The Magic Touch: Orlando Magic’s David Steele
In sports, if you want to be the best, there are no off days. Hey, welcome on into the no off days podcast. I’m Scott Smith. Chris Ko rocking his beautiful Dolphins colors. We are talking some football today. Some AFC East and that’s why the football’s back. Here we go. I know last week we tried to complete the pass on the final shot of the episode and it it didn’t it didn’t come through. You put it right on the money and I just blew it. I There was a defender. This camera here was in my line. I think the lights were in your eyes. And that ball was on me before I knew it was. But in honor of Tua today, I’m throwing only left-handed ball. So get ready. Trouble. Oh boy. Okay, we’re in trouble. Oh yeah. Um big show this week. Uh and we are we are happy to get this thing started talking a little bit more football. Got some hoops as well. Uh but one sport that I it it passed me by and I thought, you know what, this would be a great topic on the No Off Days podcast, but it it just it because it’s not on our radar here in the States, competitive eating, it just went by. No, we we’ll be sure to hit that. You know, the running of the bulls, it’s not really a sport, but it’s it’s an event. It’s an activity. And I’ve always thought it’s kind of like this freak show. You know, these people like they go out there and they just want to be tra I think they secretly want to be trampled by these bowls. Uh but the more I looked into it, I was like watching how people do it. Like people had like vlogs of going out there to Pamplona and like it there’s so many people that travel for this thing and the actual path that you run on is very limited. But anyway, it happened earlier this last month and um so I just thought to myself like would I ever do that? I could I get the the exhilaration. I always thought people were crazy like that that are doing it, right? But then the longer I heard people tell like tell tell stories about it and the exhilaration that they feel and just kind of the sense of camaraderie that people have out there. Hey, we survived being trampled and maimed and gored. Uh that like maybe that would be something I’d be into. Would you ever consider it? No. What’s the tradition? What is it’s got to be based on something from their culture, their tradition, right? Was this how they led the bulls to uh the fight with the matador? I don’t know. I I don’t know the history behind it, but I know that they the from the the pen that they are held up in. They are going down the streets and then they’re going to the actual bull ring. Yeah. So, there’s a big stadium that they enter into, and I think that that kicks off some type of event, but they do it like uh I I want to say they do it multiple days, like throughout a week. Uh they’ll do it every day, and they’ll release these bulls. And you always got to be you got to be ler of the stray one because when they run in a pack, again, this is the strategy. I’m thinking through it. If you if you’re running with the ones in the pack that they’re fine. Like don’t get in front of them obviously or they’ll run you over, but they won’t veer. Like the ones that get left alone, they get lost and confused. That that’s when you’re in trouble. Like it’s you and the bull and you’re like cornered and then he’s he’s coming after you. He’s going to toss you like a ragd doll. Especially if you’re wearing that shirt for sure. We could say we could say that about us too though, right? The humans. Like watch for the ones that don’t run with the pack that are loners. Yeah. that. Why do you think we keep Brian in that booth by himself? He’s You never know. He’s prone to lash out with that. Let’s bring BK in. Brian, would you ever do uh running of the bulls? Absolutely not. No. Come on. Absolutely. Because it’s not for me. It’s not the bulls I’d be most concerned about. I’m back there hauling tail and then somebody trips in front of me, then I’m down. Yeah. You’re done. So if you’re watching, it’s everybody else around you and they’re not the most, you know, sober that too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you had to pick one, is it if you had to pick one, is it the running with the bulls or the following the cheese the cheese wheel down the hill? Oh, I love cheese wheel. But that looks like you have a higher chance of getting injured with the chasing the cheese down the hill. I think I think you’re probably at upwards of 50% for cheese hill. Yeah, because I mean it’s just gravity, right? That’s going to get just about everybody. So, you can maybe slide down, get a couple scrapes and bruises, and that would be the hope, right? But you can have some compound fractures as well. That’s definitely possible. They need to combine the two. Send the cheese and the bulls down the hill. Down the hill. We’re on to something. No one No one survives. This is the goal. If we can just on this feeble podcast come up with a new sport, um, that would be awesome. I’m all for it. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Those are fun. I think they’re fun little traditions, but I like bizarre sports. I don’t know what it is about them. You do, Brian. What do we have on today’s program? We’re going to talk a little NBA Scott. How about that? You know, it’s about time. It is. Summer league is now wrapped up. Uh but um I’m I’m looking forward to our guest this week. You want to tell the good people? It is David Still. He’s the play-by-play guy for the Orlando Magic. They’re on FanDuel Sports Network. Do Brian, do you remember uh when he was calling games for the Gator back in the day? They do not. But that was Yeah, it’s been a I mean I think it’s been a little bit but uh yeah I do not remember that but I did see that he did call Gator games and do you know where he went to college by chance? Uh I was he a Georgia Georgia Bulldog. Yeah. Yeah. So he’s uh he’s a mainstay for for the Orlando Magic. So it’ll be fun to chat with him. I think that team’s you know they’re making some moves here in the offseason. I think they’re going to be a promising team coming into next season. You know, I I don’t know how difficult it’s going to be to climb to the top of the East, but uh there’s some challenging teams there, but uh they they’ve got some young talent. Had some nice draft picks. Yeah, for sure. All right. And uh at the end of the program, show we’ve done a little tweaking, a little modifications, and we’re going to pull out the randomizer again. See how well it’s working with these new updates. Okay. Very good. I’m sure it’s going to kick out some fun ones. Let’s hope so. Better ones than last time. Well, as long as it’s not AI powered. That’s when it went it spit out some stuff that didn’t quite make sense. If if it’s BK powered, then we’re fine. Thank you, Ko. All right, cool. We’ll catch up a little bit later. Thanks, BK. Uh, if you’re listening and you want to watch, go to fox13news.com/nodpot if you’re watching and you want to listen or subscribe. You can take out your phone, zap the QR code on