I love growing the game. I can guarantee you,
any other West Coast team that's watching this,
I'm sure USC is gnashing their teeth right now
saying, how come we couldn't have thought of
this first? Interesting guests. Kelly Graves,
Mike Parker, Coach Mark Waszkowski, Melissa Lombardi,
Max Torres, El Toro, joining us. Sharp opinions.
I think if you're a supporter of the NBA, that
you should at least have some level of interest
in the WNBA, because the things that interest
you as a NBA fan should still interest you as
a WNBA fan. and some smiles. Can you guess what
position I played in football? Left out? No,
I did not. Yeah, exactly. I had to think about
that for a second. But yes, actually, I did not
play. I was not big enough. Goose tried to kill
me today on the golf course. Advanced warning
was given. It just apparently was not heard.
I will dispute that in a court of law. It's Danny
Havell. If you're driving and you're trying to
do this in your head, pull off the side of the
road. I don't need any accidents. Justin Grossweiner.
I love to hear coach go, we're going to focus
on that bad four game stretch the rest of the
season. season. We'll never do that again. That
might be a good point. I don't know. Maybe you
can do that. Maybe that's another strategy. Danny
and Justin starts now on Fox Sports Eugene and
Fox Sports Newport. Hello neighbors. Welcome.
Hight out the Delta Trad in the Crystal Palace.
This is the Danny and Justin radio program live
from the Bigfoot Beverages Studios Fox Sports
Eugene Fox Sports Newport it is Beautiful outside
and welcome into a Tuesday program man. We are
packed We've got four shows left in the Danny
and Justin radio program We wrap everything up
on Friday from the graduate where we will be
talking a lot of pre -fontaine classic we're
gonna have a couple of surprise guests as well
but a lot of athletes down there we invite you
to join us there and then the after party at
laura wood we will be there for the after party
at 4 30 where you can join us and kind of just
like kibitz we can we can kind of hold each other
for a second There's going to be fun stuff. I
want you to tune in tomorrow. I'm glad you're
tuned in today, but I want you to tune in tomorrow
to the program, The Danny and Justin Radio Show.
We're going to have a very special announcement
tomorrow on this program in the last segment.
So I want to encourage you to stay around today,
tomorrow, and that's Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday. Right. And then we end it all on Friday.
But I think I'm gonna give you some and it all
I'm doc you can follow us on the socials Danny
and Justin and also wherever you platform all
of your you know podcasts or music or whatever
We're on everything. It's the same thing. It's
Danny and Justin fast 60 minutes, but of course
that's not gonna mean anything after Friday So
I don't know why I keep talking about that. I'm
I'm Danny right over there It's my tag team partner
our own Jag Corps Justin Alexander Chris winner
Well, I'm thrilled it's NBA offseason, which
means that there's just like notifications coming
in and out and we have Running up and down the
hallway when I was on the phone on a business
call and you were like no That was my initial
reaction to the Jamarant trade I could not believe
what I just saw Kawai got traded to the Raptors.
It makes me kind of just go like Day seven years
ago wasn't kawaii going to the Raptors kind of
expected a bit uh Unloading some salary and going
back home for him because that's kind of horn
for him because home for him is la Okay, where
did he win his ring? He won his ring in toronto.
Okay, and then immediately said oh this situation
Championship situation. I think i'd like to leave
now. He's he lebron. That is what he did. Well,
right he did He LeBron did he's like I want my
rings. Bye. Yeah, I mean maybe that second time
with the with the calves That was a bit of a
LeBron for sure and I have my thoughts on LeBron.
We talked about those yesterday So Golden State,
it's hey LeBron to be doing things too. Absolutely
We're gonna have the mayor of rip city travestis
on us on us on our program here in just a few
minutes and Then the godfather Matt Dompe. So
just so you know We're we're pulling in these
guests this week's because we want to celebrate
The people that started with us when we started
this program almost two years ago So yeah, it
might not be it's like why are you talking about
this? Like we're gonna have George Reister on
Friday and we're gonna have Angie Machado and
Our friend Kelly Graves on this week. We're gonna
have max Torres on this week. These are people
that invested in us and so yeah we try Justin
right we try and make sure this program is is
like audience sensitive in terms of you know
we we could talk Cubs and Packers all day long
we could we could we don't because that's not
what the fan base here wants to listen to by
the way we didn't even mention it the other day
I was at the Savannah Bananas and I'm a purist
when it comes to baseball I really am I had a
blast at the Savannah Bananas at Austin Stadium.
It is literally entertainment and it was still
competitive baseball. They were not like phoning
it in. It was 89 miles an hour down the middle
of the plate and they were, they wanted to win.
But the way the format was set up, it was literally,
you don't want to go get a beer or a hot dog.
You want to stay right there in your seat. It
was awesome the fan experience. I will remember
that you said you're a baseball purist when we
talked to the godfather Why because we talked
to him about rules and different things. I always
do that abs and all that So, I mean the game
evolves and this is this is not the harlem globetrotters
No, whatever reference anybody says to that.
