The Group Chat: Phoenix Suns’ Draft, Mighty Mercury, & D-backs dipping | Extra Point Podcast
This is The Extra Point, an Arizona’s Family Originals podcast sponsored by your Phoenix Suns.
Yes, we’re here. Welcome to the group, Chad. We’re here with sports director Mark McCloon, producer Matt Hippie, sports editor Joe Ferris, and the one and only Julia Lopez from Chase Field.
Jun Leah, welcome. That was good. That was really good, Craig.
Thank you.
Why are we stopping? We can’t stop this great the beginning of it.
I wanted to make sure I introduced you guys in style and I tried my best.
You’re our studio announcer. You’re like like Letterman’s guy.
I I was surprised at how good your voice is for this. Craig,
is it a Wisconsin thing? Like you guys are both from Wisconsin.
I think I don’t have a voice. I don’t have a voice.
You could never do I would never sound that good as Craig just did if I tried that.
Well, I appreciate it.
What is it about Wisconsin having like a guttural like bellowing? Like is it just like you’re in a lot of loud bars in the winter because it’s cold and you have to yell across the room to get anybody’s attention? Like what’s the deal?
That could be. Yeah. Loud bars calling calling the dairy cows in.
That’s true. Spotted cow, right?
Oh,
that’s a thing. Yeah.
So, Matt had a snowmobile growing up. How old were you when you forgot your first snowmobile?
I was probably 12 or 13.
Did you have to have a license for that? Like a class?
Uh, yes, I did have to take a class for it. I I don’t know if I necessarily needed a license. I may have, but I definitely took a class for it.
Then you’re just like go wherever you want, cruise through the woods. Yeah.
Yeah. There’s there’s several thousands of miles of snowmobile trails out there.
Did you have a snowmobile?
No, I did not have one. Shockingly, I live there. I did not ski and I did also did not have a snowmobile.
He doesn’t like cheese.
And I don’t like cheese. Yeah. So beer. That’s
Or the brewers. You like the Cubs,
right? I’m a Cubs fan, too. So I maybe I shouldn’t have been born there. packers and bucks. That’s That’s enough. Joe, did you have a snowmobile growing up in the Bay Area?
I did not experience snow very often. The first time I saw snow fall from the sky was like 2006 in Nashville.
Oh man. Well, uh there’s a lot of things falling from the sky in the Diamondbacks heads these days. It’s uh it’s no good. So, let’s check in. Should we check in with Julia Lopez who’s live uh as we are recording this live?
Julia, when did you get your first snowmobile? Never had a snowmobile. Well, I did snowboard as a kid though.
Snowboarded. I bet you Julia can because she scored the game-winning goal in the state championship in the uh New Mexico state championship soccer game and uh good softball player. And is Joe Is is there is your audio okay? We can hear her. All right, Julia, you’re at the ballpark. Uh we are recording this uh getting ready to post it here. Vibe check on the Arizona Diamondbacks after getting swept by the Marlins. What was it like inside the clubhouse today? Yeah. So, the cool thing is we were actually able to talk to Corbin Carol to talk about his injury update and it looks like he’s going to start swinging the bat a little bit tomorrow. Um, obviously he’s working through that chip fracture in his left wrist. So, he’s definitely trying hard. He’s going to do some dry swings and uh try to get back in there, but he he should be good. And he he says that he loves being out here at Chase Field during games rather than at Salt River Field because it just feels more like rehab when he’s over there. So he he wants to be around the team as much as possible.
Yeah. And he’s, you know, the dry swings. So they have the underwater swings you take, which I guess is a thing. I’ve never tried it, but uh he’s definitely chomping at the bit to get back. He wants to make a push to play in the All-Star game. I don’t blame him. He’s played like an all-star this year. They need him. Uh without Corbin Carroll, worst week of the season, gentlemen. I think so. I mean, it’s not their first time being swept this year, though. So, I mean, I don’t know. It feels like every week is the worst week followed by the best week followed by the worst week again.
Well, an interesting point about all of it is as you read all the stuff on the internet, what’s going to happen with the Dbacks? Are they going to be buyers or sellers coming to the trade line? You know, because I don’t know if they’re going to catch the Dodgers. I don’t know if they’re going to catch the Giants.
I think the Dodgers that that ship is sailed. This is about the wild card. And they can they Yeah. Can they Can they get there? Uh I I mean they they this this series against the Giants, this might be like if Zack Gallon stays. I don’t think he’s staying. I think you get swept by the Marlins. That pretty much was the indicator over the weekend, everybody’s probably going to get shipped out of here. I could be wrong. I I I like a lot of these guys. I was really excited about this team. I’m very disappointed in how they’ve played, but look no further than the bullpen. 14 runs at 12 innings pitched uh this weekend. uh Jaylen Beaks an erra jumped from 2.92 to 4.74. You don’t want to pile on a guy. You’re allowed to have a bad weekend. But they also had the tying run on base um every game of the weekend and and couldn’t couldn’t punch couldn’t punch it through. And it just to me it just it was a team that just did not have a killer instinct. Um and I’m going to just say it a little soft like they just don’t they they they don’t get the job done. And I having watched baseball for so many years, good teams know how to get the job done. And this team time and time again has not gotten it done.
So then what do you think they need to do next? Should they sell most of see what they can do?
