Show Summary

The latest episode of Sports Talk New York dives into the thrilling world of NFL action, with a particular focus on the Buffalo Bills' impressive performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Hosts Mike Guidone and Chris Caputo discuss the current state of the Bills, highlighting their strong offensive plays and the anticipation of a potential showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in the coming week. Transitioning from the NFL, the conversation shifts to college football, where they analyze the upcoming national championship game featuring Ohio State and Notre Dame. Connor Clark joins the discussion to provide insights into both teams' journeys through the playoffs, the impact of coaching, and the significance of player development. The episode also touches on the legacy of basketball coaching through a heartfelt segment with Ron Alfieri, who reflects on his father's influence and the philosophy behind the All-American Basketball Camp.

Show Details

Mike Guidone and Chris Caputo delve deep into the world of sports in this lively episode of Sports Talk New York. The discussion kicks off with an overview of the current NFL landscape, particularly focusing on the Buffalo Bills' performance against the Baltimore Ravens. As the Bills lead at halftime, Caputo shares insights on their offensive strategies, especially highlighting quarterback Josh Allen's dynamic play. The conversation flows naturally into the emotional terrain of being a fan, as Guidone reflects on the absence of a local team to root for, which resonates with many listeners in the New York area.

In addition to the NFL, the duo transitions to college football as they prepare for the upcoming national championship game featuring Ohio State and Notre Dame. Connor Clark joins the conversation, providing an insider's perspective on the teams' paths to the championship. The discussion intricately weaves through the strengths and weaknesses of each team, emphasizing how Ohio State's evolution under head coach Ryan Day and Notre Dame's recent success is setting the stage for a thrilling matchup. This segment captures the excitement of college football while also addressing broader themes such as player development and coaching strategies.

As the episode progresses, the conversation takes a reflective turn, with Caputo and Guidone discussing the implications of player movements in the NFL, particularly the impact of Saquon Barkley’s performance with the Philadelphia Eagles after leaving the Giants. This leads to a heartfelt dialogue about loyalty, rivalry, and the personal stakes involved in fandom. The latter part of the episode features Ron Alfieri, who brings a wealth of knowledge about basketball, discussing the All-American Basketball Camp and the legacy of coaching through the lens of his father, Gus Alfieri. The episode culminates in an engaging reflection on the evolution of sports, the emotional connections fans have with their teams, and the invaluable lessons learned through competition. Overall, it’s an episode filled with passion, insight, and the joy of sports, making it a must-listen for any sports enthusiast.

Takeaways:

• The Buffalo Bills had a solid first half against the Baltimore Ravens, leading 21-10.
• Saquon Barkley's success with the Eagles raises questions about the Giants' decisions.
• Ryan Day's coaching style has evolved, impacting Ohio State's performance this season.
• The introduction of the three-point line has significantly changed basketball strategies today.
• Ron Alfieri emphasizes the importance of ball handling skills in youth basketball.
• The All American Basketball Camp focuses on inclusivity and developing better players for the future.

The views expressed in the following program do not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgb.

Live from the WGB studios in Merritt, New York, this is Sports Talk New York.

From the crossroads of Sunrise highway and Merrick Avenue in beautiful Merrick, Long Island, New York.

This is Long Island's WGBB Sports Talk New York.

I'm your host, Mike Bidone, normally joined by Chris Caputo in studio, but he will be joining me on the phone here in just a moment.

He's on assignment checking out all NFL action, especially New York's team, the Buffalo Bills, in action right now against the Baltimore Ravens.

It's a snowy, cold, wonderful night out there.

It's a football day.

It would be nice to have a local team in action.

But we got the Bills cap.

Fill me in a little bit on the Bills today.

How you doing, Mike?

Welcome back to the studio.

Safely.

Thank you.

Hope everybody is enjoying their Sunday night.

They're looking pretty good as far as, you know, offensively being able to move the ball and using Josh Allen's legs, being able to score some touchdowns there, kind of working the clock.

Good part.

They'll have the ball after halftime as well.

Well, so kind of the way it's set up and especially the snow coming down a little bit, not as bad as it was in Philly before, but it looks like Buffalo's had a pretty good first half and if they can keep it up and not turn the ball over.

They did score a touchdown after picking up a fumble.

So I think if, you know, they can take care of the football, then we're looking at another Chiefs Bill showdown.

Next week, which is, I would think, the matchup that everyone is looking forward to.

I gotta ask you, I was.

I got here about 15 minutes ago at the studio and Baltimore had just kicked a field goal.

And I get in and I pull up the game on the computer and there, you know, Buffalo had scored again.

Can you tell me just a little, I missed that drive.

What exactly happened?

Was it kind of a methodical one?

Was there, I believe there was a pass interference call there.

Yeah, they got it down about the 30, 35 yard line.

And what I would call, probably a call that maybe could have been held.

And they did call a pass interference on something that was kind of like both guys touching a little bit.

And it gave the ball to the bills around the 10 yard line.

And then after that, the Bills were able to run the ball.

Josh Allen ran it down to about the five and then he ran it in after that.

They worked the clock beautifully because that drive was Baltimore calling timeouts, thinking maybe they would get the ball back.

And they timed it so they scored with about 12 seconds, less than a half.

So good half of the Bills.

And, you know, I got a house here full of Bills fans that are excited.

And, you know, it's a.

It's pretty good.

The football has been a little bit unexpected this weekend.

I thought the LA Eagles game was much closer than what I expected.

They actually had a chance down the stretch as well, too.

Yeah.

And that game was played.

That was a weather, you know, kind of like we're having right now.

I think it came up the turnpike with the snow, kind of that snow globe effect.

But how about Saquon Barkley?

