Episode 2: Luka makes legendary magic, Ali's pants are hot, Nicole hates the cold

In episode 2 of the It's A Lot Y'all Podcast, Ali Dee and Producer Nicole discuss one of the most epic moments in NBA History when Luka Doncic breaks an incredible record and Ali captures an unexpected viral moment of Luka pre-game. Of course, more in-game hilarity ensues when Ali almost faints walking up the arena stairs thanks to her pleather pants, but Nicole on the other hand absolutely hates to be cold, and she relives her time working up north for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Transcript

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Hi, everyone. Sorry for the delay. In the release of episode two, we had some slight technical difficulties, but we have since tackled them and are back in action. Enjoy the show. Hello everybody. Welcome to episode two of the, it's a Lot y'all podcast. I'm Allie d, the host, and with me as always, the brains of the operation. It's producer Nicole. Hi everyone. All right. Just a quick recap on how Nicole and I know each other. So we work together in the sports industry, specifically in live sports production, and we work together for both the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Mavericks. So two professional sports teams. I'm in front of the camera, she's my stage manager. so we have a lot of shenanigans that go on behind the scenes and we just thought it'd be really cool for y'all to get a little glimpse into what life is like working for a pro sports team and some of the things that you may or may not see or realize that are going on. Plus we'll have lots of unfiltered, fun, real talk conversation when things come up. Like the um, Megan Markle and Prince Harry Netflix thing. Oh, we need to talk about that. That is for another show. But yes, I got a lot to say about that. So anyways, besides all that, it was a huge week for the DFW sports fans, sports area, the Cowboys, the Mavs both. You tweet, you're killing it. Yeah. Oh my gosh. We've worked three games in the past four days. it's a lot y. It is. we have been working, uh, so many games just over and over and over. We had Christmas Eve, we had Christmas Day and then, but the exciting thing is it was momentous big games, huge wins. of course the Cowboys beating the Eagles, the mass, they're on four game winning streak. Yeah, a lot going on. Yes. Let's just talk really quick about Christmas Eve, the win for the Cowboys. How big of a win that was. We're one of two teams that have beat the Eagles this season, so that was a huge win for us just going into post-season. Yeah, that was amazing. So proud of the boys. Love Cowboys Nation. What's up? If you all are listening, we love you and thank you for watching our show on the East Plaza at at and t Stadium. We'll go into more of that later. let's also touch on the reason why I couldn't sleep last night was because Mr. Luca Donk and his, oh, Unbelievable night. I gotta put the pen down for this one because this kept me up all night. I can't believe as a sports fan, as actually as anybody with a heartbeat. have to appreciate what Luca did in that game last night, making history unbelievable. Yeah, the 60 21 and 10 triple double, the first time to be done literally in N B A history. 76 years, the league has been going at it, and there has been no one to do anything like that. And the fact that Luca came in there and did it in such a crazy, amazing fashion the way things unfolded in the fourth quarter, by the way, I knew this was gonna be a really good night for Luca. Let me just set up what happened during pre-game warmups. This was so cool. So I am never really out ready in time, honestly, let's be honest. I'm kind of, you know, like the buzzer hits and then I'm ready. All of a sudden, anthem's going on. So I'm a late bird when it comes to being ready before the game. but I actually was ready a little bit ahead of time, so I went out to watch pre-game warmups and I thought, oh, I'm just gonna shoot a little. It on our podcast stories shoot a little of the different players. Anyways, I captured what I thought was a once in a lifetime moment. I witnessed an amazing trick shot from Luca and Dwight Powell. Okay. So I've got my phone out. I'm standing, uh, courtside here. I'm videoing trying to see what's going on, and I first thought I might get something good because Luca went to, to like warm up and doing his thing. Mm-hmm. and he threw the ball. A hundred feet into the air to see if he could make it. So I already knew. He was kind of like sometimes in this mode where he has these fun trick shots that he tries. Anyways, that one didn't go in. I was like, you know what, he's gonna try something else. Mm-hmm. Cause he didn't, that didn't go in. I just had a feeling. Lemme pick the camera out. lemme get the camera out cuz I know he's gonna go for something else. Cuz if, you know, if you're competitive and you're out