I think come trade deadline there’s going to be numerous moves here. Barring something crazy happening, which we’re all here for. Okay. I mean, we like I I want this team to do well, but I think you’re going to have to to chip off Zack Allen. You’re going to have to Gino Suarez is a guy and you’re going to have to get restock the farm system and then hit free agency in the winter and and and try to put back together a team that that can compete again. I think there are enough pieces here that you can sprinkle in other talent around them and uh you know bring up some of the some of the young guys and and and take another crack at it and try to open another window that’s uh you know three or five years.
Feels like a year late Detroit Gallon. I don’t know what his value is this year compared to this time last year would be.
Right. It’s a good point. But do you think the Arizona fans really want to wait another 3 to 5 years to see their team?
Not when you just put $500 million in the stadium. I mean, that’s that’s the hard part is they have that big announcement and all that momentum on Friday and they go out and get swept by the Marlins for the first time in franchise history. Joe, as a keen baseball observer, um how excited are you as a Giants fan to be playing the Diamondbacks right now?
Well, we can’t hit at all. So, um
say, didn’t the Giants just get swings? They’re redot. No one can stop them. What a what a train. What a force. Uh, no. We can’t hit. Giants can’t hit.
Shout out.
So, um, yeah, we’re gonna get a lo a lot of lowscoring games maybe this weekend this week. But going back to the Dbacks, I like a a phrase someone once told me like, give me evidence that you’re a good team. And I don’t think they’ve shown us even before the injuries that this was a good team. They they’ve been sloppy, can’t pitch, make errors, base running errors, and they’re a game below 500. They can get they can put up runs just give up too many.
Joey, have they uh you’re so we’re we’re uh we have you uh zooming in from the ballpark here on Monday night. Do they show any evidence of being a good team and scoring any runs so far?
I don’t want to jinx it, but Ryan Nelson is looking pretty good right now. So, he is he’s doing pretty solid and uh looks like the Dbacks are trying to get after Logan Webb, who obviously is one of the toughest pitchers to uh hit um with his sinker and slider going for him. But, uh right now, knock on wood, it’s 000. So, we’ll see how they do. But, I’m I’m with you guys. I I feel like it’s just this is just one of those teams where you’re like scratching your head like it’s it’s too many defensive errors. there five errors over the last three games that’s not going to win you games. And then they walked 10 batters last game as well. So that’s just it’s it’s really just hard to watch right now.
Yeah. And on Sunday they they squared up Cal Quantrol three times in the first inning. You’re like they’re on him. They’re going to score 15 runs and it was 2-1 and then they had a blow up in the eighth inning and gave up four runs. So it’s it’s just the other story is they’re hurt. The injuries in Chicago. I mean you had Corbin Carroll go down. You had Naylor. I I didn’t check. Is Naylor Was Naylor spotted today? Julia, is he like back in the lineup moving around? Shoulder looking
P Smith. Paven Smith is starting at first right now, but uh Naylor is working his way back.
Okay, so he won’t go on the injured list. Gino Suarez had a throw in the third on the right field on Sunday that we were all like, “Oh man.” And then I mean Mel Kelly did it on Friday. A lot of errors, but Gino’s fighting through a hand injury. So I mean that’s that’s not that that’s not easy to do. But there’s a lot of throws that sail beyond first base. Uh, a lot of blow up innings and and and then you know Gabby Mareno, your catcher, is out and you got two guys in the bullpen, AJ Puck and Justin Martinez, done for the season and your ace Corbin Burns is done for the season. So you put that all together, they have to sell, right? I just think you’re Will the fans be ready for a rebuild?
I I don’t even think it’s a rebuild. I think it’s a reset next year, but I think that all of your guys like a Zack Allen for instance, whose contract is coming up. You know, he’s going to be a free agent. There’s no guarantees of resigning him. He’ll be able to help. You’ll be able to get something for him. And there’s going to be a market for a starting pitcher who performed well in the postseason and took what a perfect game in the seventh inning in the World Series two years ago. Someone will be able to fix him. Someone will be able to spot what’s what’s the issue there. Uh, somebody’s gonna want Gino Suarez, guy with a ton of pop,
you know. It’s it’s it’s sad, but this is kind of how it works. When it doesn’t work, you got to kind of reshuffle the deck. Um, but when do you when do you make that decision here? Because as of Monday, the Dimebacks 11 games back in the NL West, five games back in the wild card. They got the Giants for four, Kansas City for three. Julia, when do you make that decision? I want to see maybe just before All-Star break. I want to see how they do in these next 14 games. to see if they’re even, you know, showing heart, showing passion, and not making these silly mistakes that they’ve made over the past few games.
Could you feel the passion in the clubhouse? I mean, I want someone to throw something. I want somebody to kick something. I want a bat to get broken. I want some screaming. I want I want to feel the fire. Could you feel any fire? No, I couldn’t. Honestly, I’m still waiting still waiting on that. And I know that Naylor is one of those guys though, like once he gets going and like he’s one of those like tough guys for sure, but they need him out there
and he’s another guy in a contract year. So if he gets healthy, you would think that Paven Smith ends up being the everyday first baseman because there’s no guarantees you’re going to resign him. Um it would be nice to see Catel Marte go to the All-Star game, too based on what happened last week in Chicago. Weird scene. Have y’all ever seen anything like that before? Catel Marte in tears on the field. I don’t think I have. Not not that wasn’t related to an injury or something like that. No.