I mean, over 200 yards, two long rushes for touchdowns, just, you know, again, as a Giant fan, just a killer to watch him do it.

But the guy is thriving in Philadelphia and he really is.

He's the missing piece that they were looking for.

Yeah, he's been great.

Let me ask you this, Mike.

You said like a killer for Giants fans.

So are you upset that the Eagles are winning, or are you just upset that he's having success?

Because I just wonder how you feel about the Saquon situation.

Well, I'm certainly not upset with him.

I mean, I'm upset with the Giants.

I think that it's upsetting.

I mean, I'm a little bit different, I think, than some people.

The Eagles are a hated rival.

And I mean, but you know what?

To me, any other team other than the Giants, if it's Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia, they all, to me are killers.

But for him to go so close, it's extra tough.

And I believe he really wanted to stay.

They just muffed the situation and just gave him literally, I don't say no choice, but they gave him too many choices to walk out the door.

So it's.

It's tough.

I'm happy for him.

You know, I think he would have been a generational New York Giant.

Would he have improved them this year so much?

Probably not.

But he was the face of the franchise and they went with Daniel Jones.

They picked him.

And you can see where that led.

Wrong decision.

But I think, you know, when guys are not wanted anymore, and I don't know how much he wasn't wanted, but I think, you know, they didn't really show him the respect that they wanted him a lot.

When guys are not wanted, they're free to make a decision of their own.

And it Hurts that he goes to Philadelphia and does that.

But you know, at the same time, like, I don't know, Mike, I kind of feel like I'm happy for him.

Yes.

Because he did a lot here in New York and he tried.

Now, would you like to see him have success in, you know, some other rant like Denver or, you know, Seattle?

Sure.

But I don't want the Eagles to win.

But at the same time, like, if I'm going to root for somebody, I'd root for Saquon Barkley.

I think he's a good guy and, you know, I'd like to see him have his own personal success, you know, and I think that's, that's one part of it.

And that kind of brings me to another point of like, if the Mets no longer want Pete Alonso because of all the pomp and circumstance that has gone on.

Yes.

Let's just say for whatever reason, he takes a one year deal to be a designated hitter in Philadelphia for the Phillies.

It hurts.

That would hurt people.

But for the Pete Alonso lovers, I think you would want to see him have some success.

You don't want to see the Phillies beat the Mets, but you'd want to see him succeed.

I just think, you know, I'm probably bringing up Pandora's box.

This situation has just become its own media circus.

Yeah, well, it's not surprising because when you look at, you know, Scott Boris as his agent and the clients that he had last year where a couple of guys signed and then a couple of guys, you know, last minute went one year deals and worked out for some and was awful for others, I think the only difference with Pete is that there was that big offer on the table for him, which I think probably made sense for him to turn down.

But, you know, who knows what was on the table early.

It's just, it's a crapshoot when you, when you have Scott Boros as the agent.

You know, I like the guy, he's.

I would love to see him stay with the Mets.

But I think you and I are on the same boat where wherever he goes, you know, we wish him the best.

And it doesn't, it certainly doesn't look like he's going to come back.

But you know, if any more pitchers sign with the Dodgers, there's going to be nobody left.

I can't believe they're going to go with maybe an eight man rotation.

Yeah.

Could you imagine?

And then all these guys coming out of the bullpen throwing bullpen games.

I mean, it is just, it's A mess.

How many people wind up going to the Dodgers?

It's, you know, people from Asia, people from the United States, people from the bullpen, people from the starters, guys that can hit DH and pitch.

It's just, it's insane how everybody just goes to the Dodgers after they win the Super Bowl.

Yeah.

You know, the World Series.

Sorry.

No, no.

You know, you bring up some good points there, as you always do.

Los Angeles has two things going for it.

Obviously when you're talking about the Asian players, it's a shorter ride.

The community there is already supporting Ohtani and he's been around.

He was in Los Angeles area playing for the Angels.

It's just, it's really a no brainer for a lot of those guys.

And then you have just unlimited funds and they have done a great job in Los Angeles of putting together an ownership group that is for the next, how many years, who knows, are just going to be able to open up the checkbook.

So, you know, from a player standpoint, I don't know though, like if I'm a starting pitcher or I'm anybody, do I want to go there and, I don't know, play every couple of days about.

If it's about winning and getting paid, you know, obviously, which are the two things you're supposed to hone in on.

Yeah.

Then, then we're talking about literally a grand slam there.

But they're just, it's, it's an embarrassment of riches.

Yeah.

I don't know what Major League Baseball can do about it, but it has just become way too much that basically anybody who's a free agent is going there.

And even just the trades, they're able to just manipulate so many things.

So we'll be, it'd be interesting to see my last thing for you is do you think there's any way Pete Alonso goes out and gets some offers from other teams and for some way shape or form, Boris comes back to the Mets and says, hey, listen, we've got, you know, 3 for 68 with another team.

If you guys go up to 3 for 70, we'll give it to you.

Do you think there's any way he still comes back to the Mets, or do you think the Mets are really moving on to the next plan?

Well, you know what, all these negotiations are always, you know, there's stories planted in the media.

It's a big game.

You know, the fact that I, I read two things in the same day this week, Cap, I'll tell you, one was that it was looking good for him.

To come back.

And then three hours later, it was that the Mets were moving on.

So, you know, who knows?

Can that happen?

I do.

I don't think that all for those is going to be out there.

I just don't.

But I could see him coming back and I think it would really.

I think it would be great for the Mets at this point because, you know, they made their splash with Soto.

There's really not much unless they go the trade route.

You know, pitching wise, do you want to try to make a huge offer to, you know, Vlad Guerrero Jr.

In Toronto and give up, you know, so many players?

I, I don't know.

