SportsPrep Live

Announcer 0:00
You're listening to local programming produced in K, U, N, V studios. The content

Wesley Knight 0:06
of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Graydon Prescott 0:17
Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of sports prep live. Sports prep live, where we unbox the bike and talk excellence in athletics

Graydon Prescott 0:35
in a minute. Welcome back to sports prep live, everybody, this is season number five. I'm your host. Grade and Prescott, man, it feels good to be back. It's been a long summer. There's been a lot going on. Sports World is hotter than ever right now. So brought in my man, KB, very familiar show, and there are some things that we need to cover. And I think that this is going to be a banger. There's a lot going on. There's a lot going on in Las Vegas right now. Yes, we're going to start with, how about college football? Oh, Coach Mullen, we're doing we're looking good now. Three and oh start Yes. And a frequent, frequently mentioned person on this, on this broadcast last season, was Nico. I'm a valleva. Don't know if I'm butchering that name. I think it's close. Yes, we call them. I'm Olivia. Bolivia. Yeah, because of his whole situation at Tennessee, he went to UCL. He went to UCLA. They are now Owen to one of those losses is right here, UNLV, 30 to 23 could not have been sweeter. This past Saturday, the sixth UNLV is looking great. I mean, great. Three and Oh, start. We should be ranked coming up here soon. Yes, I think you know, grass is greener

K.B. 1:56
this early in the season, they are halfway to being bowl eligible. They are knocking on the door with a couple of more victories of being considered for the college football playoffs.

Graydon Prescott 2:08
Yeah, got to get their ranking up a little bit higher.

K.B. 2:11
Yep, they are under the new qB. Anthony Colin Dre, he has won recently these three victories. He's been named twice for the old Trapper Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week. Okay, that's happened two times in the three games that he's played, and that hasn't happened. No quarterback for UNLV has ever won offensive Trapper Mountain West, Offensive Player of the Week twice in a season. He's done it in three games, right? So he is really doing the darn thing last game, I think he threw for what, 15 of 21 203 yards, three touchdowns against I'm Olivia and UCLA added another 59 yards on 11 carries on the ground. So he was really balling out. Jaden Thomas, his partner in crime, in those three three games, I think he's gone 32 carries in maybe 273 yards, four TDs in his first three games. So they are off to an amazing start. You know? I think I know Coach Mullen has a kid that plays, you would think football, but kid that plays basketball over a bishop Gorman. So that's got to be, you know, a lot of fun for those guys. And you know, obviously Bishop Gorman, you will, will be talking a lot about Bishop Gorman this year. Great football, high school football program over there, high school, basketball, volleyball, golf. I mean, it goes on and on and on, but he's got a connection already to Bishop Gorman, and that his son is over there playing basketball. So yes, they are outstanding. I think they've got a bye coming up. That's right. Yep, bye week, yeah. So they're, they're probably not on the field again until maybe the 20th or somewhere in

Graydon Prescott 3:59
there. Yes, the 20th is the next Saturday. Yeah, they'll be on the field. Then last season, we got to discussing that UNLV had gotten off to their best start in program history, which I believe was foreign. Oh, until they lost to Boise State in that game with Ashton Gentry. That was a really good game, but they barely lost that one already three and oh, this year, so second best start in program history, and it looks like it could get better. They're gonna have a week of rest, and then right back at it on the 20th this team is looking very good. And last season we had a quarterback who, for a second there, looked like he could be a Heisman candidate, Malik Williams, this year. Different style of quarterback. He's more of a passing quarterback than Hodge was. Hodge was he was a little bit more mobile, yeah, yeah. And the same thing with saluca for the first couple of games before he disappeared into the abyss. Yeah. I. I don't even know where he is anymore, but he probably doesn't I think, I think it's

K.B. 5:05
at Holy Cross, you know, again, going back to that whole episode, just a bad idea all the way around. Just to recap, he ended up leaving the program over a disputed $100,000 payment. Yeah, it made national news. It was on ESPN.

