00:00 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
coming up in today's episode of circle back as little money as I actually had on this event. I rooted really hard for the thunder like insanely hard. 

00:11 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
We're going like seven months to go from 30 to 16 teams fucking kill me. 

00:17 - Jason Cooper (Host)
You like live in washington dc, you're like close to the white house and you see iran nuke in 2025. I don't know how you don't empty your bank account on the no, that's like a life hedge my kids better be nice to me or I'll leave their inheritance to like a troll doxing charity. 

00:30 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
He is anti-clutch, like there are guys who just fold under pressure. 

00:35 - Jason Cooper (Host)
Like a Justin Herbert. 

00:37 - Jacob Gramenga (Host)
Uh-oh. Disclaimer. The content presented in this show is intended for entertainment purposes only. All opinions expressed are those of the host and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of any individuals or organizations mentioned. Statements made about public figures or entities are based on publicly available information and are not intended to harm or defame any person or business. This show relies on fair use of social media posts, which are presented in good faith for the purpose of commentary and criticism. Viewers and listeners are advised to form their own opinions. 

01:32
Circle back here on the circles off channel. It's part of the hammer betting network and it's presented, as always, by underdog. This is the show where we cover the latest trending stories from gambling twitter, and if you're listening in audio form, you won't be able to tell that we are in our brand new studio. Yes, we are finally able to make it happen. Look at these three guys in frame here. We've got, first of all, rob pazola, as always, ceo of the hammer professional sports. Better, we've got jason cooper, part of the hammers team as well, producer on the forward progress channel. Also a little bit of hosting there. And we also have jeff feinberg here with us of mayo media network. And uh, wearing t-shirt fresh out of the freezer. How does that feel after in in the scorching heat here in toronto? 

02:16 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
yeah, it's a squinter today. Uh, you know, nuke this one in the freezer. Before I left, I even brought an extra shirt. See if they had a freezer here I could put in uh, you know to change into after, but you know, we'll see once we get this office off the ground. Yeah, we need popsicles and freezies in office, so we're gonna have to get a freezer also, jeff made the last minute switch from shorts to uh pen. 

02:37 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
Listen, doesn't want to get his. I want a table I want a table. 

02:42 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
I don't need like I watch. Enough podcasts. Enough like live show podcasts. Enough in-studio podcasts. Yeah, you know, maybe some of the comedy ones. You see enough big guys in these sorts of chairs with shorts. I don't need gunt exposure jason's like 24, he can pull it off. You don't need my shorts riding up. And next thing I know you guys screen grab just a horrific gunshot. So you want, like you want, a table here. I would prefer a table. 

03:13
Put a table in here I've been asking for a table for for a long time. Can you put a mug on the table? 

03:19 - Jason Cooper (Host)
I'm not really sure how that would work we we're gonna have a side yeah we'll give you like a little side, but it doesn't help your gun exposure no, no, I would like a table. 

03:27 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
You think like Whoopi Goldberg doesn't get a table to cover her gunt? 

03:31 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
Yeah, it's a little bit different though TV medium, you know. 

03:36 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
I'm just saying. 

03:37 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
I watch enough stuff on the internet to know how it would end, and it ends with your testicles on YouTube. 

03:49 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
Yeah, like my little shorts riding up belly into midsection. Just get it Leave, Let me be. 

03:54 - Jason Cooper (Host)
Are those sweatpants? Because it is 95 degrees Fahrenheit here in Canada. Yeah, it's training camp. 

03:59 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
They're Chargers gear, but I brought a fan too. Don't worry, I'm warm. That's not going to do anything, but just blow hot air on you. No, it's not actually not so cold in here. 

04:09 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
yeah, I didn't mind, had the hvac guy come in here right. I walked into the studio today I was like, oh my god, we're not gonna be able to record yeah, and you got me golfing in the heat tomorrow. I want to bail, I'm not gonna lie I'll take a spot polar bear in in that weather I don't do well yeah, plus, once you get a couple joints in you, the heat's not your friend, not at all well, as long as I don't make a triple, then I don't smoke a joint. 

04:34 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
is that the rule? Triple is joint. Listen, I had my best round ever, going like ever, and I, as much as I love a number, a nice day outdoors with your friends, yeah, I don't want to let that opportunity go to not spark. 

04:48 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
Yeah. 

04:49 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
And I wanted to spark one, so bad my buddy like wouldn't let me. He's one of those hardos. 

04:54 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
You know, oh, my God. 

04:57 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
Like hardo, like about the full concentration, keep your routine, get right. And I'm like, listen, I want to make an eight. So bad. What do you know? Next hole uh, on the 11th, made an eight, no longer chasing that number and uh, enjoyed my afternoon there you go, because you don't want to spark one too close to the clubhouse, like I don't want to be getting in a car in like 40 minutes. 

05:26 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
No, absolutely not, I agree with you. 

05:28 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
So, like you know, there's like at a point in the return. Well, I don't want to do it at the beginning either, because I got to get off the mat. 

05:34 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
My routine is like I play the first four or five holes and then you kind of know what kind of day it's going to be from there and if it's going to be from there. 

05:42 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
And if it's going to be a scoring day. 

05:43 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
You play for scoring. 

05:44 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
I don't like hitting balls before anyway, so the first three holes are a little warm-up Well there it is Well, let's get started with our topics here today. 

05:58 - Jacob Gramenga (Host)
We record on Monday. So for us the NBA Finals finished yesterday. We had the Oklahoma City Thunder get through it in Game 7, and it was a pretty unfortunate mean. It was a pretty unfortunate end to the series. Overall I think OKC probably still would have won, but it would have been nice to see the Pacers best play against the Oklahoma City Thunders best because unfortunately Tyrese Halliburton left the game early with a torn Achilles. I thought it was so stupid how they had Lisa Salters courtside. It was like the pace of officially said it is a lower body injury and he will not return, as if we didn't just see this guy rupture his Achilles and then, like Mike Breen kept talking about like how tough it was to watch, so let's watch it 400 fucking times on the broadcast. 

06:44
We can see his tendon snap. Uh, what did you guys make overall of the decision? Before we go into like further talks, what did you make of the decision from the pacers and from haliburton himself to play in this game, considering there was the injury risk there? 

06:59 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
it's, it's game seven of the nba finals, like if you can give it a go. 

07:04
you give it a go. Obviously there's risk when you enter with a preexisting injury, and anything but like this is what players play for. So I mean very unfortunate what happened. Unfortunate for Halliburton and Pacers Nation, I'll say not unfortunate for the majority of gambling Twitter, who didn't want to see a couple people parade around with their winning tickets for like the next six to 12 months. But it's game seven of the finals. If you can play, you're going to play. You see all sorts of athletes play through injuries all the time. So I don't know, I think it's kind of like a non-issue. It's revisionist type of history. 

07:40 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
You seem really distraught that the poors are staying poor, Rob. 

07:45 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
You know what? 

07:47 - Jason Cooper (Host)
More Pinterest photos. 

07:48 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
So I did have an OKC finals bet. This is nothing to write Like. This is not anything that I was personally. It was against my. My betting partner, uh, was born and raised in in Indiana, indianapolis, and he's a big Pacers fan and we basically just crossed like big free price at the beginning of the series Cause I thought the thunder were going to win Uh, so I'm rooting for the thunder for my own you know, personal bet. 

08:15
We have. Uh, I know a lot of people who had positions on the thunder to win the nba title, fluff being one of them that you've been talking about it a lot, mr peanut better guys like that. I was rooting for that but like, ultimately, for the as little money as I actually had on this event, I rooted really hard for the thunder, like insanely hard I. I I don't show a lot of emotion when I'm watching those who watch the forward progress uh, live watch alongs. Even when it's a cowboys game. I show like a little emotion here and there. Sometimes we hit like a big winner and I'll you know fist bump or whatever. But I was like standing for this game, the third quarter, when the thunder went on that run, I was like that was a great moment for me. So I was very invested because other people were invested, if that makes sense, whereas I probably wouldn't have given a shit about this finals yeah, I was invested as well. 

09:16 - Jason Cooper (Host)
I had like a little bit on okc to win the title, but also, like I don't, I kind of built the pacers up this playoff series as the enemy in my head for a couple reasons. Number one haliband. Okay, well, I wasn't gonna bring that up, but I was just gonna bring up the fact that they're no their path to the finals, that's afraid, with this mustache their path to the finals was like riddled with injuries. 

09:37
Right, they got incredible injury luck here and I don't want to say like comeuppance for them that were their star player got hurt. But it's like okay, now you're seeing what the other teams deal with. Also, they had those three, four crazy comeback from come from behind victories that I was not a part of and I saw other people get in on and I was so pissed off about it that I didn't get in. I'm like fuck this team. I want them to lose at all costs now. So, yeah, happy that OKC won. Not a fan of the Pacers. 

10:00 - Geoff Fienberg (Host)
I'm pretty embarrassed to admit, I fell asleep watching the game early in the game. And then I woke up and not a lot of time passed and I couldn't figure out what had happened and my phone was in the other room charging because it died earlier and it took me a while to realize that halliburton was hurt. 

10:26 - Jason Cooper (Host)
Yeah, and it was like a close game and the the pacers were scrappy and then I just got away from them. Yeah, 10 turnovers in the third quarter well. 

10:30 - Jacob Gramenga (Host)
On the halliburton injury, some people thought that, uh, maybe halliburton was faking the injury. Mr peanut better said. The idea halliburton was actually close to sitting seems pretty far-fetched. At this point. My man is skipping around in warm-ups and then later in the game yes, he does tear his Achilles. It's similar to the Kevin Durant situation in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. Because there was question marks about his health, he played, he looked really, really good in the first quarter of that game and tore his Achilles and missed the entirety of the next season. So not the first time something like this has happened. I mean, I kind of agree with what you said, rob, where it's like, if I was in that position, it's game seven, you've got to give it a go, game seven of the NBA finals. But I wonder how much teams down the line like what if it's game seven of the first round, I wonder how many players will start to think, okay, well, maybe I put my career as precedent to this game here. What do you guys think on that? 

11:29 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
I think not all injuries are created equal as well. So you might see teams play a little more cautious with calf injuries going forwards because there's additional strain on the achilles, I don't know, like it for for every halliburton, like achilles tear coming off of a calf strain or whatever. There's probably dozens and dozens of players who've played on a calf strain that didn't tear their achilles. Like asking the guy to sit arguably the biggest game he's ever going to play in his life, when he can give it a go like to peanut better. This is like, in hindsight, hysterical tweet. I tweeted at him. I'm like this is your mona lisa, but the guy was skipping around in warm-ups like it looked like nothing. He wasn't even injured at all. So it's tough to say that yeah, he should have sat. 

12:16 - Jason Cooper (Host)
He shouldn't have played in this crucial game, um, coming in with a pre-existing injury I feel like if haliburton knew that he was going to get hurt in the game, he still would have played regardless, like, and if you didn't tell him when he was going to get hurt, he probably still would have been fine. I just want to give my team the chance to win. Like we come from a background, like we're from toronto, canada, like we know how it's like in the NHL playoffs, where guys will play through like crazy, like hernias broken ribs, like punctured lungs, like broken hand, like broken, like Dreissel will play with like a broken foot one year, which is like. 

12:46
I don't know how you skate with that. 

12:47 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
Anyways, Zach Hyman played an NHL playoff game on a torn ACL. 

12:50 - Jason Cooper (Host)
Yeah, it's crazy Like these rivers played a torn ACL yeah. But yeah, I feel like the idea that he would not, that he cares about the injury, but it's like this is it right for him? Yeah. Who knows if he'll ever be back here again. 

13:05 - Rob Pizzola (Host)
It's kind of sad that it's the talking point In a game. Seven to Jacob's point at the beginning you want it to be best on best, because there's always going to be that what if? And the people who always question the title of, like well, you wouldn't have won if Halliburton, you know, played the whole game, or and you'll never know one way or another. So you, you, you know it kind of puts a damper on it. But again, I, you know I'm I'm not the guy who was fist pumping and celebrating when Halliburton got hurt, but as someone who really wanted the thunder to win the game, yeah, yeah, I really enjoyed the final outcome. 

13:41 - Jacob Gramenga (Host)
We'll keep moving with some of the tweets that came up from the NBA Finals. Here, spanky said can't wait for these NBA Finals to end so I can stop seeing the bullshit flexing by all the Twitter sharps, maybe pointing fun at C Blez and man of the Library. Next we have Jay Croucher at Croucher JD, who said it is jarring the lack of breakthrough that pays.