Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
It's the Boomer and Geo podcast from WFAN. And we're coming to you live from the Built Ford Tough Studio. Boomer Esiason, Greg Giannotti. It's Boomer and Geo. On the fans, simulcast across the country on CBS Sports Network and wherever you are in the free Odyssey app. Good Thursday morning. One of the more exciting days in the sports calendar. The first day of the NCAA tournament here at WFAN.
It's always been a special day if you're working in the afternoon. Obviously for us it's a little bit different, but it's a ton of pizzas and a ton of arguing and a ton of gambling. And of course the brackets are flying around everywhere as people get involved in the tournament that don't care about college basketball. And they're generally the ones that end up Winning the brackets.
We are five weeks away from the NFL draft as we sit here today on this Thursday. So that is continuing to ramp up. And of course, now less than a week away from opening day. Things are turning. The month of April is one of the busiest in sports and we're almost there. Good morning, Wilbur. How are you? Yeah, good morning, G. I'm doing well. And, you know how I was happy for, G?
Who were you happy for? Every now and again, you wake up in the morning, you're like, you know what?
Chapter 2: What are the highlights of the NCAA tournament?
I didn't really see it, but I'm happy. And I'm happy for the Miami of Ohio Red Hawks. Oh, okay. You're happy for them, huh? They won a game. They beat SMU. They're going to the big dance. And I saw our buddy Wally Zerbiak celebrating that. Oh, of course. This is a big moment for him and the Red Hawks. Right? And I think that kind of proves that they belong.
You know, you beat an ACC team, you know, and you make it, and good luck with your next opponent. But the fact of the matter is I think that's a validation that they belong. So I woke up this morning. I saw that score, and I was like, you know, I'm really happy for Wally. Look at you. Yeah. Are you turning a new leaf here in 2026? I don't know. What do you mean turning a new leaf?
Happy for Wally Zerbiak? Well, I'm happy for them because my Rangers just absolutely suck. You know, we're 0-6 here in rivalry games against the Islanders and the Devils. Jack Hughes just absolutely owns the Rangers. It's embarrassing.
And I was reading Molly Walker's article this morning talking about, you know, all the stars that are around here that are playing for the other hockey teams, Jack Hughes being one, and, of course, Matthew Schaefer being the other for the Islanders. You know, like looking at the Rangers, like, hmm, okay, who's that star? Yeah. Where's that star coming from? Looks bleak. It does look bleak.
So last night, of course, Jack Hughes goes off again and basically takes over the game, and they just destroy the Rangers... And I don't know. It's a professional hockey team that has 18 shots on goal. That just tells me that it's over. It's done. And it has been done for a while. They did come out and they played well after the Olympic break.
But, you know, now it's back to being the normal Rangers again at home and not blocking shots, not supporting your goaltender, and leaving him hanging out to dry. So, anyway, that I'm not happy about. But I guess I'm happy that – and I can't even believe I'm saying this –
You know, at this point, you know, you want to lose as much as you can and you want to try to get into the lottery like the Nets are doing. So and I know it's a by the way, I don't know if you know this. It's Jerry's birthday. Yes, that's right. Yes, yes, yes. The whispering, I don't know if it's going to help because there is a speaker out there in the newsroom.
But I think he's getting his makeup done. Oh, okay. Happy birthday, Dick. Yeah, it is. So the Nets didn't come up for Jerry on his birthday eve as they put together one of the most embarrassing performances of this NBA season that's been filled with embarrassing. They were playing OKC. Oh, okay. So you score 20-something points in the first half and that's okay because you're playing a good team?
No, I mean, look, I'm not going to sit here. I can't just drill the nets without actually being embarrassed about the Rangers' performance. Yeah, well, you are fine. You're embarrassed. I mean, the Rangers have been dead for weeks now, though. Yeah, I know. Well, when they came out of the Olympic break, they actually had a little juice. But what did you expect was going to happen?
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Chapter 3: What is the latest on the Rangers' performance?