Graydon Prescott 5:19
I mean, we talked about it probably five times. Sure, sure. I mean, it was, it was a huge deal. But clearly, UNLV has come out the better looking party in this situation, they would, they would, yeah, absolutely amazing him. They did. It was a big win for them. They got a great seat. They had a great season. Last year, made a bowl game. They're looking like they're on pace to not looking like they're on pace to make a bowl game this year, correct? So UNLV football looking great. Everyone on campus here is excited, and I think it has potential to be a big year.

K.B. 5:52
And you know what? And I think there's a seismic change. Ad, Eric Harper here at UNLV has really gone out of his way, and I think he's done an outstanding job thus far to really put UNLV sports on the National Map. He's bringing in talented coaches, you know, Coach Mullen and the football team, Pastner, Coach Josh Pastner for the men's basketball team, making all the right moves, incorporating n i L is going to be utilizing n i L to make sure that we are competitive with other top college programs. And I do know we'll talk a little bit about basketball later that Coach Pastner was really, he was really stressing the idea of, kind of making the UNLV basketball program with respect to the spectators in the audience, kind of like, like Cameron, right? Like really pushing the excitement and really wanting people to come out to the game. So they released their schedule today. So that's interesting. I think they open with their first game somewhere around October 18 are in there. So we're really going to be talking about October 19. Okay, we're really going to be talking about this season, our listeners getting out to these games, because I think there's going to be some really exciting sport coming out of the college programs here at UNLV, and that's across a number of sports. The golf program here is outstanding. Obviously, football is making the turn. Basketball has had a storied history, and I think they're going to continue on that track. Obviously, the you at the, you know, I don't know if it's necessarily considered a spectator sport, but the UNLV cheerleading squad or dance squad, I think national Yeah, like the Harvard of dance and cheer. So that's them in Ohio State. Yeah? So there's gonna be a lot of good stuff. And we're hoping that our listeners go out enjoy yourself and see these incredible athletes, yeah, across all these sports here at Alfred and U of M

Graydon Prescott 7:52
V, while we're on the Las Vegas sports topic, we'll quickly go over the Raiders first game with Pete Carroll, a very notorious

K.B. 8:02
coach, yeah, speaking of the balled out at Boise State,

Graydon Prescott 8:04
yeah, action Gentry, yeah, over our off season from SPL, he was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders. He had his debut on Sunday in a win against the Patriots 20 to 13, yes, Geno Smith. He was 2434 362, oh, Gino. I mean, he's one of I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he described Geno Smith as one of the most inconsistently great quarterbacks, right, right? Because Geno Smith has, I mean, potential to go for 300 all the talent in the world. Yes, yes. So I hope he can actually stitch together some game, good series of games, yeah, because historically, the talent is there. Historically, he's been a little up and down, but he's at least been solid. I think if he can stay on this trajectory, the Raiders might be okay. They may make some noise. They've, they've, we've, it's been a couple rough years. They may make some noise here, here in the valley, but Ashton Gentry 19 carries for 30 and only two yards of carry.

K.B. 9:21
Now, not relatively pedestrian, but He's new. He's about to get a touchdown.

Graydon Prescott 9:25
Yep, and a wide receiver, Keishon boot, yes, six receptions for a buck. Oh, 303 yards. Not bad at all. So, good offensive game, great defensive game against a I wouldn't call them a lesser talented but they're not in the upper echelon of the NFL at present day.

K.B. 9:46
But you will take, you will take the win. The thing that I am impressed about as you know you, you sift through these stats, 362

Graydon Prescott 9:56
yards, yeah. The

K.B. 9:57
only thing that 24 of 34 pass like that. Is incredible.

Graydon Prescott 10:01
24 of 34 is it's good. It's very good. That's 10 in completions. It's not horrible. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not here to

K.B. 10:10
knock Geno Smith, but there's, there's drop balls, there's times where you may need to throw an incompletion, yeah, to protect the ball. That is true. So I don't mind that to me, those are good numbers.