It's not that so all right, so we got the godfather
coming up But let's head on over and actually
on zoom our dear friend. It's travestis who is
Perked up. Joining us, the mayor of Rip City,
you can follow him on the socials, at Travis
Simmers, joins us here on the Danny and Justin
radio program. So, anything going on in Blazorland
right now that we need to talk about? Well, I
guess it depends on who you ask, because to some,
there's a lot going on. To others, there's nothing
going on. It's... It's crazy, man. Can I divert
for a second, though, because I watched some
of the banana ball down at Alton on TV the other
day? Yeah. I'm like you. I'm kind of a baseball
purist. I'm realizing, though, that I'm less
of a baseball purist than I thought. Like, if
you're wanting to watch a baseball game, you're
not going to want to go watch the Savannah Bananas.
They're two totally different things. Like, I
want pizza. I'm not going to have a Chicago -style
pizza. They're two completely different products
that shouldn't be compared. Love that reference,
by the way. Love that. OK. So I think it's fun.
Why not? Have a good time. Who cares? Have you
seen a Bananas game? Because this is the first
time they were in Oregon, by the way. Not in
person. I mean, I've seen plenty of them on TV.
I know they just sold out Kyle Field and Neyland
Stadium and now Otzen. And I mean, people love
it. They are printing money. in that organization
can you compartmentalize that for you as being
like me a baseball piercing goal you know what
i'm not going in this with any other expectation
of just go have fun yeah i mean think about this
right like you go back to the 90s remember the
old rock and jock softball games and the basketball
games that had like the 25 point shot and like
roger mcdowell doing all his weird crap on the
mat it's the same thing it's just it's more organized
and consistent and If people are enjoying it
and it's not affecting anything that you're watching
like why do you care so much? Yeah, I don't get
that either. So the Blazers they make their big
move Robert Williams the third he's back How
about that? Yeah. Yeah, that's that's a big move
at this point It's just reported but I think
it's awesome. I love Robert Williams the third
as as a basketball player He's one of the best
people I've ever been around to basketball I
know that Joe Cronin really wanted him back,
and I know that he wanted to be here. So what
he said at the exit interviews was that he wants
to be here, and he knows it's a business, and
he'll let his agent figure it out. The reports
were about $15 million a year. That's about what
he got. He got about $14 million. So the expectation
of what people thought he would get is right
around what he ended up getting. three years
locked in. He was tremendous on this team last
year, and I'm I'm so glad he's back. Yeah, I
think that was one that was not expected. I think
there was definitely the interest around the
league. And of course, I say it a little tongue
in cheek because there was, of course, the other
big move from yesterday. John Morant officially
traded to the Trailblazers. It's a it's it's
a it's a one you have to wrap your hand around
right because you think about the fit him and
dame How it's gonna work with the other guards
or dunk your head in the toilet bowl By the way
possible to have that many guards one thing we
talked about with with coach Kelly Graves You
can't have too many guards in college. I think
in the NBA. It's a little bit different There's
times where you just have too many guys that
need the ball How do you see this all working
with John Marant now in the fold? Yeah, it's
it's fascinating because this this was shocking
In 20 plus years of being around and covering
this organization, I don't know that I've been
more shocked about a deal coming through. If
you would have looked at this team in December,
January, early February, nobody would have said
they had too many guards, right? They played
for 30 plus games without a point guard. Yeah.
So that's important, right? You got to have enough
guys to play the position. Obviously, injuries
matter. Can you ever have too much centers, too
many centers? No. The more that I see commentary
about this, in terms of the basketball fit, forgetting
all of the things off of the floor, those exist.
But in terms of this conversation, forgetting
about those for a minute, Scoot Henderson has
kind of developed into a guy who is really good
playing off the ball, right? Damien Lillard can
play off the ball, and at this stage of his career
with his usage how it's been, he's gonna play
off the ball. Drew Holliday is not a... standard
natural point guard. The only guard of those
guys who is a point guard and is not going to
play other positions is John Moran. So in theory,
you can have John Moran on the floor with any
of those guards and be able to play a two guard
lineup or have any of the other two guards on
the floor together. That's not even talking about
shading sharp, right? If you have five guards,
one of them is definitely locked into one position.
One of them is definitely locked into the other
position. And then you have three other guards
who can mix into those two positions and maybe
sometimes placing three guard lineups, depending
on what happens. And you've got to think about
John Marantz played 70 plus games in the last
three years. Damien Lillard's coming off of Achilles
surgery. Drew Holliday is coming off of injuries.
Scoot Henderson and Shane Sharp, they're all
coming off of injuries. So the odds that all
of those guys are going to be available for,
let's just say, 70 games, 60 games, it's not
great. So that being said, you really can never
have too many guards, as long as you have your
other positions covered, too. And I think this
team had a lot of wings. They just traded two
of them. So how do you fill some of those gaps?
Pardon me. It's Travis Demers joining us the
mayor of RIP City. You can follow him on the
socials at Travis Demers He has a bobblehead
collection. That is stellar He also has so by
the way over your left shoulder. Is that Landon
or Lincoln that drew that? It's the other left.
