your... How was things looking on your end? Anything exciting coming up?

[00:01:46] Well, it's been a challenging little while for me. It's been a couple of challenging seasons at the church. I've had a couple other annoyances. I hurt my foot on Monday. I don't know if it was basketball or from a dog jumping on me, which is embarrassing.

[00:02:03] I don't know if it was from working out. I don't know. It just woke up the next morning and it was swollen and it felt like it was fractured. But it's been about a week now and it's like way significantly better.

[00:02:14] So that's been good. Then I got... I'm feeling sick now.

[00:02:18] Yeah, it was pretty fat. And now I'm sick. So I'm fighting all these things, but nothing's going to take away my joy.

[00:02:25] And all things are good. You know, things are overall good. Just these things are trying to be annoyances for me.

[00:02:30] So that's the truth. You know, I want to be truthful here on this podcast.

[00:02:33] There we go.

[00:02:34] So what's exciting is Christmas. Like we're big time in Christmas planning and we're we got lots of fun stuff going on to bless our community from turkey giveaways to to hot chocolate nights and caroling and all that kind of thing.

[00:02:47] So a kid's toy drive is a big one. But yes, why don't you give give our people the rundown of our show today?

[00:02:54] Here we go. As always, you're off with a few quick hitters. We are going to talk week NFL eight reactions quickly.

[00:03:01] I think we were waiting for one more game. But so far, sports are looking like we're going to be three and we're going to say four and one.

[00:03:11] I think I think we're gonna go four and one. Because Pittsburgh still be playing with time of recording. So that's pretty good.

[00:03:17] We'll talk about our sports as five for the following week who we think you should be looking at.

[00:03:22] We're going to definitely talk some NBA. We finished our tiered list and now we're going to see where people are standing after the first week.

[00:03:28] And then for the real talk, I recently watched that Transformers one movie.

[00:03:33] So this is why I titled it more than meets the eye.

[00:03:36] We're talking about perception in sports and perception and faith.

[00:03:40] So let's get rolling. Why don't you start us off with our quick hitter news?

[00:03:44] All right. Salvador Perez of the KC Royals wins the Roberto Clemente Award for the player whose humanitarian efforts exemplify off the field service.

[00:03:57] Starting off with a good one. I like it.

[00:03:59] Bad news for Manchester United fans or good news, depending on how you feel.

[00:04:03] Eric Ken Hogg was let go after losing to West Ham over the weekend.

[00:04:07] It's about time. It's about time. OK, let them go. Let them go.

[00:04:13] The New York Rangers, Alexi Lafreniere, signs a seven year, $52.15 million contract.

[00:04:21] Wow. Winnipeg Blue Bombers, our hometown Blue Bombers, have clinched the top spot in the CFL.

[00:04:26] West Division. After a slow start. Good for them. Yes. Yeah.

[00:04:32] Ferraris, Carlos Sanz won the Mexico Grand Prix. Sorry if I pronounced that wrong.

[00:04:40] I know you're a big F1 fan, so thanks for jumping in that one.

[00:04:43] I think it is cool. I just need to like I don't know if I have time or capacity to watch any more sports.

[00:04:51] All right. Let's handle some business. Did you know that we are now Amazon Affiliates?

[00:04:57] Yes, that's true. So you can actually click a link that's going to be in our description.

[00:05:01] It's going to have a list of all the different items that when you can buy, everyone buys from Amazon.

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[00:05:32] Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. So we had for our five from last week at Baltimore, Detroit, Casey, Pittsburgh and Miami.

[00:05:41] Baltimore won, Detroit won, Casey won.

[00:05:44] No, Baltimore lost.

[00:05:45] Lost. Oh, dude, that's I asked you this. We said won. Baltimore lost. That's why.

[00:05:50] Three and two. I think we ended up three and two.

[00:05:54] Yeah, that Baltimore team. Anyways, Baltimore lost Detroit.

[00:05:59] Casey, Pittsburgh's playing the Monday nighter.

[00:06:02] After this week, I don't know if we can say there's any locks at this point for this piece this week.

[00:06:06] It's been kind of nuts. And the Dolphins lost.

[00:06:10] But the most important game of the entire week was the Sunday nighter.

[00:06:17] For those of you who know who we are in real life or those of you who've been longtime watchers of the show,

[00:06:24] you know that Daniel is a penultimate boys fan.

[00:06:31] He loves the Cowboys with all of his heart.

[00:06:34] And unfortunately, even though they're America's team, they still cannot beat my San Francisco 49ers.

[00:06:42] So we had a, I think, a gentleman's wager. No, not even a gentleman's wager.

[00:06:47] We had a real wager where we went back and decided whoever lost would take a nice big whiff of the smelling salts

[00:06:55] and wear the losing team's hat or the winning team's hat for the next show.

[00:07:02] So we didn't have a chance to exchange hats. That'll happen.

[00:07:04] So if next pod.

[00:07:05] Maybe we'll do both next pod. We'll do both next pod.

[00:07:08] Okay, we'll do both next pod. That's fine.

[00:07:09] But, you know, I would imagine the smelling salts could help clear that cold.

[00:07:14] You never know.

[00:07:16] Maybe.

[00:07:16] Give it a shot off air. Give it a shot off air and see how it goes.

[00:07:19] But, so, you know, I think we've done pretty decent in the last couple of weeks.

[00:07:25] Let's take a look at who's playing this upcoming week in week number nine

[00:07:30] and pick five that we're going to say are locks to take the dub.

[00:07:35] How does that sound?

[00:07:36] Are you going to let me actually pick any this week?

[00:07:39] Sure. Since you, since you're a little spicy from losing, I'll let you pick.

[00:07:42] Why don't you start a spicy from losing?

[00:07:45] And you know what?

[00:07:46] I hope what people can take away from it is that I'm still loyal to my team,

[00:07:50] even though I knew we were going to lose.

[00:07:53] It was set up for us to lose.

[00:07:54] And our year is just a horrible year.

[00:07:57] But I'm not going to ever back down.

[00:07:59] You know, I'm going to take the bet every time.

[00:08:01] Go Cowboys.

[00:08:02] Okay.

[00:08:03] Week nine.

[00:08:03] We're into week nine.

[00:08:05] Season's flying by.

[00:08:07] Why don't you go first and then we can go back and forth.

[00:08:10] Yeah.

[00:08:11] Okay.

[00:08:13] I'm going to go with a Thursday nighter.

[00:08:15] Houston over New York.

[00:08:17] Even though the Jets are at home, I think it's a functional, dysfunctional mess over there.

[00:08:22] I think CJ Stroud comes in and just takes it to him.

[00:08:27] Takes it to him.

[00:08:29] What do you think?

[00:08:30] No, the Jets.

[00:08:31] The Jets are desperate.

[00:08:32] They're desperate.

[00:08:33] If they lose this game, it's just their margin for error last week was already massive for the rest of their season.

[00:08:42] They have no more margin for error.

[00:08:44] So they have to win.

[00:08:46] But Nico Collins, I believe, is coming back.

[00:08:48] But they probably lost Stefan Diggs.

[00:08:51] This is a tough one.

[00:08:53] This is a tough one.

[00:08:53] Jets at home.

[00:08:55] Can we table that?

[00:08:57] I can't.

[00:08:58] I can't.

[00:08:59] All right.

[00:08:59] Because I had the huge take about the Jets becoming a playoff team.

[00:09:03] And I'm not ready to give that up yet.

[00:09:06] I think a lot of people are not ready.

[00:09:07] It's okay.

[00:09:08] All right.

[00:09:09] All right.

[00:09:09] We'll table this one.

[00:09:10] How will you give us one that you're thinking about?

[00:09:13] Okay.

[00:09:14] Let's go.

[00:09:15] Let's go with the bounce back with Baltimore over Denver.

[00:09:19] I don't think Baltimore is going to get embarrassed again as they did losing to Jameis Winston.

[00:09:24] Good for him.

[00:09:25] Great that he galvanized that team and all that.

[00:09:29] And Baltimore played, you know, Lamar Jackson played good in the fourth quarter.

[00:09:34] But they're probably going to roll these Denver Broncos, I think, because they're that good.

[00:09:38] They're at home.

[00:09:39] They're at home.

[00:09:40] Home, bounce back.

[00:09:41] Yeah, I'm going to go Baltimore.

[00:09:42] What do you think?

[00:09:43] Let's take it.

[00:09:44] I like it.

[00:09:45] I like that.

[00:09:45] I know Bo Nix has been getting better week over week, but they don't have enough weapons

[00:09:51] to outscore Baltimore and their defense.

[00:09:54] I don't think can keep them under wraps again for a second week.

[00:09:58] So I'm going to go with Baltimore on that one.

[00:10:03] Okay, Baltimore.