Graydon Prescott 10:21
Yeah, they're great. The passing wise, great numbers. I'm just saying, Would you like

K.B. 10:25
it to be 30 of 34 but that's not going to happen a lot. But yeah, 362

Graydon Prescott 10:29
yards is Monster. Yeah, I think the one, the one thing that's concerning to me from that game is he had 362 passing yards, and they only scored 20 points. So I think they need to get their conversion from all of those yards up a little bit and they're going to be fine. They they could be a respectable team in the NFL this year. Sure, this shouldn't be a year where they look like the New York Giants last year,

K.B. 10:58
as long as you know the play calling. Yeah, Pete

Graydon Prescott 11:01
Carroll. Pete Carroll, because he's

K.B. 11:03
Carol, is, I wouldn't say famous, but infamous because of, I

Graydon Prescott 11:08
wasn't a fan of the Pete Carroll hire. I think Pete Carroll gets a lot of respect in the football community because of what he was able to do at USC, yep. And then he gets to Seattle, and they get a Super Bowl. They win a Super Bowl, right? But if you're looking at that Seattle team with, you know, with Marshawn Lynch, with Russell Wilson, with, man I'm blanking the Legion of boom, right? That historic defense shot held the greatest, yeah, Richard Sherman at the Elm but that historic defense that held the single greatest offense in the history of the NFL to eight points right in a Super Bowl, they should have won three in a row. Maybe they had he not made that if He hands the ball off to Russell Wilson, the team doesn't fall apart that off season, and we're probably looking at three Super Bowls in a row. Or, you mean, if He hands the ball off, yeah, yeah, if He hands the ball off to Sean Lynch, if he doesn't put it in the hands of Russell Wilson.

K.B. 12:09
So, you know, that's the coach that we now have, the most infamous call in all of NFL history,

Graydon Prescott 12:15
maybe in sport history, no, because, I mean, it was bad. There have been a lot of infamous collapses in sport. There have been a lot of bad calls bad, yeah, sure, but we're talking about a man who was on fire right running. He was running through the running through the patriots like Tom Brady has Tom Brady has gone on, like on national television and said, I mean, he counts his blessings every day that they didn't hand

K.B. 12:47
the ball to Marshall, right? And I think they were on the what, one yard line. They were on the two yard line, two yard line.

Graydon Prescott 12:51
And Russell Wilson throws, I'm never gonna forget this, an interception to a guy by the name of Malcolm Butler, right on the Patriots right, who I believe was a rookie. That might be right to believe he was a rookie. And I mean, just and you didn't Malcolm Butler was a good player, but he wasn't Richard Sherman, right? So Right. He was, he wasn't man. What was the name of their they had a safe. Seattle had a safety. I think he was like all pro five years in a row, and I am blanking on his

K.B. 13:24
name well, and that's fine either way, because really, again, the point of this all is that the Pete Carroll call was that bad, and that's who's now, yes, that's who's now heading up play calling for the Raiders, Raiders. So we're glad that he got a win. Now, it's interesting that the person who was on the other side of that football in Tom Brady is now an advisor for for the Raiders, so I would imagine that mark, Dave has had a conversation with Tom Brady about who they were going to bring in as head coach. And you know, I'm sure that Brady has a lot of respect for him. And like you said, a lot of that legend that Pete girl had does emanate from his days at USC Trojans. Yeah, we're gonna see how he operates as a play caller for the Raiders. But hey, he's got one in the bag. It's a good win. They've got some tough ones coming up, and we'll see how they do. We'll keep an eye on it.

Graydon Prescott 14:14
Yeah. And for my own sanity, that name was Earl Thomas, okay. And then, okay. So while we are on the Las Vegas sports topic, because I said this was, this was a big time. Yes, Vegas sports, yeah. So while we're on the topic of Las Vegas sports, let's move to, I wouldn't say the surprise of the WNBA this year, because I said it's kind of a surprise. I said that the lost, okay, here, here's how, in the way that they they've done it, yes, yes, let me, I said that the ACES needed to make changes after last season, right, where they kind of got humiliated by the Liberty in the playoffs. Sure. So they did make changes. They went out and got jewel Lloyd, they traded Kelsey Plum, who, by the way, I. I feel bad for anything negative that I said

K.B. 15:02
about she's balling. She is balling. So that was a good move.