Oh, sorry. No Lawson he drew that when he was
two He made this when he was in preschool that
kids artwork up all over the house, man. It is
everywhere. My office is kind of a disaster right
now. I'm in the process of cleaning it out, but
there is kids' artwork everywhere. He joins us
here, and the best perspective we can get on
the Blazers as we move forward, and I want to
stay on John Marant, because to me, this is almost
like an un -Joe Cronin -like move. And I just
kind of want to explore it a little bit because
I threw out the theory that One this is obviously
not the last move because of what you gave up
and Because there's only one basketball and we
haven't even talked about Denny Avia in this
whole thing because You know with Dane coming
back and we know he's coming back next year and
with Shaden or scoot and now you throw You know
John Moran. There's only one basketball so Travis,
I'll just throw it out to you. I mean, is this
the first move? Is this the pawn being moved
into the middle of the chessboard, the opening
move, and that there is going to be something
that's going to be bigger coming up for the Blazers,
in your opinion? It's possible. But every time
that I thought one move was a precursor to another
in the last couple of years, it wasn't. Like,
okay, well, they did this, so something has got
to fall to make this work. and it hasn't. So
if they believe this can work, there's gotta
be something else in some way, right? You have
to fill out the roster, you still have the mid
-level exception, you have money to spend. So
there has to be something, but I don't know if
it's a big something, right? Because if you have
Damien Oller, Drew Holiday, John Marantz, Scoot
Henderson, Shaden Sharp in your backcourt, right?
Then you have Danny Avdia and Tumani Kamara.
You have Donovan Klingon, you have Robert Williams
III. OK, that's nine. Are you playing with a
nine -man rotation? Is Matisse Theidelbeck? I
don't know. You still have C .D. Sissoko. I'm
sure there's somebody else that I'm forgetting
right now, and probably a couple of them, because
my brain's a little fried at the moment. But
that gives you nine, 10, 11 serviceable, legitimate
rotation players on an NBA team, many of whom
were all -stars. And a couple of them are Hall
of Famers. Now, they're at different points of
their career. But you think about Dame, Drew,
Ja, Daddy. They've all been all -stars, right?
And Robert Williams III has played in NBA finals.
Drew Holiday has won two championships. You're
putting things together. And just because the
pieces don't exactly line up the way that you
think they do, this isn't the final product,
right? And if you look at throughout history
how teams have come together, Sometimes it's
one move, right? Like you look at the Pistons,
the Mark McGuire, Adrian Dantley move that pushed
him over the top, right? You go back to that.
That's one move that took a really good team
and now made them a dominant champion. Right
now, that's obviously isn't 35, 37 years ago.
But sometimes when you have all of these pieces
together and you figure out what works, that
makes some of the redundancy show you what is
gonna work better and then gives you an opportunity
to go pursue that. They don't have to be championship
ready today right now, but this gives you another
opportunity to evaluate and see how you can get
there. So dovetailing off of that point, the
Blazers have nine first round picks between 2027
and 2033. Nine. first round picks. Now obviously
the Blazers did not have a first round pick.
They didn't have a pick in the draft this this
past year. They gave all those away and one of
them was you know one that went to Chicago. So
isn't Joe Cronin having like a bank that he can
kind of use to be able to maneuver through this
and get the team he envisions and wants? Yes
absolutely and I know a lot of folks are frustrated
that the Blazers didn't have their pick this
year. But what it does is it now unlocks the
near future, right? Because if the Blazers kept
their pick this year, they would have had two
more years of not being able to trade a pick.
So they would not have been able to trade their
own first round pick until the 2030 NBA draft.
Now they can trade their 2028 first round pick
and. Obviously, because they didn't have a pick
this year, they can't trade next year's first
round pick. But there are swaps there. They have
the swaps with Milwaukee. They have the Bucs
picks. They have the Magic pick that they got
from Memphis in last year's draft to move back
when they picked up Young -Honson. That's currency.
And that currency might have been devalued a
little bit because of the way that the lottery
structure has changed. But it's still currency.
And you look at these deals. What do the Knicks
need to go get Mikel Bridges? A lot of first
round picks. Was it five? Mikel Bridges was a
big reason why they just won the NBA championship.
They did not draft a single player in their starting
five. All those guys were traded for. That's
crazy. I didn't know that. That's crazy. You
have to have the ability to go get what you need.
And you look at recent champions and recent teams
who have been in the final. Yes, Wemby on the
Spurs was drafted, but you look around at big
players like De 'Aaron Fox. They went and got
him in a trade the year before. Shea Gillis Alexander,
trade. Therese Halliburton, trade. You don't
have to. Draft the way that you used to because
of the way that things are structured and the
way that teams can't quite hold on to their players
anymore. So, Danny Avdia was your best player
last year. You went and got him in a trade. Mm
-hmm. David Hilder, technically, is a free agent
signing, right? You just got John Moran. Yeah,
you, Tumana Kamara was homegrown, but you also
got him in a trade. Donovan Klingon drafted.
Robert Williams III, trade. There isn't one format,
one blueprint, one way to do it. So in order
to go get that guy that you think puts you over
the top like the Raptors just did again getting
Kawhi Leonard it already worked once you need
currency and for a lot of teams first round picks
is that currency and now they have a boatload
of them and you're going to use that currency
to emphasize the identity of your team right
and you're going to try to figure that out and
like you said earlier they've got all these guards
and they don't have to be a championship team
today even if they go into the regular season
with Most of these guards I think you're going
to figure it out, right? And they didn't commit
a lot of capital to get jamma rant And his contract
isn't very long. It's I believe a two -year contract
worth two more years Yeah, two more years same
with jeremy grant though. That's the whole thing
Do you have to go all in on him and you mentioned
a great point earlier? He's probably the only
one of those guards that has to be the the point
guard the one the lead guard If it works, I mean
you're talking about a guy that's a superstar
potentially You don't know if you have that But
do you have the ability to kind of decide whether
or not you want to go all in on him, depending
on how it works? Yeah, yeah. And, you know, the
thing about Jah, we all talk about his his issues,
right? The stuff that's kept him out of games.
Sure. The stuff that's gotten him suspended.
Yeah. When's Jah ever had a grown up in the room
around him? So that's Dame, right? That's Dame.
Yeah. But I mean, yes, the. The Grizzlies went
out and got a veteran Marcus Smart a couple of
years ago because they thought that Marcus Smart
is going to be the veteran in the room. Yeah,
sorry. We're all laughing. Dylan Brooks isn't
a veteran. Now he has Damien Lillard and Drew
Holliday right there. Two of the best humans
in the NBA. We're as much cache at that position
as anybody in the league right now. So you hope
that that will. help get him on track. Because
to your point about him being a superstar, John
was a superstar. He put 27 points a game in his
second year. He's never been a three point shooter.
He's a career 31 % guy. His best year ever was
like 34 .8 % or something like that, right? But
he is incredibly athletic, or at least he was.
He can get to the rim, he can drive. And when
you have a number of players that can drive and
collapse the defense, and that's what the Blazers
have done, obviously, it'll be different with
Mike Inori, but Drive and kick, get threes, get
into the paint, paint touch, kick, get a three.
You got to have guys that can shoot. Yeah. Right?
You got one. Yeah. Dane. Tumani Kamara has, when
he's consistent, is a very good three -point
shooter. But you probably need to go get another
shooter. So in terms of Ja, if he's given you
that 20 points a night, taking less threes, driving,
generating free throws, mid -range jumpers, and
he's dishing out assists to shooters, or drive,
collapse the defense, kick to Denny, pump fake,
all these things, pick and roll. And think about
the lob game with John Morant and Donovan Klingon,
or Robert Williams III, or Shade and Sharper,
any of these guys. They have to pick which path
they're going to go, right? But I think there
are options in terms of what that path is. You
just don't know what they are until you start
to see it develop a little bit. All right, but
we're gonna let you go Well fine Well, you got
to get the you got to get the room ready for
Lincoln and Lawson and then you also have to
You're done with the bathroom by the way. No,
I still I still have to finish actually if I
still have to apply the caulk It's all taped
up ready to go. I saw the tape I showed it to
my wife to dry in there and then I can go get
that done So last time with you on the Danny
and Justin radio program, dude, you have been
so good to us, and you're on the road, you're
calling from hotels, buses, airports. I can't
tell you how much, one, I appreciate you as a
human being, and two, the energy and the uplifting
talk, and you keep it real all the time, and
people use that phrase. you know, whatever. But
you know, you're you're the voice of the Blazers.
You're our mayor of Rip City. And I can't tell
you how much we appreciate that you give your
time to our listeners and give that perspective.
So thank you. Well, thank you guys. And I look,
you guys are your friends and you're more than
that. I appreciate you. And I love the fact that
you guys think of me as often as you do and whether
it's you guys or Steve filling in or Woody or
whoever else. there has always been great to
me and I appreciate that you guys are awesome
and uh you know we'll keep something going we
will we have things in the works you know you
know you're you're behind the curtain so and
i want to jump in as well and just say how much
it's meant for you to be on this program and
you know we love talking nba we love you and
uh and you've just done so much for us and me
personally you know not just you know over the
air but just Us having conversations off the
air as well. It really means a lot and I know
I look up to you a lot So it means so much for
us to have you on this program I appreciate the
kind of words you guys are you guys are awesome
and uh your friends and Things are gonna happen
for for all of us one way or another and I know
you guys are gonna You guys are gonna kill it
and you're gonna rock it with us. Thanks buddy.
You take care of those kids. All right I will
appreciate you. All right. There he goes the
great man. It's at travis to mers the voice of
rip city a break and then it's the Godfather,
Matt Dompie. My effort is going to make him cry.
I'm going to try and make him cry. We got the
music queued up. All right, here we go. The Eugene
Emerald's general manager, former voice. I want
to ask him, because last time we had him in,
he was getting ready to do a game. I want to
find out how it went for him when we come back
on the Danny and Justin radio program. Again,
thanks for tuning in. As we say goodbye to Travis
Demers for the last time on the Danny and Justin
radio program, our last show at the graduate
from one to four as we talk pre -classic. We're
gonna have a ton of athletes and we got some
surprises in the last hour. I've held off for
the last hour. It's not gonna be folks from the
pre, it's gonna be us being self -serving and
the big party up at Laura Wood. at 4 30 on friday
to whisk us off into the sunset for the danny
and justin radio program just after today three
more shows of danny and justin we ended on friday
i want you to tune in tomorrow however because
we're gonna have a big announcement in the last
segment which i think everyone's gonna like but
you heard that music so you know it's the godfather
you're used to it we've been doing this for over
a year it's matt dampe from the gene emeralds
as he joins us the gm of the emeralds who won
the first half of the northwest northwest league
so they know they're in the championship series
which is going to be at pk park welcome back
dude and i'm just going to tell you people can't
tell this on the radio but i really want one
of those polos do you have any more of those
polos the seafoam you you don't i i can already
tell when he was he's cocking his head it was
a one -off i can see what maybe my merchandise
guy can do we'll we'll see Okay, so welcome back
in. Thank you for having me. So the our relationship
started when you kind of were elevated into the
GM chair because we were trying Justin was just
relating on the air or off the air before we
got on that we were trying to get Alan Benavides
on the program because you know we don't unfortunately
we don't air your games it's on another station
here in town. But we love the Emeralds. We got
to come out and sing, take me out to the ballgame.
You've been very kind to us over the years. So
I want to say thanks for being on the program
during our last week, because we've gotten to
know each other, love what you do, love the Emeralds
organization, love the energy your entire staff
does, because it's hard, man. Nobody's rolling
up a wheelbarrow full of cash to you. So you've
got to have some love for what you do. So thanks.
And thanks for spending some time with us. Yeah,
anytime. No, it takes a lot of hard work and
you know all the silly promos and stuff or would
bring the people in in in addition to Some good
quality high a baseball and right, you know Giants
fans are obviously interested in in the prospects
that we have which luckily this year quite a
few So how did the play -by -play go? Last time
we talked you were getting ready to do a game
and you actually came to I think if I Remember
this right you came to us when you were gonna
be announcing the game that night I think it
was Jacob Archer was going to be off because
he had family time So how'd you do because I
listened I'll tell you how I thought you did
I To be perfectly honest. It was like one of
those like where it was like the perfect kind
of game It was two hours 25 minutes. There was
some action. Yeah some homers Yeah, I think we
lost but I had fun. So that was the most important
thing You did lose but so how'd you feel your
home run calls were? Um, how to say I don't fully
remember them. I don't think I did my they were
good I don't think I did my patented stolen from
lawn simmons a long time giants guy. Tell a goodbye
I was trying to get myself to remember that in
the Afternoonly enough, I think the two homers
happened and they kind of surprised me. They
weren't like no doubters So I think I kind of
botched that and forgot my my stolen patented,
uh Call is it hard because I know from my perspective
Sometimes it's hard when the ball comes off that
sometimes you know and sometimes you don't So
in your mind and your mind's eyes, you're watching
it So when do you accelerate that call that you
know, it's gone because sometimes it's really
hard to tell yeah I mean I think doing it, you
know almost all the games I ever did were at
PK Park is for the Most of the 12 13 years I
did it you do games, right? So you get a good
feel for that But I think a lot of it is the
the outfielder when he starts kind of getting
a little frantic and moving back So you watching
down to the outfielder? Yeah, I mean, I don't
really follow the ball You know once it gets
in the air and you can see how fast it's going
I'm more looking at the outfielder to see his
reaction if he's turning and sprinting then I've
got a pretty good idea that it's gonna go Matt
Dopey joining us as we wind up this week on the
Danny Justin radio program so The team won the
first half. Now you got the second half going
on. And again, it's it's kind of like there's
things that are going to be moving interchangeable
parts, obviously, because teams now as we head
to the All -Star break and then beyond, there's
going to be a lot of movement. Injuries are starting
to take toll on big league clubs, and so is a
domino effect downward. So how has that been
for you and this the makeup of this team? Has
it changed? You know, we got it was a weird trend.
There's only been one big transaction this whole
year so far We pretty much have kept all of our
position players together. It's been pretty quiet
The one thing that kind of hurt us we had a little
bit of a June Swoon, which is a Giants tradition
Where they called up five guys one day and like
four of them were pitchers two of them were our
better starting pitchers and two of them were
our relievers And they sent us one player in
return, which was actually it was really cool
is our now He's our short starting shortstop
most days is so not a picture though. Correct
So we had to play the next couple weeks with
I think we had like 11 pitchers And so the bullpen
was pretty stretched then For a couple of weeks
there and we lost two or three series in a row
But we're now on a three game winning streak.
So I think as the month of june ends We're kind
of back on to uh, I know jacob hayward, you know
had a couple different team meetings where he's
like, all right this stops now we've We've clenched
it, you know, obviously you're gonna maybe relax
a little bit after you clinch it But it's time
to start playing some ball again. So they won
three in a row over this past weekend So I think
we're we're back on track, but I I don't know
what's gonna happen there With there there's
been some outfield filtration with Jonah Cox
was with us the last couple of years He was in
double leg tearing it up and he got called straight
to the big leagues about a month ago I thought
that was gonna trickle down and we might lose
an outfielder, but it hasn't happened yet Tomorrow
we're gonna announce that we have two two of
our position players are gonna play in the futures
game In Philadelphia, so who are they? Break
news on us. Come on, man. It's your last appearance.
I know I'm not gonna I'm not gonna get you suspended.
That's fine But yeah, so that's that's great.
I mean, I don't think we've ever had multiple
guys We've had one guy here and there we find
have averaged one guy over the last four or five
years since we've been at the high level That's
short season. I don't think I don't even think
they look down that low, to be perfectly honest.
But to send two guys is really cool, and they
got the news the other day, and they were really
excited. And so is the manager, Jacob Heyward.
