We Break Down NBA Playoff Stakes And The Eagles Drama That Finally Spilled Out

A 43-point Lakers loss is bad. Watching it turn into a Luka Doncic hamstring strain and Austin Reaves injury news is the kind of swing that can wipe out an entire postseason plan. We talk through what the Thunder blowout reveals about Oklahoma City’s real ceiling, why the Lakers’ decision-making looks reckless, and what LeBron’s workload could become if the team tries to hold position with the NBA playoffs right around the corner. If you care about NBA playoff matchups, seeding, and how injuries change everything, this is the kind of late-season reality check that hits hard.

From there we jump to a game that felt like a preview: Nuggets vs Spurs in overtime, with Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama trading superstar moments. We use that night to frame the Western Conference standings and the small group of teams that actually look built for a seven-game war, then zoom out to the Eastern Conference standings and why certain contenders feel more trustworthy than others when the pace slows down.

The back half turns into pure NFL offseason fuel. We hit Dexter Lawrence requesting a trade, Lamar Jackson showing up for voluntary workouts under a new head coach, and the Kirk Cousins Raiders move as a potential bridge and mentorship plan. Then we spend real time on the Philadelphia Eagles story around Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, scheme tension, and organizational accountability, including why it’s alarming that so much made it into public view. We close with MLB’s ABS challenge system and why automated balls and strikes challenges might be the accountability tool baseball has needed for years.

Subscribe for the next drop, share this with a friend who argues sports like it’s a job, and leave a five-star review if you want more weekly pods. What’s the biggest overreaction here: the Lakers panic, or the Eagles panic?