Julia, was he available today? I know his teammates were down there stumping for him at Chick-fil-A to vote to get him to the All-Star game and you can vote today and tomorrow and Wednesday they announce the starters. Um does he have a little spring in his step? Is is he um it seems like he should be the leader of this team? Do you feel like that leadership is there? Well, we did not see him in the clubhouse. um he probably came a little bit, you know, before after media was in there, but um yeah, I feel like maybe something like that could actually, you know, help him in a way of getting that fire back and just like being like, okay, like let’s let’s do this and kind of obviously not what you want to see or feel. But you I hope that Marte like really like runs with it.
Do the Dimebecks deserve two allstars if they were to get Corbin Carroll and Catel Marte, do they? The way they played this year, are they deserving? Corbin was absolutely having an all-star season before he got hurt and he was phenomenal out there. He was the one consistent batter that they had. So, I think before the injury, Absolutely. Absolutely. I hope that he makes the All-Star game. And how does how did the how’s the fan base look tonight after getting swept by the Marlins on a Monday? Everybody’s gone over to San Diego or back to Wisconsin or Wisconsin Dells. Where you from again, Hippie? Rapids. The
Rapids original. Yeah. So, uh, Julia, what’s the vibe at the ballpark? How many people are down there?
I will tell you this, there are a lot more Giants fans than I expected down here tonight.
Oh, we’re Arizona, too. Joe, how many Giants fans you think are in the valley? Like, like from your own scientific research?
A lot. And we’ve The Giants did spring training here in the 50s, so they’re they’re an institution for sure.
Games were on the radio here for a long time, right? And then you had the Phoenix Giants.
Yeah. Firebirds. Phoenix Firebirds uh with a I think it was Triple A.
They played outdoor baseball here in the summer and people actually went. That doesn’t sound fun.
No.
Uh but they’re one of the higher drawing spring training teams. I think the Cubs have more. Um and now the Dodgers have a ton because of Otani, right?
But there’s always orange and black at at Chase Field. I’ve seen tons of games there.
All right, Jose. So, we’re going to get yours and Julia’s prediction here and then let Julia get out of here and back to writing the game and uh writing the game, logging the game, watching the game, reporting on the game, and thank you for the shot sheet you’re going to put together for the show. But, uh, okay. Predictions for this uh this set against the Giants. What uh what are we going to see here? Who are you asking?
Uh, we’ll start with Julia.
Okay. I think that it’s going to be a split series. I think Diamondbacks will take two, Giants will take two. Zack Allen pitches tomorrow. Uh Joe,
if the Giants can score at all, I think we can beat this team, but I don’t I don’t see us scoring a ton of runs. It’s already one- nothing, I see. So, scoring two runs today is going to be tough.
And you’re looking forward to every time that bullpen door opens, correct?
DA’s bullpen for sure.
It’s it’s I mean, gives me anxiety. And I just I mean, the de the the bullpen was supposed to be the strength of the team this year. You can’t help injuries, but it is what it is. All right, Julia, we’ll let you get uh get back to work. Thanks for um joining us live on tape from the press box.
Good luck, Julian.
All right. Thanks, guys. We’ll see you later.
All right. So, not a lot of hope there. Um what about hope about the Suns draft night, though? Do we feel like the Suns have put themselves in a position to be competitive for a playoff spot next year by drafting? Come on, Malawatch out of Duke. Uh Mark Williams trading for him from Charlotte, drafting Rasher Fleming from St. Joe’s and Kobe Brea from Kentucky by way of Dayton. And then you have uh Colin Gillespie, the news of him uh potentially resigning today from Shams. Is that enough to get you excited for Suns basketball here on Arizona’s Family?
I I don’t think this puts them any closer or further away from playoffs this year. Uh rookies in the NBA take some time to get up to speed and really make an impact. But I think two, three, five years from now, I think this draft may have made a really big difference. Mark Williams should help earlier. Um, but you know, getting the other Duke guy in Malawatch and um just getting some more beef there. The it’s it’s what Suns fans needed. It felt like most of the offseason was they’ve got no future. They’ve got no draft picks. We’re not bringing anybody in. and now all of a sudden they add three guys in the draft in one in two nights that um you know there’s something there for Suns fans to be excited for. I don’t know about this season but at least two three seasons down the road I think they’ll be they could be uh significant impact players. Well, and it was hilarious too because everybody’s like I have no hope. You know how Suns Twitter is. I mean, I’m I I get that all the you post one thing and you’re like, “Okay, people, let’s not go to the most extreme example here, but they’re like, “We have nothing. We’re not going to be competitive till 2040.” And then, yeah, you add three guys to the roster. What? You only have like 12. I know you have a Valley Suns team here. Yeah. But
I mean, yeah, there if if fans need anything to be hopeful for, this roster had some glaring needs and in the first opportunity to address it, they seem to be addressing those needs. So, I mean, I I don’t know what else you can ask for as a fan. You got to have some patience, uh, which is lacking in pretty much all aspects of everything nowadays.
That’s what makes sports great. Sports fans in particular, what have you done for me this very second or you’re a bum?
It’s Yeah. So, I mean, there’s if there was no hope for the future before, there’s got to at least be a little bit of glimmer, something to hold on to, to think about down the line that, well, maybe this could develop into something a little bit more that I don’t think they had before.