[00:10:04] Lock it in.

[00:10:05] Yeah, we'll lock in Baltimore.

[00:10:06] How about this one?

[00:10:09] Washington Commanders.

[00:10:11] At the lowly New York Giants.

[00:10:14] Yeah.

[00:10:14] I'm thinking Washington.

[00:10:16] Division of games.

[00:10:18] Yeah.

[00:10:19] After pulling it out against the Bears with that Hail Mary, I'm thinking they can keep the

[00:10:25] momentum going.

[00:10:26] They're 6-2.

[00:10:27] Yeah.

[00:10:28] Who would have thunk it?

[00:10:29] 6-2.

[00:10:30] It's really hard to take anything New York Giants right now.

[00:10:35] Yeah, I'm with you.

[00:10:36] Let's go.

[00:10:36] Let's go Washington Commanders.

[00:10:39] Jaden Daniels.

[00:10:41] The Hail Mary walk-off touchdown is absolutely unbelievable.

[00:10:47] With like broken ribs.

[00:10:49] Good for him.

[00:10:51] Scary for that division.

[00:10:53] Oh, yeah.

[00:10:54] Oh, yeah.

[00:10:54] Do you think Call of Duty is going to make an impact this week?

[00:11:00] Yeah.

[00:11:01] So, Arizona won last week by a very short margin, which I think we talked about and we, I think,

[00:11:12] went against.

[00:11:12] But we didn't put it in our contest, right?

[00:11:16] Yeah.

[00:11:17] Yeah.

[00:11:18] I think Chicago is going to come back.

[00:11:20] They had a tough one as well.

[00:11:23] Last week in week eight.

[00:11:25] Yeah.

[00:11:25] I'm going Chicago over Arizona.

[00:11:27] Call of Duty has officially fully released.

[00:11:31] And it's going to be challenging for Kyler to focus.

[00:11:34] In his contract, he has to put in time in the playbook.

[00:11:39] Like, that's embarrassing.

[00:11:40] That's your franchise quarterback.

[00:11:42] I mean, okay.

[00:11:43] Here's the thing about that, though.

[00:11:45] We don't know how many other QBs have that.

[00:11:48] It just slipped out that he has that.

[00:11:51] So, it could be a more common thing than we know.

[00:11:54] We don't really know.

[00:11:56] I'm going to say, I know, I'm just trying to offend the poor guy.

[00:12:00] I'm going to say Chicago bounces back as well.

[00:12:02] I think Caleb will have a much more consistent game.

[00:12:08] And I think playing at Arizona will give them the sunny side of things.

[00:12:14] So, I'm going with Chicago with you as well.

[00:12:17] Okay.

[00:12:17] I'm going to take, you want a challenging one or I think a layup?

[00:12:23] Let's go with a challenging one.

[00:12:26] I like it.

[00:12:26] I want to take a step on a limb here.

[00:12:28] Two of the hottest teams, division rivals, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers.

[00:12:34] I'm taking the red hot Detroit Lions.

[00:12:38] Put up a 50 burger against the red hot Packers at home.

[00:12:42] And I'm going to say, yeah, assuming this is difficult because Jordan Love,

[00:12:47] we don't know his status exactly.

[00:12:49] But I'm assuming everyone's healthy.

[00:12:51] But I'm taking the Lions as they kind of put their foot down as top dogs in the NFC.

[00:13:01] They threw down the gauntlet.

[00:13:03] They really did.

[00:13:06] Because Drew's not here, we definitely have to go against the Packers.

[00:13:11] Lock it in, Detroit.

[00:13:13] Boom.

[00:13:14] I love it.

[00:13:14] I love it.

[00:13:16] Why don't you give us your layup?

[00:13:18] Let's see your layup.

[00:13:19] What was your layup?

[00:13:20] Yeah, I think this might be more people will rate this game closer.

[00:13:25] But I'm taking the LA Rams over the Seattle Seahawks.

[00:13:29] Interesting.

[00:13:30] As Seattle has been abysmal the last few weeks.

[00:13:34] There's also a lot of dysfunction there.

[00:13:36] They kind of have the same similar problem as the Cowboys with their coaching staff.

[00:13:42] They cried about Pete Carroll.

[00:13:45] They cried about, you know, he's too old.

[00:13:47] He's too stuck in his ways.

[00:13:49] And now look, their crowd isn't even the 12th man or whatever it is.

[00:13:55] Yeah.

[00:13:56] And yeah, I'm going.

[00:13:57] The Rams, they're hot.

[00:13:59] They got their boys back.

[00:14:01] Puka Nakua.

[00:14:03] Cooper Cup.

[00:14:04] Kyron Williams.

[00:14:06] Matt Stafford is really good.

[00:14:07] He's really good still.

[00:14:09] And so, yeah.

[00:14:10] Going Rams.

[00:14:11] What do you think?

[00:14:11] If you're the Rams, if you're the Rams, you can't be thinking about trading Cooper Cup right now.

[00:14:16] There's no way.

[00:14:17] There's no way.

[00:14:20] I really like your Rams take.

[00:14:23] I'm also partial to the take because I have Matthew Stafford starting for me next week.

[00:14:27] So I need him to be incredible.

[00:14:30] But Puka looked great.

[00:14:32] Coming off, being off for a couple weeks, like he looked really, like he hadn't missed a beat.

[00:14:38] He hadn't missed a beat.

[00:14:39] And Stafford was just, boom, finding him, finding him, finding him.

[00:14:43] We're seeing this trend of quarterbacks, you know, going back and looking at old guys.

[00:14:48] Stafford's turned back the clock.

[00:14:49] Tom Brady turned back the clock a while back.

[00:14:51] And I like Stafford.

[00:14:53] I think he's a great quarterback.

[00:14:54] And I like this matchup.

[00:14:56] And I think they're going to, I think they're going to crush him.

[00:14:59] I think they're going to crush him.

[00:14:59] Two TDs.

[00:15:00] They win by two TDs.

[00:15:01] That's my guess.

[00:15:02] All right.

[00:15:02] Give us our five locks.

[00:15:04] All right.

[00:15:05] Our five locks.

[00:15:06] Sports Reverend five.

[00:15:07] We got Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, and the LA Rams.

[00:15:15] Let's go.

[00:15:15] We need a five in a week.

[00:15:17] Five-0 bagel, baby.

[00:15:18] We need a bagel.

[00:15:19] We need a bagel in the lost column.

[00:15:21] Okay.

[00:15:22] Fun week in the NFL.

[00:15:24] I think this is actually one of probably the most entertaining seasons in a while.

[00:15:28] Yes.

[00:15:29] It feels like there's a lot of good teams, a lot of upsets week over week.

[00:15:32] And it's a, even if, cause I'm, I'm, I'm a, I'm a big neutral fan and I like a lot of the games that I'm watching.

[00:15:39] And yeah, let's go with that.

[00:15:40] Let's get kids.

[00:15:41] Keep rolling here.

[00:15:42] Onto the best part, the best sport I feel.

[00:15:45] And we'll talk about some of the downsides, but later, but NBA, we, I'm so happy.

[00:15:51] It's back.

[00:15:51] I can't believe it's already been a week.

[00:15:53] We had a lot of fun going through the tears.

[00:15:56] And, uh, I'll just ask you this straight up.

[00:15:59] Has any teams surprised you in a good or bad way?

[00:16:02] What have you thought?

[00:16:02] Yeah.

[00:16:03] For me, I think one of the biggest surprises was watching the, the Clippers, the Clippers

[00:16:08] in their new stadium with the, the it's, it's awesome to see the place packed and, and the

[00:16:14] stadium actually making a big difference with the wall.

[00:16:17] And it's like a phenomenon and, and James Harden is turning it back and it's playing pretty

[00:16:22] incredibly efficient and getting the other guys involved.

[00:16:26] Norman Powell's playing well.

[00:16:28] And I think they're two in one.

[00:16:30] That's pretty good.

[00:16:31] Like I, with missing Kawhi and, and a couple of their bench pieces too, they're looking

[00:16:36] pretty good.

[00:16:38] Imagine if Kawhi wasn't, you know, we'll get into a little bit later, but imagine if

[00:16:44] he was healthy.

[00:16:44] Yeah.

[00:16:45] You know, surprisingly you had a Durant and Booker come out and said the wall was something

[00:16:51] different, something new and it threw them off.

[00:16:53] Durant, I think missed two free throws in a quarter for the first time in probably forever.

[00:16:58] And I, you know, granted it's probably not going to be something that lasts forever, but

[00:17:05] it's a cool idea and it's a good way to get fans engaged.

[00:17:07] I know Steve Ballmer gets a lot of flack because he's kind of a crazy owner.

[00:17:12] You know, he's, he loves to get in there and dance.