Transcript

Welcome Back And Resetting The Plan

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back to the JB Sports Podcast. Today is Monday, April 6th, and we are back for another pod. Sorry, it took me a second to realize what month it was because I keep always get the May and April May mixed up between the two. And this is the first podcast we put in a couple weeks now because of some things happening two weeks ago. Gonna do a podcast. Um, and then I kind of decided what I wanted to do, and it was kind of based off of the quarterback rankings that Chris Sims uh works for NBC, does the quarterback, like all like the different position ranking, positional rankings for the draft upcoming, and I had my reactions to those because you know that guy is very good at trolling Ohio State fans slash clickbaiting us into being upset and then going to breed one breed and listen to whatever he has to say as to why the Ohio State players we love coming out are not as good as what we think they are, right? So I got into that rabbit hole, decided to want to go look up some of those players for myself and kind of like do my own sort of analysis. Not sitting here saying I'm grinding tape and like as smart as those guys, but like I've seen enough football and watched enough college football to be like maybe I could tell a difference and like maybe make my own decision. Again, I do that anyway, even without doing any type of deep dives. So that's what I decided to do is go on a deep dive and kind of decide what players um I do or don't like and like all of that. So I did that, started going to my own research, and I gave Jace an opportunity to do the same, which he said yes to, wanted to be a part of it. Because usually Jace is one of those guys in these podcasts is like kind of like a fly by the flies by the seat of his pants type of guy, to where he I come in a little bit more structured, and then he kind of comes in with his own madness and kind of it's like a secret sauce to what this kind of podcast is, and it just like he gets to come in and kind of be more of the freelancer in this scenario with me have being a little more buttoned up, so like having ideas what's as what to talk about and kind of like have things more structured. So gave him the like to ask Jace if he wants to be a part of it, if he does a little bit of homework and kind of like watches watches some of these players by himself, and we all did, but then by the time we kind of got that together to kind of that was two weeks ago, and then coming into last week, we're gonna do a pod like in the middle of the weekslash later on this past week um about all of that, and then by the time that happened, I got sick, super sick, couldn't breathe, coughing all over the place. Uh like it was like a bit really bad chest cold to a certain extent. Like I got tested for the flu, but it wasn't the flu, but it felt like soup something as bad as the flu. It was super bad, it couldn't do anything. I wasn't gonna be able to pod or anything like that, even with me kind of just sitting at home doing nothing, but it was what it was. It couldn't make it happen. So now that's been two weeks now since that. So I felt pretty bad about that whole scenario. So I wanted to make sure to come be able to come on here today and get a pod done and have some things to talk on the pod to talk about, or at least for you guys to listen to, um, until me and Jason come together later on this week and do what we originally plan on doing, the quarterbacks and wide receivers, and have our thoughts about that stuff as we're like 17 days away from the draft as of right now. So with that, my plan is that for today's pod, I'm not gonna get into any of that stuff. We're gonna leave the quarterback rankings and the wide receivers and our thoughts on some of those guys coming out in the draft for later on this week on Friday. So for today, because I just didn't want to leave it for another week, like potentially most of a week, for you guys not listen listening to anything we're putting out, because here's here's where I'm at, right? Is that I know we don't have a bunch of people like downloading, listening to our podcast every week, but to the people that are and to the people that have been pretty loyal to us, which I know there have been, plenty of people that have been loyal and listening every single time and downloading and doing what they're have to do, I totally appreciate you. And I think the one thing that I have promised is consistency and just keeping the content coming, even if it's not gonna be great all the time, if it's not gonna be all the way like perfect stuff to talk about, or all the way on topic, or tangent latent, or having both of us on. Like I feel like through all of that, I've been very good about making sure I'm coming out with pods and just bringing them to you every week. Um, and I didn't do that these past two weeks, one I think two weeks ago, really because of myself and me not being as on it as I needed to be. Then last week, me getting sick, not necessarily all the way on me, but it's kind of the circumstances that I was put in. So it is what it is on that, but I do still feel bad, which is why I'm here to do a pod to talk about some of the things I wanted to talk about today, and then we will do another pod this week. So you'll get two pods this week because of my misdoings and not really getting things done the way I needed to. So that's it. So for me today, things I wanted to talk about was the terrible night of luck for the Lakers last Thursday night when they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder. I wanted to talk about the amazing game between the Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs that happened on Saturday, and talk about what that might mean going into the playoffs, and then kind of off of that conversation, kind of get into the Eastern Conference uh standings as of right now with two weeks left at till the end of the season, and then the Eastern and Western Conference standings with