I feel like Wisconsin fans have more patience because y’all are so like nice and like like maybe you’re seething underneath this at the surface, but like what’s Bucks and Brewers and Packers Twitter like?
Well, uh,
X, whatever it is.
I definitely think there is more patience. Uh but I mean our teams have also seen a lot longer um periods of success and drought. I mean Packers won the first two Super Bowls. Talk to anyone who was alive in the 70s and 80s. That was an embarrassment of a franchise. It was except for Chester, what was the kicker name? Yes. Yes. When he had glasses and scored and a minute later he had snorted cocaine at halftime up.
Yeah.
Um
that was that that’s probably the best moment that y’all had. And then you know the Lee Ivory. You’re forgetting about
Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lind Dicki.
Yeah. Lind Dicki.
Bucks get a championship once every half a century. So you know you just you just got
you just got to have patience.
Brewers make the fall fun until they fall flat and then
Brewers are good until the All-Star game and then they fall apart after they’ve kind of they’ve been in the playoffs and they get everybody fired up and then it’s a huge disappointment and then your your manager joins the Cubs.
Yeah. I mean I didn’t mind that at all. I I was happy to have Craig Council come out.
How did you become a Cubs fan from Wisconsin? A lot of them there.
There’s a lot of them. My dad brought me up when I when I was a little kid. I used to listen to WGN on the radio.
There’s almost as many people from Chicago in Wisconsin as there are here in Arizona.
They go like go north because it’s nicer and cheaper and the people are nicer.
Yeah, it is. They go up to Lake Geneva. They go to Door County and then they say, “Wow, it’s there’s a lot less traffic and things are a lot more affordable here.” Way better than Chicago.
I know you know those names. I want to Yes. I want to go to Dor County. Joe, have you been to Dor County?
I haven’t. I’ve only been to Milwaukee or I haven’t even been to Milwaukee. I’ve been to Green Bay and Wasaw. Um, that’s it. And
how was how was your Green Bay experience? This this took a turn from a rundown, but let’s talk about Green Bay, your Lambo experience.
I’m okay for a Wisconsin podcast. We can get into
We don’t have to talk about it with the two Packer fans here, but
yeah. I mean, I think it was a pretty good trip for you, Joe. I know what game you were at. For people who don’t know, which is everyone, it was the 2021 playoffs when uh was that divisional round. The Packers were the one seed. They got the buy sitting all warm in their homes while the Niners beat up Dallas and came into the cold and could barely score a touchdown. Had to wait for a block punt and then Rogers just kept throwing Devonte Adams for some reason.
He’s just laser focused on him. Wouldn’t look to anybody else and they lost it. Yep.
Like the seasons go, the Brewers let you down in the fall, the Packers let you down after the new year, the Bucks let you down in the spring, and then summer’s great.
Fair.
Yeah, I think Yeah, that that I think I think sums it up.
Badgers go to the Rose. Okay.
Well, at this at this point, the Badgers are trying to be something they’re not. So, the next few years, they’re just going to be
Okay. What are they and what what are they not? Well, I mean, they’re they need to be big meaty farm boys running the ball all the time. They’re not a spread air raid offense.
Um, maybe that’s what you got to do to try to compete in college football. I envy I mean, give it a shot. Go for it. I don’t have high expectations. I think they got to lean into to what they are. You just need those cornfed linemen.
I totally for No one does. Yeah, that that win that has won football games since for a hundred years.
I’m going to run over you and you have bigger people. Are there bigger people in Wisconsin on per capita?
I mean, the women, sorry, is this live?
I uh and I was just going to say, you know, it takes some muscles to move those dairy cows around. That’s all that that’s all I’m going to say. Um
I love Wisconsin. They probably don’t love me after that comment. I I I don’t think that
you got to grill your own steak when we were there.
Oh, so good. Yes. So Craig took me to this place next to Lambo where you grow your own steak and you talk about
grill your own steak.
Grill grill.
It’d be cool if you grew it. I mean that’d be kind of gruesome. But yeah, but I guess they do. Yeah.
Did you say that was Prime Quarter?
Yes, Prime Quarter.
Yeah. Oh, and you talking to all the Packers fans there. He was just having a ball.
I was I had lots of friends.
I’m sure they were all very happy to talk to.
Oh my god. It was great. Yeah.
Yeah. If you ever go to a tailgate out there, you don’t you don’t need to bring anything. You’ll get fed and drunk before you reach the door. Joe, was that your experience when you were at Lambo?
Uh, we we arrived we were driving from um Minneapolis. So, we were up against it. We got there half hour, 45 minutes before kickoff, paid for parking, like in the car driving in to make sure which lot it was. And then the line, you never realize the line to get in the Lambo is insane. Uh they’re doing zero security. I mean, you can walk because everybody’s in like a big big hunter. What did you wear, by the They just wave you in about 10 layers
and was still freezing, but it warms you up when your team wins a playoff game in Lambo. I uh I went to college in Green Bay and I had some friends who lived around the stadium. Um and they make some serious money just by parking cars in their lawn.
Like what do you charge like depends how close you are. I think they were probably they were a few blocks away, but you could charge 20, 30 bucks a car. You could pack six, seven, eight cars in. That’s a couple hundred bucks on a Sunday. And that used to be like a mortgage payment, but now they’re all the houses are like getting bought up and it’s not quite the same.