the screen and head to our show page. Feel free to leave some comments if you’d like some questions for Chris where he purchases his uh his fan gear uh on our YouTube channel. And then if you’d be so inclined, leave a fivestar on our iTunes account. Uh, subscribe at fox13news.com/nodpod. So last week we took care of the teams in the West, the AFC West and the NFC West. And this time we’re going to just focus on one division. Uh, this would be the AFC East. So last year the AFC East, uh, Chris had one team that that made it to the playoffs. That would be the Buffalo Bills. Uh they were um absolutely dominant last year with a record of 13 and4. They always seem to run into problems when they face the Chiefs in the postseason. Uh but that we will not be handling today whether or not the this team is capable of topping the Chiefs. It’s just a matter of whether they can win this division. Uh they are the heavy favorites. Uh going for six straight division titles this season. So, uh, I will kick this off and as we usually do, we’re going to start at the bottom of the division, the team that we think is going to finish dead last in the AFC East. And so, with that team, it’s um, you know, what was the line from was it Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison. We suck again. We suck again. It’s the New York Jets. You know, I uh I I I’m a big fan of Aaron Glenn, their new head coach, and uh, I think he’s a great guy, and I hope he’s going to be a great a great head coach. Uh he certainly was a really good DC uh for the Detroit Lions the last few years. Uh but he comes in, he’s got his work cut out for him. He’s got a a a new quarterback in Justin Fields that I think the the jury continues to be out on. He’s super athletic and when he’s on his game and he’s a threat with those feet, uh I think he can move an offense, but consistently as your starter, I’m just not sure. They got a new offensive coordinator who’s a first time offensive coordinator in Tanner Angstread. He’s also coming over from the Lions. Uh, I think they they’re going to be a team that wants to run the football a lot and they they ought to with a guy like Bree Hall back there as one of your main pieces in your offense. Um, and I’ve seen things where they want to do kind of like what they had in Detroit where you got like the Jir Gibbs, David Montgomery, two combo, the what are they? The the Sonic and Knuckles. Yeah, Sonic and Knuckles. Yeah. So, like and they have, you know, Brillin Allen as maybe your your Knuckles character, I guess. Uh their their offensive lines is pretty decent. Um defense I think it leaves a little bit to be you know it’s been I feel like over the last few years the defense was supposed to be this great leading force and it just it hasn’t really quite been there. Um so I see the New York Jets as as bringing up the tail end. I I got them taking a step back in year one under Aaron Glenn. So last year they finished 5 and 12. I got them finishing fourth with a record of 4 and 13. Yikes. a tough start for Aaron Glenn out of the gates there. Yeah. I also and I you and I talked off off script off camera. If you guys want to go check out that extra content, I’m sure it lives somewhere, right? Uh this is probably the easiest division to predict to predict a winner I would say. Um then in the middle it could get a little log jammy, but I think with the leading team in this division and the last place team, those are pretty obvious calls. I have the Jets in fourth place, too. Uh Aaron Glenn, I I do believe that the strength of this team again will be the defense. as it has been through the past few seasons. Uh last year with Aaron Rogers, it was still the defense that carried this team to the few wins that it got. Um I think now Vegas has their win total at 5 and a half. I think they’re going to get uh a little over that because this defense is going to be so strong. You’ve still got Sauce Gardner, Quinnon Williams, and it really all depends. Is Justin Fields going to bloom? Uh Tanner Ingstrand you mentioned was the passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions. If Justin Fields is limited as a passer, uh, then no. If he’s a run first guy, then it could be a very long season. But, but if he can unlock something and and show people why he was such a high draft pick and be kind of a late career bloomer here, I think they could get over that total. So, yes, last place, but I’m going to give him a seven and 10 record to finish the season. All right, that’s I mean, that’s not too shabby. That’s an improvement from last year. So, uh, for sure. All right, coming in at third place in the AFC East this year, I have the team that you are dawning right now, my friend, the Miami Dolphins. Uh, and but my shirt says number one. My shirt says they’re one. Number one in your hearts, uh, and and in your memory, but maybe not number one in the division this year. Yeah. I mean, I Mike McDaniel comes into a situation where I feel like the heat’s going to start to get turned up a little bit. It always is really dictated on the health of Tua and the fact that he’s had one season in the last what five that he’s been healthy all the way through. I think he played 11 games last year that really I there’s a pretty stark drop off. I mean you got Zach Wilson as his backup now. Um not great. They still have Waddlin Hill, so they got some passcatching threats. Uh Devonte Chain, I think, is a is a good uh passcatching running back for that team. Um, but the tight end, there’s a switch there. So, they’ve moved on from Johnny Smith. He went to Pittsburgh. They bring in Darren Waller, a guy that has not played since 2023. He’s coming out of retirement, and I think he’s starting the season on the pup list. So, you know, some question marks there. Um, defensively, oh, and offensive line, they they’re they’re without their starting left tackle last year, so they’re going with a secondyear guy uh in Patrick Paul at left tackle. You know, their Dline should be pretty decent. Um, but the big switch I guess on the defensive side of the ball is Jaylen Ramsay is out and in in comes Minka Fitzpatrick. Uh, just not as a not as flashy a player now. Could he return to you know I believe he had one Pro Bowl maybe. Um, you know, could he return to that level of play? Certainly it’s possible. Um, but there’s just I you know there’s some concerns there on that defensive side of the ball for the Dolphins that I just don’t and I feel like they’re just one injury away on offense um from not having things click on all cylinders. All that being said, I see their record falling as exactly as it fell last year. So they were an eight- n team last year. I had them I have them finishing eight and n yet again this year. Uh but this year instead of being second place, which way they were last year, it’s going to be third. Yeah. I can’t say I can’t overstate how much I don’t like it when we agree. But I agree with you here, too. I have them eight and nine missing the postseason again and McDaniel getting canned at the