That's.

That's the inner workings.

That's the only thing I could see maybe, you know, taking place.

But that's.

That, to me, is not a Mets thing right now.

They would rather probably go move Vientos over first and then take their chances.

That.

But, yeah.

Could it happen?

I think so, and I hope so.

You know, that's.

That's the great thing.

It's literally hot stove time here with the snow falling and, you know, the coffee on the stove and the football on the TV and we're talking Pete Alonzo.

It's great.

Yeah.

And hopefully, you know, that stuff gets worked out soon.

Like, I think if the Mets are going to make a move and trade three big prospects for Vlad Guerrero that they have, I don't know, you speak to the agent, you know, on the side to make sure that, you know, that he's going to sign.

You don't want to have a situation where the guy comes and then at the end of the year, he's gone.

So you have to kind of know something.

But.

But we'll see.

And it's fun and it's been good to talk.

The Bills are about to start.

All right, second half, it should be fun.

And I know you guys are going to talk some, some college football.

So we're moving.

We're moving on to that.

You're going to get.

You get two games yesterday, two games today, and you get a national championship tomorrow.

There's a kid who's a long snapper.

Yes.

For Notre Dame.

From Notre Dame.

From Kellenberg.

Yeah.

Pretty wild.

Yeah, we're definitely going to hit that.

But, Cap, enjoy the second half.

I am rooting for the Bills.

I'd love to see that and I'd like to see them take next week.

But, you know, when we.

The next time around, we'll be talking Super Bowl.

Enjoy the evening.

Enjoy the day off tomorrow.

And we'll talk soon.

All right.

Maybe we'll talk later.

I hope so.

Alright.

Yeah, absolutely, I'll be here.

Thanks.

Chris Caputo.

He's checking in from home as our bills reporter tonight.

But as he mentioned, we're going to talk a little bit of college football.

National championship now with our College football insider, Mr.

Connor Clark.

Connor, welcome to the program.

Hey, Mike, how are you doing?

I'm doing good, man.

You know, I'm a little fired up, I'll tell you, because there's just, while there's not a lot of New York action per se going on right now in football, some great football.

I'm happy, you know, for the national landscape.

I'm happy for you with this game with Ohio State and Notre Dame, being that, you know, you're an Ohio State follower and fan.

Two teams that, you know, seven and eight seed coming into this college football playoff that had their ups and downs this year for sure.

Although Notre Dame, I guess you could make the argument they have the longest winning streak I believe in the country right now.

But you know, two, two teams that had some tough losses.

But here we are tomorrow night in Atlanta, Georgia.

And by the way, just in case, I looked up some tickets and if you want to go tomorrow night, I don't know if, I don't know if we can swing it, but the cheapest seat tomorrow night is two grand each and that's upstairs.

Do you think you could scrape together two grand to sit upstairs tomorrow night and get on a plane with me?

Yeah, I'm not sure about that one, Mike.

Maybe if I, I don't know, put some money on the Eagles maybe.

But no, not.

Don't have that kind of money right now.

I saw that too.

What a crazy number.

I mean, I can't believe it's down to that point for some nosebleed tickets.

I was thinking somewhere, you know, I just kind of looked it up just for giggles and I thought, ah, they're going to be, you know, maybe a thousand or, you know, high seven.

Yeah.

2000 for the upstairs and they'll get it.

It's just pretty wild.

But let's get to the game.

So the matchup, Ohio State coming in off of really, you know, scoring well, turning their offense around.

We talked about this briefly off air.

They just look like a different team.

Yeah, I mean, you know, there's been a lot of differences just in play, style, scheme, everything like that.

It seems like right now from an offensive standpoint, you know, Chip Kelly has kind of almost put everything in a 180 from what they were running beforehand and especially in the running game.

The running game has really been taking off with their two soon to be NFL running backs, Trevion Henderson and Quinshawn Judkins, who both had good games again against Texas.

Trevion of course, taking that screen to the house at the end of the first half and then Quintron with two touchdowns of his own.

So, you know, I think that there was a lot of self reflection offensively and there's been a lot of effort put into getting it to the playmakers like those two.

And of course Jeremiah Smith, the true freshman on the outside.

And then defensively, I mean, I don't know where Jim Knowles is coming up with this stuff, but I mean it's stuff that I've never seen before.

You know, you look at kind of coaches and analysts talking about it all over the place and it's sort of like a mesh of man and zone that they've never seen before.

And you know, Jim Knowles constantly talks about their veteran defense and how many juniors and seniors are playing for them.

So I think it makes sense with all the football they have underneath them that they can do that stuff.

But yeah, they've looked completely different in the playoffs for sure.

So they run by Tennessee in the first round and then they just manhandle Oregon who was undefeated number one in the country, you know, quarterfinals.

Then they have a tough game with Texas.

This is a theory, I think that again, that you and I just chatted about briefly.

Is it good to have that many lead up games?

And I would almost think that you could make a great argument now saying yeah, because you're able to, as you mentioned, change a lot of schemes, look at different things.

Or would it be better to have a buy in there somewhere?

Because you know, had they, I believe had they beaten Michigan, they would have had a buy and then who knows.

But I guess it's that, that always that question about do you want some time off or do you want to just get back into the swing of it?

And boy, they're, they're proving that argument, that side of the argument about let's, let's get after it and play some teams.

Yeah, I think, you know, when you think about college football, you know, I think the argument's a little bit different in college football than professional football just because of the emotion aspect.

Yes.

We're talking about 18 to 22 year olds for the most.

And I think that especially in college football, one of the best parts about the game is you can kind of Feel those swings and momentum a lot more because of that emotion component.

And I think that you don't necessarily get that from an NFL kind of playoff system.