[00:17:14] He just enjoys it, which is awesome.

[00:17:15] But he had some, he's had some really good ideas with the stadium.

[00:17:19] So yeah, I think the Clippers being two in one is, is a bit surprising, not necessarily

[00:17:24] in a bad way.

[00:17:24] I think Golden State being two in one was, you know, I think they're missing clay, but

[00:17:32] I think Kaminga is stepping up and got a guy.

[00:17:34] The guys are going to step up.

[00:17:36] And of course he turned it back again a bit too.

[00:17:39] Yeah.

[00:17:39] Yeah.

[00:17:40] And you have to, you have to think about some of his off season family stuff kind of got

[00:17:44] sorted out.

[00:17:45] He's probably going to be back, back in the fold here.

[00:17:48] Of course the Lakers are three, you know, no one saw that coming.

[00:17:51] Wow.

[00:17:52] Unless you were a diehard Lakers fan.

[00:17:54] The dude can coach.

[00:17:57] The dude can coach.

[00:17:59] And I don't mean that in a bad way.

[00:18:02] I think he kind of got a bad rap because he had some poor off season interactions with

[00:18:09] reporters and stuff like that.

[00:18:11] And obviously this LeBron James stuff, he's got to defend LeBron, LeBron James.

[00:18:16] So, but he, he can coach and he's got the moving the ball in a, in a much different

[00:18:20] way than Darvin Ham has, which is surprising.

[00:18:23] Absolutely.

[00:18:24] Like their spacing has been, how is it so much better already?

[00:18:28] Than what it was ever with Darvin Ham.

[00:18:30] I was not, I was never down on Darvin Ham, but JJ Reddix really elevated them.

[00:18:35] I'm very pleasantly surprised.

[00:18:38] I love that.

[00:18:39] He just loves the game of basketball and he, he's just into no, none of the, the Hollywood

[00:18:46] style of stuff.

[00:18:47] It's just, this is what you got to do.

[00:18:48] If you want to win.

[00:18:49] No, no feed 80 LeBron, do your thing, but 80, you're the guy spread the ball, spread

[00:18:55] the space.

[00:18:56] Boom.

[00:18:57] Boom.

[00:18:57] It's a good recipe.

[00:18:59] If, if he can stay healthy, I think Davis can stay healthy.

[00:19:04] They will be in the top six at this rate, but I don't think he can.

[00:19:10] So that's fine.

[00:19:12] Flipping, flipping to the East.

[00:19:15] Boston is where Boston is.

[00:19:17] So no problems there.

[00:19:18] Three, you know, they crushed the Knicks on opening night.

[00:19:21] Raising the 18th banner.

[00:19:24] Do you see that?

[00:19:25] That's it.

[00:19:26] Yeah, that was, it was, it was, it was breathtaking in the way that they just first game of the

[00:19:33] season, put foot to throat against a division rival and a rival who's supposed to challenge

[00:19:38] them for top spot in the East.

[00:19:41] Like they just sent a message.

[00:19:43] They sent a message.

[00:19:46] How are you?

[00:19:46] Anybody in the, in, in the East that kind of caught your eye?

[00:19:49] The East.

[00:19:51] You know, I am a little surprised with the Atlanta Hawks.

[00:19:55] You know, Trey Young looks like he is like swole.

[00:20:00] Like he has gotten stronger.

[00:20:02] He's kind of gotten to that Steph Curry when he, he knew Steph needed to get bigger and stronger.

[00:20:07] He's kind of gotten to that size and, and it's really helped him, I think with finishing

[00:20:11] near the hoop and taking a lot.

[00:20:13] He takes a lot of contact.

[00:20:14] I know he flops a lot, but he also takes a lot of contact because he's small and he's

[00:20:19] kind of really elevated.

[00:20:20] I'm very surprised.

[00:20:21] Maybe the, the shift of DeJounte Murray moving away has given him the role of really being

[00:20:27] the true point guard, which I think has been his.

[00:20:29] Yeah.

[00:20:30] I think also a lot of people blame him for the trade and they're not working out.

[00:20:35] So that's probably a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

[00:20:37] I think Atlanta, yeah, Atlanta looks really good.

[00:20:40] Although they have a minus five differential, which is not the greatest stat to have.

[00:20:44] I'll be honest.

[00:20:45] The Raptors sitting at eight spot with one and two surprises me because all the

[00:20:50] injuries.

[00:20:51] True.

[00:20:52] You and I both talked with us off, off camera.

[00:20:54] I expect him to start all in five.

[00:20:57] And so for even then to have one win right now, 40 more to go.

[00:21:02] If they can reach 40 wins, they're definitely in the playing spot for sure.

[00:21:07] I think if you take away two starters from your team and three key role bench players, you're

[00:21:13] going to struggle.

[00:21:14] So yeah, exactly right.

[00:21:15] For the fact that they won.

[00:21:17] That's, that's impressive.

[00:21:19] They, they got the nuggets Monday night here that we're recording right before they, they

[00:21:22] play.

[00:21:23] Jamal Murray in town is always special for Canada, but RJ Barrett's apparently coming

[00:21:27] back.

[00:21:27] So we'll see, we'll see how they do.

[00:21:29] They, they, I think they have the best encouraging thing about them is the play of Grady Dick.

[00:21:35] He has really become a solidified starter so far.

[00:21:41] He doesn't make mistakes.

[00:21:43] And, and I like, I like him on both sides of the floor, defensive end and, and obviously

[00:21:47] doing more than just shooting threes.

[00:21:49] I like him.

[00:21:50] He's made a lot of strides that people probably thought he'd probably make in his second or

[00:21:55] third and fourth year.

[00:21:56] He's attacking, he's attacking the rim.

[00:21:59] He's confidently taking shots if, if he's not open or not, give him a little space.

[00:22:04] He's, he's flying where last year he was really hesitant and on a defensive end.

[00:22:08] Yeah.

[00:22:09] He's not going to be a ball hawking three and D kind of guy.

[00:22:12] He's not, he's just at least not yet, but he's, he's making the right reads.

[00:22:17] He's getting the right position and when he's beat, he's communicating and find the other

[00:22:21] help spots.

[00:22:22] So I think those are all very big development, developmental cues for him.

[00:22:27] And if he can carry that for a whole season, it'll be a huge bonus for the Raptors.

[00:22:34] Huge bonus for the Raptors.

[00:22:36] Last one, or I guess second last one before we, we clock out of this one, Milwaukee one

[00:22:41] and two, they haven't looked great.

[00:22:42] There's already, already trade rumors about what OKC could offer to Milwaukee for Giannis.

[00:22:50] Expect that to intensify if Milwaukee just doesn't start clicking.

[00:22:53] I think they're going to have a lot of, a lot of trouble because Cleveland is doing really

[00:22:58] well.

[00:22:58] A hundred percent.

[00:22:59] OKC.

[00:23:00] We, I know you mentioned them first.

[00:23:02] They look unbelievable.

[00:23:02] I don't know if they need anything right now.

[00:23:05] Like it's just, it's pretty, pretty wild how good they look.

[00:23:08] Like Milwaukee absolutely is in trouble if they're really relying on Middleton to be

[00:23:13] this huge changing force.

[00:23:16] I think that's going to be a struggle for them.

[00:23:18] I think Middleton can get healthy and give you some for the playoffs, but this regular

[00:23:23] season, it's a grind and they got to add some more shooting.

[00:23:27] They got to add another.

[00:23:28] I think they have to add another three and D defensive guard.

[00:23:32] That's going to pair with Damian Lillard better.

[00:23:34] Most likely should have kept true holiday.

[00:24:04] Yeah.

[00:24:06] He's owned Portland coming into Milwaukee.

[00:24:10] He has that, he has that cache as, you know, dollar Dame, but Giannis is the one who's got

[00:24:17] the ring.

[00:24:18] So I think there's some alpha and alpha stuff they got to figure out still.

[00:24:23] I love when we talk about a team and it'll connect you to another team.

[00:24:27] I'll throw this out for you.

[00:24:28] So the bucks maybe, so maybe you're correct on the drew holiday and Dame comparison, but

[00:24:34] what about Mike Budenholzer?

[00:24:36] You know, he has totally that doc Rivers is a defensive coach.

[00:24:41] That's what it is.

[00:24:42] You know, Mike Budenholzer spreads the floor.

[00:24:44] They let threes fly.

[00:24:45] Let's look at the Phoenix suns, the coach of the Phoenix suns, Mike Budenholzer, how the

[00:24:50] team has changed.

[00:24:51] And they, they spaced the floor really well.

[00:24:54] The Tyus Jones has been a, just a concrete pillar for them for not turning the ball over

[00:25:00] and moving the ball.

[00:25:01] They're looking really good.

[00:25:03] They're looking really good.