end. Really? Yeah. Oh, boy. You know, I mean, I don’t think ownership has a lot. Plus, I just don’t trust Steven Ross. I don’t think the ownership has a lot of faith in him. And it’s going to come down to Tua’s health. And I don’t think they did enough to to shore off the offensive line to protect. You have a you have a quarterback who is injuryprone and I don’t think they did enough in the offseason to help him out. Uh what good are those weapons with Hill and Waddling and Achain if you have to rely on Zack Wilson or maybe the rookie Quinn Ears. Uh and I don’t like the way the schedule sets up for them. They’ve got most of the teams in this division have a fairly easy schedule because they play each other a lot. But I don’t like the middle of this Dolphin schedule when they uh host the Ravens, Bills, and Commanders before they’re buy. Well, the Commanders game is the one in Madrid, too. So, it’s not a true home game. There you go. And then they get a gut punch at the end of the year against the Bengals and the Bucks. Um, so and by the end of the year, it could be where Tua is, you know, out out with an injury. So, I just don’t think it’s going to shake up well for them and I think they’re going to go eight and nine. Yeah. Yeah. There’s promising pieces on that team, but um I feel like it’s not held together very tightly. All right. for your second place team. I have one of our big jumpers here in the NFL this season and I think it’s the New England Patriots coming in second place. You know, they finished four and 13 last year and it was it was pretty abysmal. Uh year one for Drake May was pretty rough. Um and you know, he’s obviously a young quarterback. He he is not at the place where he wants to be in his career yet, but he also didn’t have the offensive pieces around him to really bring out the best in him. uh they had a really poor receiving room last year. So what do they do? They go out and they address that. They bring in a guy like Stefon Diggs uh who now hopefully gets to step into a role where he is the guy yet again that he can shine lead this receiver room now is a veteran receiver and do what he’s he’s super skilled and talented. Uh he should be able to do that. They bring in a Mac Holland. They they addressed the receiver room in the draft as well. They got a third round pick. I believe it’s Kyle Williams, uh, who’s is going to help kind of strengthen that core. Um, you know, you bring in Mike Vrabel and look, I think he was he was a very quality coach and a lot of people disagreed with the fact that he was let go in Tennessee. Shouldn’t have done that. He sustained success there for long periods of time. I think he’s a winner. I think he knows how to do it. So for as much as like it’s a new coach, yeah, but maybe the maybe the year away gives him a little bit of perspective and um he’s coming back to a place where he certainly should feel welcome and he should feel super comfortable. He’s he’s obviously close with ownership. And so I think that’s a really good formula for a bounceback season for this team. Uh defense, they made some additions to the defensive line. uh their interior defensive tackles, uh Milton Williams and uh Christian Barmore. So, uh I think that those pieces plus the additions they have on the offensive side of the ball. And I I just think Drake May is probably going to take another step up on top of that, they have like the easiest, maybe the second easiest schedule in the NFL, which is really good news for this team. And I think they’re going to take advantage. So, with that, I have them having a winning record this year. Uh they just sneak right above 500. I have them finishing 9 and eight this year, which is good enough for second place in the AFC East. Golly, you and I, we agree. Not only do we agree we have the same record, I have them at which probably means they’re going to finish not 9 and eight, but four and 13. Yeah, four and 13. But I do agree with you with Vrabel. I think he’s a culture changer. It’s exactly what this organization needs. He’s got that tough-nose mentality that just fits with Patriot football. And you like Josh McDaniel coming in as OC, right? I mean, he knows that the the franchise. He knows the the mindset there. The band is back together. The band is back together. I really like Drake May. Is Tom Brady going to come out of retirement? That’s the only question. I think he may be reincarnated in Drake May. Uh more Drake’s more athletic than Tom was. I really like this young quarterback. Offensive line was rough last year, but they missed their offensive line starters missed 42 games with injury. So, you know, that’s going to hurt your numbers anytime. And so, I think they’re going to steal a couple that people don’t see coming. Again, you said the schedule is very very manageable and uh yeah, would not surprise me at all that they finished second in the AFC East there with a 9 and8 record for the Patriots. All right. So, that uh that doesn’t leave us much much as if there was any to start this thing of the team that’s going to win the AFC East. And I think they’ll they’ll do it running away. I think they’ll be for as good as they were last year, at least during the regular season, I think they’re going to be even better this year. Josh Allen is a he’s a stud. We all know that. He’s coming off probably his best year in the NFL last year. Um, so now he has a little bit more experience in his receiver in Keon Coleman who who should be the main guy back there, but they also went out and they got a Z receiver as well and Joshua Palmer. Um, someone that’s going to give you a little bit more of a deep push. Um, their defense is, you know, I don’t know, there’s what is the the phrase like it’s not about the individuals, it’s about the collective, right? So like and this is a defense that forces turnovers and that’s winning football in the NFL. So they they probably need to patch a couple of things and I think they they address the the defensive line. They added Joey Bosa. If Bosa can stay healthy, maybe he adds a little uh push up front as well. So and then they address the defense in in their draft as well. Um but you know all of this and you know they won the division last year and they still have what you know according to the strength of schedule analytics they have the fifth easiest schedule in the NFL. How does that work for a team that finished first in their division last year but uh that’s the case. So I mean they do have some challenging games don’t get me wrong. They got the Ravens but the Ravens are at home. They got the Chiefs I believe though I I believe the Chiefs Ravens and Eagles are all at home. Is that right? Yes. And Bucks are at home. I think the Bucks are going to be really good. We both believe that are going to be good. Bucks are at home. Yeah. So, Benles Bengals are at home. Eagles are at home. Wow. Who did the schedule? Let me Let’s go through that. Ravens, Chiefs, Bucks, Bengals, and Eagles are all at Buffalo. So, all their best opponents. And then the And then the division, of