Whereas, you know, in college football, it just seems like when a team gets hot, like Notre Dame, like in Ohio State, it seems like they're on fire, like, you know, and they're significantly, you know, more fine tune and hitting on all cylinders than, let's just say if like an NFL team gets hot.

So I, you know, I think there's definitely an argument, I think that every coach would say that health comes before all else.

So.

But, you know, Ryan Day made it a huge point at the beginning of the season in the preseason, talking about a 16 game, a 17 game season.

And so just making sure that you are as fresh as possible, as healthy as possible, and talking about sort of the season as more of a game of attrition as opposed to who has the most talent.

And they've kind of treated it that way.

And that's why they went out and got the linemen that they did, Quinn, Sean Judkins from Ole Miss and players like that.

So they could not only add depth, but pretty much add extra starters that they could rely on downstretch like they have.

So you brought up Ryan Day and you know, obviously Ohio State football is one of, if not the premier jobs in college football.

And he, the Ohio State coach is generally always measured about their success or lack of success against Michigan.

And you know, it's no secret that he's had his issues with those games, but now here he is in the national championship game, win or lose.

I mean, short of just, you know, laying an egg out there tomorrow night, you know, he's, he, he's done what he was asked to do to get to this championship game.

If you're Ryan Day, do you stay in Ohio State?

I mean, I don't know what else is really out there at the moment, but is it something where you, you, you look to make a move at this point?

Because it's just the, the expectations there have just become so unrealistic.

Or do you cash in if, especially if you win?

I mean, what do you see?

What would you do A.

If you're him and him doing, let's say they win?

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think that if, I know Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports kind of wrote about how Ryan Day should just go off into the sunset on his own terms, even if they win the national title and things like that.

I think that Ryan Day is such a intense competitor, is actually he's very different in a lot of visible ways from Urban Meyer, but he's very much the same in terms of competitiveness.

I think that it would drive him crazy to leave like that, personally.

But if he were to, I don't blame him.

There's a.

There's a faction of the fan base that's just completely unrealistic when it comes to these things and it comes to the success.

Now, with that being said, you can't be losing to a Michigan team as an 18.5-point favorite at home and be, you know, the first Ohio State head coach to lose to an unranked Michigan team as a ranked Ohio State team since the 50s and 60s.

So there's things like that that come up that kind of muddy the waters and the perception of Ryan Day now, you know, if they were to win, I think that he's.

He would likely stay because it would buy him time and it would buy him, you know, like, and it would really show that, you know, he's the only one that's really looked at this 12 team playoff as sort of more of an NFL style of season as opposed to a lot of other teams and a lot of other coaches.

So it kind of would prove that in this novel world of college football that we're looking at, his plan so far is the only one that works.

So, you know, that will add confidence to him, that would add confidence to Ohio State and the fan base and everything like that.

If he were to lose, I don't think anyone would necessarily be asking for a coaching change in a realistic manner or anything like that.

And I think he would likely stay because, you know, from everything that I've read and everything that I've heard, he's been a completely different coach the past, you know, however long since the Michigan game, one and a half months.

And, you know, he's so much closer with the players.

There's so much more fire there.

There's so much more emotion there.

And I think that he's locked in like we've never seen before.

And so I think that, you know, they talk a lot about this players only meeting that took place after the Michigan loss where it was him and the players actually, so not players only.

But, you know, there were like a lot of hard conversations and, you know, people were being very honest and I think they respect him for hearing that feedback from them.

So I think that he's kind of turned the page as a coach and we'll see if things pan out tomorrow night.

Some great insights there from once Again, our college football insider Connor Clark joining us here on Sports Talk, New York, WGBB 95.9.

Give us a call if you want to chime in or if you have any questions.

So now let's move down and go to South Bend, Indiana and talk about the other team in this game, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, number seven seed.

You know, they couldn't get a bye anyway because they're an independent.

So week two, they lose to Northern Illinois and you're thinking, oh, my goodness.

Is this a team that's caught lightning in a bottle, do you think?

Here, Connor, do they have a legitimate shot or are they just going to be, you think, just manhandled by, you know, Ohio State size and speed and everything that they bring to the table?

I don't think it's like bottle at all.

You know, I think that one of the most important parts to, you know, this Notre Dame team is actually the coordinators.

But Marcus Freeman has done a fantastic job hiring Al golden, who, you know, was the Miami head coach and then he was in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Most notably, he was a phenomenal hire.

And that defense has been playing lights out ever since he's been hired.

And they're number two right now, only behind Ohio State.

And you know, with regards to the offense, they kind of flirted two years ago with Andy Ludwig, who was at the University of Utah at that time, but they couldn't afford to bring him in.

And this time around they said, you know, we're going to go and spend and they got Mike Denbrock who, you know, he was down at LSU and he was the guy who turned Jaden Daniels into a Heisen Trophy winner.

And you know, right now the only, the only rookie QB left going into the conference championship weekend.

So, you know, I think that Mike Dembrock understands the strength of this Notre Dame offense.

It's not necessarily through the air, it's definitely the running game.

But he's built an offense that is totally based on the strengths of Notre Dame.

And I think that when you look at these two teams, they both absolutely get the blue chip recruits and Notre Dame is right there in that national picture all the time, year in and year out in recruiting.

So I think that it's definitely not lightning in the bottle.

I think that these are two teams that are very deserving to be here.

Yeah, I Mean, again, you bring up some great points.

The coordinators that are on these teams, when you look and you look at their resumes, it's just unbelievable.

These are not, this is not college football from, you know, even 10 years ago.

I mean, these are big time guys that have their stamp on these programs.

And, you know, for the most part, the money that they're able to be paid nowadays is head coach type money.

So it's really not a step backwards.