there on the court and you don't make your trick shot, you're gonna try something else, right? Mm-hmm. So anyways, here we. Got the camera out and I'm videoing, and then all of a sudden I see Luca and Dwight and they kind of give each other a look, and I'm like, here we go. What's gonna happen? Luka? So anyways, Luca passes the ball to Dwight. Dwight, then he passes it back to Luca. But you guys, Luca doesn't catch the ball. Oh no. He heads the ball soccer style up towards the basket and here comes Dwight Powell with the alley oop dunk off of Luca's headed ball into the basket. I would see. I was so excited and I caught it off on film and you could hear me like at the end of the shot go, no. And I'm like laughing hysterically cuz I can't believe this happened. So anyways, here I am thinking I've got the viral moment of the night right. I am so excited. I'm like telling everybody, oh my gosh, I got this awesome trick shot of Luca, you know, pregame. This is gonna go crazy. It's gonna go viral. I'm posting it. Well, Next thing you know, Luca just goes ahead and breaks the record of the, you know, 60 21 and 10 and my little trick shot video talk about being overshadowed. I was like, I, it didn't get enough credit, but first all quit. I can't believe number one, you got that on film and number two, like you knew it was gonna be a good game after seeing that, you're like, this is gonna be a great game. And look what ended up happening. Yeah, I knew it was gonna be a special night. So, um, shout out to Luca if you happen to see my post. If you wouldn't mind just reposting it. Tagging it's a lot. Y'all podcast We would be forever grateful. And that's why we love sports. That's why we're in this job. you could show up thinking it's gonna be an everyday average game. And you get there and just these athletes, these players dig deep and they find ways to make things happen. And I mean, that's why they get paid the big bucks. They make miracles happen. It really was. It was just, you know, unbelievable. And that final shot he had at the end, And just the fans and his little dance, his little he, I'm doing his little dance right now, but it was so cute. He was just, I mean, what's so great about Luca just getting to watch him day in and day out is that he truly loves basketball. He does at the end of the day. He's just such a fan of the sport that he plays. I think he sometimes surprises himself in when he makes these huge shots and has these great momentous, things that happen to him at the game, And in fact, I watched his post-game interview and it was really interesting to me because Luca said, you know, it was luck. He made the shot, right? Cause it was luck. And I'm like, Luca, hold on brother, let me back it up. That is not luck. Luck is like, okay, you're in Los. Vegas, it's two in the morning. You're having your last Long Island Iced Tea of the Night. Gosh, we've all been there. I'm like, is that college? I anyone, if you're having your last Long Island iced tea of the night, you're at the, you know, penny slots and you know it's smokey in there and you pull the little lever and you hit the jackpot. I mean Right. There's no skill involved in that. That's luck Now with Luca, this was like a lifetime of preparation and opportunity. They meet and he has this incredible moment and that is, that's what success is. It's just those two things. Meet all that preparation he's done throughout his entire career. He's so smart. absolutely. Amazing. So props, DeLuca again, it was not luck. It's your skill. I'm sure he's so humble. He always just says it was a great team win. Yeah. And you know everything. You know what else I love about him though? Is he embraces Texas. he is full on like I'm a Texan. Like can we talk about his outfit phone Christmas Eve. I know. How about when he shows up in the full Western regalia, which, you know, I. Yeah. Cause that's my thing, And so I saw the picture and I immediately sent it to my husband. Cause I was like, yes, this guy is so awesome because he had the cowboy lovely hat on. He had the little bolo talk. Aw. Black. Yes. Yep. And, and he pulled up in some really awesome classic car, which I don't know exactly what it was. There was. Dispute in the media dining as to what kind of car it was. I'm not sure if we figured that out. Um, some people were like, oh, it's a GT O Oh, it's a Mustang. Oh, it's, they were all, you know, chattering. And I was just look looking, hoping someone would figure it out. But anyways, overall, that whole thing, just a crazy, amazing night. So I feel like he channeled the spirit of Texas, brought it to that game, brought home this incredible legendary moment. like the MAB said, the shot heard around the world, everybody. Mm-hmm. tweeting about it today. Athletes from all over. Luca, great job. Round of applause from the It's a lot y'all podcast Amazing. not only did Luca have a great, amazing busy night, we had a really busy night as well. Busy night. Yes. Yeah. We were all over the place on the court, on the drum line up top. It was a crazy night. Yeah. And I decided to wear these, um, Pleather pants. They weren't even real leather. They were pleather. They looked super cute though. They were pretty cute. But let me just tell you, they were hot. They were hot and they were noisy. What kinda hot are we talking about? I mean, I was just like, you know, wearing these pants, there was just a lot. And you taking me up the escalator all the way up there and I, I thought, I was like, am I just gonna pass out of he? And I couldn't figure out what was going on, but we've narrowed it down. I'm fanning her up the escalator. We figured out that it was a pants issue because they were that pleather. So it keeps you really warm, even though it's freezing outside. The arena's pretty, I mean, once you fill that place up, which it was packed, it gets kind of hot. So I made Allie walk the stairs. Take the escalator. But we made it. We didn't miss our time out. You did great by the way, another crazy thing was I was like, we gotta to take the elevator, you know? Oh gosh. We, gosh, here we go. We cannot be, yeah. We cannot be going up the stairs all the way up to where we need to be for this time out. We need to take the elevator. And you were like, it's an immediate No. Allie knows, like, I just give her this look like, yeah, that's not gonna happen. I know. And I just, I'm like, okay. She's the boss. At the end of the day, it's like, you know, she, you're not gonna take the fall for a decision that I make And you cannot risk taking the elevator because you don't know how, when that thing's gonna arrive, how long it's gonna take to get up to the mid level of the arena. That's just such a big risk. And with basketball, you never know when the time out's gonna happen. I mean, it can happen. Second. So I, that's the thing. Glad yeah. I'm glad I made Allie take the stairs. We got our steps in, we took the escalator so we didn't have to walk up steps there. It all worked out. We were there for the timeout. So kudos. Yeah, we talk about one time on this podcast, not today cuz we had so much to, to. Cover. but my reoccurring nightmare of not making it to my time out on time because I, I do have this reoccurring nightmare and it's exactly the same and it happens every year. So we'll get to that. Put it on, put it on the notes list. Put it on the notes. Put it on the notes. Ok. You, I mean, and that does happen though. That does happen in live production, which we can talk about this on another day too. But when that does happen, we can move things around where you as the audience would never know that we missed our time out. Right. Yeah. But, but we don't do that on the reg. Yeah, I was gonna, For the record. I have never missed a time out. There you go like that on the record. Speaking of, uh, doing things on time and being, you know, where you need to be, this is really funny because we have a, we have a, a battle going on. I would like to say, We're gonna talk about the Q battle because this is so funny to me and y'all, I'm gonna try to describe what goes on. So basically when it's a time, I head onto the court to wherever my location is, wherever the shot's gonna be. so it's me. And then in front of me is obviously the cameraman, and then next to the cameraman is Nicole. Okay. So it's Nicole's job. She's listening on her trustee headset and, Carla or whoever's inside, telling her when it's time for me to start talking because there's a delay in the arena. Mm-hmm. there's a lot going on. They always have other things they have to do. Sometimes they're coming from somewhere else to me. So Nicole. You know, main thing is to cue me and let me know that it's time to speak. Okay. So what's really funny is we have kind of a newer camera guy and I love him. But you know what's interesting is he is queuing me as well. And so what I'm looking at in front of me, okay, like this is Nicole will have her hand up, which she more like this. Very relaxed. Very relaxed. It's a very relaxed hand, which means, you know Allie like starting stand by your head straight. Yes. Cause we're about to go to you. So I have to stop thinking about butterflies and candy canes and start thinking about what I'm about to say, which sometimes I get out there and I'm like, Oh, look who's over there, Uh, so she keeps me focused, but then to this side of me, the cameraman pops up his hand and his hand is straight and it means business. So I've got Nicole on one side and I've got this going on, and Nicole sees out of the corner of her eye that the cameraman is trying to steal her thunder and cue me, and she's not gonna let that happen. So all of a sudden, a relaxed hand, you know, it's now a stiff hand. Starts to firm up Yeah. It starts to firm up. So we've got the battle going on and. inside laughing because I know that Nicole is in, is just