course, I think they should be able to run rough shot over the division. You know, they may they may drop a game or two in the division, maybe. I mean, Miami might grab one from them. Perhaps New England grabs one from them. None of these teams are sweeping them. So, I think that uh yeah, schedule sets up pretty nice for them. So, I think they run it back and I I expect them to make, you know, so long as Josh Allen can stay healthy and why not? He’s built like a truck. I I think they’re going to make a nice deep run. And, you know, as we talked about last week with the Chiefs, I think there is a little bit of regression from the Chiefs. And how could you not? They were so good last year, uh, you know, 15 wins. But I think that, um, maybe this is the year that Josh Allen and company picked them off. Is Buffalo the 15- win team this year? Yeah. Oh, sorry. I didn’t give you my record. Uh, I have them at 14 and three. Okay. I feel like 15 was just a little too out there. Good. Finally. And Lim was feeling really really um fragile. Fragile. That’s the word. Finally, we disagree on something. I I will have them at 15 and two. I think it’s going to be that kind of season for them. Yeah. Um, well, all the points you enumerated there and well, you know, Vegas doesn’t get much wrong. I said yesterday that my one of my favorite futures bets was the Broncos over nine and a half wins. Bills at 11 and a half wins. Are you kidding me? With the way that that schedule sets up and having those big games at home, they’re going to fly over that. They might not get to 15, but I think they’ve got a better chance at getting to 15 than anyone else does this year. So, yes, give us the Bills in the AFC six years in a row. That would be six years in a row. How about that? We agree completely. Top to bottom in the AFC East, it’s the Bills, followed by the Pats, followed by the Dolphins, and then rounding it out, it’s the New York Jets. Not too shabby. I want to make it clear, too, for all of my fellow Bucks fans that are watching and listening as I wear this jersey. This is only for This is only for Tua. This is only because I’m a diehard Alabama fan and I always love Tua for what he did for the Crimson Tide. All right. See, but I remember picked him third, not one. They’ll remember. We’ll see. We’ll we’ll see when what happens in a few weeks when we pick the NFC South and and then we can find out what and when I don’t wear a Bucks jersey. You’ll point that out. Yeah. If he shows up here in a Michael Panics jersey, you’ll all know, right? All right. Stick around on the other side. We’re going to talk a little hoops. Uh the NBA summer league just wrapped up and uh we get to catch up with one of the guys been that’s been on the call for a very long time since the beginning of the franchise with the Orlando Magic. David Steel is our guest next. All right. Nice left. Welcome back to the No Off Days podcast. Chris, of course, we come to you from our studios here in Tampa. Cash. Okay. Uh but you know, I don’t know if you know this, but we got a strong little following that’s that’s uh coming in Orlando as well. Oh, hello Orlando. As the know podcast is broadcast in the great city of Orlando as well. Um and I think there’s some offseason NBA excitement there. They’ve been they’ve been making some moves. They’ve been kind of whittling this roster, making some some some new pieces work and uh spending a little money here in the offseason to make it exciting club. And uh one of the guys that’s been following, he’s he’s been on this roller coaster ride, I mean, from the very beginning. And that is David Steele. He is the voice the longtime voice of the Orlando Magic and he is our guest this week on the North Day podcast. Travel during the regular season, uh I’m sure it takes its toll. Uh what does your off season look like? Um it looks very relaxed and um you know the older I get the more relaxed the off season gets. So my wife and I have uh three children, three grown children obviously and eight grandchildren. So that that really takes up um pretty much all of our time in the offseason. We try to squeeze a trip in maybe um every summer somewhere, but other than that, we have a daughter in Tennessee with two girls, a son in Atlanta with two girls, two boys, and a daughter here in Orlando with four boys. So, um they they keep us busy in the offseason. And you just wrapped up 30 your 36th season with the Magic. Is that right? Yeah, that’s right. Since the beginning, 1989, day one. So players and coaches and GMs and even ownership has changed over the span of that time and it’s kind of it’s a testament to what you’ve done there and uh to be able to stay all these years. Had you any idea uh back in what 1989 when you jumped from UF to the Magic that that this would be the result? No, not really. And that’s not really how you know I’ve approached or I did approach my career. I mean, I I could have been at Florida for, you know, this would be what now 30 36 and seven. This could be my 44th year with the Gators. I I could have very well have gone that direction, but I was lured by u by the the NBA. Pat Williams was an incredible force. He was such a charismatic individual and convinced me that a smart move would be to the NBA from the Florida Gator. So, you know, I I I I bought it hook line and sinker from Pat and uh after, you know, some prayerful consideration with my wife and and our family and u it it’s worked out really well. Obviously, 36 years um with one franchise, um I’ve seen everything, you know, through the through the years and it’s pretty cool place to be. You’ve seen every iteration, right? The es and the flows, the kind of up the mountain and back down. How far away do you think this current team is from being at the top of the mountain in the East? You know, Scott, I I’ve said this, this has kind of been what where I I’ I believe the last two years, really this before the start of last season after the team won what, 47 games. I felt like this was, you know, another inflection point, probably the third inflection point in in franchise history. The first being uh getting Shaq in the 92 draft and then Penny the next year. Uh that led to a trip to the NBA finals. Um Dwight Howard drafting in 2004 ignited, you know, another run. And I felt like Bancero and Vagner had what it takes to be the the the focal point of a an Eastern Conference champion and possible NBA championship team. So, what they’ve done this off season is um really incredible and it’s I they’ve gone all in. They they have uh put all the chips on the table and so I do think in the next two or three four years um the team is going to be in the NBA finals and once you get if you can get to the finals and you you know obviously anything can happen but I think they’re going to be in a conference finals and and probably an NBA final run in the next three or four years. Well, that’s high praise. I mean, they’ve been busy here in the off season. You mentioned some of those new acquisitions and Desmond Bane and and a veteran