They’re they’re all these big um short-term rentals that are Yeah. like $1,600 for whatever Green Bay. That’s
they built them up. They look really cool. When you drive down Lombardi A there all up built up on the side, they look really cool. Um but it the that row in particular has kind of um been commercialized, but the neighborhoods are still very existent. and what make Lambo special.
And you guys both covered news and sports in Green Bay. Craig, could you if you would have bought four houses around Lambo in 2003 if you could have, would you have? I would have. You could never have gone around for the value you’d get for either renting it out to someone going there or parking like Matt said, you’d be a big mistake not to. An interesting thing we didn’t talk about is going live pregame from the parking lot. You have never seen some of the stuff I saw when I we were going live in there because yes, we would go from the field, but we would always do one from the parking lot.
Like it was like hippie with his shirt off being like
this is the most important day of my life. Your life. Our life is a town.
That was never I was never
We had a girl come up to my reporter
and kiss him and wanted to bear hug him on live TV.
Imagine if that would have happened, right?
Friendly fans.
Yeah. I mean, that’s the kind of stuff you missed, Mark, by not going there. rundown Wisconsin women.
No, there’s a lot of Wisconsin top. All right. Uh before we make the transition here, uh favorite uh Packer game that you went to of all time.
I I have one
for for me it was easy. It was it was Monday Night Football. I think it was 2000 or so. It it’s a it was a very memorable game. It was against the Vikings. It goes into overtime and this was the one where Antonio Freeman fell down and the ball bounced off Chrisman.
Yeah. Bounced bounced off his shoulder and Brown picked it up and then ran in for the score. I was at that game
sitting sitting a couple rows deep. Aman Green’s family was sitting sitting behind us. Great.
By far the most memorable game of It was actually weird because I was at that game shooting.
Were you a shot? Do you have any tape that we could look at? No, but I do have a shot earlier. That was the game I almost got tooken out. Taken out last year. remember you were videotaping it and
well that was the game where Randy Moss also came by and hit my arm as I was going by and tapped me said you’re all right and
said you deserve him
no but he swiped to my shoulder yeah he just said you’re all right I’m like yeah and he just walked right back out on the field you know but it’s not very often you’re shooting games and and that took place but that it’s weird that he was there because I was shooting it as because I used when I was working for Green Bay I happened to be at that Weird that you mentioned that.
Yeah, I think I was in fifth grade.
Well, Craig, you have tickets, right, to one game a year.
Yes. It It’s funny that you mentioned that because I paid for those uh just back in February and every year I get because my wife won the lottery back in 2003 uh through the Brown County. Uh they had like Yeah. The season ticket lottery. Correct. Yes. There’s a difference. Why are you working if your wife won the lottery? But she gets two tickets to one Packers home game. Yes.
She gets the right to buy them, right?
Yeah. But normally I end up selling them to people in Wisconsin. Nobody here has taken me up on the deal. The
I will do that. I’m going to take my boys once they can get Well, do you have this year’s game?
Not yet. No, I usually I usually get the seats at the end of July, early August. I find out which one. It’s a random It’s a random uh two seats in the newer section.
And the and the and the Packers are coming here this year. We’re fired up. Are you going to be That’s a Sunday. We don’t have a postgame show. We don’t have a post game. I haven’t um of course it’s the most expensive game of the year. I got the longer I wait to decide whether I’m going to buy them. Uh they’re only going to go up. Maybe maybe the year will start and they’ll both suck and I can get them for cheap.
Like because you saw that Thursday night game that was the crazy finish. Do you feel like you have to go again? Like I feel like I don’t have to go to a Texas game, a big one, because I saw Texas USC and I’m like
I don’t know that it’s going to get any better than this. I would love to go, but I’m not going to break my bank to go.
That was that was also a great game and would have been my second answer for most memorable game I’ve been to. Um, no, I haven’t felt necessarily that way. Just every what four years the Packers are here. I’d like to go four years ago. It was 2021. Yeah. So, yeah, four years ago.
Oh my goodness. Where did the time go? Crazy.
Wow. Okay. All right. Well, we’ll get back.
If Craig If Craig offers to sell them to me, I’ll buy them.
Okay. There we go. Well, we’ll see which game I get. I
I don’t think you get these For some reason, no, not here, but for some reason, I tend to draw the Bears a lot.
So, I’ve had the Bears quite frequently. It seems to be the most popular one I get.
The Niners go there this year. Can you sell them to Joe?
I don’t think they they go there this year. They play We play the Bears out of the C out of the north. Interesting. I want to go to San Francisco, too. All right. Uh well, let’s move along here back to our conversation about local sports. Um and Craig’s probably got to get out of here. Talk about Arizona.
Yeah. But I want to talk about the team that’s fun that like it’s fun talking about Wisconsin. We went off on a tangent, but man, the Mercury, they are fun. Now, they lost on Sunday, but Friday night and Craig has exited the building against the Liberty. I was watching that game while covering the Dbacks and have more fun watching that game. Um, this team I feel like could compete for a championship. Am I crazy?