Graydon Prescott 15:06
It was good for, I think, both into for a while, though it didn't look that way. It looked like the sparks had won that three team trade going away, correct? Because of the way that she's been playing, and because of the way that Joe Lloyd was struggling at the beginning of the season, for the first half of the season, and Las Vegas was looking terrible, right? I mean, they were seventh or eighth in the standings. They were barely above 500 not a great team. They were 14 and 14, and now they're 28 and 14, right? They've won 14 games in a row. Their last loss was a 43 point loss. 5353 point loss. Geez, Minnesota, Minnesota to the Minnesota links a game in which Nafisa Collier actually injured her ankle, and she should have never been in because I do know they were up by 40 points when she injured her ankle, but that's neither here nor there, because the ACES lost that game by 53 points.

K.B. 16:00
I don't think they broke 20 points in a quarter, and they only scored nine points in the fourth

Graydon Prescott 16:04
quarter. I mean, just, just absolute embarrassment on their home floor. It was, it was humiliating as a Las Vegas native and a supporter of the aces to see that happen, and since then, they haven't lost a game. I think they were just as humiliated for themselves, if not more humiliated for themselves, as the city of Las Vegas was for them, and that was the best thing that could have happened to it. Is, I really, I really think that 53 point loss was the best

K.B. 16:33
thing. It was the engine. It was the spark that launched what is going to arguably be another MVP season for Asia, for Asia. I do know that Asia called some people on the carpet in that locker room. She got loud, Becky Hammond got loud and was holding people accountable. I wish I were a fly on the wall to learn what was said that we know Becky can coach her butt off, and she has been doing so, but I think she's had help in Asia, Wilson, holding people accountable. And then to her credit, Jewel Lloyd, who's been a starter all of her life, you know, a USA gold medal winner, she's not used to the role that she willingly took on, and that was also something that happened that really needed to happen with this squad. She showed really a lot of humility and saying, You know what, I'm going to come off the bench, because there is a unit that has played with one another for a lot longer. It's a little bit difficult for us to find our rhythm as a team. Let me come off the bench and lead that second unit so that there is a strong one two punch. And they have not looked back since that decision was made, a phenomenal decision, and really I do believe that was it was reported that it was her idea, and I do believe it was our idea.

Graydon Prescott 17:54
Jewel Lloyd is a leader, and Kobe saw it. Kobe sauce from the time she was a puppy,

K.B. 18:00
putting the game above herself, right? And look what had has resulted

Graydon Prescott 18:03
in. Let's let's just take a look at because halfway through the season, when the ACES were 14 and 14, it's not quite halfway, it's a little over halfway, but the points still stand. They were 14 and 14. Nafisa Collier was the MVP running away with it. It didn't matter that she missed seven games. In those seven games, the links went six and one. But it didn't matter that she was gonna miss games. Yeah, it just, it was irrelevant. She was so far above everybody else in the MVP race that like she could take some time off. Yeah, she was guaranteed, right? Take your time. You know, we're gonna go six and one without you. Get Healthy, right? And and since, since the ACES lost by 53 Asia Wilson's worst game was 14 Points and 14 rebounds. She has been on a 10. I mean, 27 points and seven rebounds, 29 points and 12 rebounds, 32 points and 20 rebounds. Like then they beat the Liberty. She has 17 and 16 rebounds. I'll just look at the notable. I'll just look at my favorite of these performances here. Let's see 31 and eight against Nafisa in a game in which Nafisa scores 12. That was a few days ago. That was Thursday, the fourth

K.B. 19:13
right. And they played, I think they either played Chicago twice since then, or they, yeah, they played Chicago again.

Graydon Prescott 19:18
Uh huh. They played Chicago last night. Okay, the seventh 31 and 11 out of her 12 of 20 shooting, that's 60% she didn't miss a free throw, she didn't commit a foul. She had one turnover in three blocks.

K.B. 19:32
So do we think this is going to result Asia Wilson is the MVP? Yes, I do believe that. But do we think this is going to result in a chip?

Graydon Prescott 19:40
I think I do believe it will the way they are playing right now, they're going to be hard to beat. The WNBA made some rule changes. The WNBA finals are now seven game series. It's not a best of five anymore. I think that's a tough team to beat in. I think it's very clearly Dave Street. I think it's very clearly right now, Minnesota, Vegas, in the final. Sure. Yeah, Minnesota will have home court advantage because of the way they've put we should not sleep on Atlanta. It's going to be, I think it's pretty clearly Minnesota and Las Vegas. I agree. I agree.