in Taius Jones. How do those guys do you think fit into this, you know, as as puzzle pieces, right? You want not just good players, but good fits. Uh where do you think those guys fit in? Perfect. Really just uh the perfect additions. I just think if you know if you add the right piece, there is no such thing as an overpay. if it can get you to an NBA finals, um, then it’s it’s worth whatever you have to give up. And that’s the way I see the Bane deal. I I think they gave up a lot of picks. Picks are, you know, they could be great. Hopefully the Magic are very very good and those picks aren’t that great. But, um, I I just think it was the right thing to do. He’s the right player at the right time to fit in with Paulo and Fron and Jaylen and the rest of the guys. Perfect piece to the puzzle. and Tyus is going to be an an outstanding addition at the point guard position because you know those were the weaknesses Scott the weaknesses were three-point shooting playmaking um leadership at that one position that point guard position to organize the team Cory Joseph was really the best organizer um last year for the ball club. So I think Taius Jones is is a great fit too. It really feels like this off seasonason has been um like confidence from the top down in in what they’ve got. I mean, you know, the extension went to to France last year. Uh now Paulo Banko gets the the Max Steel extension. Um you know, you look at you mentioned Jaylen Suggs. He come back from injury. So the there’s like a core piece there and these these additions to go out even at the risk of overpaying, it feels like there’s a lot of confidence coming from the top down. Yeah, they’ve, like I said, they’ve put all the chips on the table. They uh, you know, Jeff Jeff Welman and, uh, and his crew have Anthony Parker, the GM. Um, they see an opportunity. There’s a window here in the Eastern Conference. Um, it looks like Oklahoma City is going to be, you know, very tough. Although, you know, just when you think things are never going to change, they change. So, things can can change rapidly. We found that out when we had Sha and Penny and thought, um, we’re going to be in the finals. multiple times. Um sometimes it doesn’t work out, but they do see a window here and I think there is a window of opportunity with the injuries in the Eastern Conference and um the talent of Paulo and Fron. Um you know, they understand and I’ve been around them now three, four years. Those two guys um they are all about becoming great players. I mean, they are totally buying in to professional basketball, to the Orlando Magic. So at 22 and 23 the future you if you project two or three years down the road when they start to reach their prime, how good are they going to be? I think they’re both going to be, you know, all NBA type players. So you’ve got those two guys Bane a near allstar. Jaylen Suggs, his defensive ability, I I just think that good times are ahead. All right, we’re going to take a quick break in our conversation with David Steele, but don’t go anywhere because we’re going to have more with him when the No Offace podcast coming up. [Music] You know who recently uh went over to Orlando to enjoy all the theme parks over there? BK uh one Brian King. Yeah, he uh he went to the water slide park and u he came back nice and tanned and um yeah, he said it was exhilarating. Yeah, I went to the Epic Universe last Thursday. Oh, did you? Yes. The new How about that? It was a hot hot and crowded. I You know what? I was there last Thursday as well. I saw Dude Perfect. That’s I Is that a something you can watch in person? Yeah, they’re on videos. You don’t have to go see them in person. It was It was for my kiddos. Anyway, we’re going to have to to be back over there uh to watch some Orlando Magic games this year because uh this is a product that is exciting. And as we left off last block in our interview with uh the voice of the Orlando Magic, David Steele, there is plenty of reasons for optimism as we jump into the 2025 season or look ahead at least for more on our conversation. Let’s jump in. You mentioned uh their determination at a young age, Vagner and Beno. Um, how uncommon is that? Like a lot of times, you know, you get to the next level and it’s like we we made it. We’re here. This is a dream realized. And I think it takes another gear to say I want to be great at this level and then not only just say it, but do what it takes. How often do you see that among young players coming in? Yeah, it’s pretty rare. Um it is I mean players like they they all enjoy playing the game of basketball obviously or they you know they you can’t you couldn’t do what they do if you if you didn’t enjoy it. They are all about being great. Both of them are they work on their craft. Um they’re great teammates. They play well with each other. There’s not a jealousy involved with those two guys. Um Jamal Mosley has done a great job. The head coach is very very good with the players. very good communicator and um they’ve bought into what he’s trying to do and yeah, it’s it’s all come together and it is rare to have two guys like that on your roster that have that much talent and that much love for the game and that much desire to be great. Very unusual. I know we don’t want to read too much into, you know, some early summer league games. Obviously, you know, it’s an opportunity for young players to get some action, but what are your impressions, uh, just in the early stages, you know, particularly from, you know, the the rookies that were just drafted to to guys that are getting opportunities to kind of grow their craft out there. summer league is is, you know, it’s tough to really um extrapolate what you’re seeing and what you’re going to see that I think it’s clear that Jace Richardson has exceptional athleticism. Um has a has a really good three-point stroke. Um plays above his height. That was the slam on him. you know, he was he was projected to be a lottery pick until he measured 61 and a half at the combine and, you know, that dropped him down to uh to the late first round. But he plays I mean I’ve already seen in two games he plays much bigger than 61. He’s got a long wingspan, long arms. Um he’s except he’s got like 38 inch vertical. So he can play above the rim. He he’s pretty special. I don’t know if his point guard skills I think there’s some a lot of development to to take place there, but he’s an NBA player and so is Penda who uh the young guy from France. Um I can’t believe how big he is, how physical, how strong he is. He’s got great defensive instincts. Um he looks like he belongs in the league, too. A little rough around the edges and probably has more developmental time than even Jace. And I thought Dilva just looks, you know, he looks like, you know, solid NBA. He is a solid NBA player. And so what he’s doing in Las Vegas is not a surprise. So I want to get your thoughts on the on the throwbacks that uh kind of the rebranded look and kind of brings you to, you know, for a lot of Magic fans to a nostalgic era. What