I don’t think so. They they’ve been playing great. Even when they were missing players, um, they feel like they’ve got that that vibe to them. I mean, missing Copper most of the season, they still had a great great run. Um, they’re a different team without Alyssa Thomas. Those five games she was out. I mean, she’s I think the heart and soul and just the engine of this team. Uh, but you also got Sabali who’s
an all-star starter now as of today. And then all of these rookies who are
I don’t know if they’re outplaying their rank and station in the league, but they’re not looking like rookies and they’re they’re playing fantastic. So, I mean that that feels like the recipe for a championship team. Whether they can beat other great teams like I mean they’ve beat New York twice if they could beat them in a series. I don’t know. Minnesota looks unstoppable in the Fisa Collier is having an alltime season so far. Um but I mean Mercury definitely have to be up there as contenders if they don’t.
And it’s interesting that the way the WNBA just rocketed and with the Valkyries this year and the WNBA expansion with Okay, so let’s let’s get these right. Okay, so the Valkyries, Joe, your team, how many people are they drawing tonight?
18,000. They’ve had 10 straight sellouts. They’re seven and three in ballholla. Ball. How Okay, so do they sort of take the place of the A’s leaving? Where do they sort of fit in with the Bay Area sports dynamic?
I’ve read about it um a lot and it’s it’s a whole new audience. There’s only there’s a few crossover from from Warriors, but someone um said it was it was Terara Vander Vandermir Vander from Stanford that really built up women’s the women’s college game and and fans and and then you know in the LBGTQ community is pretty massive in the Bay Area so they’re obviously showing up and then I’ve just seen just fans going like they want to be part of it and they um you They’ve they’ve said like teams have looked up at the scoreboard like we won this game, right? And these fans are going absolutely nuts and now it’s just like that the team and someone made a point like a a a brand new team is everyone else’s scraps and these these girls were scraps on other teams and now they’re they’re playing in front of 18,000 fans. there’s there’s awesome foreign foreign uh players and it’s just for them they’re they play out of their minds at home and it’s it’s pretty cool to see even though I haven’t seen them play but other than highlights Steph Curry was there last night so the whole the whole area has bought in which is cool and I was at the Mercury game last night yesterday scouting for the Valkyries. Yeah. Um, it’s scouting for my fantasy team because the Aces,
dude, I won this week. I’m not joking, by the way, that he’s actually on a WNBA fantasy football fantasy basketball league.
Yeah, it’s uh the department is Yeah, I’m on my honeymoon.
Do you want to I don’t think Nick is really managing his team, by the way. Do you want to do you want to jump on scraps? No, I’ll get in next.
I’ve got Kalia Copper. I’ll get in next year. Sorry. You were on a boat and I sent you an email. I was like, he’s probably not checking his email, but I don’t I wasn’t I wouldn’t have been a part of it. I don’t blame you at all for moving on without me.
Do you want to help me manage my team?
That’s okay.
Okay, we’re going to we’re going all the way. We have copper. All right. So, but back to our expansion conversation.
Well, yeah, I want to say talk about the Mercury and like that crowd yesterday, they announced it as 13,000, which is a sellout and they were loud. They were boisterous. They got into it.
Um the the game was um tight in the first half and then the aces went on a run and then the Mercury countered. It was one one of the better basketball games I’ve been to and um they had a shot to winning at the end and um they missed two shots, but it’s a great atmosphere here, too. So, definitely the X factor are an X factor. Well, I I feel like the Rattlers going out west really kind of opened up. Not that the people weren’t going to the Mercury, but it’s a thing to do downtown. And the Rattlers were kind of a thing to do downtown. And now that’s West and this is downtown. It’s the only game in town. It’s when the Diamondbacks are gone especially or bad like we’re talking about. It’s the summer. It’s It’s free air conditioning if you pay for a ticket. And it’s fun. And they have some shooters. And what they’ve been able to put together around Alyssa Thomas and Satu Sabali and and Kalia Copper. I this team is a contender. And you couple that with, you know, Caitlyn Clark and this WNBA kind of being on a rocket ship right now. And you got you got uh expansion in Golden State. Toronto’s coming. Cleveland, Detroit, Philly, and Portland. every I mean the WNBA seems like it’s going to the moon here.
Yeah. To 18 teams. Well, I mean hopefully it can build on this momentum that it’s that they’ve created in the LA I mean in three years ago I don’t think anybody saw this going the way it has and then now we’re looking 5 years out from now and they’re growing by 33% the number of teams uh 50%. you go from 12 to 18 teams in six years. Uh I I I hope they they sustain it. I I think they will. Um I think the stars and the personalities and the corporate support is there. So I think it will sustain. Um and it Yeah, it’s got to be exciting. The thing I’m I’m curious about is when you go up to 18 teams, do they keep expanding the schedule? Because I mean they’ve gone from 30 to 40 to now 44 games in the same amount of time that they were doing it before. uh a lot of players have a lot of thoughts on them uh on that mostly negative. Um and so then the NBA, WNBA starts running into challenges of um I mean I maybe they could do still the same number of games, but there’s a wider variety. The teams aren’t playing each other as many times uh as they do now. But if you start expanding the season either earlier, they’re cutting in to the NBA season or you go later, you’re in the NFL season, right?
And that’s what
you don’t want to go up against that. But it’s a different audience want to avoid. Yeah, it is it somewhat. Yes. You I mean you have the WNBA has their core audience that maybe isn’t as much of an NFL crossover, but I think a lot of the big support and this big swell they’ve had lately has been from those other sports fans who are tuning in
that when you get into those seasons, they maybe not.