K.B. 20:09
But Atlanta, I would not be surprised if Atlanta, they've

Graydon Prescott 20:12
played Vegas has played Atlanta two times in their fort in their lives, 14 games. And, of course, 14 and now they haven't lost. Now the games have been the closest of any of the games in their run, Atlanta only lost to them by two points. The first time around Asia in that game, had 32 points, 12 rebounds, forces, five blocks. I mean, just and then the second time in Atlanta, Las Vegas wins the game by 630, 4.9 rebounds, four blocks, 13 of 21 shooting, no turnovers, no fouls. Like come on. Yeah, so here's here's my case. I think it goes seven between Minnesota and Las Vegas. I think that's a seven game series, and it will completely be decided by who plays better between the feast of Collier and Asia Wilson. It would be great if it were a seven game series. I'm thinking the way that the aces are playing right now. They close it out in six. And maybe, yes, it may especially, or to a series, especially if they have, if they're up three, two, and Game Six is here. I don't think they're losing last year.

K.B. 21:19
Confidence is a dangerous thing, yes, and they have a confidence that right now is unrivaled in the league.

Graydon Prescott 21:27
But let's not ignore the fact that even though Las Vegas is on an absolute tear, Minnesota is still 33 and nine Sure, right? They have the better record. Still. They have the better record. Now it's only five games the better record, but they still have the better overall record. Yes, Phoenix is solid. Phoenix is 27 and 15. They're a good team. I don't think they have what it takes to make a strong playoff push, right? But Phoenix is solid. So right now, I think it's between Las Vegas and Minnesota, and I think it's a toss up. One last thing that we need to cover here. We got about seven minutes and seven and a half minutes on our hands, and I like talking about an old guy by the name of Jerry Jones man. Jerry Jones is a national treasure. The gift I keep someone I love. Jerry Jones, I really don't giving and I'm like Stephen A Smith. I'm a known cowboys hater. I just don't like them. I don't like Jerry Jones. I don't like the Cowboys, I don't like the organization. There's nothing good that comes from the dollar redeeming qualities, as far as you're concerned, absolutely not okay? And it's and it's primarily because of Jerry Jones, right? I hold a grudge against the whole organization because of Jerry Jones. One person that I really liked and respected on that in that organization went by the name of Micah Parsons, right, who, who was a man who wanted the amount of money that he deserved absolutely and was cheated out of his money because Jerry Jones expected him to shut up and play football, which, I mean, this is 2025 that's just not the way it is anymore. Jerry Jones is a geriatric human being, and he he's been trying to use his players as, I mean, just show monkeys for years. Wow. I'm just gonna call it like I see it. Yeah, yeah. Jerry Jones doesn't care about his players. He just, he just wants to pay them as little as he has to and get them to show up and play football for the Dallas Cowboys. And that's why they haven't won anything for the last maybe, why 30 years,

K.B. 23:35
right? That may be why they're not going very far. So Dave Prescott hasn't really won any playoff games,

Graydon Prescott 23:41
so Micah Parsons forced his way out. Yes, and I wouldn't say he forced his because he wanted to be in. He wanted to be a cowboy, but they wouldn't pay him, and he prioritized himself over the happiness of Jerry Jones, which as an athlete, I don't think there's anything that I've seen over this summer that I respect more than what Michael doesn't

K.B. 24:04
he prioritize, you know. So he had a year left on his contract, obviously. And it's a story that has, you know, been covered at ad infinitum, but he to add a little bit of nuance. He did have a year left on his contract, on his rookie contract. Yeah, they did have the right to franchise him, I think, not one, not two, but maybe three more times, yes. And so that was a consideration. And so what Micah and and his his agent David, were considering was, do we go out here and risk injury and without the guarantee of a contract? So you know, I'm trying to recuperate. I'm trying to get better. I'm still able to feed my family, take care of my family. We all know athletes take care of more than their nuclear family. They take care of extended families. Yeah, you know, mom gets a house. Dad might get a couple of cars. There's cousins and nephews and nieces, and everybody comes out of the woodwork. So and the agent and the lawyers, they get their piece. Uncle Sam gets his piece. So. So it seems like to the lay person that an athlete just gets all of this money, but that's not really what happens if you have a $20 million a year contract. Rest assured that individual player is not getting $20 million No, he'll, he'll be lucky if he gets eight out of that $20

Graydon Prescott 25:21
just after taxes. I mean only, only it, only taxes. $20 million turns into, let's see state income tax you got.