[00:25:05] And I will say this.

[00:25:06] I think, I think Mike Budenholzer was the coach when Atlanta had four guys go to the all-star

[00:25:11] game.

[00:25:12] I believe you're right.

[00:25:13] Yeah.

[00:25:14] Right.

[00:25:14] That's right.

[00:25:14] So it could be a case of over tweaking for Milwaukee.

[00:25:21] This could be a problem.

[00:25:22] The last team before we go back for round two of some business is the Philadelphia 76ers.

[00:25:30] Do you think they have some bad juju from talking about taking breaks all season?

[00:25:36] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:25:37] I feel horrible for Nick Nurse.

[00:25:40] I feel horrible for Kyle Lowry for choosing back to go to Philly, to go to his hometown team.

[00:25:47] And, you know, they're in a very horrible predicament because if a player is not ready to go to work,

[00:25:55] you know, he's not going to be all the sports science talk about the more you play, it gets

[00:26:02] your body ready for the intensity of the playoffs, not taking time off.

[00:26:07] So I don't know.

[00:26:09] Joel Embiid is going to already said, already said he's not playing back to backs.

[00:26:13] Paul George, who knows where he's going to be at?

[00:26:15] Like, I think Tyrese Maxey is an absolute dog.

[00:26:17] He's playing so well, but he's not going to be an alpha for you.

[00:26:22] Yeah.

[00:26:23] He's not that guy yet.

[00:26:25] He could be one day.

[00:26:27] He could be.

[00:26:27] Yeah.

[00:26:27] Yeah.

[00:26:28] He could.

[00:26:28] He's, he's nasty, but him and Paul George together even would be a great push.

[00:26:34] But, you know, you need, you need your MVP.

[00:26:37] So.

[00:26:37] You need your MVP.

[00:26:38] Yeah.

[00:26:39] But we'll see.

[00:26:41] We will see what happens.

[00:26:42] And the season is still young.

[00:26:46] Very young.

[00:26:47] Three games in for both for mostly for everybody, except for a few odd teams here and there.

[00:26:52] But we'll see.

[00:26:53] We'll see.

[00:26:54] Maybe next week you can look at the race for Cooper Flagg and look at some of these bottom

[00:26:59] feeder teams.

[00:27:01] That's so early, but okay.

[00:27:02] I like it.

[00:27:02] I like it.

[00:27:04] Okay.

[00:27:05] Let's, let's talk some business roundup in a commercial number two here into train to

[00:27:09] invest.

[00:27:10] As Daniel talked about in the opening soliloquy, I am not only a coach in the basketball court,

[00:27:16] but I'm also a coach in the financial world.

[00:27:18] What train to invest offers is a course that is meant to educate you and take the guesswork

[00:27:24] out of trading in the stock market.

[00:27:27] So visit our website, www.train2invest.com.

[00:27:32] www.train2invest.com.

[00:27:36] And download the free ebook.

[00:27:38] It's written in a way for novices and amateurs to read.

[00:27:42] And if you have questions, reach out.

[00:27:44] We would love to connect with you and see if what we do is a fit to help you get and meet

[00:27:50] your financial goals.

[00:27:51] Whether you're looking for sending your kids to university or a trade school, maybe buying

[00:27:57] that lake house that you've had your eye on or a boat, or just preparing for your financial

[00:28:03] future for retirement that's coming up in the next couple of years.

[00:28:09] We are here to help you be successful, turning from a novice into an expert trader, cutting

[00:28:15] out the middleman and maximizing your ability to generate returns.

[00:28:20] So check out our website, give the ebook a read, www.train2invest.com.

[00:28:26] And we look forward to hearing from you and connecting with you and helping you meet all

[00:28:30] of your financial goals.

[00:28:32] Okay, we finished off with some business and now it's time for my favorite part of the

[00:28:36] podcast.

[00:28:37] And one of the reasons why we are really doing this is to have a talk about real talk.

[00:28:43] And like I mentioned before, I titled this more than meets the eye.

[00:28:50] I watched a Transformers one movie, phenomenal movie if you haven't seen it, good time and

[00:28:54] good vibes.

[00:28:55] But we're talking about the perception.

[00:28:59] And when it comes to the sports world, success looks like wins and losses, but you always

[00:29:08] have this, for example, in basketball, if a guy doesn't win a ring, does he deserve to be

[00:29:13] in the top 50?

[00:29:15] Is he better than somebody who isn't?

[00:29:16] Or a Stanley Cup or a Vince Lombardi trophy?

[00:29:20] Success is defined in all sorts of ways.

[00:29:22] But, you know, we talk about the GOAT debate.

[00:29:27] Michael James.

[00:29:29] Michael Jordan fans will always say he's six for six.

[00:29:33] Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

[00:29:34] Michael Jeffrey Jordan, yeah.

[00:29:35] And LeBron James is only four for ten.

[00:29:38] Right?

[00:29:39] And, you know.

[00:29:40] So we're talking about perception more than meets the eye.

[00:29:43] Anyway, why don't you drop some knowledge for us and talk about your favorite topic, the

[00:29:51] WNBA.

[00:29:52] Now, don't switch the channel.

[00:29:53] All right?

[00:29:54] We just said WNBA.

[00:29:55] Because that's what's been happening.

[00:29:56] Okay?

[00:29:57] The media, all the mainstream media has pushed the WNBA content as the super successful,

[00:30:08] growing, amazing business.

[00:30:10] They talk about the number, a $200 million revenue.

[00:30:15] Well, with my finance brother here, when you talk about revenue, it all matters when

[00:30:21] you talk more about profit.

[00:30:23] Now, they released that the profit of the WNBA is at a negative $50 million deficit.

[00:30:34] And that's not, I believe that's not even including the $15 million subsidy of the NBA.

[00:30:40] It doesn't include that the NBA is actually taking care of 50% of the league and the other

[00:30:46] 12 teams of the league make up the other 50%.

[00:30:50] So really, it's a larger deficit.

[00:30:53] But minus $5-0 million.

[00:30:57] And the whole perception of it is that this whole WNBA has been taken off.

[00:31:02] It's incredible.

[00:31:03] The stadiums are full.

[00:31:05] Well, Caitlin Clarks is.

[00:31:06] But the rest of the league is struggling.

[00:31:09] I saw a clip.

[00:31:10] I tried to watch a little bit of the WNBA finals.

[00:31:14] I did.

[00:31:15] I tried.

[00:31:15] This is the top two teams.

[00:31:17] And there was a five-minute sequence where it looked like high school basketball.

[00:31:25] Not even the best high school basketball.

[00:31:28] It looks like Winnipeg, Manitoba, high school AAA basketball.

[00:31:33] That's what it looked like.

[00:31:35] So that's the idea of perception that we're talking about here.

[00:31:40] It's interesting because the WNBA has never made a profit.

[00:31:43] But it's interesting that, you know, Caitlin Clark comes on the scene.

[00:31:48] And she has obviously brought a lot of fan attention.

[00:31:52] Right?

[00:31:52] And we can't deny that.

[00:31:54] But they're still focusing on Angel Reese.

[00:31:56] I don't know what she has done other than complain.

[00:32:02] The WNBA doesn't even pay my rent.

[00:32:04] She's got $8,000 per month of rent.

[00:32:07] You're living beyond your means, young lady.

[00:32:09] Like, give me a break.

[00:32:11] Give me a break.

[00:32:12] And so this perception of success in the WNBA.

[00:32:16] Go on.

[00:32:17] I was just going to say, she does have her outside signings of Reebok, I believe,

[00:32:22] and all that stuff.

[00:32:23] She's probably living within her means in that sense.

[00:32:25] But outside the salary of the WNBA for her, yes,

[00:32:30] she is living outside of her means.

[00:32:32] For someone who plays basketball for four months of the year,

[00:32:36] and when people are struggling with rising mortgage payments,

[00:32:39] rising food costs, inflation, and free to go out there,

[00:32:41] it's just so tone deaf.

[00:32:43] It's so tone deaf and ridiculous.

[00:32:46] And so this perception that it's everybody in the WNBA, like you said,

[00:32:51] stadiums are full.

[00:32:51] No, people just want to see Caitlin Clark.

[00:32:54] Right?

[00:32:55] And yes, yes, the WNBA finals got more eyeballs than ever.

[00:33:00] But that's, you know, who cares?

[00:33:03] Cheryl Miller was talking about $2 billion not big enough of a TV deal.

[00:33:08] No, Cheryl Swoops was talking about that.

[00:33:11] Oh, Swoops.

[00:33:11] Cheryl Swoops.

[00:33:12] Yeah, sorry.

[00:33:13] Yes.

[00:33:13] Cheryl Swoops.

[00:33:14] Sorry.

[00:33:15] I like Cheryl Miller.