Maybe the season’s good enough and the playoffs are compelling enough to to get people to watch and you schedule it the right way. you find those Tuesday, Wednesday gaps in the week when the NFL’s not, you know, trying to take over the calendar. Um, but it it’ll be interesting to see see how how they do it, how they keep growing with this because the league’s definitely going through some growing pains right now. They’re growing a lot. Players have a lot of thoughts. They have a new CBA coming in. Um, it it’s just going to be interesting to see their approach and what the next steps are and and how they move forward. Seems like the league will look totally different next year that the Valkyries could sign five stars and go to the moon as well because everybody’s on a one-year contract.
Yeah, almost everyone’s going to be a free agent this year and then you’ll have two more teams coming in. I mean, so what for the rest of this decade, we’re going to have an expansion draft every year pretty much. Someone mentioned that in the the Valkyrie subreddit, which yes, I look at they’re like, “Do we have to give up players in expansion when we’re an expansion team?” And they probably do. I I would imagine. Yeah, once you’re established. Yeah. I mean, they may they can probably
Houston because Houston needs a team back. Comets, bring them back.
Comets. Houston.
And hopefully they get paid more and don’t have to go overseas as much. And like
like this is I I enjoy the WNBA. I enjoy watching the WNBA. I’m excited it’s growing. It’s just one more thing to rally around as a community. And I’m excited about the Mercury taking on Paige Beckers in Dallas this week. I’m excited to see her.
Well, and that’s the thing too about the Mercury. They have exciting players and then they’re playing these other teams that have exciting players. So yesterday on the court there were like five great players that you get to see and watch and
Asia Wilson is just incredible just how she uses her height. She’ll just stand under the basket when someone else shoots
on her team with her hands up in the air and like the ball inevitably she’ll either tip it or grab it. She had 18 boards.
Well, and you don’t see that in the NBA. Half the time it’s load management and guys aren’t playing. You see the stuff. That’s the best part about this. Every game you’re like I I feel like it’s rare. Maybe you know Thomas sat out because she was injured and Kalia Topper did, but most of the time you’re seeing like the Liberty came here and they brought they brought the stars.
Yeah.
I was watching her minutes to see how they manage it and she played the whole first quarter, all of the second quarter except the last minute and then or no the first the last she played all the first quarter except the last minute. Sat for that. Sat for two minutes in the second. Played the whole half and then did that again. So she sat for six total minutes and was just
This is Wilson.
Yeah. Was insane out there. The the
AC’s three best players played like 35 of the 40 minutes.
Yeah. She’s a
perennial MVP candidate for a reason.
All right. Aces, Liberty, Mercury. Aces. Aces are having kind of a weird season. I mean, they’re they’re slightly over 500 at this point.
Yeah, they’re they have to have an adjustment without Kelsey Plum. Asia missed a couple games. Um, but they’re they’re just as good as they’ve ever been.
They’re on their way up.
They have all the talent and their coaching is great.
And the coaching is great. But even uh Tibbitz made some great great adjustments. She he put in uh Brown, Kehlani Brown, and she just engulfed Asia Wilson in the fourth quarter
cuz her dad PJ
couldn’t even get a call to her. She was
And then she she kept getting cut. Kehani Brown did.
It’s crazy.
I mean, yeah. Like I it’s very interesting how uh Nick Uran and and Tibids were able to put up put together this roster and it all seems to fit so far. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
They’re fun. I think people need to go watch a game even watch on our our air.
Thank you. The plug and then watch the extra point for the breakdown.
They’ve they’ve got the right kind of hungry players. All right. Uh pet updates. How’s PB doing?
PB is good. Uh you know, living his life. um not helping to pay bills at all and just a cat model,
you know, you just gets to lay around, sleep all day, get his stuff picked up after him, and it’s just, you know, I’m jealous of him in his life. Could PB and Harley ever like get together and have like a play date?
No. No. No. My cat does not play well with others.
What about Harley? Would Harley play well? Uh he’s only known one other cat and that cat didn’t have claws. So that cat was very defensive and wouldn’t let try to get Harley not to come near her and then eventually he figured out she doesn’t have claws. Like your hissing doesn’t matter and he went up to mess with her. So um now Harley’s a very independent cat. I’m the only human he ever really sees and interacts with. He hides from everyone else. Uh which is very interesting.
It’s Harley the hiding cat. That’s that’s how that’s how PB was. And then I moved in with my wife and it’s been a whole adjustment since then.
Yeah. So, I’m just want this cat to live out the best the best years he can. The last years of his life. He’s 10. He’s a senior cat. Maybe got five, six.
10’s not a senior cat. Stop.
Five, six years left.
I thought cats live to be like 30.
They do.
50. Cats never go away.
They’re always there.
Hey, the Bucks got someone. Gary Trent Jr.
GTJ coming back. Did Gary Trent, senior, play for the Bucks?
Senior.
I feel like he did.
I have no idea.
All right, we’ll talk about that tonight in the Extra Point, your recap of all Milwaukee sports. Uh, yeah. St. All right. Ross goes in the mountains with grandma. He’s very happy. Uh, best Fourth of July memory. All start uh Texas forever. Hanging out in Texas in the lake. Fireworks. Texas. Texas. Texas. It’s the coldest beer in Texas. It’s the biggest truck in Texas.
Uh, we’re going to go to Lake Travis.
Oh, you’re going this year? Yeah. Yeah. We’re going to go and hang out with uh my brother and his four kids. Cousins cousin time. Yeah, it’s going to be good for the soul. I don’t think I’ll wear a shirt all weekend. Maybe I should
Texas.
