Hello, everyone, and welcome to Sports Reporters.
My name is Lindsay Azarowitz, and today I'm here with Nick Vitale and Mike Ambeda.
We have a few topics that we're going to talk about today, so let's get started.
We have the Rangers vs. the Predators in Itaki.
Mike, what do you think about that?
Well, it came out to be three, two Nashville Predators.
One thing that stood out for me was Mike Ribeiro scored, was also a 700th NHL point.
Very humble about it.
It was just an all-around great game for Ribeo.
Four shots on goal, of course, one goal, and one point, which got him a 700th.
And the Predators, they're coming off of their third regulation loss at home this season.
Again, they were coming off of against Anaheim on Thursday night, so they got right back
into it with a win here.
This arena had 30 saves in his second game, back from a knee injury.
Surprisingly, there was no scoring in the first period, which is interesting.
Rick Nash, he scored his 33rd goal this season in the game.
He had one goal.
He's tied with Alex Ovechkin for the most goals in the league right now.
Josie, who had a goal in this game, Roman Josie, he assisted in giving Nashville's
defensive men 134 points this season and 36 goals, which is the most in the NHL right
now.
I think we also got to talk about two – I mean, I know we're talking about a lot about
the Predators, but we also got to talk about the Rangers.
Rick Nash and Ryan McDonough were scored for the Rangers, of course, but taking a look
at Ryan McDonough, three shots on goal, of course, ended up with a goal, and then point,
two hits.
So, it really wasn't such a bad game for the Rangers, but they could do better, of
course.
I actually did catch the game, surprisingly.
Good, yeah.
Well, I'm a Flyers fan, so I don't really like the Rangers, but I was out to dinner and
I don't like to just sit at a table and be normal.
I actually sat at the bar and watched the game, but I actually did enjoy the game for
once.
I thought that it was very back and forth in the beginning, and then, you know, Ryan
McDonough tied it up with two minutes into the third period, so it kind of sparked things
up for people.
Well, I think anything, you know, any hockey game is a good game, you know, if you're
out with friends.
Yeah, exactly.
It's really exciting.
It's not like – I mean, I like baseball, but baseball, it's kind of like you look
up to see and then you come back and, you know, eat, so it's, you know, hockey.
Hockey's a good sport.
If you can get into hockey, as long as you can follow the puck, you can follow hockey.
That's the biggest issue that I have.
That's a problem sometimes, yeah.
Sometimes it's hard to follow it, but if you're in it and you're into the game,
it's really intense, especially when it comes down to a game, it comes down right
down to the wire like this.
Rangers are a really good team, but the Predators coming away with the win here, that was huge,
because like I said, they were on a losing streak, but to have them come back and win
this game is pretty big.
Nick, I know you're a sports director, but I think we were talking about how, you
know, how, imagine if we had a hockey team, you know, how difficult it would be calling
it on the radio.
I mean, it would definitely be more difficult because it's faster, like there's a lot
of stuff you've got to watch out for, and you have to be able to know everybody's name
on the ice, and it's going to, it's a very, it's difficult to announce hockey, really.
Like it's more, I think it's more difficult than basketball and football and baseball,
so it's definitely the most.
You just named it off the list.
Everything.
Every sport, just hockey's the hardest to broadcast.
I've never done it before, so I can't say that I would be good at it because I have
no idea.
I've never broadcasted, so I don't know anything you guys talking about.
Well, welcome aboard.
Yeah.
Have a great time.
Yeah, she loves it so far.
All right.
I guess we'll go into our next topic, which is also another hockey game.
It was the Penguins vs. the Flames, and what do you think about that one?
Well, Penguins came out 4-0 over the Flames.
Mark-Andre Fleury surpassed Tim Barrasso's single season franchise record of seven shutouts.
This was set in 1997 and 1998.
It was the 36 shutout for Fleury.
Fleury's career and came two nights after he shut out the Ottoman Oilers 2-0.
So, he had a great game.
Sydney Crosby had two goals in this game, and Brandon Sutter and David Perron also
scored for the Penguins, and the Flames are, they've been struggling.
They've only won eight of their last, actually they've been doing pretty well.
They won eight of their last 10 games, so that's pretty impressive.
That's a good 80% of their games going into this.
But to come away with a complete shutout for, you know, losing like this against the Penguins,
they've got to work on their defense and their goalie needs to step up as well.
I think Fleury, I believe he leads the league with the most shutouts with eight.
Yeah, they actually said in that game he made 21 saves.
That's incredible.