was that? Do you have a favorite? Did you have a favorite o over the years? I like the I always like the pinstripes. Yeah, I loved the um maybe some of it was because of, you know, the era, but the Shaq penny, the uh the pinstripes, the black um with with white pinstripes. I thought those were great uniforms in the warm-ups, which there’s a shout out to the the old warm-ups with one of the new uniforms that has, you know, I don’t know if you’ve seen all three of them, but one of them has a kind of a blue stripe with um the magic um and and then the rest of it black. I think that’s a cool looking uniform. So, yeah, I like that era. I like those early um the early days probably probably were my favorite uniforms and you know, we’ve kind of gone back to that with some of the styles that they they’re throwing out there. It’s a good look. I think so, too. Yeah, I totally. All right, before we let you go, I know that there are three big B’s for you. Basketball, of course, being one. Uh also, your love for the Bible and the Beatles. Maybe you could leave us with either a Bible verse or a Beatles song or both for our viewers. Boy, let’s see. Um, a Bible verse. Um, pray continually. Rejoice always. Give thanks in every circumstance for this is God’s will for you. I like that one. I love that kind of that one I I lean on quite a bit. things don’t seem like they’re uh you know exactly the way that I want them to be. I was thinking about my favorite Beatles song and I guess it’s uh I guess it’s let it be. You know, I think McCartney really nailed that one. Um so that would be you know definitely in my top five, but it’s kind of like picking your favorite children. It’s it’s tough to uh tough to pick one. So many great ones. Are you a Beatles fan? You know, I’m I’m not. I think it was a little bit before my time, but I of course uh you know they have so many hits that that many of those songs bounce around my head like a jukebox. But so different, you know, I mean they they could sound when I was a kid, you know, I would wait for the the albums to come out and the records and you’d put the the record on um this was in the 60s and you didn’t know what was on there. I mean, you know, there was that was a different era, obviously, and there would be every time they put out a new album, there was something that sounded way different than anything they’d ever done. It was really cool and interesting, and I just think they were they were true geniuses in in that field. Oh, I totally agree with you. I mean, there we go. We we’ve we’ve plumbed the depths here. We we’ve gone from the Bible to the Beatles to hoops. David, I appreciate your time. Thank you for carving it out with us. Thanks, Scott. enjoyed it. Fun to catch up with him. Coming up on the other side, Chris, are you ready to start revving up that randomizer? That thing always asks the most searing questions and forces me to say embarrassing things. Brian’s backstage cranking it up as we speak. We’re going to be asked some deep and philosophical questions. Coming up, I don’t know if they have another laughing coming out. [Music] Welcome back to the No Off Days podcast. It is time for our fun block. Let’s bring in Mr. Fun, Brian King. And uh Brian, you uh we didn’t mention off the top of the show, but we did last block you went to the water park. I did recently and Blizzard Beach. Your favorite slide was uh Summit Plummet, Scott. The Summit Plummet. You seem like a Summit Plum. How does that work, BK? That is a you climb up steps 120 feet up in the air, lay down on your back, cross your legs, which is very important key, and then you just take off sliding down and just hope that you don’t go topheavy and come off that slide. Whoa. Is that one of those where you’re the tube is enclosed or you are you open? No, it’s open. It’s just a slide and you It’s actually real tight and honestly it’s it’s fun and you’re going so fast and you’re banging off the side of the walls and stuff. It was kind of violent, but yeah, I I you should go and try it out. It’s really fun. How long was the average line wait? No, it wasn’t too bad. That line was kind of long, so it’s like a 30-minute wait, but that’s not bad. 30 minutes for Disney and Yeah. And and plus it got misters and all that stuff, so it wasn’t like what Kada was having to go through. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so yeah, the Epic Universe, it’s too popular right now. We need to give this thing about five years to die down in popularity. But if you live in Florida, why in the summer are you going to these parks? We are a slave to the children’s school calendar and that kind of thing. So pull them out of school on a normal on a Tuesday in February and and you’ll be just fine. Well, we’ll do that, too. All right. Okay, let’s let’s fire this thing up. Randomizer. Yeah. What is the randomizer? The randomizer is a machine that just generates questions, right? Okay. And it’s like 3,000 something questions. We did update it. We ran a reboot on it. I had Abraham from it come in and look it over the latest Windows, I think. So, yeah. So, uh, so yeah, we’re going to say let’s let’s run a test run on this and see how it the first Abraham reference we’ve had. I know. Abraham Abraham Yang keeps us afloat here. I’m telling you that guy. Whenever I need anything, I call Abraham. He he put a a new monitor in my office uh not that long ago, and it’s the envy of the station. It is. It’s nice and wide. I didn’t ask for a new monitor, but he he’s such a good guy. Oh, man. And now I know why I don’t have any of the new stuff. I I didn’t know I didn’t know his name until now. I kept I kept calling him Isaac. I got my got my Old Testament mixed up there. All right, let’s fire up the random. Are you ready? Let’s roll the first question. Somebody say stop. Stop. What is something you thought was true as a child that you believed for far too long? Oh, so many things. So many things I held on to. Yes. The only time my parents ever laid down together was when they conceived me and my brother. Those were the only two times. That was it. That was it. Uh, in other other times, it was separate. I know it’s not. Oh, okay. I don’t I don’t want to cookies confessions. Why did I bring that up? Oh, boy. Um, oh, you’re getting a call today. I probably held on to, man, I hate to say anything that my kids might be listening to, but I probably held on to a couple of traditions too long that we Yeah, you know what I’m saying? Till what age? I I think here’s one that I held on until my early 20s. Um I was a professional, if you want to call me that, working in the industry, I always thought that uh Monday was the first day of the week instead of Sunday. Well, for all intents and purposes, I think it is. I know. But I remember being made fun of by a colleague once because I I said this is the new, you know, I said something about Monday being the first day of the week and look at the calendar. Look at the desk calendar. It starts with Sunday, right? Yeah. I don’t think that’s mockw worthy. I think