K.B. 25:30
Yeah, you're in the 37% tax bracket. So 12, 12 million, maybe, yeah, and then you've got your agent fees, you've got lawyer fees like that. That's not, you're not going to hang on to all that money. So anyway, David mogetta and and which is the agent and Micah Parsons prioritize, hey, we want to come. Not only do we want to sign, we want to sign early. So there was a leadership conference that the Dallas Cowboys were having. They called up Micah asked him to come to that leadership conference. Hey, your boss and general manager, one in the same person, and President calls and says, Hey, I want you to come to a leadership conference. What are you going to do? You're going to show up at the Leadership Conference. And that's what he did. That turned into a dinner invitation where they were discussing Micah's contract, and if your boss, who was the GM, and your boss's boss, who is the owner. But those are one in the same you're 25 years old at the time. Jerry Jones is 80 plus. Been negotiating his entire life. He's been negotiating deals probably before Michael's parents, when Michael's parents were kids. So if that man is sitting across from you, saying, here's what we're going to do, you're going to sit there, shake your head, yep, yep. Try to not in agreement and and not be disruptive, and not not cause an issue. At the end of that, Jerry calls him up, and Micah says, Hey, don't call me anymore. Call my agent, and Jerry Jones. And typical Jerry Jones profession has an aneurysm, gets gets emotional, Yep, he's done business on a handshake, and he bought the team. He's got this Netflix series that's on America's team, or whatever it's called, and he talks on and on about how he bought the Dallas Cowboys on a handshake, and that's how he likes to do business. And he had an agreement with Micah, and he's got Micah's got to live by this agreement that wasn't codified, that wasn't written. It was just this oral agreement that Jerry says this is what happened. And because Micah was smart enough and his agent was smart enough to say, No, that's a conversation. That's not a negotiation. A negotiation or a deal happens with fine print. It happens with terms, right? It happens with deliverables, right and receivables. And it never got that far, because Michael was smart enough to say, hey, I need you to deal with my representation. Jerry didn't want to do that. Fast forward, Michael gets to the point where, yes, I want to leave the team. If you're not going to honor the traditional way of doing business, players have representation for a reason. If you're not going to honor that, then I'm not going to risk my health. And so he did not. They made a big deal of him laying on one of the side tables or injury tables during their preseason game. But to me, that wasn't a big deal. The big deal was the way that Jerry Jones, like you said, treated Michael Parsons as if he was disposable, right? Like he was on a plantation, if you will. Yeah, you know, exchanging this person for that person. And Micah and his agent, who was a very powerful agent in the NFL, said, we're not having it. And now Dallas goes on. They open their they had their season opener against Philadelphia Eagles, and lose not a bad game. Dak Prescott did well, that wasn't a horrible game, but you know what would have happened if they had Michael Parsons never won? They would have won. Yeah, they would have won. Yeah. They were in Green Bay. Of course. Michael had, he's taking his time coming back onto the field. Had a sack, Green Bay wins its opener convincingly, yeah, against a team that they had not beat last season out of two tries, the Detroit Lions. So I think everybody is where they want to be. We will see if this ends up with egg on the face of Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones and Steve Jones and the whole nine. I think it will,

Graydon Prescott 29:14
yep, and we will be back next week, hopefully with more Jerry Jones slander and hopefully, with more on the aces and UNLV football, we got big things coming up. It's been a great time being back. Everybody. KB, graden Prescott, this is sports prep live, and we'll see you all next week. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live. I'm Graydon Prescott, and don't forget to catch all of our episodes on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcast, and be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter at sports prep live. Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai