The Norris & Long Show Best Of - Week Of April 8th
This week's edition of The Norris & Long Show Best Of includes interviews with Orioles VP of Communications Greg Bader, Ron Sirak of the Golf channel, and Rob Carlin of Comcast Sportsnet on the Capitals and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
GREG BADER
Greg Bader, the Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the Baltimore Orioles, joined Ed and Rob to talk about all of the events going on for Opening Day in and around Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Greg began by talking about the expectations for the team this season saying, "from a team standpoint, we are really hoping this is the year...we are looking for bigger and better things this year."
When asked about the atmosphere surrounding Opening Day Greg said, "It's incredibly exciting! This is a civic holiday, it's pretty cool to see Opening Day treated the way it is in Baltimore...it's hard to get your hands on a ticket to O's Opening Day and whether you have a ticket or not it seems like everyone gets down around the stadium and enjoy the day."
Greg went on to talk about all the festivities going on today around the game including Fred Manfra throwing out the first pitch and more.
RON SIRAK
Ron Sirak, contributor for the Golf Channel and a published author, joined Ed and Rob to preview The Masters which start tomorrow.
Ron started by talking about the major story lines going into this Masters tournament saying, "I think the big headline is how will Jordan Spieth handle getting the 12th tee considering what happened there last year...and the other story line is Dustin Johnson, for the past couple years he has been driving the ball well and this is a course that favors guys who drive the ball long."
As for Tiger Woods and what he has meant to the game Ron said, "Tiger made it cool to play golf and showed people you can get rich playing golf which has brought a lot of big strong athletes to the game."
Ron also talked about Phil Mickelson's best game being brought out at major tournaments, and other contenders to take home a win for this tournament.
ROB CARLIN
Rob Carlin is the host of the Capitals pre and post game shows on Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Rob joined Ed and Rob to talk about the Capitals as the Stanley Cup Playoffs are just a few days away.
The Capitals beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Wednesday night to wrap up their second consecutive regular-season points title, the top seed in the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division title. With all those banner additions, the best home team in the NHL will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Carlin talked about the team's second straight Presidents' Trophy and the importance of the win to the players. He said, "the first box that is checked on the way to much much bigger goals."
As for the current playoff system and whether or not it's fair Rob said, "not only is it not a fair system, but fans who aren't die hard NHL fans who check in around now are like...What?"
Rob went on to talk about the playoff match-ups, post season awards and who is the hottest goalie going into the playoffs.