like two weeks left to end the season before they go into the pro season for the NBA. And then after that, I wanted to get into some of like the NFL some NFL stories, with like the main thing being the Jalen Hurts discussion with the big story about the Jalen Hurts and and Philadelphia Eagles saga that came out in the middle of last week. So I wanted to talk about that and kind of give my two cents as to what that means to the whole Eagle situation, how we kind of should view that after such a I'm not gonna say salacious articles, I don't think it's really all that salacious, it's not really anything crazy, but it does kind of come into like bring things into question as to how things have been so hectic. I think from the outside looking in, it's it's always looked hectic there, but it's just like it almost feels like this is like even worse because now the information's out for all of us to read. So, how does that kind of come together? Um, and how does that even work? And how like what's this what's the conclusion to all of this? And how how do you know things have worked or not worked and all of that? So, without further ado, I'll get to that one when we get to that, and let me go ahead and talk about the NBA stuff I wanted to talk about before I get to the in the uh NFL stuff. So let's go ahead and get to the Thursday game. And this was last Thursday where the Lakers faced the Oklahoma City Thunder, got absolutely destroyed by them. The game wasn't close, it really wasn't close from the get-go, um, by any means necessary, by any means. Um, the game ended in a 139-96 score with the Thunder winning that game. In the first quarter, it was 44-21. Thunder were destroying the Lakers literally from the get-go. Um second quarter was Thunder 38 to Lakers 30. Third quarter, 30 to 16, Thunder, and then fourth quarter where things were really all the way out of hand, but didn't really matter. The Lakers out actually finally outscore the Thunder 29 to 27. But here's my biggest thing with that game. First off, Oklahoma City still proves that when they're locked in and on it, nobody's really stopping them. It doesn't really seem that way. Other than other than San Antonio to a certain extent, because I think San Antonio has played really well against that Oklahoma City Thunder team this season with um this version of Wemby and how good he is as of right now. So outside of that, there's really nobody I think can like really keep up with the Thunder when they're all the way healthy and when Shay's doing his thing being an MVP like player. That is just not something you're gonna be able to do, is just keep up with the Thunder and kind of beat them, especially over seven game series. I just don't think that's gonna happen. At least not for anybody except for maybe Denver and um in San Antonio, from what I can tell. Um, again, I've been watching a lot of basketball because I've been making a lot of bets as of recently. So I just think all in all, with what I have seen, um, even before the bad luck for the Lakers, he I just don't think they they were gonna be a team that was gonna be able to stop the Thunder, right? And then that game happens. Early on in the game, I think Luca had an injury. I think in the sometime in the first half, they look at him, doctors say he can come back, he comes back into that game when they were getting destroyed. I think it was like in the third and third, fourth quarter. Um, he was Luca was obviously hobbled, his hamstring wasn't, was a was not feeling well. You could tell he was kind of like trying to like rub it and like get it up, get it up to doing what it's supposed to do. Kind of like when you're feeling like a cramp or like things are happening, you're just kind of like trying to get the muscle to get warm so you can kind of it can do what you want it to do athletically. And it got to a point where Luca ended up getting hurt in this game, and with that same hamstring being an issue, and and it's come out since then as a news story of it being like a grade two strain of that hamstring, which makes it like a four to six week entry. And with the playoffs being two weeks away, that puts not only the rest of his regular season in jeopardy with him, I think, going over the threshold of being able to be available to be voted in for like some of those posts, some of those um regular season awards, like all NBA, like MVP. I don't think he was he was gonna win MVP, but it doesn't really matter. But he wasn't gonna be available, and then um that also puts the postseason in jeopardy as well, with Luca not being able to play from the start, because like without Luca, they think that puts that team in a lot of jeopards, like Luca's obviously their best player by a landslide, it's not even close as to what players they are as of right now. Luca's definitely playing on a whole different level, and I think without him, this puts makes the Lakers team look a lot different. And I'm for I for the Lakers' point of view, I just don't know why they would have left him out there in that game. Again, maybe this was all Luca's doing because he wants to be able to play enough minutes to kind of have that game count towards his regular season and be able to be available for those postseason awards and all of that. But because of that, he he's injured, and I just don't see how the Lakers didn't see this force through the trees on that, or how um why am I forgetting his name for the the coach for the Lakers? Um no, why am I forgetting his name now? Um this is about time to start forgetting names. Um freaking why am I for JJ Rennick. I don't it's it's JJ Rennick's job to kind of look through that scenario, know how much you're losing by, and be like, hey, we're not winning this game. No reason to risk anymore, especially if you already have an injury that we're worried about. So I just don't know why they didn't pull him out. So now he has to deal with a much bigger issue, and now because of that, he's leaving the Lakers to go to Europe and try to get the injury to heal faster with some type of advanced medicine that they're dealing with. So I just think I don't know all in all why the why the Lakers would keep him out there if it was gonna be in a losing effort the way that it ended up being, right? And on on top of that, bad luck, they also after the game came out, uh after the game happened in like the next day or two, it was also news that Austin Reeves, I think he had an oblique strain that he's gonna be out for four to six weeks as well. So like both of them are gonna be out for the rest of the regular season, and then up to two weeks into the playoff time, you're not gonna have either of them. And that's a crazy night when you are playing in a game that you shouldn't have been playing in because of how bad it was uh for you and just like how bad you were getting destroyed by the get getting destroyed by the Oklahoma City Thunder team, you really hadn't didn't really have a bet really great chance of beating in the first place. So now with that being an issue, with the Lakers now having the worst luck, and heck with Luca playing as well as he did, I think he was averaging 39 and 9, um, especially over the last couple months, and like getting you to a point where you're sitting at the three scene looking very good based off what you've been and like what like obviously I think the Thunder and the Spurs are better than what the anything the Lakers are putting out as of right now. But outside of those two teams, oh sorry, I think Denver too. I think Denver would probably beat the Lakers as well because it's just Jokic is Jokic. But again, I think that's a little bit more of a like a even match between between what Denver can bring and what um the Lakers can be at their if both teams bring their best and injuries aren't necessarily part of the issue. Um but now without Luca and without Reeves, now you're gonna have to have LeBron if you are still actually gonna try to go out there and make some noise in the playoffs. Now LeBron's gonna have to assume a heavier workload throughout the next two weeks, not only to keep where you're at in the standings to be at the three slot instead of sliding to the four, if not the five. But then on top of that, like in-game to kind of keep you scoring wise and have to play a little bit of defense too, because again, they already weren't a great defensive team to begin with, so now a guy like LeBron has to play a lot more and take up an even more advanced role to make all of this happen. So I just think with all of that, it's just the the Lakers then now paid the biggest price for not just you know sitting there, guys, and like not having to deal with this whole scenario altogether. And because of that, it's just I don't think I just don't think the season's gonna end well for them whatsoever. I just don't think so. And again, it was just it was just in a game where it didn't matter anyway. I think that I think you I don't feel as bad about the Reeves thing because it's again if it happens, an injury you don't really find out about until well after the game happens, adrenaline's down and all that. But I think if you only lost one of those two, I think it'd be fine because LeBron would be able to take up the slack for whatever player doesn't show up, either whether it's Luca or if it's um what's um if it's Luca or it's Austin Reeves. Like I think LeBron will be able to take up take up either one of those roles and kind of like assume it, and then with the other one kind of just leveling up their play just a little bit to kind of make up for not having one of those your best three players, right? But now without both of them, LeBron has to not only take up like there's nobody else to help him out for the most part on this team, and now he has to take on the bigger role and all this stuff happening. I just don't really see it. I really don't. I just don't see how that can work out for the Lakers, and they might fall crazy out of contention. Um not not out of contention because they'll still be in the playoffs, their record's too good, but I do think it's just like one of those gut punches to where like you would like Lakers fans for a long time would be like, hey, could we have? Like that that's where I think, and again, Lakers fans are a lot, probably a little bit more illusional than me, but I I just I just don't know. I I just don't know. I just don't know about it. It's just a weirdly weird scenario, and I think because of that, the they're gonna have to pay a really hard hard price for keeping a guy out there that probably shouldn't have, in the name of trying to stay competitive um all the way through. Okay. So all of that just to mean is just like I just don't know where the Lakers are gonna be now, now that you don't have Luca. I think he is going to Europe to try to help expedite those injuries. I think they have some type of advancements in their medicine to where it might actually make it happen where Luca will be able to come back a little bit earlier. But nothing I feel necessarily all that confident about. So I I don't know. I don't know. It's just it's a it's a weirder scenario there. Um and again, it doesn't it doesn't really matter to me, but it's just one of those where I'm like the Lakers could Lakers just couldn't help themselves in the moment, and I'm just like they just kind of maybe lock themselves off from the moment that they've been looking for for so many years of not so many years, but like what they were looking for trying to win another championship with LeBron and now with Luca too, you win both of them a ring? I I just it's just not it's not gonna work now because of the injuries. So I I just don't know what their future is gonna behold now. A lot of empty theaters. But I I don't know. Um, and then the other thing I wanted the other game I want to talk about was the Saturday game against the Spurs and the Nuggets. It was a back and forth affair. I think the let's see, let's get to the scores here.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Let's see, is it scores? Saturday.

Quick NBA News And Betting Notes

East Standings And Contender Tiers

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NFL Offseason Stories Begin

Dexter Lawrence Trade Request Stakes

Lamar Shows Up And Culture Shift

Kirk Cousins Joins Raiders As Mentor

Jalen Hurts Eagles Drama Explained

AJ Brown Trade Talk And Blame

Why Eagles Cannot Keep A Top OC

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Let's see. Score Saturday. Okay, back and forth of therapy. This game went to overtime. Nuggets ended up winning the game 136 to 134. Um the um, what is it, the stat lines for the two stars. You have for Victor Wimbanyama, you had 40 minutes, 34 points, um, 18 rebounds, seven assists. You also had Kobe Bryant. Sorry, not Kobe Bryant. Um That was for Victor, and then going to Jokic. You had 44 minutes, 40 points, um, eight rebounds, 13 assists. So both of y'all were sitting on a both of them were sitting on a double-double, kind of playing some very good ball, especially later on in that game. Jokic really did have to take over offensively because it's I think it was Jamal Murray that was in the in the uh a chance of getting uh kicked out of the game with another foul, and then um sorry, yeah, yeah. Jamal Murray was yeah, close to picking up another foul and like getting out of the game. So Jokic really did have to like take up take over the uh the offensive workload there late in the game to kind of like bring this team over the hump. Um, but both these teams played very well on that Saturday, and it was a back and forth affair. Um Nuggets played well. Jokic played amazingly, especially offensively. He hit one little step back, like turnaround uh two, it was like a pretty close two, but I'm saying it was like back and forth, kind of like a big boy. Um it was like especially over Wemby. Wemby was guarding him, and wait, Wemby had his arms as high up as he could, and he couldn't block the shot that Jokic had going there. So all in all, this is a game between two very good teams. I think when Denver's playing at their best, they have a team that can really compete with a team like San Antonio or with a team like Oklahoma City. Has their team looked like that all year long? No, they haven't, without a shadow of a doubt. But I think that let me think here. What am I thinking here? Yeah, I just I just think that all in all Denver can face off against anybody and like really put up a good fight. I think San Antonio is the second best team in the NBA behind Oklahoma City. Maybe third if you want to put in put up to the Celtics in there. But I think all in all, um I just think that the the Spurs have kind of really already established themselves as one of the better teams here. Um let me think here. And with all that being the case, I just think that if these two teams end up facing each other in the playoffs for a seven-game series, it'll be an absolute war. And it will be a very fun series to watch if these two teams have a chance to go at it in the draft. So not in the draft, but in the playoffs, sorry. Um, if they have a chance to go up against each other in the playoffs, I feel like it could be a very fun fun series for um for watching both of those teams. Um But it was a very fun game, and I feel like when Wemby's playing at his best, like I think offensively, he kind of exploded in that game as well and played a lot more aggressively and was able to do his thing. And I think Wemby, if he like I I've been saying if Wemby can kind of get more and more of that and just become more of an offensive, more of a consistent offensive um not like a consistent offensive force, like defensively, he's already kind of figured things out, and it's uh every other team that has to imp has to adjust to him and be able to play their team differently based on how when they face him. But when it comes to him facing other teams, he kind of like gets a passive too. So it is what it is on that. But I just think between these two teams, I think they played some very good basketball, and I've been watching them both very intently as of recently. But It is a it's it's just a very nice thing to see two teams going against each other in the playoffs. Sorry, not sorry, late in the season where they're getting into playoff runs and like doing their thing. That um it's it could be such a fun matchup, man. I don't think I just think in general it's nice to see such a fun matchup happen and it kind of pays off for everybody and everybody's really happy with how that game turned out, especially with it going to overtime and kind of how back and forth in nature it was before the um before they kind of like the Denver was able to kind of like let off the gas a little bit and just try to get out of there with a dub. But it was a it was a very very fun game. It really was. Um let's see here. That is all of the NBA that I wanted to talk about here. But before I get before I get to the end of the NBA, let me get to some like just the some of the quick stories real quick before Let me see here. Um Pistons. Uh Kate Cunningham is coming back from an from the ruptured lung. Um apparently that was done via via somebody. I'm I I forget who it was. It was a worker or they were on his body. I don't know. I'm not sure what exactly it was. Um it was a it was a collapsed lung, but I'm not sure how exactly it happened. Um so he they're saying he's gonna be close to coming back, so if he does, it'll be very close. Um if he comes back with a certain amount of time left with like a runway to like really kind of like get up and like um not only athletically, but to be able to get your legs under you, be able to shoot and kind of like have a real runway to kind of get better, get used to playing the minutes again, and like just get like being we have to run all the time. I just think all in all, if you can get Kate Cunningham the more and more runway you can, I think it'll be a very eventful year, to be totally honest with you. Um let's see here. Anything else I wanted to talk about in this? Curry leads the story. The Curry returns getting the Warriors in a close matchup against the Houston Rockets last night. He didn't play full minutes, but he came back, was pretty efficient, shot the football fairly well. Let's see here. Curry returns, flag flips, rookie of the year odds after latest statement game, so rookie of the year honors um when it comes to betting has flipped after Cooper Flag plays very well in the NBA. Again, he played awesome, so we can't I can't give him no credit. Um, but he's been playing great. But those are the stories that I had to really talk about NBA-wise, right? Boom, don't care about the bulls firing there. Front office leaders because they've been doing that forever. Curry, but that's about all. Oh, before before I get to that, sorry, that forgot the last thing I wanted to talk about here. Um, let me get to the standings in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, give my two cents on them and kind of see say who is my who are my favorites of both of those conferences make it out. So when it comes to the Eastern Conference, Pistons are still out number one. Um they have a four-game lead. So even without Katie Cunningham for I think over a month now, they've still been able to keep their lead, winning enough games to do so. A lot of big news for them. Um Boston Celtics are at two, like I said, one of the more talented players, um, sorry, the most talented teams in all of the NBA. And now you have Tatum back, and Brown's able to go out there and do his thing. Um I say all in all, Boston is like one of those teams that they know who they are and they're good, they're gonna do it, they know they're gonna do what they have to do. And that's that's the part that gets me. Let's see, did Boston at two, Knicks at three? Honestly, do I think they're a real contender to win it all? No, or even get out of the Eastern Conference. I don't think so. Because the two teams that are in front of them, I just don't see the Knicks beating either one of those two teams that they're playing at their healthiest and not their best. And I'm gonna assume that's gonna happen eventually with um Boston getting um getting Jason Tatum back. And so I just don't think the Knicks really have a chance unless these two teams kind of like just knock each other out or kind of get to a point where like they're like hitting like back and like really back and forth on each other. Um I just don't think the Knicks really have a chance to really make it out now based on where they're at. Chiefs, I mean sorry, Cleveland Cavaliers, 49 and 29, there's fourth in the in the East. Do I think that they can get the job done and like get out of the East? I don't think so, based off of having James Harden. He doesn't play well in the playoffs, they don't have a lot of defense. That that's really been their problem as of recently. I will say that I think in general having Harden has made them a better team. But do I think that's gonna be enough to go against the likes of the, you know, Detroit and with maybe I get Detroit, I think this is a better team, but they're just still a young team, it really hasn't done a lot yet. So like maybe they'd be able to get past them, but against the Celtics, I just don't think so based off the Celtics having done it before. Older team. No, they are already, so you don't have to so I just think and then defensively they're a lot better. So I just think all in all, James Harden being added to that Cavs team, I just don't think they're gonna be able to have enough to get out of the East. Next, you have the Hawks. Jalen Johnson, I think, is their like obviously he's their best player. I always keep calling him a center, but he's a forward, but he kind of just plays like a big, kind of like their big guy, but he plays he's a he's a forward, so he is their best player. He's awesome. He gives honestly all over the place. He's kind of like Kate Cunningham type player, he'll do everything, he'll um points, rebounds, assists, like he'll just be all over the place. Um, but he is their best player, and I think they've been playing very good basketball as of recently. But I just don't think that them, like they just they just don't have enough. And Nikhil Alexander Walker, their um, I think he's their guard, he's one of their guards, shoots a lot of threes, but I think he's been kind of like opening up his offensive side in his bag a little bit. So I think he's been playing a lot better and playing being an all more all-around offensive player outside of just being a guy that hit some spot spot shooting threes. So I've been impressed with the Hawks and playing some good ball, but do I think they'll be able to make it out of the East? I just don't think so. And then the s the Sixers at the sixth spot. I just don't, you know, I think they recently just got MB'd back and playing basketball again. He's playing some good minutes, and he's been playing full games, especially coming off the injury he was dealing with earlier. But while thinking about it, I here's here's here's where I'm at, right? If I'm if I have to think of a team that could be sneaky coming out and like maybe can make a run, maybe the Sixers team would be that because when I think about it though, right, is like some of the other teams you think about the Pistons who are a little bit older, I'm sorry, with a little bit young and haven't really been through all of like getting through the playoffs and like getting to the later rounds, and like they have to still have to take that next step, right? So maybe that might be a problem with them, and then you have Boston. Again, I think Boston's kind of like the exception to the rule of all this because they've already won a championship, they're an older team, they know who they are already. So I think Boston is automatically the one team that I think is like much better than everybody else in the East. But the Sixers, I think to a certain extent, having him beat back, having Maxi, like they have a team that has like a lot of talent, and with Paul George coming back, coming off of the PED suspension that he had to deal with, he's coming back and he's health very healthy because all this time he had to miss. And I think if they can get that team together and like everybody playing good basketball at the same time, I don't think defensively they'll be able to really hold up against a team like Boston. I think they'll be there'll be a better matchup against a team like Den uh against Detroit, but I think because I think Detroit is not necessarily the strongest scoring team outside of Kate Cunningham when he's at full health and like playing good basketball. But again, who knows if Kate Cunningham will be ready to go full stop once the playoffs hit with him having eyeing a return as of um coming soon. But I think maybe the Sixers might have the best chance to kind of like be a very sneaky team because they have a very veteran team that have has been doing this before. They have a very talented team. If Embiid's gonna be relatively healthy and be able to play in the playoffs like he needs to, and then you have Paul Jordan, you have Maxie, and Edgecomb has been a very good defensive piece, and then offensively adding a little bit of a punch there. I do think they're a team that can have a real chance to be a sneaky team coming out of the east. And um, I think that might be the team that could be a that that could have a chance of making a run in the east when I ru when I really think it's Detroit and it's Boston as like the two favorites with Boston being the number one, I think Detroit being number two, and then maybe you can add the Knicks in theirs with a little bit of just for being niceties, but I'm I just don't think the Knicks are a team that can really get the job done in the East this year. But I think those are the teams, and then outside of them, you have the Charlotte with the eight seed. I think they're in the play-in right now, but I do think they're sitting, they're like the Sixers, the Raptors, the Hornets are all kind of tied at 43 and 35. So who knows who gets out of not having to play in the play-in between those three teams? But I think Charlotte's a very sneaky team too, because I they shoot very well, obviously, with all those um with um Lamella Ball, with uh Khan Kneppel, and then you have Brandon um. Oh no, I thought I was gonna remember his name, but I don't think I do. It's Brandon Miller. With those three players, very good offensive trio. Khan Kineppel's all over the place. They rebound very well, they shoot very well. Again, defensively, they're very they're very bad defensively one-on-one type of thing, especially when you're gonna have to face a team for upwards of four, five, six, seven games. Um, being able to defensively be able to take advantage of some of those defensive matchups those other teams would be facing, Charlotte would kind of keep them from taking the ultimate step forward for me because I just don't think they do enough defensively. But I think outside of that, like they're I think they're a very fun team to watch. And if they do get into the playoffs, I think they could be I'm not gonna sit here and say they're gonna make a run. But they could give they could put up some really good games that like that'll