You know, just being a goalie for a hockey team, like, those pucks come in pretty fast.
Oh, yeah.
You have to have tremendous vision, and your reflexes have to be spot-on to be able to,
you know, stop a puck like that.
I've seen some of the saves that these guys can make, and it's incredible.
I don't know if you saw the one save that Pecorinae made for the Predators.
There's a puck that went right behind him, and he turned around, and he was able to hit
it away with his stick.
It was incredible.
One of the craziest saves I've ever seen is that puck was about to go in.
And if he wasn't able to turn around quick enough and get that, not to mention all the
stuff that's on their bodies, like, you look at their knee pads, they got extra padding
on, plus the mask, and be able to move like that, and be able to have that kind of vision,
it's very difficult to do.
I think they just take a good guess at where they're actually going, because they have
so much padding on that they're like, okay, if I stick my hand out here and, like, push
my leg out, then, yeah, like, maybe I'll touch it or something.
Well, I think it's like, I mean, not to bring up another sport, but I feel like soccer's
kind of the same thing, too.
I think they, I wouldn't say they know, but they kind of have a feeling of where the puck
is going.
So when it's actually slapped off the stick from one of the offensive players from the
other team, you know, they just, I guess it's just pure reaction, and, you know, they've
been doing it for so long, and plus professional hockey players, so they're trying to.
Yeah.
Give them a lot of credit, because if you watch when they show replays on, like, saves
and stuff, you see that there are so many people in front of him trying to cause a distraction,
like, get in the way, get a deflection, and I don't, I, I don't know how they do it.
I don't know either.
Not to mention you also see offensive players, they take shots from so far out, like, sometimes
I don't know how the goal even sees it coming.
And usually it will bounce off of one of the other players, so it doesn't get to the goal,
but that happens a lot when you see a shot just go in, the accuracy of the sharpshooters
is pretty crazy.
I think that the goalie's engaged in some sort of, like, meditation, and they, like,
they, like, guard against the pugs of their eyes closed or something.
Like, come on.
It starts all definitely on, about on reaction, man.
Like, you don't know.
They could.
You never know what kind of intense training that they could be undergoing.
You know, every day with practice.
Yes.
Well, yeah, that as well.
That's what I mean.
When you're in training.
When you're a pro.
That's your sport.
I mean, yeah, but just think as a pro, you're playing all year.
Yeah.
And you play a lot of games.
No breaks, exactly.
And there's so what, I'm pretty sure, there's 30 games left.
I mean, there's quite a few games.
I mean, with any professional team, there's a lot of games and it really puts a wear and
tear on all these players.
A lot of week, too, as well.
But, you know, they prepare for the, you know, the season, off season, and they're really
in great condition.
Especially hockey players, because they always end up getting in fights and big hockey is
the only sport you can actually get in the fight and get away with it.
Yeah.
The best thing, your worst punishment is that you get to time out.
All right, well, we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
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Hey, guys, welcome back to sports reporters.
We're going to get into our next topic, which is the Kentucky vs. Florida NCAA men's basketball
match.
Nick, what did you think of that game?
Well, I thought it was, it was a decent game.
Decent game.
It was a fantastic game.
It came right down to the wire.
Kentucky being able to come back and win when they were struggling against Florida is a
pretty big deal.
They improved to 23-0.
They're 10-0 in the Southeastern Conference.
They snapped their 3-game losing streak against Florida, but they've been on a 23-game winning
streak.
They made 95% of their free throws, which is almost unheard of.
Florida only made half of their free throws.
Billy Collie Stein had a tremendous dunk over freshman Devin Robinson in the second half.
Oh, that's beautiful.
Aaron Harrison, he scored 23 points.
Carl Anthony Towns had 19 points and Wildcats remain unbeaten, 68-61 victory over the Gators.
Mike?
Yeah, just taking a look at some of the statistics that Kentucky put up, 22 for 47 from the field,
3 for 14 for three points, 21 for 22 for free throws, and when you make your free throws,
you're going to win the game, that's very important.
For Florida, they ended up, well, the score ended up to be 68-61, a very close game.
Aaron Harrison scored 23 points and then Carl Anthony Towns added 19 for Kentucky.
And also looking for Florida too, they made six out of their 21-3 point field goals, which
had more of a bigger percentage than Kentucky.
I think like you guys had both mentioned, the free throws is actually a really big issue,
and I don't think a lot of teams understand that like you said, Kentucky went 95% for
their free throws, Florida went 50%.
That if you add up those points, that's a huge difference.
And whether or not you could say Kentucky was, say they weren't making their shots,
but they're making so many free throws that they are in a way kind of making up for that.
But I mean, it's Kentucky, their rank number one, it doesn't surprise me.
I think being as a former basketball player, there were some games where it came down to
free throws, especially when it came down to maybe let's say a four or five point game
where they would foul and you'd have to be at the line, and if you weren't to make those
free throws and they come down and score the other end, then it cuts the lead to like two.
So it's, you know, free throws are very important and a lot of people have been losing that
interest of it being very important.
I don't think people realize also how like stressful they can be.
Again, I played basketball as well, and when you're on that line and people are yelling
really mean things at you, telling you to miss it, you suck, all this stuff.
I mean, it really, it can get to your head, but...
You don't.
I didn't.
I made my three free throws.
I was good.
But yeah, I just think that for Florida, at least, I think, especially going into the
NCAA tournament, they should focus on free throws because that's going to play a huge
part, especially we all know how big March Madness is.
Everyone watches it, everyone loves it.
Rackets.
Yeah, big rackets.
I just think that if they're not making free throws, they're losing real quick out of this
tournament.
Well, I agree with you, Lindsay.
You're saying missed opportunities, and Florida only making half of their free throws, only
made seven of 14.
So you're missing seven opportunities.
That's at least, you know, you get at least two, sometimes you get two points of free
throw.
I know sometimes you can get only one, so that's at least 14 points that they missed out on
getting if they made all their free throws.
So free throws, that's a little, that's a big missed opportunity.
I think that they are the most stressful shots to take because, you know, you're absolutely
right.
You overthink it, and they say, okay, it looks really easy, but it's not.
Just the slightest bit he missed your form at the tiniest bit, it doesn't go in.
You got to stay focused.
And just getting back to March Madness, of course, we all understand that Kentucky's
23-0, but I think the best teams that come in to March Madness are the ones that came
in hot the last four or five games, because if they continue this streak, they can only
go for so long with these games.
It's impossible to have a perfect season record.
I think there's a lot of pressure on Kentucky, especially going into this tournament.
It is February, what is it, February 10th, where it's almost, we're almost midway through
February.
It's right around the corner.
I mean, pressure is really going to hit that team, so it's a matter of can they handle
the pressure, can they keep this winning streak going, and I mean, I'm rooting for them personally.
I don't have a preference of which team, but I think they're doing a great job right
now.
23-0 is an amazing record.
It is.
So, it's great.
But we are going to move on to our next topic, which is NBA basketball with the Cleveland
and Pacers and Mike.
Well, Cleveland Cavaliers were on a 12-game winning streak, and they actually ended up,
their winning streak being snapped 103 to 99, I think it was, yeah, 103 to 99.
Kyrie Irving had 29 points and five assists.
LeBron James, I wasn't so sure about his playing to me, to be honest, because it really came
down to the wire, and for a great player like that, it really makes me mad, because I think
I remember at the end of the game, there was about 20 seconds left to go, ball was
inbounded to LeBron James, and he made a very lazy pass to, well, was supposed to be Kyrie
Irving, and then the Pacers ended up getting possession of it, and then lost that possession
to make that go-ahead basket, and it just makes me mad that LeBron is not taking that
role of being the greatest player, and not taking those key shots for the Cavaliers.
I agree with you, Mike, that at the same time I disagree, because, because, listen, I understand
LeBron James, okay, he wasn't fantastic in this game, but you look at the Cavs, they
have a 12-game winning streak, and LeBron James has been that facilitator in past games,
he has been passing the ball, but he's been making incredible shots, huge three-pointers,
he's been making his free throws, which is something he's struggled with in the past,
you know, David West had a big, big game in this, he had 13 rebounds and 20 points, but
you know, LeBron James as a whole, he has been, he's been exploding, ever since he did
get hurt in December, but then he came back and they were playing against the Lakers,
and he took off the protective arm band that he wears, and ever since he took that off,
he's been explosive, he's been the LeBron James that we've known, the old LeBron James,
but he's been scoring at least 25-30 points a game, and he's been fantastic, Kyrie Irving
has been almost unstoppable, scoring under at least 30 points a game.
Now, let me ask you, I'm a LeBron James fan myself, but just saying you agree and disagree
to me, the season is halfway over, and LeBron's just, of course, exploding now with his performance
sometimes, but are we going to see that performance in the NBA playoffs in the end of the season
where it actually really counts? I mean, when it comes to the finals and playoffs, of course
we have to go with last season when he played for the Miami Heat, really didn't show that
he was the greatest player, and of course, as I said before, I'm a LeBron James fan,
and I can't admit that he is able to perform to the ability of the NBA playoffs.
Well, I mean, it's a different season, he's with a different team, so it's very difficult
to determine exactly how well or how badly he's going to play. I think he's going to
play really well because he has shown a lot of improvement this year, and he has players
that he can work around now, he's got Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, he's got a lot of players
that he can work with now. Alright, I see both sides. I mean, speaking as
also a LeBron James fan, LeBron James, yes, I think that some people, like I said, pressure
is always a big thing. LeBron James is a very well-known guy, a lot of people know him,
and I think people have such high expectations for him. I do sometimes, but people have to
understand as a player, you're not always going to have your best game. Like you said,
a 12-game streak, he's done a lot, and I just think that people are getting a little ahead
of themselves sometimes with him. And also, it was funny how you mentioned the arm band,
I think that it's a big deal because I think people get in their heads when they're injured
and they wear stuff. I know people that tore ACLs and stuff and wore braces and were scared
to play, but as soon as they took it off so they don't eat anymore, they're back to themselves.
We're just going to have to see how LeBron makes out with the rest of the season. The
All-Star Games coming up, having a great time, so hopefully by the second half of the season
he'll be able to pick off where he started. Alright, well, we'll be right back with a
few more topics. You guys are watching Sports Reporters. Stay tuned.
Pretty much a good day for me would be people leaving their hands off of me. I'm always
called names. Everywhere that I go, there's always someone calling me names, calling me
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Alright, hello everyone and welcome back to Sports Reporters. We're going to get into
our last few topics. We're going to talk about first one of my personal favorites, which
is women's soccer. They played against France for a World Cup friendly because the World
Cup is this summer. Mike, what do you have to say?
Well, as annoyed as you were, I think I got the most of what happened. USA falls to France.
I don't believe, what was the score?
It was 2-0.
2-0.
2-0.
So it wasn't like a blowout game, but it was certainly, it really showed that USA is
missing some key components into their squad.
Hope Solo's fault. Her last name is Solo and that's for a reason. There's no hope
right now.
I was afraid of this. When they said that Hope Solo might not be playing in the World
Cup, I immediately thought USA is in trouble because Hope Solo, I'm not saying that the
back of goalie hasn't been training as hard as Hope Solo, but it's just that Hope Solo
has been, she was in the World Cup in 2011 and she's more experienced. She's been training
for this for, who knows how long, forever. So I think that might be an issue. France,
they are, they've faced against the USA a total of 18 times now and they are 1-17 against
the USA. So I feel like that is an issue for the USA going up against the team that they
normally beat and losing the way that they did not being able to get any goals. Eugenie
Lesomer and Jessica Juara, they both are the ones who scored goals for France.
Back-to-back.
Back-to-back and it was interesting because there was one goal that was made that looked
like a cross, but it ended up going in anyway and the goalie for the USA just looked at
it and didn't think it was going to go in and it did. And not even the French player
who scored it thought it was going to go in.
That's one of those plays where honestly that's a play Hope Solo is making. She knows that
whether or not the ball is going out or not, she's got to go back, she's got to reach back,
she's got to try and touch the ball. Again, even if she knows it's going out, you still
got to take that chance. This goalie literally just looked up, followed it and watched it
go in the goal. So that shows that she really isn't experienced Hope Solo. I love her for
soccer, but I don't like her as a person honestly, but I mean there is rumors that
she won't be in the World Cup. It's not looking good for her and it's going to be a huge impact
on the team.
Well, there was other players too that couldn't be able to make this game. Defender Christy
Rampone and had a back injury, midfielder Megan Rapone, Ropino, those names I tell you.
Of course she had an injured knee and then Cindy Loro had an ankle, LaRue.
Come on, you're a soccer player.
I am and was a soccer player, but still had an ankle injury. So those key players, I mean
they really make an impact.
I think it definitely did make a difference. I know people are saying oh it's just a friendly,
it's just a game, it doesn't really matter. And that's true, it doesn't matter. It is
just a game.
We didn't have those key players. I do see that. However, me personally, I'm a competitive
person. If I'm playing a team that we've beaten 17 times and they have yet to beat us and
I lose to nothing to them, I'm mad. I don't like...
I think you're just mad when you lose.
I think in general I'm mad when I lose.
I think generally you are.
But like that's a team you know you shouldn't lose to. I get it. We have a lot of younger
girls on the women's team now because Abby Womback is getting older. Everyone's getting
older. We're going to start losing people. I understand that.