like, you know, she's just going, what's going on here? This is, this is my thing. What's going on? So anyways, right, they both end up queuing me at the same time. So it was fine, but then another game, it happened again. I'm looking at them. So then when it happens, the second time, Nicole and I have already talked about the Q Battle, right? And how she feels like she won, even though really it was a tie. I'm not gonna let her know that she feels like she won the Q battle. So when it happened again, and I'm in front of the camera, and I'm literally about to have to say a million things and not mess it up in front of all the people in the arena, and all I can do is start laughing inside because I'm witnessing Nicole's face just immediately. Because she's having another Q battle. So anyways, it's just really funny sometimes, and I'm dying laughing inside too. I'm like, he is not gonna steal my thunder. And I'm more of like, Allie, you look at me because I am getting direct feed from the producer So even if he cues you, you follow my cue. So yeah, it's crazy. so funny. But I always win. I always. Yeah, well, I at least let you think you win Cause we would, we would not want to know what happens if you do not win the Q Battle. but, you know, we also have a lot of stuff that goes on at the Dallas Cowboys game and, um, we had a, a great game. we host the pre-game show on the east side of at and t Stadium, so there's a huge crew over there. Nicole and I are just a part of a large team that makes this all happen. Mm-hmm. but. It's really funny because, you know, sometimes Nicole is very kind and she's like, oh, you look great in this outfit. Let me get a photo of you so you can post it on your social media. And I'm like, wow, this girl is just so nice. Like, really you guys, Nicole is the nicest person in the world. She just wants the best for everybody. She wants the show to be perfect. Oh, she's so dedicated. Seriously. Um, but it. It's really funny because, so she had taken a few photos of me and then I looked at them and I realized, oh, they were a little bit blurry. Now Let me first preface this by saying that it was cold outside. Freezing Nicole. Freezing Nicole is the one for the cold. We can get into more of that later. She had on, a pair of gloves, like some fluffy gloves that were kind of like, Smooth on the back. Mm-hmm. So she, you can text in them, right? Yes. Can text in'em. Okay. So super cool. Anyway, so she takes the pictures, I'm gonna use my phone, and she's like, bam, bam, bam. And then I'm looking at'em and I was like, you know what? They're a little bit blurry. I think my lens needs, you know, a little bit cleaning. And so there was this moment where the world stopped because I'm looking at Nicole and I have my phone and I'm thinking to her I'm basically thinking I'm gonna have her use her glove to clean the lens of my camera, because it's like the perfect soft material to get it nice and clean. But then I have this brief moment where I'm like, Hmm, I don't know if I want her gloves touching my lens of my camera, because they've been touching everything and who the heck knows where? I mean, you know, it's her gloves. I'm like, ah. But at the same time, you guys, Nicole has this brief moment where she pauses and she's. Wait a second. I'm looking at her and I'm like, he's looking. I know she's not thinking that I'm supposed to wipe off her camera with my glove You guys. So what the funny part of this is that Nicole is thinking the same thing that I am. We're both like, Ew. She's not gonna use her glove to clean my camera. And she's thinking, Ew, I'm not gonna use my glove to clean this girl's nasty phone, which has been all over at and t Stadium. So the question is, to this day, we still don't know who was right in this situation. So I think we need to pull the audience. So we need to ask you guys. You need to tell us. Do you think. I'm right in the situation. Meaning that I should have been like concerned about her using her quote unquote nasty gloves to clean my lens. Or is she right thinking I'm not gonna use my nice gloves to clean her nasty, nasty lens Yeah. but there was a moment. Yeah, it was just hilarious cuz it was a moment where we both just stopped and looked at each other and it was like, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Or like, are you expecting me to clean your lens and vice versa? It was hilarious. Oh my goodness. I know. It was so funny. But you know what? At the end of the day, I took my gloves and I cleaned your lens I know you did, but then what did you do? What you told me what you did afterwards? So I went home and I stuck them straight in the washer So now next time, we at least know the gloves are clean and I can easily wash'em. So a win-win. Win win. What a funny, what a funny day. And by the way, it was like so cold, that game that you had really bundled up. You brought out all the stops you had your parka