You're going to win your family bracket for once? I know you're usually terrible with that. Yeah, I am kind of terrible with that. But looking at the brackets... Yeah. Nobody really cares about your bracket. It's like your fantasy football team. Nobody cares. Right, right, right. But looking at this bracket, it made me realize just how screwed St. John's got. Yeah.
And when you looked at, you know, not only are they in the East, they have to start out in San Diego. That's a part of the East. First of all, that's stupid. All right? The second thing is that if they do win, okay, they're most likely going to have to play Kansas, who has the best player in college basketball, if he wants to play. That's right.
Then if they win that one, most likely they're going to have to play Duke. Yeah. And Duke is the number one seed unless Sienna somehow upsets them. They are missing a couple guys. Or whoever comes out of the 8-9 game could upset them as well. Yeah, right. But it's most likely going to be like the Sweet 16 is going to be St. John's and Duke. That's what I think. I think St.
John's is going to beat Kansas. I hope so. I mean, I think that maybe this is a good – not the traveling. I hate the traveling. But maybe this is a good thing for them, the way that they ended up beating up on UConn and then getting the five seed and then seeing UConn get a two seed and – ending up ranked 10th overall at the end of the year and then ended up a 5 seed.
Maybe that's the chip on the shoulder that gets him through some of these moments. The other aspect, the other part of this, there could be a St. John's UConn Part 4. There could be. In the Elite Eight, which is very possible. He's signed for that right now. I would say watching the Johnnies on Saturday night, I mean, the defense is smothering.
I know they've shot a little bit better during the Big East tournament. Rick is one of the best coaches, if not the best coach, left in this tournament. And he'll have his guys – he should have his guys on Razor's Edge. He's basically – he's been building this team for this moment. Yeah. And they have gotten better since their loss at UConn.
They've gotten better and better and better and better. And their defense and shooting has been really, I mean, outstanding. And their defense especially. And they play 10 guys. Everybody knows this who follows them. And they know that they are relentless on defense. And Rick will always say, Rick Pitino will always say, you know, defense leads the offense. Defense leads the offense.
And he's exactly right. And that's why I got them going to the Final Four in my bracket. Wow. If you care. Wow. Well, I care because it's St. John's. And you know what? What? You know how I'm happy for Wally? Yeah. I'm happy for your mom. Oh, being a big St. John's fan?
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Chapter 4: How do the Jets and Giants strategize for the upcoming season?
Oh, my God. Well, don't be happy if they win a couple games in the tournament. When I was doing this, all I kept thinking about was your mom. Yeah, well, she's a huge watcher every single second of every game. And I was just thinking, you know, Gio's mom. There's something about what's going on here. St. John's grad, so it's not some sort of farcical thing. Oh, no, no.
She grew up in Queens, Corona, Queens, St. John's grad, so... Yeah, she's a huge St. John's fan and watches every second of every game and texts me throughout every one of them. And it's been a long time since St. John's has been in the Sweet 16.
1999, I was still in high school when that was going on with Mike Jarvis and the Eric Barkley team, where Eric Barkley ended up dribbling the ball up his foot in the Elite Eight game. I remember that game, even though it was so long ago. And that's why you want them to go as far as possible. If they go to the Final Four, that's just amazing. That's going to be a memory for a very, very long time.
But right now, I just get to the Sweet 16 against Duke and play a competitive game there, and I'm thrilled. I really am. Duke's missing a couple guys with injuries. Come on now. Let's go. That's just asking a lot. I got them against Florida in the Final Four. I got Florida winning that one. Okay. And Florida's going to be playing Arizona, who's going to be beating Michigan.
I got a lot of chalk picks. I'm sorry. Chalk? You want chalk? In the middle of this whole thing, I picked some upsets. We'll say John certainly isn't chalk. Yeah, but there are five. They're not a one or a two. There are five. Right, that's not chalk. Chalk is one or two. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, so St. John's is not chalk. Oh, I see what you're saying.