You can't party like it's 1990 anymore.
No, I can't. But I think that in time the team...
Which I think they won the World Cup back in 1999.
They did.
That's why it's party like it's 1999.
In the United States, no less. They were hosting it.
I think that in a few years I think the World Cup will be a big challenge for the U.S.
especially if we don't have some of our players. We don't have Hope Solo. We don't have Rampino.
But like I said, I think it's going to be a tough challenge for them. We'll see how
the year goes.
But we're going to get into our final topic, which is the greatest of all time. And for
this one we decided to talk about the greatest football celebrations of all times. So I'll
start off with you. What was your favorite?
My favorite touchdown celebration of all time was Icky Woods.
Can I do it?
Icky Shuffle.
I could, but I'm not going to. I'm attached to your microphone right now. I'd probably
fall over and who knows what would happen. But I think the dance that he does is very
original. It's his own thing. He didn't take it from anywhere. He completely made it up.
And I like how unique it is and how it has a certain... It's just fun. And his teammates
can get involved in it too. He does that little thing with his fame. Everybody gets into it.
And they got commercials often.
And they got commercials.
I love that commercial. Do you know that Icky Woods would celebrate almost anything?
Exactly.
He's just happy to get some cold cuts.
That cold cuts commercials tells me every time.
It makes me laugh every time.
But can I ask, do you think that his celebration is like... Some people think celebrations
start over the top. Crazy. It's unsportsmanlike. Do you think his is good?
I don't think it's unsportsmanlike. I don't think it's rude at all to the other team or
anything like that. It's just a touchdown dance. It's just a celebration. It's fun.
It's not rude in any way. It's not like Marshawn Lynch, where he does his thing. He grabs
his crotch.
And at that point, I don't even think that's even that bad. But Icky Woods, he does his
own thing. It's very unique. He had a great personality when he played. And he was a running
back, too. I mean, you see him in that commercial. He's a big guy. I thought he was a lineman.
I didn't think he was a running back.
I'm going to let you finish. But anyway, when you're talking about celebrations, man, you
actually have to show skill. And as a football celebration, I could have... I mean, I went
up North, A. Canadian football. Dave Stala, his hacky sack celebration, makes rainbows
it, starts juggling it, and then just literally kicks it out of the arena. I think you need
to show skill when it comes to greatest of all time. And I think that's the greatest
of all time to me. Anybody can dance. But being able to do a rainbow with a football,
football is totally different than a soccer ball. But just having the skill just to do
it, I think it's the greatest of all time.
He may be great at hacky sacking, but he's in the CFL. So football is a different story.
Yeah, but it's football.
Which doesn't matter.
We're talking about greatest celebrations of all time.
Andy Woods was one of the better players of all time. Andy had a fantastic dance along
with that.
Yes, but we're not talking about the greatest football player of all time. We're talking
about the greatest touchdown celebration of all time.
Hey, well, can I just add that you can do your dance, you can do your hacky sack, but
let's just get to it. I think all the ladies here can agree, Victor Cruz has the best celebration.
The way he dances, sorry, everyone at home, I stare at his butt when he dances. It's the
cutest thing ever.
It's a girlfriend.
I'm an Eagles fan. I hate the Giants, hate them with passion, but I will gladly watch
Victor Cruz score a touchdown just so I can watch his dance.
That's me. He can call me girl, do whatever you want, but it's the best in my opinion.
I think another thing too, of course, is the Chateau Chocinco Tiger Woods where he actually
takes the pylon that is at the end zone. He actually putts the football. I think it's
pretty funny, but I think another thing too, where they actually ban is dunking the football
on the goal post.
I couldn't touch that.
I tried doing it when I had time on the football field, like we're playing soccer. I tried
time dunking it. I was not able to do it. It's great athleticism to put it up and dunk
it. I mean, if LeBron James played.
I don't think it's worth a fine.
No, I don't think it's worth a fine either.
I don't think any touchdown celebration is worth a fine. I mean, unless you're Doug Baldwin
and you like to do your bathroom celebration, like that's, you ever saw that, he did the
pull down, he did the pull down in his pants. That's a little over the top.
All right.
Well, that is all the time that we have today. Thank you for watching Sports Reporters.
Pretty much a good day for me would be people leaving their hands off of me.
I'm always called names. Everywhere that I go, there's always someone calling me names,
calling me gay. I've been choked, thrown up against the wall, punched. Nobody's ever
tried to help me.
Read to a child today and spark a lifetime of ambition.
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