He's done a great job so far. Yeah, I think about
the bananas were just in town and you know thinking
about the comparison between What you guys do
and what the bananas do right because obviously
there's a component of your entertainment entertainment,
right? but then obviously the bananas are all
entertainment the the Emeralds are are trying
to develop right for the Giants, right? So it's
this interesting a good dichotomy of like fan
experience like you guys clearly want to cater
to the fans But then also there's like this real
like professionalism of this base and not that
you know that the bananas don't do a great job
but you know what I'm saying like there's there's
a development process for this as well so do
you ever like think about that at all you know
hey like you know what are the these you know
bananas doing and like these other sort of I
don't know like the winter hawks or like these
other franchises around and other sort of Teams
like do you ever look at those teams and say
I like get some ideas for them and it also kind
of you know Have to keep it professional and
it's you know, still developmental. They're not
having a guy on stilts Yeah, we're gonna put
our guys in short shorts and have them date around
but um, you know I think you know, I think they
basically took what the minor league model has
been for the last 30 years And put it on steroids
exactly which maybe in baseball terms isn't a
great analogy You know, we I think we kind of
split a nice difference I think I was just talking
to a season ticket holder this morning Yeah about
how you know, we put the entertainment between
innings and around the game But you still if
you're a baseball fan that wants to come out
You want to see these prospects that are gonna
be in the big leagues in the next couple of years,
right? You know, we have obviously responsibility
to major league baseball and the Giants to write
have a real baseball game be played um and we
try to put the silly stuff around that because
you know they're not affiliated they can do you
know whatever they want so they could they could
take it to the next level in terms of just entertainment
right um but you know i like baseball right and
i do too and i was at the bananas and i said
if you go into it knowing without being a purist
that's just entertainment you have a much better
time for sure yeah And and there's a place for
that and I appreciate that but at the same time
I also want to see the emeralds play and the
hops play and others because I mean I grew up
on the medfordays where it was like I saw jose
conseco You know hit his first home run I called
his first home run in minor league baseball before
he got called up you did yes I didn't know that
that's awesome first run home run ever ever Yes,
wow You should have led with this. No, I mean,
I keep things to myself. I don't have to give
everything to everybody, but I was fortunate,
and, you know, you didn't know. That's the one
thing you don't know, which I think is the joy
of what we do, is you don't know who is going
to make it up to the big leagues at this level
and become a superstar. I mean, Mike Schmidt,
did anybody know when he was playing for the
Ems that he was going to end up being what he
was, right? Yeah, possibly the best third baseman
of all time. Absolutely. You don't know that
that's the joy of this piece of it But there's
also the entertainment piece of it. We're with
man toppy the godfather. You can follow him at
emeralds radio That's on all the socials as we
we talk emeralds baseball. And so what do we
got coming up? We got um this week you guys are
are gone right and you had the nice the huge
fireworks show and stuff so this last half of
the season and and i don't want to say it's going
to be a grind but we are we're going to get into
that point where everything we talked about with
this your organization and such which the energy
level still stays at a high level which is awesome
but we're starting to get into that grind now
you know you've already got you know 60 70 plus
games under your belt now that last half and
that last push so talk to me about within the
organization how that looks and how you push
to that finish line because you know you're gonna
have a championship series to play in September
at PK Park yeah it's kind of funny you bring
that up we kind of have a rallying of the troops
this morning in the office to kind of you know
this last weekend was It was kind of a really
weird series with the bananas in town playing
right? Yeah We had a doubleheader Thursday that
half the half the second game had to be replayed
the next day on the fireworks day So that made
it almost like doubleheaders on back -to -back
days. I'm gonna play a late game on Sunday where
you got no sleep Did normally no, I mean most
of us, you know got some rest a little bit yesterday
So I was kind of all right. Let's reset. We've
got a couple months sprint now Yep, you know,
we're actually past the hardest part of the season
But, you know, coming up this next week, we're
really excited. We're doing a Wednesday, we're
doing a Toy Story night for the kids. Love it.
We got a Thirsty Thursday. Friday, we're doing
these really cool exploding whales. I guess you
call it a Fobac. We kind of took the... On Thursday?
On the Friday, which I think is July 10th, we're
doing... We took the 1980s blue and green EMS
script that I think you guys were talking about
last week with Jacob Archer that was featured
in Bull Durham. So we turned that script and
that font into exploding whales with the same
80s color scheme. Nice. kind of a phobax exploding
whales jersey were giving away on that Friday
and then Saturday is Star Wars night which is
always one of our biggest ones and then we finish
it off with a Sunday day game with a happy hour
for the first hour for five dollar mixed drinks
show up early and we haven't talked daddy like
I can see why Star Wars is the most point night
but or most Favorite or you could say how much
you lean on your support staff obviously It's
not you're not a one -man show like you've got
people that help you we haven't really talked
about them on this program too much So how much
help do you get just running everything? All
of it. I mean there's we have 12 to 15 full -time
people Including our food and beverage who you
know, they were on that stadium a rocket I mean
they because they were on the Ducks baseball
concession. So they do work over a hundred games
a year They're just kind of on autopilot at this
point in the season But you know the people that
run our video board Nick Nick Rusnock He's constantly
churning out this content to put up on the video
board for every single theme night Like he's
working all day for stuff that he's gonna put
up for 30 seconds never to be seen again You
know and all the people that are doing our social
media content and our community relations. I
do our reading program that helps us, you know,
build up all the nights in the spring and having
all these contacts in the community when we need
some help. Like, you know, we could call them
and they help us out and they come out to the
games and support us. So, no, I mean, it's far
beyond a one -man band. I mean, there's some
minor league teams that are still run by three
or four people and I don't know how they do that.