And you're saying you had a ton of chalk. I'm saying, well, St. John's isn't chalk. Well, I got Arizona, Michigan, Florida in the Final Four. That's chalk. Yeah, you got some chalk there. That's some chalk. I got three-quarters chalk. And you probably, if you weren't tied to locally St. John's, you probably wouldn't be picking up for the Final Four.
I will say, after watching them through the Big East Tournament, I'm a little emotionally involved right now. Well, you should be. And sometimes that's dangerous. You know, when you're putting your brackets together, you're gambling on a game here or there. I'm just like, I'm emotionally invested. Yeah, well, we also had a great day with Coach Patino before the season started.
Got a full rundown of the team and the things he was expecting, and it felt like we were connected to this group of young men a little bit more than before. I say connected. Oh, yeah, well, connected as a coach. You may have been more connected just because of your mom's connection, but I... You were connected that day. I was connected that day. You asked more questions about St.
John's than I did. I was like, he doesn't want to talk about St. John's right now. Let's talk about other things. If we're playing golf with you and you're the head coach of St. John's and you've got a good team coming back, I want to know about it. I know. I'm sorry if I impacted you in a negative way. You didn't. I'm just saying I was a little surprised you were hammering him with that.
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Chapter 5: What insights are shared about Jeremiah Love and B. John Robinson?
Yeah, but I mean, you could also get, you know, Jameer Gibbs, or you could get B. John Robinson. B. John Robinson, which are guys that were taken. I would say Jeremiah Love is more like B. John Robinson than he is Jameer Gibbs, I would think. Meaning that B. John is, you know, he catches a lot of balls out of the backfield. And, you know, Jeremiah Love is that type of player.
He's a multi-down, multi-purpose player that could do a lot of things. The one thing I would wonder about him, and I'm sure he's pretty decent at it, would be his pass protection skills. Yeah, I mean, he's one of those guys that you're like, oh, he can't draft a running back, can't draft a running back.
But then in the first four weeks of the season, he's running around, catching passes, going, you know, for a 60-yard touchdown run. You're like, how the hell do we not take this guy? And just remember, like, what has John Harbaugh been doing for 18 years? Running the football Right. He wants big running backs or significant running backs.
And, of course, he had the running quarterback down there, and he has one here too. So with the addition of the fullback, like Cam Scadaboo, I mean, like they have right now. If you told me they were going to add a late-round running back draft pick, that would be fine too. But it would be very, very tempting for me if I was sitting there and that kid is sitting there at number five.
You're like, hmm. This could be the final piece to really make this thing go. Oh, I got to see what John and Donna Ponte say. True. What do they think? I know he's going to want to try to fix the defense. And the interesting thing will be, will Kayvon Thibodeau be here? Or will they trade him and go defense heavily? Yeah. I mean...
Those bionic arms, I could see them in a different uniform for sure. It's the Boomer and Geo podcast from WFAN. Hi, Boomer and Geo coming to you live from the Built Ford Tough studio on the fan and CBS Sports Network. Get some calls in here at 888-808-1019. That's a Red Pocket Mobile fan line brought to you by your new Ultimate Cell Carrier Red Pocket Mobile.
So there was a trend that has gone on in Major League Baseball over the last couple of years called the 999 Challenge, where baseball fans would go to a game. They would try to drink nine beers and eat nine hot dogs over the course of the nine innings. And this was a thing that had gone viral on social media, people trying to do it, can they get through it type of thing.
And obviously they would edit these videos. It wouldn't be, you know, two and a half hours of them trying to do this, but they put it together. And then, of course, the young whippersnappers that are a part of the marketing teams now, these Major League Baseball teams and the social media people, they go, we got to get in on this.
You know, let's figure this out and let's try to make it a promotion. So the Mets get a hold of it, and what the Mets proceed to do is basically make it different than what it was supposed to be, and now they're getting mocked all over the place because they have made the wieners look like cocktail wieners and they're little Dixie cups filled with beer. And it comes in one big package.
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Chapter 6: How does the 999 Challenge become a topic of debate?