I'm trying to think.

I just saw, I believe, if I have this right, Rex Ryan's brother Rob, he's being interviewed for a coordinator position somewhere, you know, in the college football landscape.

Not exactly sure where, but, you know, these are guys who, you know, a couple years ago were thought of as, you know, just NFL, nothing else.

And Wink Martindale, you know, went back this year.

So the coordinators, you cannot understate, you know, what they bring to the table with these teams.

And it's, it's pretty wild to see the coaching tree with both of these clubs.

So, you know, I think you had kind of said about who's left in the NFL landscape, you know, in terms of rookie quarterbacks and whatever.

I know you're also an Eagles guy.

Following the Eagles, huge game for them today.

We'll just, you know, take a left off the turnpike here for just a second.

Saquon, I was talking to Chris about this.

Just a huge game as well.

You must be very excited about the Eagles.

When you have the Eagles heading into the NFC Championship game and your Ohio State Buckeyes heading into the National Championship game.

Is this possibly the happiest you could be on this Sunday night?

Not necessarily, because the National Championship game is still tomorrow.

Well, it's not though.

But what I'm saying is you got to be very excited at least, you know, the teams that you follow the most are right there.

At least, you know, they haven't lost yet and they're still alive.

So what are you looking more forward to?

And there's a reason behind this question, and I'll say it, I'll kind of go in reverse here.

Are you looking more forward to tomorrow night's National Championship Game or the NFC Championship Game next week?

I would say most likely the National Championship game.

Just because I think that we're the implications.

Yeah, we're just in such uncharted waters with this whole thing with college football and how fast it's changing with NIL with the 12 team playoff and everything like that.

And of course it's the championship game now.

The NFC championship is the NFC Championship, but it's not the Super Bowl.

So I, I think the main thing is, you know, I think the national championship offers at least some form of finality with regards to narratives, whether it be with Marcus Freeman, whether it be with Ryan Day, and sort of where they are in the college football landscape.

And so these are two coaches that have constantly been ridiculed, constantly been questioned.

One thing that people don't talk about enough is that Marcus Freeman and his coaching decisions has been a huge upgrade this year.

And he used to be a detriment to Notre Dame and now he's phenomenal at it, and that can totally play a role.

And so, like, with the national championship, it's just, there's.

I don't know, it's.

It's making history in a way that necessarily this NFC championship might not.

Now I'm saying might not as in for my team.

If Washington wins, then, you know, Jaden Daniels will be the first rookie quarterback to start in the Super Bowl.

So, you know, there's, there's always that as well.

But, yeah, I'm just looking forward to that.

And plus, you know, Notre Dame and Ohio State, they didn't play for 80 some odd years and now they're playing three years in a row.

It's.

It's a very unique situation.

Whereas, you know, we dealt with the commanders already two times this year.

So a third time, you just kind of get annoyed after a while.

Sure.

Well, and you really kind of.

You answered the question how I thought you were going to.

And it kind of lends to my point, which I'm going to say right now, a buddy of mine went to the Orange bowl and he's a huge NFL fan.

I would say he's more than a casual college football fan, but what he told me, the experience that he had down in Miami at that game with, you know, just the alums and the student bodies that were in certain sections and the bands.

He said it was so much better and so much more intense than any NFL playoff game he had ever been to.

He said he didn't sit the entire time.

You know, he didn't go to either of the schools playing, but he just, he kind of started to convert me a little bit more towards getting my butt in gear to see some college football, because he said it just was unlike anything he'd ever been to.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think, like, especially when you're watching the NFL.

Now, don't get me wrong, I.

Last night, I mean, I was texting my Buddies, Just some of the stuff that was going on with Ben Johnson and the Detroit Lions offense, just some of the imagination and things like that.

You don't necessarily get that at the college level in that way with the high level execution.

Now you might get the creativity, but you know, the guy throwing the ball might not be a Jared Goff or a Matt Stafford or something like that.

So, you know, it's fun to watch the NFL for creativity and schematics and high level football.

But if you want it all, I would say college football brings everything.

The emotion, the tradition, the bands playing just like a completely different and unique experience compared to.

Compared to the NFL?

Most definitely.

Okay, so before I let you go, I had said to you before I wanted a prediction for tomorrow.

So what's your prediction?

And let's.

You're looking at high scoring, low scoring, a big difference in a blowout here.

What are you thinking?

Yeah, so I think it's going to be pretty medium scoring, I guess you could say.

I guess it would be on the lower scoring end if you're comparing it to the Lions and the commanders.

But you know, I think with regards to looking at both of these teams, the big thing that Ohio State's kind of Achilles heel was was handling interior linemen, defensive linemen that were massive.

And you know, Michigan had them, Texas had them, and Notre Dame did have them.

And a guy like, like Riley Mills, who, you know, he's humongous, he's like the size of a freaking blue whale.

He's like 317 pounds.

And now all of a sudden he's not going to be in there anymore.

Now they have a backup named Gabriel Rubio who is the same size, but he's not the same athlete as him.

So it'll be a little bit different.

Now their best defensive lineman outside of that is Howard Cross, but he's only 288 pounds.

He's very undersized.

So with the injuries and plus Notre Dame's top corner being out, they love to play man coverage.

With the injuries and everything like that, and the tight rotations, I worry about them getting sort of run down.

I look to the Notre Dame USC game a lot as sort of like skill position players that are similar to Ohio State that Notre Dame's played.

USC put up 557 yards of offense that game.

And you know, it took two pick sixes for Notre Dame to really win that game.

I just think that over time Ohio State with its depth is likely to wear down Notre Dame.

And I think that's going to be a tight game going into the fourth quarter, but I think OSU ends up pulling away about 31, 21 in the end.