[00:33:16] She, Reggie Miller, she's probably the goat of women's basketball.

[00:33:19] Cheryl Swoops I have a big problem with.

[00:33:20] That's why I know it for sure.

[00:33:21] Yeah, sorry.

[00:33:22] My bad.

[00:33:24] She had the curly hair.

[00:33:25] I think it's kind of threw me off a little bit.

[00:33:28] But, you know, $2 billion was not enough to watch the WNBA.

[00:33:33] It should numbers should start with an eight.

[00:33:34] Are you crazy right now?

[00:33:36] Who is paying $8 billion for a league that doesn't win and make any money?

[00:33:40] Indiana Fever fired their coach.

[00:33:41] Like, it's this idea of it being a successful league is totally false.

[00:33:48] Yes, they probably have the best women basketball players overall playing in that league.

[00:33:53] For sure.

[00:33:55] But it doesn't mean it's great basketball.

[00:33:57] It doesn't mean that I'm going to pay $200 to sit in the lower bowl and watch a WNBA game.

[00:34:05] I'll tell you my bigger issue with this.

[00:34:08] You know, they all have the heartbeat to say that it's about equality for women and opportunity for women.

[00:34:17] But yet their heartbeat, their actions do not show that at all.

[00:34:25] They are more pro trans athletes joining the WNBA than stepping up and saying, no, women's rights and women should have equality.

[00:34:36] And I think that's where they are totally tone deaf.

[00:34:39] They're totally off in their statistics and in their history.

[00:34:42] And if they decided, I really believe they can build this product.

[00:34:46] I think a market like Toronto would be great for the WNBA.

[00:34:51] Toronto will be loyal to the WNBA.

[00:34:53] And Toronto is loyal to the new women's hockey league that started.

[00:34:59] Yes.

[00:34:59] Yeah, big time.

[00:35:00] And they play in the old Toronto Stadium.

[00:35:03] I think that's where TMU now plays.

[00:35:06] That's their home gym.

[00:35:07] And they do well.

[00:35:09] They fill it out.

[00:35:10] It's about 5,000 seats.

[00:35:11] And they do well.

[00:35:12] It takes time to build a league, but do it the right way.

[00:35:15] Do it with the right heartbeat.

[00:35:16] And it's such a poor message that they're sending out there.

[00:35:20] Yeah.

[00:35:20] Yeah.

[00:35:21] And because if you're a girl and you're watching the WNBA and you love basketball, it's like, where is somebody championing for me?

[00:35:30] Right?

[00:35:30] Where is somebody saying, I want a safe space for women to play basketball?

[00:35:35] I want an equal playing field.

[00:35:38] You don't hear that.

[00:36:08] Right?

[00:36:09] There's a lot of talent.

[00:36:09] And there's many American.

[00:36:11] Christian Pulisic is out in AC Milan in Italy.

[00:36:15] And he's killing it.

[00:36:17] There's great American players all across the world.

[00:36:20] And now we have Leo Messi in the league.

[00:36:22] Yeah, okay.

[00:36:23] He's a bit older, but he's still incredible.

[00:36:26] You have all these stars who are coming over.

[00:36:30] And yes, towards the end of the year, end of their careers, but they understand that, hey, we're building a legacy here.

[00:36:36] Right?

[00:36:36] The United States has almost 500 million people.

[00:36:41] 450 of them are legally there.

[00:36:45] Right?

[00:36:45] So it's a big fan base, but also a population base to challenge England, France, Germany, and all those other soccer countries.

[00:36:59] Because you've got to be able to think.

[00:37:02] I can probably find 15 people who can play soccer out of 450 million at a high level.

[00:37:09] Right?

[00:37:09] You build it up, you build it up, you build it up.

[00:37:11] And now, you know, I will go watch TFC, even though TFC sucks.

[00:37:16] I'm willing to spend the cash and go see them.

[00:37:19] The product isn't as good as the EPL.

[00:37:21] Yeah, for sure.

[00:37:21] Like, it's not going to be Premier League, but it's getting better.

[00:37:25] It's fan friendly.

[00:37:27] It's not political.

[00:37:29] I'm there to watch the sport.

[00:37:31] Right?

[00:37:32] They have to cultivate that sense of homegrown, get behind your team.

[00:37:41] I think, like you said, Toronto is going to absolutely adore the women's team.

[00:37:46] They're going to sell it out.

[00:37:48] I think they're going to be playing at the Coliseum.

[00:37:50] You know, so it's easy to get to.

[00:37:53] Probably, if they price it right, family friendly.

[00:37:56] That's where you've got to start.

[00:37:57] They'll play at Scotiabank.

[00:37:58] I think they'll play at Scotiabank.

[00:38:01] Maybe not right away.

[00:38:02] Maybe not right away.

[00:38:04] But they can get there.

[00:38:05] Right?

[00:38:06] They can get there.

[00:38:06] You need to build a good experience, a fan experience.

[00:38:11] And it's really hard to have that when you come into an arena and it's 90% empty.

[00:38:19] Right?

[00:38:20] You don't have that same vibe of players being out there, interacting with fans.

[00:38:26] Because the only thing, because let's be honest.

[00:38:29] The perception of WNBA players is that they're whining entitled women who complain about everything.

[00:38:35] Right?

[00:38:36] How many times has somebody come out with a positive message?

[00:38:40] Oh, we don't have private charter jets.

[00:38:44] Wah, wah.

[00:38:46] Tone deaf.

[00:38:47] Just very tone deaf.

[00:38:49] And it's not engaging.

[00:38:50] Right?

[00:38:51] And that's the perception in their mind is that, hey, we're ultimate basketball players.

[00:38:58] Sue Bird is the best basketball player in the entire world.

[00:39:00] Ever.

[00:39:02] Like, give your head a shake.

[00:39:04] Know where you guys are.

[00:39:05] Know who your audience is.

[00:39:08] And try and grow that audience.

[00:39:10] Try and get a good product out there.

[00:39:12] Go into high schools.

[00:39:14] Go into women's universities.

[00:39:16] Go back to your alma mater.

[00:39:19] Right?

[00:39:19] Invest in the game.

[00:39:21] Because at the end of the day, your legacy as a WNBA player isn't going to be that big of a deal.

[00:39:29] But if you can say, hey, I created this charity.

[00:39:33] I invested back into my community.

[00:39:35] I gave back.

[00:39:36] And now, you know, 20 years down the line, the WNBA is this thriving 30-team league, which the NBA is very hands-off of.

[00:39:45] That'd be insane.

[00:39:46] That's the dream.

[00:39:48] But it's this perception that we are amazing, that we are owed this, that the guys get it so we should get it.

[00:39:55] No.

[00:39:55] Absolutely false.

[00:39:57] And if you think that's true, that there should be equal pay, go buy season tickets to the WNBA.

[00:40:06] Go.

[00:40:06] Support them.

[00:40:07] You want to talk about equal pay.

[00:40:08] That means they actually have to pay the organization.

[00:40:12] If they want to get real about it, right?

[00:40:15] They have to pay the organization to be playing basketball.

[00:40:17] That's what equal pay would be.

[00:40:19] Because they're losing money.

[00:40:23] And I know there's people out there who are supporting equal rights.

[00:40:26] And we're not saying don't have equal rights.

[00:40:29] But in this case, we're talking about if you want equality, it has to be done the right way.

[00:40:35] You can't just get it just because you think you deserve it.

[00:40:40] Money, that is.

[00:40:41] Not equality.

[00:40:41] Money, right?

[00:40:42] It's a business.

[00:40:43] The NBA is a sports business.

[00:40:48] WNBA has to run like that too.

[00:40:51] And if Caitlin Clark is the beginning of selling out stadiums, all the more power to her.

[00:40:58] But again, don't be tone deaf.

[00:41:01] You want to engage with your fans.

[00:41:02] You want to build something good.

[00:41:04] You want to earn that title for legacy.

[00:41:07] And so I think that's where perception gets skewered in a very negative way for a lot of people.

[00:41:14] I think we talked enough about the WNBA for today, probably for the month of October.

[00:41:18] Let's also talk about perception of business versus entertainment.

[00:41:25] This is a very interesting one.

[00:41:26] And I think it used to be really applied to the NFL more.

[00:41:32] Because of the non-guaranteed contracts and things like that.

[00:41:35] But I think in the last, let's call it five years, it's really applied to the NBA the most.

[00:41:42] Load management is now the thing.

[00:41:45] The commissioners had to step up and say, hey, if you guys are sitting stars for an indiscriminate reason, you're getting fined.

[00:41:52] I think they find Tim Duncan and the Spurs early off when Pop set them all against Miami.

[00:42:00] That's right.

[00:42:01] They were playing Miami.

[00:42:02] It was supposed to be an epic game.