Do you look at that and go, I don't know how
you do that? Yeah, it's crazy. In your position
you have to know how to do all those things as
well, right? Well, you did. You did everything.
I mean, I don't know how to put stuff on the
video board. I really get that. And I am not
the best with social media. I'd like to abstain.
Can you make popcorn? I can make popcorn at home,
one bowl. I can't make an entire, you know, the
whole kettle thing. There used to be a guy actually
who did all the popcorn for us, the Ducks, and
the movie theater. So he was the popcorn impresario.
Really? This was like 10 plus years ago. But
no, I've, you know, there's plenty of stuff that
I have not done. But I get the gist of it. and
I know who can do it that I have on staff. And
that's a good general manager. It's Matt D 'Ape
joining us. We call him the Godfather here. The
last go around with Matt here on the Danny and
Justin radio program is our last show will be
Friday at The Graduate from one to four, an extended
program. We're going to go out with a bang. We're
going to talk a lot of pre -fontaine classic.
We have a cavalcade of stars. So if you can't
find us down there at The Graduate, you can join
us in the after party up at Laura Wood at 430.
We're going to have beverages. We're going to
celebrate the as we wind it up. Stay tuned tomorrow.
In the last segment, we have a big announcement
for you. So I know we've had people come up to
us and say, you know, it's sad. Yes, it is sad
that this show's going away. I think we're going
to give you a little hope tomorrow in the last
segment. So please stay tuned for that. Matt,
I just have to say as we close off, we're going
to let you go here in a second, is the selfless
nature of your organization is admirable. And...
I can't say it enough and just if you were sitting
here or not, I'd say it is The people that do
this is they do it. Yes, it's a paycheck, but
it's not much of a paycheck You know nobody again
nobody's rolling a wheelbarrow worth of cash
up to you is The love of the game and growing
the game and that's what we need more of so God
bless you and your staff and I hope we celebrate
you enough and give you a vehicle to let people
invite themselves to you because What you guys
do is is awesome. So thank you and thanks for
being so kind to us on this program. We do the
silly little thing and we have some people I
hope that listen, but it's people like you that
are ingrained in the community. that make this
community so thank you. Well I appreciate it
you know every time you guys have asked me to
come on we try to clear our schedule and make
sure we can be here and talk with you guys obviously
like you said you've given us a vehicle to reach
the fans the sports fans in the Eugene area which
is our bread and butter so you know we appreciate
you guys and what you're doing and what the future
holds for you guys. All right so we'll see that
on the other side so The team's out of town,
so what do you do now? You go back to the stadium?
Going back to the stadium, make sure we sell
some tickets for the rest of the year, get the
playoffs going, so we got plenty to do. We still
have, I think, 27 regular season games and the
three playoff games. We're still making a big
push. Yeah, and you can see the end. You can
see the light at the end of the tunnel with the
playoffs coming around. That's awesome. Hopefully
the ring at the end of the tunnel. That's right,
so... Just saying I have this this side this
one is for my wife the other one One more time.
Can we get out to do take me out to the ballgame
one more time? I was actually gonna ask you maybe
if you want to do a remote One time maybe later.
I don't know at some point. Oh, that'll happen,
baby We're allowed to do that. Let's figure it
out. Okay, I love that Justin you in I'm gonna
get memes on as well. We can we could do a trio
Yeah, what do you think? All right get goose
involved. All right, Matt. Thank you, buddy.