on. Let's talk a little bit about where you were before you were with the Dallas Cowboys and the Mavs. Tell us about you being in Cleveland and who you worked for and all that jazz. Yes. So previously before moving to Dallas, I was up north in Cleveland, Ohio. So if you're familiar with Cleveland, it's right there on one of the Great Lakes and it gets cold. I used to walk back and forth to work to the arena. I used to work for the Cleveland Cavers at the time, so I lived downtown, really close to the arena and would constantly walk outside. It's just, a different kind of cold up there with no sunshine. So when I get that feeling of like, Coldness and the wind's blowing just takes me back. my gosh. But I, first of all, I didn't know you lived downtown, so what was that like? Does Cleveland have like a nightlife? Like what, because you're, you're very, um, you guys, Nicole is extremely, I just wanna say hip, like you go to all the cool. Yeah, you go to the cool spots you have really like, aesthetically pleasing Instagram stories. Like they're always very moody and like, you're just always having a fabulous drink with like a delicious dessert. And I don't know, you're just so like, just duh. You know, you're just, you think it out there. Yeah. Mean I'm over here, you know, just slumming it at my house. I got the scrunchy on my hand. I mean, I'm just still stuck in the nineties. I don't know. But anyways. Tell me about the Cleveland nightlife. Downtown Cleveland. I will say, you know, it's got a little bit going on. You know, it's, it's not your typical like big city vibes. It's more of like a smaller, downtown. It's more like a restaurant scene, not too clubby. They might have a couple clubs, but I never really like went out and did the nightlife thing there. Um, right. But it's cool. It's just really cold. Nine months and compared to Dallas. Like when you got to Dallas, was the nightlife like instantly a lot better or is it kind of the same vibe, or what's the comparison there? A lot better, but Dallas is such a big market. Like Dallas has all the new restaurants, and you never have to go to the same place twice, if that makes sense. There's always a new thing popping up and a new place to try. So a lot bigger, but I mean, Can we blame it? Everything's bigger in Texas, right? I know. Well, I mean, I wanna say round applause for you. That's great. You get to try a new place every day. Because where I live, it's either you're going to the gas station to eat, um, we have one restaurant in town and, uh, oh, we just got actually another new one, A barbecue place. But otherwise I'm having to drive, move them up. Yeah, I'm having to drive and I'm meeting Chick-fil-A every day because you know, it's the most gourmet you got out here. Yeah, you can't go wrong with Chick-fil-A. You can't go wrong with Chick-fil-A. I'm 90 miles from Dallas, everybody. that's the commute I'm making every single time we have a game, whether it's Cowboys or Mavs, which I like because, you know, I get time to talk on the phone, listen to podcasts, catch up with friends. I have two kids, so that's kind of my quiet time. So I do really love it. yeah, it's, you get tired of the Chick-fil-A every day. I will say. It's, it's okay. It's great. So, back to the how cold this game was. Oh, yes. Oh my goodness. Guys, I know when I tell you, we gotta speak about your little heater, but we bring like the heat warmers for your hands and your feet. And guys, I just do not do well in the colds and. Overall, I feel like I'm a, a pretty like, happy person, but something about that cold weather just makes me like not happy. I know. I was shocked actually. I have never seen Nicole be in a bad mood, like how she is, how you see her. She's nice and happy and kind and sweet, and she was like, Mm. Like something came over you that day and I was like, what is going on, Nicole? And then finally you're just like, I don't like the cold. So she had this like major parka on with like the furl around it. You had the sunglasses, we had the, I looks like I was in Alaska, literally, right? It was cold. I mean the whole nine, you did have your snow boots on and then you got really mad that you, you couldn't get'em on and off cause you wanted to. Anyway, so I brought for my office, I brought a space heater. Cause I was like, just in case there's no heater, which there ended up being no heater. I was like, well at least have this little one. Right? So we did, we plugged great idea, right? Like, oh, Alex got a space heater. We're gonna be fine. Yeah. Okay. The space heater, when I tell you it was trying to heat negative degree temperature, it was not doing its job. It was just in there, in that little tent, just trying its little best little heater that just tiny little heater. You know, it was like a 12 by 12 inch heater. And, it actually ended up dying and we had to unplug it and, you know, do a little prayer over it. And it did come