All right.

Well, Connor, once again, great stuff.

Thank you for all your insight.

We'll have you back on after the game.

Enjoy the game.

Good luck to your Eagles as well, and we'll talk to you soon.

All right.

Sounds good, Mike.

Absolutely.

We'll be back on the other side.

You're going to take a quick break and talk to our friend Ron Alfieri in just one moment on Sports Talk New York.

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You're listening to Sports Talk New York on Long Island's wgbb.

And now back to the show.

Join in on the Sports Talk.

And right now we're very honored to be joined by Mr.

Ron Alfieri, who is the director of the All American Basketball Camp out here on Long island, former coach at St.

John the Baptist.

And we're going to talk about his dad, Gus Alfieri, hall of Famer at St.

John's just the name Alfieri means basketball on Long island and in this area.

And Coach Ron, thanks for coming on.

It's my pleasure.

Thanks for having me, Mike.

Absolutely.

So, you know, a lot of things I just kind of threw out there.

One of the things I wanted to start off by asking you just real quick.

Our last show we had a couple of guys on from St.

John's on what would have been Coach Lou Carnesecca's 100th birthday.

And, you know, I've gotten to know you pretty well now and you told me a great story about when you were working at St.

John's for Coach Carneseca about breaking down tape and doing different things.

Could you share with us just that story about how you kind of introduced, you know, tape to Coach Carneseca and what his thought process was then?

Sure.

This was in the mid-80s, early-80s and they were still, this was the team I was there for, was Chris Mullen, Jeff Allen, Bill Wennington, Billy Goodwin.

A team that did pretty well, but they did better in future years.

Went to the final 4 in 85.

But in the early 80s, they filmed all their games in 16 millimeter film.

And they would have a cameraman record it, and then they would look at it two days later.

And when I got there, as kind of a undergraduate assistant coach, I knew about videotape, but he didn't, and no one on his staff did.

So I mentioned it to him, and he sent me into Manhattan to get a couple thousand dollars worth of video equipment, which at the time was a camera and a tripod and a little recording box.

And I would record the games.

And, you know, we break down tape of other games, of other teams.

The time I got in trouble is we were in Pittsburgh when Pittsburgh was in the Big east and we lost to them, when we should have beat them.

And instead of going back to the hotel and having dinner, going to bed and catching the plane the next morning, he told me to set up the video equipment up in the banquet room, and all the guys came in to have some food and relax and wind down after the game.

But instead they got a.

And they didn't take it out on him.

They took it out on me.

They fired at me, and, you know, it was my fault that, you know, they didn't play defense and run plays well and couldn't break pressures.

You know, it was because of the cameraman's fault, so.

Well, that's a tough spot.

The new century, sort of.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's such a tough spot to be in as an assistant coach there, you know, undergrad, as you mentioned, you're trying to be popular with the players and help them out, but you have a job to do, and you literally bring, you know, tape breakdown to the current day at that point for Coach Carneseca.

But that's fantastic.

Obviously, it helped led that program forward and Final Four notwithstanding later on.

So just great stuff.

I was hoping you were going to reshare that story exactly the way you did, and it's great stuff.

So, again, welcome to the program.

We're going to talk camp here in just a minute, but I wanted to just discuss with you a little bit about your dad, Gus Alfieri, who obviously he founded All American Basketball Camp, hall of famer at St.

John's played for Joe Lapchick, was a member of their NIT National Championship team.

Obviously, we mourned his passing last year.

When you think about your dad and his impact, just let's say as a coach, you played for him and his style.

I only got to work with him for one short stint in the summer, but I could see just the impact that he made on young people today and also his former players that were coming back to the gym who had their sons, their grandsons at camp working there.

Can you talk just a little bit about your dad's philosophy of what he looked for in a student athlete and just what his teams were all about at St.

Anthony's where he won over 300 games and two state championships.

Yeah, it was a time where he started.

His first season was a 68, 69 year, which is a really long time ago.

And basketball was a different sport back then.

It was slower.

It just had a different vibe to it, especially out in Suffolk County.

And what he brought initially was kind of that Brooklyn toughness.

If you watched a video of my dad play, you'd see him battling towards the basket and knocking people over.

And you know, he was like a bowling ball.

He was, you know, a stout guy at six two as a guard.

And he, you know, he felt that, you know, he wanted to bring that toughness.

And one of the things that I admired and really found incredibly hard to believe is that he took his team and, you know, these are just kids that enrolled in the school.

It's not like in college where you go recruit the players that are going to fit your system.

Sure.

These are kids that showed up and no matter who it was, he molded the kids to fit his system as opposed to molding the system to fit the team.

So if he had a team that was faster or slower or taller or shorter or better at defense or worse at defense, it didn't matter.

He would, you know, it was cutting against the grain to, you know, impose his will on these, you know, 12 or 13, you know, 16 and 17, 16, 17 year old kids.

It was a lot of work, but it was dedicated to what he thought was the right way of playing basketball.

And, you know, he had a lot of success with it.

I'm curious, what was your dad's thoughts on the three point line when that was introduced?

He, you know, he didn't really like it.

It actually was a detriment to the system, defensive system that he liked to play, which gave people open shots.

On the perimeter, but kind of protected the paint.

And you know, he was, he was not into, you know, look at me basketball or, you know, dunks or three pointers.

He believed in, you know, tough defense and working around for a good shot.

And he, I'm sure, I don't think he ever coached a game with a shot clock, but I'm sure he would have hated it.

Yeah, it's one of those things you talk to, you know, coaches from years back and when they were around when the three pointer came in.

And I think, I don't think I could ever find or research anyone who was really excited about it.

You know, now it's just become such a part of the game on all levels.