Thank you There goes the great godfather Matt
Dompe we come back close out the program a lot
of World Cup to talk about penalty kicks France
just went up on Sweden Bob a scored We come back
in the Danny Justin radio program tomorrow on
the program big show again Angie Machado from
beavers blitz and our great friend, the Big Kahuna,
for the last time on the Danny and Justin radio
program. It's Kelly Graves joining us. You wanna
miss it. If you missed any of the show today
with the mayor of Rip City, Travis Demers, talking
the John Morant trade and other things about
the Blazers. Or, we just heard the Godfather,
Matt D 'Ampe, from the Eugene Emeralds go back
to the podcast Danny and Justin, or the fastest
60 minutes in sports, as we are on our Swan Song
Week. Friday, last show of the Danny and Justin
radio program. Are you getting reflective by
the way? We're gonna get into transfer portal
for baseball college baseball real quick and
then the World Cup Have you have you paused enough
because I've been putting a lot on you. Have
you paused enough to think about? Where we started
and where we are and where we're gonna finish
I don't have a ton of time to do that but I do
think about it occasionally and I don't have
enough time to like really like soak in it right
and just sort of really is like racing and think
about it we're like a coach in the middle of
the season and we always ask the coaches it's
like have you had time to reflect on this season
that was that's gonna come more after yeah right
that's gonna come on saturday when i'm gonna
be in chicago and enjoying my 4th of July with
my grandmother. You're leaving me. Part of the
reason why I picked the date that I picked. Seriously,
I'm telling you, you were the reason we end the
show on Friday. Of course, I appreciate that,
that you were thinking of me. It's been a long
journey and this is my first real opportunity
and it's been a blast. We'll talk more about
that on Friday. We're not there yet. And we'll
talk a lot more about that when we're up at Laura
Wood having a beverage off the air. I'm just
gonna say that's gonna be that's gonna be fun
We're gonna pour you on the plane as you get
up and get ready to go to Chicago So we got dad
joke coming up Thanks again to our guests again
tomorrow and then a tomorrow as well I want everybody
to listen for I want to listen to the entire
show but listen in the last segment I'm just
begging you if you're listening right now, please
tune in the last segment We're gonna have a special
segment and we're gonna give you the opportunity
to hear what we're gonna do next because there
is a next okay so transfer portal officially
closes today in college baseball including all
of those that participate in the college world
series so the nice thing for oregon fans now
you had the losses we already know you know jr
lawaki going angel laia going bradon lee uh berkeley
maybius going colin clark going Then others that
participated in the college MLB draft Combine,
I guess you would say, you know, like the Cal
Scolari's and Ryan Cooney's and Maddox Maloney's
and such So here's what I'll say is I think Cal
Scolar is gonna get drafted high enough where
he's gone, right? I would I would agree Ryan
Cooney possibly But anybody else he's gone. I
think he's gone to Maddox Maloney meh could come
back yeah and we who do we have that say i think
it was isaac that thinks he's gonna be gone too
but yeah i kind of think we think he's gonna
be back i think he might come back so here's
here's what i want to give oregon fans hope for
is that brain jackson has not entered the transfer
portal and i think if he would have been doing
that he's gone he's not entering his name in
the lb draft i think he's oregon's starting catcher
next year i think that's where he's fantastic
that's a good spot to start Tanner Bradley is
another question mark the Pitcher he might get
drafted who knows what comes back and where those
pieces come into place and what Mark Wasikowski
squad has been able to put together I think I
think it's optimistic now we went through that
speed bump and Whoever else is in the portal
the Oregon coaching staffs gonna evaluate and
say you know what can we can we do it can we
bring somebody in it wasn't what you wanted in
terms of the guys that left but It could have
been worse. It could have been worse. You can
still build on this. Listen, if you're an Oregon
fan, then you know what? If you want it to change,
you really want it to change, go contribute some
money to the Diamond Ducks because it's an arms
race now. It's dollars. All right, let's move
to the World Cup. Are you happy? I mean, have
we had two shootouts now? We had two shootouts
yesterday, yeah. Which is crazy. It does not
happen very often. In the world cup it did happen
in the final as you told me back in what 22 22
We've had two now in We've played what four games
in the knockout round now, and we had half of
them go to shootouts It's very rare folks. Are
you excited about this this the this round? This
has been everything we want. It's been awesome
The big criticism coming into this tournament
was the fear of there being blowouts in this
Particularly not happening. It's not happening.
I mean it's all been close you talk about that
first match Canada and South Africa that one
came down to the wire Brazil and Japan came down
to the wire We wouldn't have expected that and
then you had the two last games that were just
awesome Paraguay Beaten Germany of all teams
who had never lost a penalty kick shootout in
the World Cup by the way until then So paraguaya
advanced to the round of 16 and then morocco
With a late goal in the 90th minute to tie that
one up They go to extra time it goes to penalties
and man. These penalty shootouts are intense
Are you serious right now? You just like you
I do not envy these guys. They're so I'm just
gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna portray you You're
you're not sitting down. You are absolutely standing
up You are standing up. Absolutely standing up.
You're pacing around. Laura and I were watching
that Paraguay Germany one. It was awesome. Laura
couldn't even watch. I don't want to look right
now. I don't want to look. It was so cool. All
right, so right now France and Sweden, I think
they're at the half, right? They are. And it's
1 -0 France over Sweden. A late goal in the first
half gets France and it's Mbappe. with the like
little handsome thing there. I know we got to
do dad joke but it's rare when you can watch
a sport in real time. You can see history unfold
and that's why I like this World Cup. Okay and
we're watching history unfold. So listen and
what's the what's the joy of this is we've got
there's a couple more weeks but unfortunately
we're only gonna be able to talk about it till
Friday. I know. I know it's killing you. All
right here we go. Oh a joke. I got fired from
the bank today. A woman asked me to check her
balance. So I pushed her. Dad jokes! How do you
make Bud Weiser? How do you make Bud Weiser?
Gotta educate Bud, I guess. You were on the right
track. You sent him to school. I knew it. It's
nothing like that. You were on the track. Well
done. You were on the track. How do you make
Bud Weiser? You sent him to school. Alright,
tomorrow on the program. Another great program
for you. As we do our lap, we do our circle.
It'll be a Wednesday. We'll have Angie Machado
first, Kelly Graves after that. A big, a massive,
a huge announcement. Seismic in the last segment.
A Wednesday hump day program on Danny and Justin
is not going to disappoint. Thanks for tuning
in. Thanks to Matt D 'Ape. Thanks to Travis Demers
for joining us. For Baby J, I'm Doc. God bless.
Put a smile on your face. Someone else's. They
deserve it. So do you. Thanks for listening.
Go to the podcast if you missed anything. Danny
and Justin or the fastest 60 minutes. Peace.