Yes. Or maybe I’ll just rip the sleeves off my shirt. Yeah, even more Texas.
Yes. Um
Fourth of July in Wisconsin seems fun.
Uh it’s great. It’s mosquitoy. But yeah, remember in Madison, we used to watch the fireworks from the lake. Take the boat out, watch fireworks from Lake Manona, Lake Mod. It’s enismas. Pick one. You can see the fireworks.
There was one year at Camp Longhorn with the camp I grew up going to where the um the the counselors had all the fireworks on like a barge like about this big and they it had a
motor too,
but they uh there was a spark and the barge got lit on fire and all the fireworks started going off at the same time. So, you just heard uh somebody swear and then everybody jumped in the lake and swam in. Well, we had an amazing fireworks display as campers.
That one of my one of my favorite videos of all time is from San Diego in like 2012. It’s one of the best It’s a It’s a very famous video when when the fireworks there was a glitch. Just all of them went off at once. It’s about 20 seconds of the most incredible fireworks you’ve ever seen and then nothing. Uh I’m very jealous of the people who got to see that in real life because I think it would be phenomenal. That’s what Unless you’re the guy in charge of it or you have Yeah.
Hopefully no one’s injured in that.
Maybe. But that was more memorable than any fireworks show in history. That’s gone according to plan. So just Well, I saw the video. It might have been this year where a car ran into a fireworks shop and then Oh gosh, the fireworks started going off inside the shop. It’s all you hear is the Yes, I have seen those. I’ve seen videos of fires at fireworks factory. Those are horrifying to see and they just go on for for days. It seems like there’s there’s pops going off. But yeah, fire is great. Fourth of July, awesome. Uh I love this holiday until I moved to Arizona. Uh now it’s one of my least favorites.
You got to get out of town. That’s that’s the sign to get out. Just find somewhere else to go. San Diego. Yeah,
I’ve been to Tahoe. Tahoe on Fourth of July is amazing.
We’re we’re actually we we got a hotel. We got a room at the Wigwam just for Saturday night. Just go to watch their fireworks and not have to deal with traffic anywhere and just walk back to a hotel room and and stay there. fun little shops and place to eat.
Yeah, I haven’t been there before. So, it’s
supposed to rain this fourth on Friday.
I’ll take it. That’s as good as fireworks to me here in Arizona. Fireworks or rain is just as fun.
Rain. Well, Joe, favorite fourth of July memory.
The Tahoe one I mentioned we went boating all day. We we parked on a um a barge and and partied with all sorts of people and then saw fireworks at night. But I also have been to DC and just being there and seeing the
DC’s great
the the amount of fireworks they let off on that National Mall and like I everyone’s there and it was just like a section of the sky that I could see and it was incredible even though how hot it was that was like 100°.
Have you ever been in a plane on the 4th of July?
I haven’t but I love those videos now. I’ve I have flown on the 4th of July before and it’s it’s pretty great. And it was at night so you’re coming in and you just you you can see fireworks going off all over the place like just all across the horizon. You see little pops and like things coming up. It was one of one of the cooler cooler experiences I’ve had.
Or if you land on a Saturday night in the fall, you can go by Sunundevil Stadium and have the fireworks go off around your plane,
which I always thought is interesting.
All right. Well, uh different kind of real quick. I was in West Palm Beach and it was raining and they thought no fireworks. And then all of a sudden they’re like, “Oh, there’s enough space and like these were the lowest fireworks I’ve ever seen.” I’m like, “They’re going to catch these palm trees on fire. Not in Florida. Everything’s too wet.” It was crazy. All right. Well, let’s report back with our Fourth of July uh next week. I think we’re going to table let’s table Disneyland versus Disney World for next week as well. Then we’ll talk more Wisconsin sports.
There’s no Disney World.
Oh, there’s a debatement. Oh, stop.
The debate continues and the Extra Point podcast, a production of 3TV, CBS 5 and a family.com in Phoenix,
In this episode of The Extra Point, host Mark McCune is joined by sports producer Matt Hippe, editor Joe Farris, and Julia Lopez live from Chase Field. The team dives into the Arizona Diamondbacks’ recent struggles, including Corbin Carroll’s injury update and the likelihood of the team becoming sellers at the trade deadline. They also discuss the Phoenix Suns’ recent draft picks and their potential impact on the team’s future. In addition, the conversation shifts to the WNBA’s expansion and the impressive rise of new teams like the Golden State Valkyries. The episode wraps up with a lively discussion on 4th of July memories and the debate between Disneyland and Disney World. Tune in for an in-depth sports analysis and some fun banter!
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:40 Wisconsin Memories and Snowmobile Stories
02:03 Diamondbacks’ Struggles and Injury Updates
03:50 Trade Deadline Speculations
07:05 Fan Reactions and Clubhouse Vibes
14:10 Suns’ Draft Night and Future Prospects
16:36 Wisconsin Sports Culture and Packers Tales
22:04 Exploring Lombardi Ave and Lambeau Field
23:20 Memorable Packers Games
26:50 The Excitement of the Mercury
28:15 WNBA Expansion and Future
37:13 Pet Updates and Personal Stories
38:51 4th of July Memories
42:52 Wrapping Up and Future Topics
#suns #dbacks #sports #wnba