Right? Yes. And nine full beers. Now, you can't do 24 ounces because that's 18 beers. Nine meaning 12-ounce beers. But what they did and tried to do was, you know how you always say, I hate half-assery? I hate half-assery. This is what this is. This is half-assery. So instead of just letting it be a viral thing that fans do, they should have left it alone.
Or they should have said, listen, you do the 999 challenge, but you have to sign this waiver and you need to show us your designated driver for the night. If they wanted to do that, do something like that. But instead, they cut it down to what was the equivalent of three and a half beers. And four and a half hot dogs. Gay meds. Which anybody could do. I know. Well...
Instead of beers, why don't you make a Coke's? But then again, that could also be looked at as something bad for you if you had to do nine Cokes. You think? Yeah. About 12-ounce Cokes. I mean, I don't know. To me, you don't have to get involved. Do Fresca. There's no reason to get involved. How about doing Fresca and hot dogs? And maybe this is like, maybe I'm missing something.
And maybe because the Mets are doing this, it opens it up to more people trying to do the real thing. So then they end up spending more money on hot dogs and beer. There's got to be some sort of end game to this. I still don't understand why all of these concessions are as expensive as they are. Yeah, I know. I mean, it's just insane.
It's like I like what the Atlanta, I think it was the Atlanta Falcons, didn't they do something really smart? Like, hey, we want people to come here and they reduce the prices on all these things so people could afford some food when they're going to a game. Absolutely. And you end up selling more food. I don't know if you make more money, but you certainly have a much happier customer.
Absolutely. And it's insanity, the price of beer, the price of these things. If I were the Mets, I'd take a look and I'd say, you know what, Tuesdays and Wednesdays were lightly attended. So Tuesday and Wednesday is hot dog day where you get a hot dog for a buck. You know what I mean? Yeah. People love that stuff. Do it that way, and then get more people into the building.
They're buying your food. They're watching your team. I mean, the tickets are expensive as it is. Do something that you can relieve some of the pressure on the fan that is coming to the game. Sure. I could not agree more. Now, do you think you could do nine beers and nine hot dogs over the course of nine innings? No, not anymore. Now, here's the thing I would ask.
Does it have to be one in inning, or could you just go for the whole thing? You'd have to have it all done by the time the game's over. So you don't have to do one in inning and spread it out that way? I don't think so, unless that's part of the requirement of what's been virally on social media. I think what you need to do in that situation is put down as much as you can early.
Go there starving.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of college sports and NIL deals?
Put down as much as you can early. Take a little bit of a break. Take a walk around the stadium and finish off the rest. Yeah, but just seeing the picture of what the Mets are doing. Those are little wieners. Tiny little wieners. Where are you putting your cocktail wieners? Yeah, it's just very tiny, and the beers are small. That, to me, is nothing. Anybody could finish that.
Any grown man could finish that challenge. I'm talking about the real challenge. How much does that box cost? I don't know. It didn't say in any of the things I saw. Let me just take a look. How much is the 999 box? You probably have no idea. It's probably not going to tell you right now. It's approximately, so the AI overview, approximately $60.
So I'm just wondering, you know, how they do the concession stands. You know, like if it's Pat, what's his name? Farida's hamburgers? Pat LaFrieda. LaFrieda's hamburgers. Yeah. So. Are they paying Pat LaFrieda for his name, or is Pat LaFrieda paying to be in the building? Good question. Not sure. It's a question for Pat LaFrieda. Right. James in Charlotte. James, what's happening? Morning, boys.
What's up, man? The Falcons went around to all the professional teams, basketball, football, you name it, but they took their pricing cues from the Masters. So if anybody's been to the Masters, the costs there are very low. Well, the Falcons' sessions, yes. Yeah, but I think part of that discussion, or at least the study, I think Boomer said it, people spent a lot more money.
They have like the highest grossing team store in the NFL. So I think there's a correlation between that. Lower prices, getting people and getting them interested in it. Next thing you know, they're going to go through the team store and buy jerseys and hats and T-shirts and things of that nature.