Personally, I don't think to, you know, to the health of the game.

I think as you mentioned it, especially with your dad's system, it just kind of messed things up.

But it is what it is.

And I'll tell you what, it gives us people who coach these days, at least something to talk about.

When we go either speak to a group of kids or whatever else about that, everyone comes in and just starts throwing up three point shots.

So it's a great starting point when you want to talk to kids about what not to do and then kind of go from there.

So in your coaching, you coached out at St.

John the Baptist.

You were athletic director out there, Catholic League once again, you watch a lot of basketball.

You spent some time out in California from the time when you were coaching out at St.

John the Baptist to what you see with college, with high school basketball right now.

Would you say that there's a positive evolution to the game?

I know you got to see Lonzo Ball out in California.

Is it a better game today or is it a different game today or is it something that, that we shouldn't even get into that kind of discussion.

Well, it has definitely evolved.

The players are bigger, faster, stronger.

The training is more intense, the weight training is intense, the media is more intense.

So there's a lot more.

You know, when I got to St.

John's which is 10 years after I had played it, you know, for my dad at St.

Anthony's you know, a Big east basketball game on at, you know, 7:30 on a Monday night, that big Monday that they used to have, or 9 o'clock whenever it was, was a huge thing.

It.

The Syracuse recruited players from California because they saw, you know, Jim Boeheim coach against John Thompson on Big Monday on espn.

Yeah, that was a big deal.

Now you can, I mean, I'm watching flipping through ESPN thing.

I see the Long Island Lutheran girls team play.

I see, you know, you can go on streaming and you can see literally every high school on Long island, you know, play.

So you can see a lot more basketball.

But in terms of the game, it's changed.

You know, there's, it's just a different game.

So with the three point line and with, you know, 17 foot jump shot being the worst shot in basketball now, and you know, the game is more intense.

I think the defense is actually better than it used to be.

It's just the offense has gone, has grown so much and people are just so difficult to guard in all levels of basketball.

So I think that's the, I don't think it's better or worse.

I think it's most definitely, you know, different.

Yeah, just different.

I think that's a great point.

We're talking with Ron Alfieri, who is the director of All American Basketball Camp here on Long island, here on WGBB.

If you'd like to call in and check in, ask any questions about, you know, basketball, the state of basketball.

Coach's dad.

And I just want to ask one last question about that coach, if you don't mind.

Your father wrote a great book.

He actually, he wrote a couple books, I believe, but one of his, one of his great books on Coach Lapchick and his way in playing at St.

John's could you talk a little bit about just what your dad did to prepare and how long it took him to write that book and just, you know, how it was kind of, as you explained to me, more of a labor of love than anything else.

Yeah, he thought that Coach Lapchick was a revered figure in the game of basketball and hadn't really gotten his do.

One of the things that was true about him in baseball, if I ask you who broke the color barrier, you'd say it's Jackie Robinson.

And who brought him in?

It was Branch Rickey.

Everybody knows that.

We have even a casual connection with sports.

But Joe Lapchick was intensely involved in breaking of the color barrier in basketball.

And he was a terrific coach at St.

John's he went to the Knicks, he came back to St.

John's and it wasn't just, you know, wins and losses, it was how he did it.

And, you know, my father always admired him for that.

And my dad was not a writer in any way.

And anyone who edited his books, you know, will tell you that, especially the first Book.

You know, he would send it to, you know, a professional writer, and it'd be, you know, come back looking like blood stains, all the red marking on it.

But he.

My dad was a learner.

He learned from his mistakes.

He learned.

He wanted to hear feedback, and he wrote a really good book.

I love the Lachic book.

It's so well written, and it's from his perspective as a kid growing up in Brooklyn and the reverence he had for coach Lapchick.

So it's a good book to read to understand how basketball came from part of, you know, in the 20th century where there was no NBA, there were teams that would hop in a car and drive somewhere and for 20 bucks, play a game against, you know, local people from, you know, town.

It's just the absolute opposite of what we have today.

So I think what was important to him is that he got to tell Joe Lapchik's story from the perspective of someone who was coached by him and who loved him.

Yeah, it really is.

It's a great book for any basketball fan, really, any sports fan.

Doesn't matter what era you watched or grew up in.

The title of that book is the Life of a Legendary Player and Coach in the Glory Days of Basketball.

Once again, that was written by coach Ron Alfieri's dad, Gus.

So, coach, I want to finish up with you tonight just to talk a little bit about camp.

And, you know, of course, it seems odd tonight to be talking about summer, but why not?

You know, the snow's falling, and it is basketball, and before we know it, it's really going to be that summertime, and people are looking for, you know, a place to send their son or daughter to hone their skills, kind of get ready for the future.

So All American Basketball Camp, you know, has been around over 50 years.

Your dad started it.

You worked with him for quite a while, and you are continuing his legacy and putting your own stamp on it.

Now, could you tell everybody just what kind of what the basis is of all American and what a parent can expect when they send their child to the camp?

And just your overall philosophy on just what is taught at camp?

Well, it's the name for some people, gives an implication of we only want all Americans.

It's actually the opposite.

The all American way of what we do is that everybody is inclusive, everybody is included.

There's a space for everybody.

We have a saying on our website.

You know, there are no bench warmers.

Everybody plays, everybody gets trained, everybody gets coached.

Everybody participates.

And, you know, we feel that you Know, over the course of, you know, now it's getting close to 60 years.

This will be our 56th year coming up.

We've helped a lot of kids become better basketball players, but we've helped, you know, just as many kids become, you know, better people.

One of the things that I learned in being a dad and being a teacher and being a coach and being a camp director is that they're basically the same job.

You're trying to inspire someone to want to learn to be better.