[00:42:04] And Miami lost that game when the Spurs got set them all.

[00:42:08] That was funny.

[00:42:09] So there's this whole thing where load management, you see Kawhi Leonard is the poster boy of this.

[00:42:16] As you mentioned before, Joel Embiid is no longer playing back-to-backs for forever.

[00:42:20] However, Paul George has said he's not going to play lots of games.

[00:42:26] And they're not even talking about practicing.

[00:42:29] And what I wanted to link this to is there was that famous clip of Allen Iverson complaining about practice.

[00:42:36] But his coach, Larry Brown, was giving him a hard time.

[00:42:39] He just talked about it's practice.

[00:42:40] It's practice.

[00:42:41] What are you talking about?

[00:42:42] Not the game.

[00:42:43] Not the game.

[00:42:44] It's practice.

[00:42:45] The thing that you guys have kind of forgotten is that Allen Iverson played every single game when he could.

[00:42:52] He played hurt.

[00:42:53] He played when he shouldn't have played.

[00:42:56] So for him to miss a practice or two, no big deal.

[00:43:00] Paul George and Joel Embiid have made millions of dollars for sitting in a folding chair because they've been hurt for so long.

[00:43:10] Right?

[00:43:11] I get that Joel Embiid's a rare talent.

[00:43:14] But in the NBA, you need these superstars.

[00:43:18] But can you imagine?

[00:43:20] I'm sure there's somebody out there who's calculated per game per minute how much Embiid has been paid to sit and recuperate.

[00:43:28] You know?

[00:43:29] And what are your thoughts on this whole load management piece?

[00:43:33] Do you think that entering into the season with this mentality of I'm not going to play helps or hurts the team?

[00:43:41] Hurts the league?

[00:43:42] What kind of perception does it give to the people who want to be entertained?

[00:43:47] And to even opponents?

[00:43:49] What are your thoughts on that?

[00:43:49] I think that, you know, you signed a contract.

[00:43:53] You signed a contract to be the best you can be for your city, for your team.

[00:43:58] You want to support the fans that have, you know, helped put you where you are and be able to make you that much money.

[00:44:05] And you've earned it.

[00:44:06] You've earned it how you got there.

[00:44:07] But you also have to still continue it when you are called to play.

[00:44:12] There's no sports science that talk about playing less, making you more available for your playoff run.

[00:44:20] All the sports science, like we said, points away from it.

[00:44:23] And so I think it's the heartbeat behind things.

[00:44:25] You know, your drive.

[00:44:26] You know, you get content where you're at.

[00:44:28] You got the money.

[00:44:29] You got the fame.

[00:44:30] You got the following.

[00:44:31] And the grind is tough.

[00:44:32] The grind of the NBA season is difficult.

[00:44:34] The Allen Iverson clip where he's complaining about, he's just saying it's practice.

[00:44:39] He's not complaining about practice.

[00:44:40] There's a lot of backstory to it.

[00:44:42] You know, he actually just had a close friend of his that was shot and passed away.

[00:44:47] And he was going through some grief.

[00:44:49] And none of that was added into the actual scenario.

[00:44:53] It sounds like he's just a superstar who's hood, who doesn't want to practice.

[00:45:00] But you're absolutely right.

[00:45:01] He's a guy who loved the game.

[00:45:03] He loved to perform.

[00:45:05] He loved to show out.

[00:45:06] And he knew that the more he plays, the more he does, it's going to make him better.

[00:45:09] It's going to make his team better.

[00:45:10] It's going to build camaraderie.

[00:45:12] It's going to help your championship run.

[00:45:14] You can't just throw together.

[00:45:15] Look at the Suns last year.

[00:45:17] Throw together some superstars and say, hey, you're going to do well.

[00:45:20] No, you didn't.

[00:45:21] You got swept by the Timberwolves.

[00:45:24] Right?

[00:45:24] Right?

[00:45:25] So totally, totally out of line when they say there's no chemistry being built when you say, I'm not playing back to back.

[00:45:33] I'm too good.

[00:45:34] I think it's horrible.

[00:45:36] I think it's bad for the game.

[00:45:37] They're one of the teams that are the biggest in trouble.

[00:45:40] The Philadelphia 70s.

[00:45:41] What do you think the perception is of opponents saying, hey, these guys aren't going to play in terms of would you want to partner with them?

[00:45:52] Yeah.

[00:45:52] Why would you want to do that?

[00:45:54] Why would you ever want to do that?

[00:45:56] I'm going to do all the brunt work and you're just going to show up when you want.

[00:45:59] You're going to have the diva lifestyle.

[00:46:01] You're not going to put the work on.

[00:46:03] That's a joke.

[00:46:04] It's an absolute joke.

[00:46:05] Why would you ever want to have someone like that in your foxhole?

[00:46:08] You're supposed to be going to war every night for this game.

[00:46:11] It's not an easy game.

[00:46:13] It's a grind.

[00:46:14] And you got some people slacking, some people going out.

[00:46:17] You know, I think that's I have more respect for a guy like James Harden, who is open about his night lifestyle, who's who's whatever city he's in.

[00:46:27] The strip clubs are are partying because James Harden's there.

[00:46:32] James Harden is still putting in his work.

[00:46:34] He's still doing his task.

[00:46:35] I don't agree with his lifestyle, but at least he's honest.

[00:46:38] He's putting in the work and he's going to be there for you for your team.

[00:46:41] Can't say that about Embiid.

[00:46:42] Can't say that about many of the players.

[00:46:44] Yeah.

[00:46:45] And I think you've gone away from the idea of excellence.

[00:46:50] Right.

[00:46:51] You've gotten away from the idea of competing to win.

[00:46:54] And I think you're right.

[00:46:55] Like they're so far removed because they've made millions and millions of generational changing money.

[00:47:02] Right.

[00:47:03] That it's like how.

[00:47:04] Where is that drive that got them there?

[00:47:07] Where does that drive to push themselves?

[00:47:12] Go back to the Jordan doc.

[00:47:15] Right.

[00:47:15] Michael Jordan had to, you know, famously manufacture slights against himself to keep him on the edge.

[00:47:23] Right.

[00:47:23] You see guys like Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant.

[00:47:26] I think Anthony Edwards kind of has that mentality as well, where he's like, you're not my friends.

[00:47:33] I'm here to beat you.

[00:47:35] I want to, I want to destroy you.

[00:47:38] Right.

[00:47:39] Like he, Anthony Edwards took the starting job from Team USA because he killed Devin Booker in the playoffs.

[00:47:46] Yeah.

[00:47:47] Like absolutely wrecked them.

[00:47:49] Right.

[00:47:50] And you look at all the super teams throughout the years, look at the, uh, the Lakers at the end of their run, when they put Gary Payton and Karl Malone on paper, they were phenomenal.

[00:48:00] But this hardworking selfless Detroit team that was tough played together ended that run.

[00:48:07] You know, before that Chauncey Billups was a decent point guard.

[00:48:12] Rashid Wallace was just a hothead.

[00:48:14] Ben Wallace was a very, very poor man's Dennis Rodman.

[00:48:19] Tayshawn Prince was some weird lanky dude who couldn't find a fit anywhere, but molded together.

[00:48:25] They were working as a team.

[00:48:26] They overcame those negative perceptions and won some titles.

[00:48:31] You look at, uh, after the dream team, the U S thought they owned basketball again, but then you have the Tim Duncan led team that flames out, uh, after Greece.

[00:48:43] You know, you have all these world championship teams that don't do well.

[00:48:47] You had to have, uh, you had LeBron James trying to lead a team that finished third.

[00:48:53] You need a Kobe Bryant to bring that killer instinct to put them all together.

[00:48:57] You know?

[00:48:58] So I think when we're talking about perception and when it comes to life is like, you, you can't just turn a switch and expect things to change.

[00:49:08] It takes consistency.

[00:49:10] It takes hard work.

[00:49:11] It takes effort.

[00:49:13] It takes dedication.

[00:49:15] Right.

[00:49:15] I'm not going to get a six pack abs by, by not doing any work.

[00:49:21] Right.

[00:49:22] Right.

[00:49:22] You have to go to the gym.

[00:49:24] You have to eat right.

[00:49:25] You have to take care of your body, but wishing it isn't going to turn it into existence.

[00:49:30] And, and I think that the perception that you can, like you said, sports science shows that the data is there.

[00:49:36] You think that you can sit down, take time off and not get rust and not get rusty.

[00:49:42] And then come playoffs time, when you need to win 16 hard fought games in order to become, to be called the champion, you're just going to waltz and you're going to play 16 games with, with, you know, days off in between.

[00:49:55] No chance.

[00:49:55] Could you imagine if, if your best player decided to say, oh, you know what?

[00:50:02] I'm going to skip the first round of the playoffs.