back to life, Um, that actually it ended up working really well because you did, my feet were freezing. That was the main thing for me. And so I took off my cowboy boots and I just stuck my toes basically into the heater, got them warmed up again, and then I was fine. I was good to go. And you were basically having a little meltdown in there cuz you were, I was like, just get your snow boots off. Get your feet warm. It's gonna change. You're like, you're like, No, I'm not taking off my boots and, you know, it was so hard to get these on inside. It's so, I mean, does anybody get aggravated with that? Like you're, you have, okay. I've already like doubled up my layer of socks, right? I have like more socks on thermals underneath, and it takes me like 10 minutes to put each boot on So I know the fact that it was like, should I take my boot off just to try to warm my feet up? No shot. No. Um, you know what was cool though when we were at Cowboys that day is, a lot of like the higher ups in the organization came out to check on us. I love that. They're so, so nice. I know the people that are, you know, extremely busy normally during the game and are, you know, way up high in the stadium, making sure everything happens. They came all the way out to the East Plaza to check on us. They brought us snacks. They made sure we had hot cocoa coffee. We're warm. As warm as can be. So shout out to the Cowboys organization. Yes. Cause they're always taking care. And, y'all are the best. So thank you so much for that. But after that game, I will say I made an immediate beeline to c v s to get a, a mask, a Neutrogena mask. Mm-hmm. this is not an ad, but I have recently discovered they have these like dehydrating masks. So the wind again was like a hundred miles an hour. Um, and so I felt like. My face had kind of just like peeled off from the wind throughout the day. We're really making this sound like a pleasant thing to be. We do love our jobs but it's a rough out there. It was really cold that day and the wind was like, I think you can get wind burn. I think that's a thing. I think I had that. So on my way home I was like, I need to figure this, figure out what's going on. So anyways, um, Ulta was closed. So I ended up going to CVS and I found this Neutrogena mask. You guys, if you're listening out there and you, this is like my first time using masks. I'm normally not that. I just, I, I just have never gotten into that. But I've been hearing about it. It comes in a blue package and it's, it's very messy and I don't know if it's the best, but does it help? Yes, absolutely. So I was really excited cuz I ended up stopping at CVS instead of Ulta just to see if they had it. And I was shocked because not only did they have the mask that I love, but it was. 50 cents cheaper. And so I was just having a little party over there with a CVS lady cuz she's like, I don't think we have it. And then we found it and we were so excited cause it was cheaper and so cheap. Oh wow. Oh my. I know. Shout out to cvs. Shout out to cvs, for making it happen that day and bringing my face back to life because it, it just, it took a beating that day out there in that weather. And did you put it on the first thing in the car? I'm still not exactly sure I'm doing it right because if you guys know the mask I'm talking about, it is extremely messy. So you open it up and it's just like spilling all over the place, and I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, so I'm just trying to slather it onto my face, you know, which side. It's like one side has the stuff on it, one side doesn't. So I'm just hoping I have the right side of the mask onto my face and it's just like dripping everywhere. So I don't, I don't really know. All I know. It does make it, my skin feel better and at the end of the day it's worth it. But I'm gonna have to try this out. Yeah, we need to try it out. I know. Cause I'm all about facials and Yeah, I know. Hold on, we'll put it on our stories and you'll let, we'll let everybody know what the mask. And then you guys can tell us if you, if you like it as much. Wow. We have just r railroaded through a ton of stuff today. Oh. And I feel like our time is already up. It just goes by so fast, so quick. Yeah. So thank you all so much. This episode two, we made it through. Woo. We've got Woohoo two under our belt now. I feel like just an old pro over here, just, you know, It up. thank you guys so much for listening. Hopefully you will continue to listen. We'll be putting out new episodes every Thursday. Be sure you follow us on social media. We're on all the platforms. TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram at, it's a lot y'all. And I mean, that's pretty much what it's like working in live sports. It's a lot y'all. So thank you so much for joining us. Be sure you follow, subscribe, do all the things for me, Allie, and producer Nicole. We'll see you next week. Thanks guys.