And once you inspire them to want to learn to be better, now you have to have the skills and the knowledge to actually help them be better.

So someone coming to our camp who just wants to have fun, that's great.

We have a spot for you.

We have a shooting machine, we got games and contests.

That's fantastic.

You're going to have a good time.

But to kids who see and parents who see the value in learning a skill, actually working at it, there's something there for them.

I talk to parents who say, I want my kid to feel better about themselves.

And I said, you know how you help your daughter feel better about herself?

She comes back after a week and she can make, you know, half of her free throws rather than, you know, 20% of her free throws, you know, before she came.

If she can put the ball in the basket, she's going to feel better about herself.

So, you know, it's a world where there's a lot of, you know, A's, you know, Johnny, you're doing great, you know, everything wonderful, but actually becoming a better player and actually developing the skills in anything.

And this goes for any sport, this goes for in the classroom, actually putting in the work to become better is extremely valuable.

And you know, it affirms stuff for later in life to work hard towards a goal to be better.

Along those lines, when teaching, whether it be a camp or if you're working with somebody individually, what do you think is the number one skill these days that's either taught incorrectly or not emphasized enough?

I think that the part that's not emphasized enough is ball handling.

And I think that to be able to.

I watched three high school games this past week and the thing that struck me was varsity high school, varsity players starting on a team who cannot put the ball on the floor more than once with their weak hand.

That's something that, you know, that I would expect, you know, eight year old, nine year old kids like, when we get them at camp, we tell them to practice, dribble with left hand, dribble Right.

Everything you do with one hand, you have to do with the other hand and always do your weak hand first.

So the kids that have to look down at the ball, the kids that aren't confident that they can get somewhere, they get the ball stolen from them, they give the ball up too early and they get the pass stolen.

And this is one of the great things about the sport is you don't need anything to be better at that.

You need a garage, you need a basement floor, you need a patio outside.

You can do it in three inches of snow.

You can become a better dribbler just pretty much by wanting to.

So that, to me, that stands out to me.

Shooting, defense, rebounding, hustling, those are things that are coachable.

Not being a competent dribbler with both hands, by the time you reach high school, you're not working hard enough to be a better player.

Absolutely.

And full disclosure, one of those games that coach saw this week was one of my games.

And that is a complaint that I have with my team.

Absolutely.

And that's where I believed you were going with was ball handling.

I'll tell you, Ron, I believe that one of the reasons behind that is that just so many of the kids now are involved in so much and it has nothing to even do with other sports, but just so many things that they have from school to after school activities to being in the play.

And it's wonderful.

I think it's great for them, for well rounded kids.

But as coaches.

Yeah.

When I have a young lady or you see a young boy who's on the diversity level and is still struggling with something basic like that, you say to yourself, how at this age have they not developed that?

And we try to take some time in practice and do that.

But I think where I'm going with this is that camp in the summertime is the perfect opportunity for any young person who is just looking to improve their game to find that time, even for a couple of weeks, even for five days, just get out there and be taught the proper way to do something.

And repetition, repetition, repetition.

So I appreciate you being kind.

I'm sure you could have picked out about three or four other things that you saw.

No, no.

When I saw your game, I saw one tall and cold Spring Harbor.

That was a really good game.

I saw it there too.

But like, the players that, you know, I had spoken to you about, you know, on your team that, you know, like, literally, you know, five seconds after, you know, they come in the game, they catch the ball, they take couple Joe Take them.

Pass.

Like, oh, she's good.

Like, it's that obvious that there are players that have work and, you know, and there are players that, you know, still need to really figure out if that's, you know, if this is something that they, you know, how good they want to be is really determined by in Hubie Brownism, you know, how bad, you know, everybody wants to be good.

But what are you willing to give up?

So the time management to be able to work on your game and still be good at school and still do your extracurriculars, that's, you know, that's someone that can have success in all of those areas.

Most definitely.

So if someone wants to contact you about summer camp this year and the program itself, could you tell everybody what the website or phone number to get in touch with just to start talking basketball and think about it?

Yeah.

All of that information can be found at the website, which is pretty easy.

It's all American basketballcamp.com, one big long word and.

Or Google All American Basketball Camp.

And all the email addresses and phone numbers will be right there.

Fantastic.

We're going to be three weeks up in Greendale school and three weeks out in Smithtown this summer.

So we're going Nassau and Suffolk for the first time in about 15 years.

So we're excited to be back in Suffolk.

We haven't been there in quite some time, which is where the camp started.

Yeah, that's really.

That's the footprint where it began.

So that's exciting.

That's fantastic.

Coach, I can't thank you enough for coming on with us tonight.

Just great stuff.

Full disclosure, once again, I've worked for you.

I've learned a lot from you in the short time from your dad.

And the Alfieri name is basketball, and you're carrying on the tradition, and the camp is going to get bigger and better.

And once again, thanks for everything and we'll talk to you again soon.

It's my pleasure, and thanks for having me and drive safe, you know.

Yeah, it's going to be a little bit of a tough ride home, but we'll do it.

Thanks again.

That's coach Ron Alfieri, head of All American Basketball Camp here on Long Island.

You know, one of the premier camps, if not the oldest camp, you know, Lehigh has a wonderful basketball camp.

There's some other ones.

All American, though, started out, as Ron mentioned, with his dad, Coach Gus Alfieri.

So just if you're looking for a camp, get in touch with us.

We'll let you know.

Thanks to Chris Caputo.

Coming on earlier in the show, Connor Clark on the national championship.

And again, Ron Alfieri.

Thanks to Brian Graves behind the glass.

Everyone, enjoy the long weekend, enjoy the snow a little bit.

Be careful out there, and we'll see you in two weeks.

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Staff, management or owners of wgb.