[00:50:04] You guys got this.

[00:50:06] No.

[00:50:06] Yeah.

[00:50:06] I'm going to skip, or I'm going to skip game five.

[00:50:09] Right.

[00:50:10] Like you don't have, you can't do that because you won't be able ever to win.

[00:50:14] And I think it comes down to is the desire of your heart.

[00:50:19] Right.

[00:50:21] So you're okay with looking a certain way and coming off as, oh, I just have an injury.

[00:50:26] That's why I'm not playing.

[00:50:27] But I really just want to sit out.

[00:50:29] I don't want to do the work.

[00:50:30] I don't want to be, maybe the pressure's too much.

[00:50:33] And I, this is a way for me to excuse, to, to not be able to perform, not have to perform.

[00:50:39] You know, if you look at that in our faith walk, our faith journeys, right?

[00:50:43] I think a lot of Christians have that culture of putting on the face of saying, yeah, I got

[00:50:48] it all together.

[00:50:49] I am walking this way.

[00:50:51] I, I, I, I'm honoring God and all that I do.

[00:50:55] But in reality, it's a, it's a front.

[00:50:57] It's a, it's a, it's the, it's the WNBA where they say, I have it all together.

[00:51:03] Our league is booming.

[00:51:05] But the desire of the heart of the WNBA is to, for them, for them clearly just to not

[00:51:10] build the sport.

[00:51:11] It's to get fame, to, to make the money of the NBA.

[00:51:15] They're not really to willing to do what it takes to get there.

[00:51:18] And there's definitely a work ethic, work ethic aspect that you're talking about when it comes

[00:51:23] to the faith, but there's also a desire of the heart.

[00:51:26] It's about not about, it's not caring about, you're not doing it for an audience of, of

[00:51:32] other people.

[00:51:33] No, you, the desire of the heart is to honor the Lord.

[00:51:36] That's what you're called to do.

[00:51:37] That's what we have to do.

[00:51:39] You're not looking to get applauds and, and, and, and, and, and accolades from other

[00:51:44] people.

[00:51:44] That's not the goal.

[00:51:45] The goal is to honor the Lord and, and, and, and that comes from the desire of your heart.

[00:51:49] And, and you got to ask God to say, help my desires be your desires because my desires

[00:51:54] are selfish.

[00:51:55] My desires are my way.

[00:51:56] My desires are, are to help make my name great.

[00:52:00] And it's a, it's a very different mindset than the worldly way of saying, I got to make

[00:52:07] the name Chan-chan great.

[00:52:09] I got to make us big and strong and, and all that.

[00:52:12] No, no, no.

[00:52:12] The sports reverence podcast is not even to make the sports reverence great.

[00:52:15] It's to make you, it's to point you to the source, point you to our source of hope, our

[00:52:19] source of strength that has helped us out of the mud through every area of our life,

[00:52:25] every struggle we've had.

[00:52:26] That's our source of hope and strength.

[00:52:28] That's helped us out of that from financial to, to, to unfair and unjust moments in lives

[00:52:34] and sports and, and different political situations, all those things, whatever it is, it's

[00:52:38] the source of our hope that pulls us out of the mud.

[00:52:41] That's what we want to point you to.

[00:52:42] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:52:43] And it's, and it's, it's so weird to think, you know, cause we, we, we live in this society

[00:52:49] where there's so much technology and so much newness, but the same story applies from when

[00:52:55] Jesus walked the earth with the Pharisees.

[00:52:58] Right?

[00:53:00] Christians are supposed to have this counter culture lifestyle because what culture wants

[00:53:06] is for you to exalt yourself.

[00:53:08] The name on, name on the back of the Jersey is a great thing, right?

[00:53:11] Like the Pharisees were walking around worshiping God and praying, not under the, under the

[00:53:16] goodness of their heart, but they were working, they're doing it as duty as to say, Hey,

[00:53:23] I've check marked a box.

[00:53:24] So many people saw me pray and do whatever I need to do.

[00:53:28] But what does God tell us?

[00:53:29] God tells us to find a secret quiet place.

[00:53:33] Right?

[00:53:35] To, you don't have to be Instagram living your prayer time, right?

[00:53:40] That's between you and God.

[00:53:41] It's an audience of one, like you're right.

[00:53:45] And when you, your perception of, of Christianity doesn't have to be loud.

[00:53:51] It doesn't have to be, you know, you don't have to be on a soapbox screaming in the corner

[00:53:56] at people, right?

[00:53:59] Like, yeah, you, you say this all the time.

[00:54:01] How many people have been logicked by arguments into the kingdom of God?

[00:54:05] Not many.

[00:54:07] None that I know of, but it's about how you act.

[00:54:11] It's about what you say.

[00:54:13] It's about, it's about how you show God's love and what he's doing in your life to those

[00:54:20] who don't know him.

[00:54:22] Right?

[00:54:23] And we, we are, we live in such a time where any sort of help is looked at as, why would

[00:54:30] you do that?

[00:54:31] Why would you give the, the, the guy on the street money?

[00:54:34] He's going to use it for drugs.

[00:54:35] Well, you don't, may he might be, but you don't know that.

[00:54:38] Or, you know, why would you, why would you go out of your way to help your rival at work,

[00:54:43] finish a project or someone who was rude to you?

[00:54:45] Why would you be polite and be kind back to them?

[00:54:49] Why don't you want to go to the strip club on a Saturday night?

[00:54:51] All these, all these things where society says, do this and, and you live your life a

[00:54:57] different and opposite way.

[00:54:58] It's not about doing it for the sake of checkmarking a box and saying, Hey, I did my Christian duty

[00:55:04] today, but you're right.

[00:55:06] It's about honor and glorifying God.

[00:55:09] That's between you and him.

[00:55:11] Right?

[00:55:12] Yes.

[00:55:12] You're a pastor and I go to your church, but like, you don't know what I do during the week

[00:55:18] all the time.

[00:55:19] Right?

[00:55:19] You're it.

[00:55:20] That's between me and God.

[00:55:21] And you, you're not going to be like, Hey, did you read your Bible and pray every day?

[00:55:26] Did you, Hey Joel, did you do it?

[00:55:27] You know, did you do this?

[00:55:28] No.

[00:55:29] Cause I have to do it.

[00:55:30] Not because I'm, I'm checking a box.

[00:55:33] I have to do it because I want to honor and glorify God.

[00:55:36] I want to, I don't, sorry.

[00:55:37] I don't want to say the word have to, I want to do it.

[00:55:41] Right.

[00:55:41] That's, that's what is driving.

[00:55:43] Not because I, I have to, uh, hand in my punch card when I go up to heaven saying, Hey,

[00:55:51] here's my calendars of me reading my Bible and praying every day.

[00:55:55] Checkmark, checkmark, checkmark.

[00:55:56] No, it's, it's, how did I serve you God?

[00:55:59] When, you know, I didn't feel like it, you know, when the guy cuts me off instead of cursing,

[00:56:06] I hold it in and just let it go.

[00:56:09] When I feel something injustice happening, instead of getting mad about it and throwing a tantrum,

[00:56:15] I laid it the floor of the cross.

[00:56:16] And those are not, it doesn't happen automatically.

[00:56:20] It doesn't happen always as simply as, you know, okay, God, take the wheel.

[00:56:25] We're human.

[00:56:26] Stuff happens.

[00:56:27] But it's, it's, it's having the understanding that you're not alone, that your purpose isn't for this 80 plus years that you're on this planet.

[00:56:40] Right.

[00:56:40] It's, it's your, our time here on earth is limited, but our time in heaven is forever.

[00:56:46] Right.

[00:56:47] And again, store up your treasures in heaven.

[00:56:49] I would love to be a multi-billionaire.

[00:56:52] Right.

[00:56:52] Right.

[00:56:52] But that's not, not because I want to glorify God.

[00:56:56] It's because I want to be selfish.

[00:56:58] I don't want to work with the work.

[00:56:59] I don't have to do worry about my bills.

[00:57:01] That's not what having a heart of giving and worship is about.

[00:57:05] If God blesses you.

[00:57:06] Great.

[00:57:06] That's phenomenal.

[00:57:09] Just saying, I want to be a billionaire just because like, that's, that's crazy.

[00:57:13] But, you know, I'll tell this one story and I'm talking a little bit, but I'll tell this one story.

[00:57:18] I was in high school.

[00:57:18] We were at some tournament on Transcona and we were at McDonald's in between games.

[00:57:24] So healthy post meal snack, post game snack.

[00:57:28] And there was this guy begging outside this McDonald's.

[00:57:32] And I looked at him and of course, you know, being, me being grade 12, I'm flush with lots of cash from my full-time job that I didn't have.