cuz most people treat Monday as it’s it is the beginning of your work week. So technically, yeah. No. Uh I mean there’s I I never really believed in the things that you mentioned that we will not mention about my parents about I always I always knew they were. Yeah. Okay. Um anyway, no I so I think you know silly things like uh I remember I jumped off the roof of my house once with an umbrella cuz I thought you were Mary Poppins. I thought I was Mary Poppins and I rolled my ankle up and you know I remember my mom dropping me off at school one day and she’s like why are you w walking like that? And I said uh yeah I I jumped off the roof. What? Yes, I got to go to class. All right. Um, uh, I think nothing major. I just, it was silly things that were like imprinted in my mind as a child. I remember like I I told this story for years like that. I thought that someone tried to abduct me as a child. Yeah. And they tried to do it at a at a pizza place. And um you know like because I remember me and my cousins we were we’re like running around the the pizza place and uh and like some guy came up and he said, “Hey, come over here.” And I looked at him and then the you know, “Hey, run away from strangers.” And so I took off and and so I thought, you know, that guy was trying to abduct me. And then all these years later, I was like, someone was like, “Dude, maybe you think that guy just wanted you to stop running around the restaurant.” I was like, “Yeah, that probably actually makes a lot of sense.” Or maybe your instincts were right. Could be. We’ll never know. Was he wearing a giant mouse costume at the time? Was his name Chucky. Come here, kids. Giant sewer rat. Um, yeah. I don’t know. Brian, you got any? Uh, this may be just me because I’m a little bit older, but every after school special, every like Brady Bunch special it had, seemed like there was some kid getting caught in quicksand. And as a kid, I was so afraid if I went running off in the woods playing, you know, with my buddies, I was going to get stuck in quicksand. And this thing would swallow you up in like four minutes. Yeah. Right. It won’t. No. Well, I never see quicksand. I was disappointed to find out that it doesn’t really exist. Wait, I wait. Hey, wait. Quicksand doesn’t exist. No, not there’s no quicksand. You could get stuck in like a mud bog, I guess, about hip deep. I’m just saying not in not that we will ever encounter like maybe somewhere in the Amazon, but I practice swinging across quicksand so many times on tree branches because I knew that that would come in handy at some point in your life. And here you live in Florida and there’s Yeah, there’s got to be some quicksand out there. I don’t know. Not like these TV shows had it. All right, but yeah, but I’m glad that was that’s a good one. All right, let’s fire her up. Okay, make them stop. Stop. Ooh, this is a good one. If you could live the life of any sitcom character, who would it be? Oh man. Uh uh sitcom. I mean, I got a flashback to the the old school days. I think uh you know, Zack Morris lived a pretty charmed life there. Oh, yeah. That’s a good one. I mean, he was the big man on campus. Uh you know, he had a couple runins with AC, you know, but they were mostly buddies, you know, kind of like us, you know, like they had their debates, but they were buddies. Um you have Zack Morris like hair. You really do. Yeah. Well, thank you. Um I Yeah, Zack Morris. Let’s go with You know what? Um what’s the silver? Uh Ricky Schro had a train that went through his house. I mean that he had a good life. Yeah, I one of those two guys probably that those are good calls. I I’ve said Homer Simpson as an answer to another question in this game, but I guess you know he’s animated, but I think he has a great life. Um, I was trying to think so much exposure to uh, you know, all the at working at the power plant, right? A lot of radiation there. That’s why he’s bald. Uh, I was trying to think if there was a Seinfeld character. Um, George, you know, well, I mean, Norm on Cheers had a pretty good life. I mean, he just sat there at the bar swilling and everybody knew his name, you know, and sometimes you want to go someplace like that. Um, what what did he do for a living? He wasn’t the mailman. That was Cliff. I don’t know what Norm did, but he wore a tie. So, he seemed to be a professional of some sort. Professional drinker. Yeah, that was what he was. I don’t want to let that be my answer, though. That seems sad and depressing. It does seem sad. I think it should be something cool. Oh, the fonts. I would be the fond. Oh, that’s a good one. Yeah. Yeah. Riding a motorcycle, leather jacket, you know, all the ladies like you. You jump a shark occasionally. Yeah. Yeah. I’m going with the fonts. All right. BK. Oh, I think I misread this one because you’re actually living the character’s life. I thought, “Okay, well, well, you could take it any other way you want.” I went with Andy Griffith. I thought that guy is so cool. He always had the best lessons. He, you know, he always came out on top. He never, you know, he messed up a couple times, but he learned from his mistakes. And he did have a good life. And he never had to change clothes. He wore that same unifor. He was at home. Well, you say have to. Like, it’s a hassle to change clothes. Like the ideal existence is to wear the same thing every day. Yeah. I don’t think you have to think about wardrobe. You don’t have to buy different clothes. Just Yeah. Yeah, I like it. Brian grew up in Mayberry, didn’t he? Oh, I’d love to. Yeah, pretty much. Close to it. It was in I was in South Carolina, but yeah, but I I just be so awesome. All right, that’s good. This that’s a question that I’m driving home tonight. I’m going to think, thank God. There’s probably five other ones here. Yeah. Okay. Okay. You ready for another one? Yep. Sure. Roll it. Okay. Someone’s asleep at the wheel. If you could own any ancient artifact, what would it be? Oh man, these are these these are some of the best I’ve ever had. I want my old Atari back. Is is my Atari an ancient artifact? That could be very um I think I saw this story in the news the other day because that’s what we do. We read the news around here. This uh Hebrew Bible, did you see this? The Codec Sassoon original manuscript, 1,100 years old. It sold for $38 million. Wow. Oh, so you’re thinking that you want it? No, I I want to make to make money off of it. Exactly. I think that’s why God imparted those words to man so someone could sell it and get rich off of it. I I want that. I want that one’s twin. There’s got to be a another Dead Sea Scroll out there. Yeah. Well, how about the Dead Sea Scrolls? I think those go back to like uh I want to say like 3rd century or something like that. Yeah. So, I think it’s a good one. I’m going with this uh ancient manuscript. This uh another Hebrew Bible. Yeah. I want one of those. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I like that. Um, yeah. I would say because you’ve already taken one that I I think Yeah, the Dead Sea Scrolls would be good. Um, I mean there’s good ones. There’s the Rosetta Stone out there. Like if you owned the Rosetta Stone, like that’s pretty awesome. You could read any language if you had that. Yeah. Now you just get the software and you can learn, you know, pig Latin in less than 3 weeks until you don’t pay your monthly subscription. How about King Tut’s Mask? How about that? What did that look like? Let me look that up. You’ve seen it. Was it? It’s like the most famous. Uh, don’t they? I think they did the Sphinx off that. King Tuts mask. King Tut. No. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That’s nice. Yeah, it’s pretty. And And it’s solid gold, too. You could hawk it on the secondary market. Imagine selling that thing on eBay. That thing’s beautiful. It What craftsmanship? It weighs 22 and a2 pounds. It was put on his mummified body. Oh, see that’s the part that would be a little weird. I don’t know if I Could you buy his mummified body or what if you could own that? I think so. I think Heraldo Rivera owns that. He He’s the one that broke into King Tut’s uh cave. All right, BK. What about you? I’m going straight profit, straight money. Hope Diamond thinks it’s worth like over $400 million or something like that. Is and that’s considered an artifact, an ancient artifact. Yeah. Okay, then I’ll go Mona Lisa. That’s like 300 million. But how cool would that be to have the Mona Lisa? You know, you you know, I wouldn’t keep it at my house there in Citrus Park, but I would it’s you know, it’s everybody said it’s not big, right? You know, it’s probably that big. Yeah. I have to say you own it. I think it’s overrated as a work of art. People like to pour a lot of paint and stuff on that. So, you might get some visitors to your place that you weren’t uh wanting. But people want to come in and throw some paint on the Mona Lisa again. Yeah. We all pick things that we could sell. I think for a lot of I’m not sell Well, yeah. King Tut’s mask. You would sell King Tut’s mask. You know, All right. Um All right. Do we have any more? You got a couple more if you’d like. Oh, fired up. Let’s roll it. Stop. Which animal has the most interesting thought life? Thought life as as opposed to their real life. Yeah. The idea active imagination maybe. Is that is that where we’re going here? Well, you know, I I look at my my poor dog, Calvin, and I I think he thinks two things. That’s he thinks, “When can I eat next?” And what does that smell like? I think those are the two questions that really guide his life. Uh he’s a good puppy, but I think it’s real basic. Um I don’t know. I I would think because we hear about how smart they are that dolphins have a really interesting thought life. I mean, they uh have they communicate. They’re very sociable creatures. Look at the ones that are in like the sea world and you can train them to do a triple axle and all these wonderful like they are a complex creature. Yeah. And that the way they communicate with their clicks and their pops and their ultrasonic noises like that. Yeah. And they wear those shirts, too. And uh Yeah. Plus, I mean, they can plum the depths of the ocean and wouldn’t it be amazing? Like all the stuff they see and they would like to tell you about it. Yes. I think that that’s that would be the Yeah. Like, wow. I’m seeing things right now that no person will ever see or understand. There’s a lot of plastic out here. Get Why are they still putting cans in six-packs? Yeah, they’re very judgy at the dolphins. Yeah, they are very, very judgy. Just feed me my mackerel and I’ll do a flip. You You took my answer. I was going to say I mean I’m wearing the shirt. You are. I’m wearing You took my answer. I do think they have a a great thought. And by the way, the wording of this question, could we just say which animal has the most interesting thoughts? I don’t know. You could, but I think Abraham did a pretty good job at crafting this question. And that’s why you’re not going to get a new monitor. You know, dolphins can recognize themsel in the mirror, do they? Yeah. And I think for a vain person like you, I can see why you you answered that way. But yeah, I look like Zack Morris. Uh I was going to say dolphins, too. I uh I think opposite of dogs, I’ll go cats. I think cats have a very interesting thought. Don’t you think it’s very manipulative? It is. And that’s why I want to get in. I’m not a cat person. I don’t own one. I’ve never owned one. But I think if you could understand how they manipulate us, we would see it would actually teach us something about ourselves. It would be and the cats very unlike Calvin. It’s not just interesting in when are you feeding me and what does that smell like? It also wants to know if I sleep on your face for long enough, can I suffocate you? Uh, can I poison you with my dander? I don’t want to kill you because you are my food source, but I just want to weaken you. Yeah, I’d say a cat. Brian, what do we How can I flatter Abraham to get the monitor I want? Yeah. Uh, I do not want to know that I’m an animal. So, I’m going with a goldfish because I forget everything 10 seconds ago. Oh, that seems like the worst thought life. No. If you just swim around being happy and everything and then Are they? Yes, they’re happy. They don’t know. They live in a gallon bowl. They don’t They forget everything. They don’t look happy. They don’t look when I’m flushing them down the toilet at the end of their three days, they don’t look very happy. I Well, plus dolphins. Dolphins can beat sharks. I’m surprised you didn’t even say that. Can’t defeat sharks. The bottl-nose. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, that’s a good point. You know, the bullies of the sea. All right. All right. That was a lot of fun, Brian. And uh thank you Abraham for those finely crafted questions and keeping us on air week after week and all the things you do to provide me with all the latest technology in my sports office. Uh much thanks to our guest David Steel of the Orlando Magic and our Nodpod crew at new Nodpod headquarters. That would be uh Rochelle on the jib. We got uh Chris on the ones and twos. We got BK in the booth for Chris. I’m Scott pass the next time we are on. And there are no off left-handed though in honor of two of them. Here we go. See, I told you the camera gets in your way. This I did the same thing to you. The the camera blocks the ball. [Music]
This week on the NODPOD, the longtime voice of the Orlando Magic, David Steele. Plus Scott & Chris preview the AFC East.
Welcome to the full video episodes of the “No Off Days with Scott Smith” podcast! FOX 13 News Tampa Bay’s Sports Director Scott Smith is joined by news anchor and part time funny man Chris Cato, plus producer Brian King, to talk about the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, and Tampa Bay Rowdies. The guys interview sports legends and major players from FOX Sports, plus discuss the state of play in everything from golf to goalies. #nodpod #nooffdays #sports
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