Yeah, and James, if people don't know, the Masters pro shop there, that's the only place that they sell the official Masters logo stuff. So people that are there... are going to take advantage of buying that stuff because you can't get it anywhere else. Right. But it's also, I mean, look, they keep the patron list very tight. Yeah. I don't think the tickets are overly that expensive. Sure.
And quite frankly, the food there is unbelievable. And like he was saying, they actually do keep it to a reasonable amount of money and people do enjoy it. Yeah, I mean, if I were down there at the Masters, I would probably, if there was a $600 hat that I liked, I might buy it. You know what I mean?
It's like the only place in the world that I can get this thing, and it's the one time I'm probably going to the Masters. I'm going nuts in that pro shop. Let's go to Sean in Newark. Sean, what's happening, brother? What's going on, boys? What do you got today, Sean? Yeah. J.J. Watt, the 999 challenge. I don't know if you guys saw it. He completed it in five innings. It was impressive.
Yeah, not surprising. I mean, you know, come on.
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Chapter 8: How does the crew discuss the Mets' promotional strategy?
Guy of that size. Yes. You know, for sure. How big of a guy are you, Sean? You think you could do it? No, I'm 5'9", 160. I'd probably take me 18 innings. Yeah, no way. No way. That's vomit. J.J. Watt could basically do anything he wants. Yeah, pretty much. When it comes to eating challenges, I would imagine. Yeah. The nine beers, I don't think, it's the hot dogs.
When you're getting to that six, seven, eight hot dog, you're going to have to, it's got to be filled with condiments. You might have to dunk it in a little water like the guys do. I'm not doing that. To get it down. You got to do whatever it counts to get it down. You know, like Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, they dunked them buns in water.
Yeah, but I'm not there because I'm trying to eat, you know, like a thousand hot dogs. I'm there to eat nine hot dogs. And I bet you JJ, I'm assuming that JJ did at least 12-ounce beers and full-on hot dogs. Yeah, of course. Yeah, he's not doing some cocktail wiener challenge. No, he's not half-assing it. No way. No way. I think both of us could do it. We'd feel like crap at the end.
I wouldn't want to do it. I have no desire to do it. That's not what I'm saying. I know what you're saying, but I'm not doing it. We could do it. I'm not asking you to do it. I'm just saying I believe in both of us that we could get that done. I mean, I've seen him. I just want to go to Carvel on Wednesday to get two Sundays. I'm in. With wet milk and walnuts. That's right.
Let's go to Dave in the Bronx. What's going on, Dave? Hey, good morning, guys. I was a little critical last year of BT, Brandon Tierney, because he was drinking with the fans after game one, after they won the first round of the NCAA tournament. I just think this year, if they go to the Final Four, first of all, they're a better team. If they go to the Final Four, what's he going to do?
I mean, are people going to go out there just to see BT's celebration and how much he's going to drink himself to death? I mean, this is going to get out of control. I mean, Final Four would be amazing. I think even if there's a Sweet 16, there's going to be a Brandon Tierney party, probably the size of Burning Man. I think you've got to buy into it now.
Yeah, Brandon Apalooza, somewhere in New Jersey or somewhere in Queens. He lives in New Jersey, but somewhere in Queens. Big tent. Something. Brandon Palooza. Brandon Tiernapalooza. Let's go to James who's on Long Island. What's up, James? Hey, what's up, guys? Yeah, you guys were talking about the expansion pricing. I heard a lot of podcasts on it.
But real quick on that thing you talked about, the 90s, my wife told me if I did that on opening day, don't come home. You know what? She's smart. That is true, man. I mean, I can't imagine. I don't know what's worse, smelling like garlic or hot dogs. Oh, and then there's that hot dog. Yeah, definitely the hot dogs.
So I was listening to Bill Sims on The Ringer and also Grisella, who also does on The Barstool. They think those expansion teams, which will be Vegas and likely Seattle, the floor is going to be around $6 to $7 billion, and it can go likely around $8 billion would be the likely number for the two teams. But it could raise up as $9 because they're going to evaluate it as,
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