[00:57:44] I just, I just felt the prompting to say, Hey, you're, you're wearing your living Christian Jersey.

[00:57:50] What does that mean?

[00:57:52] Buy the, ask this guy what he wants.

[00:57:54] And so I just, I walked up to him and I was like, Hey man, uh, again, it's winter time.

[00:57:59] So it's pretty chilly.

[00:58:01] What can I get?

[00:58:01] What can I get for you from McDonald's right now?

[00:58:05] And he had a pretty big order at the time.

[00:58:07] It felt big.

[00:58:08] Uh, I was gonna like, man, do I have enough on this debit card to tap this and go through?

[00:58:13] Of course, you know, it went through and, uh, he was so thankful.

[00:58:19] But what really shocked me was I'm in this team, 10, 12 guys who most of us have the same faith beliefs.

[00:58:29] And they were so shocked that I would offer to buy him food.

[00:58:33] And, and then, and, and, you know, at the time it's like, Oh, you know, Hey, Shandy, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:58:39] That's cool.

[00:58:39] Cool.

[00:58:40] And I got home.

[00:58:41] I was just like, you felt, I felt a little broken because it's such a simple thing to buy a homeless person food.

[00:58:51] Right.

[00:58:51] Yeah.

[00:58:52] Okay.

[00:58:52] You know, money, money aside, right?

[00:58:53] Like it's such a simple act of kindness.

[00:58:56] And it was such a huge, it made such a huge deal about with my team.

[00:59:01] Like guys, that's not the heartbeat we need to have.

[00:59:04] And I talked about it afterward to guys.

[00:59:06] I'm like, guys, that that's, I'm happy that we, that you guys found that was really cool and really awesome.

[00:59:12] But like, we're called for more.

[00:59:14] Like, that's just a simple thing.

[00:59:15] And I don't know how many guys even think about that today or how many it challenged, but it really, it's one of those things where we shouldn't be so excited for the small things that God's asking us to do.

[00:59:26] We should celebrate the wins for sure, but we should be looking for those opportunities.

[00:59:31] We should be excited to have those opportunities, not to show off for the bunch of guys, but to say, hey, God, I see you.

[00:59:40] I see this.

[00:59:41] Thank you for giving me an opportunity.

[00:59:43] And I know we talked about some life stuff for the last couple of weeks.

[00:59:47] And one thing that I've started adding to my prayers in the morning on my way to work is, God, give me an opportunity today to show your love.

[00:59:57] Whatever, however that looks.

[01:00:00] And ask and you shall receive people.

[01:00:04] Opportunities have come in very small ways, nothing crazy.

[01:00:08] I was able to pray with this guy I was doing work with because his son got into a big accident.

[01:00:16] That's just a random opportunity that may or may not have come my way, but I was looking for it.

[01:00:22] I was looking for an opportunity.

[01:00:25] And so this perception, when we talk about perception, is about what are you trying to do?

[01:00:32] More than meets the eye.

[01:00:33] You want to be more that people can rely on and trust on.

[01:00:36] And all that comes is from God and relying on God and being open to that.

[01:00:42] Yeah, and I love what you had in the notes there.

[01:00:44] It says playing church.

[01:00:46] You know, I think a lot of people that interact, if you're not a Christian and you've interacted with Christians, a lot of Canadian Christian culture is playing church.

[01:00:55] It's putting on the face for Sunday.

[01:00:58] But the rest of the week, it's not doing what we're called for.

[01:01:03] It's like Embiid.

[01:01:06] He's geared up in the summer.

[01:01:07] He's playing for the Olympic American team.

[01:01:09] But come season time, when there's got to be work to be done, he's sitting off on the sidelines.

[01:01:16] He's not doing what he's called to do.

[01:01:20] And that's exactly the difference.

[01:01:22] The heartbeat going forward is to help build people up to do this Christian walk every single minute of every single day.

[01:01:33] That's what we're called to do.

[01:01:34] And that's what we're building towards.

[01:01:36] That's how you grow.

[01:01:38] And you're going to see growth in yourself.

[01:01:40] You're going to see growth in your ministry.

[01:01:41] And you're going to see growth in those around you as well.

[01:01:45] And that's how you kind of build people up and help them lift them out of the mud.

[01:01:48] I love that story.

[01:01:49] Thanks for sharing that.

[01:01:51] Absolutely.

[01:01:52] I didn't think about it until now, until we were just talking.

[01:01:55] And it's really, yeah, it's funny what comes up when you start talking about this kind of things.

[01:02:00] So perception.

[01:02:01] It's a tricky word.

[01:02:04] It's a tricky thing to navigate because you don't know how somebody perceives you.

[01:02:08] You don't know how somebody perceives the situation.

[01:02:11] Any advice for Christians out there who want to forget about perception and not worry about it and just do the Christian walk faithfully?

[01:02:24] Yeah, I would say understand that you're not perfect.

[01:02:27] You're sinful.

[01:02:29] You're flawed.

[01:02:30] You can't meet the standard of what the Bible tells us of how we are supposed to live.

[01:02:35] But understand that that's where God comes in and fills in the gap where you are weak, where you are insufficient.

[01:02:42] He actually provides you with more to not only reach the level of what you're supposed to do, but to do more even what you expected.

[01:02:52] So allow God to fill in where you are insufficient.

[01:02:55] And that's going to change your total life when it comes to your every single day of God opening up opportunities for you to share this good news.

[01:03:06] You can apply that principle to every area of your life.

[01:03:09] You know, maybe you're not great at trying to train for basketball or for football, whatever sport you're playing for.

[01:03:16] Say, Lord, I need some help.

[01:03:17] Give me the idea, the wisdom, the energy to do so.

[01:03:20] Give me the strength in my mind to push through so I can get to the next level.

[01:03:25] That's one way that can really help you.

[01:03:26] You can apply it to every area of your life.

[01:03:28] And when you do that, when you put your faith on God and not on your own strength, you're going to see a whole life-changing perspective.

[01:03:36] Yeah, that's awesome.

[01:03:37] That's awesome.

[01:03:39] I think that wraps it up for that.

[01:03:41] What do you think?

[01:03:42] Yeah, that's pretty good.

[01:03:44] That's pretty good.

[01:03:44] Tell them about how they can support us.

[01:03:47] Wait, wait, we'll get there.

[01:03:48] We'll get there.

[01:03:49] There's one more thing I want to talk about.

[01:03:50] Speaking about insufficient, did you see the statue of Dwayne Wade?

[01:03:54] Oh, buddy.

[01:03:56] Was it ever beautiful?

[01:03:58] Was it ever beautiful?

[01:04:01] Wow.

[01:04:02] In our day and age, how is it possible to create such a horrible picture of what Dwayne Wade actually looks like?

[01:04:12] But maybe Dwayne Wade has a little bit of it coming to him, you know?

[01:04:17] Some of his lifestyle, hey?

[01:04:19] Come on.

[01:04:20] I think so.

[01:04:21] I mean, it's right up there with the Cristiano Ronaldo statue.

[01:04:25] Horrible.

[01:04:26] And if you haven't seen what we're talking about, Google Dwayne Wade statue.

[01:04:31] The internet is undefeated.

[01:04:33] I think my favorite meme so far is there's that famous picture of Dwayne Wade throwing up the alley-oop to LeBron and then spreading his arms as he's crouched in front of the camera.

[01:04:45] They replaced his face with the statue's face.

[01:04:49] And it's amazing.

[01:04:51] It's so good.

[01:04:52] It's so good.

[01:04:53] So maybe we can post a picture on our Insta under the Sports Revs and you guys can have a look.

[01:05:00] Speaking about our Instagram, make sure you like to subscribe to our YouTube, on our Instagram.

[01:05:06] Check us out on X.

[01:05:07] Check us out for all you old heads on Facebook and YouTube who are there.

[01:05:11] Share with your friends.

[01:05:12] Not because we're looking to get our numbers up.

[01:05:14] That's not what we're asking you to do.

[01:05:17] We're asking you to share because God is going to touch somebody's heart through what we're talking about.

[01:05:23] And you never know what impact you're going to have.

[01:05:27] You know, somebody told me once, you may preach the gospel, but you may be the guy who's planting the seed.

[01:05:32] Or you may be the guy who's watering that seed.

[01:05:35] You may not know what that seed or when that seed is going to grow.

[01:05:39] So take every opportunity to just talk about God.

[01:05:43] And you never know what you're going to do for the kingdom.

[01:05:45] So like, subscribe, share.

[01:05:48] Get us out on the algorithm.

[01:05:50] Let's get some positivity out there instead of all the crazy time wasting that we see on social media these days.

[01:05:57] That's what we got for you guys today.

[01:05:59] Look forward to seeing you guys next week and talking more sports and more life.

[01:06:04] Peace.

[01:06:06] Peace.