be very entertaining to watch. But like I said, I'm still I'm again, I still think the East in general is all about the all about Boston and all about Detroit are the main two for me. Um for talking about for teams that I think can make out of the East and get to potentially go win a championship. Um even though I still don't even I still think Oklahoma City is better than those teams as well, though, to be totally honest with you. Um but you know, still I think those are the two teams that have a chance, best chance out of the East. The West. Oklahoma City is at one, San Antonio's at two. I think they're the obvious top two. I think I'd put probably Denver three, because I just think Jokic, when he's playing, when he's at this highest capacity, doing everything he does, points, rebounds, assists, kind of like running the offense, doing his thing. Jokic, I just still think he's probably the best player in the world based on what he's doing as of right now. But I just think that Oklahoma City and San Antonio are probably the cut, just a little bit of a cut above the rest. You have the Lakers at the three seed, like I already said, they're not gonna be without Luca and Austin Reeves for the next few weeks and then going into the playoffs. So even if you do get them back, I'm not sure if they'll be able to re-acclimate in time for the Lakers to make a real run in the playoffs. So I just don't think the Lakers is a huge threat. I didn't think think of them as a crazy threat before this, because I just think that being able to like take take advantage of the Lakers' lack of defense over and over and over again in the playoff series, I just don't think the Lakers will be able to take advantage of. Even though I do think Luku to be able to still be able to be offensively dominant, I just don't know how the Lakers would have gotten the job done before these injuries, but now with them, I just don't I think they're falling off the face of the earth, even especially when I don't think the Lakers are going to be able to keep that three-seed for long with them having those injuries and now LeBron having to take over the brunt of the um responsibility without those two. I just I don't know how the Lakers are really gonna respond after all this. Um Lakers are the three-seed, Denver at the four, like I said, I think Denver can have a sneaky chance to get out, but I just think that even there, like a little bit of a cut below OKC in the San Antonio, even though I do think Denver and San Antonio in a seven-game series would be very close. I think it would probably go to seven. And I'd probably favor Denver a little bit because I just think Jokic and Denver, they've done it before. And they I just think Jokic, I think, showed in that game on Saturday where if Jokic is playing at all, like he can outplay Wemby as great as Wemby is, Jokic can outplay him and even best him to a certain extent in ways I just don't think Wemby can handle as of right now. And um five seed as Houston, I think their problem is they don't have a point guard to run their offense. I think they have very young, really good young defensive pieces. And I think having I think um having KD on that roster has been helping a lot, but I just think that when they don't, because KD's just not a guy that can run your offense. That's just not what he is. He's a guy that can kind of be attached to any offense and kind of be an amoeba and just take do whatever you need him to do. When it comes to actually taking the ball and like running the offense, that's just not necessarily his strength. And I don't think they have a really real point guard to really do that on that team. And when you're in a playoff series where you're gonna need a guy to really run the offense and put dudes where they need to be to kind of accentuate their strengths offensively, that's where I think Houston's gonna have an issue, and I just don't know if they can like rise to be a real threat in the West. Um but I think defensively they'll make it harder anyway they go they have to go against. And also Shangoon plays terrible defensively. So if he has to go face a Jokic, or if he has to go face a Wemby, or if he has to go deal with Thunder, who are they I think the Thunder are just like so like good all over the place. I just don't think um I just don't think Shangoon is going to be a guy that's gonna be able to hanker down defense, hunker down defensively and be able to kind of like play a lot better than what he has been. I think offensively he'll be fine, but I think defensively he'll just be a liability for the Houston, for Houston against some of those teams. So I just think that I just don't like Houston's chances of really making it out of the West at all, um, especially over those top two, three guy teams over them. Um you have Minnesota at the sixth spot. I do think if they get Anthony Edwards back healthy and be able to play some good basketball, I think they are a team that has a young superstar in Anthony Edwards playing offensively. They have good defensive piece, they can kind of they're young, they get after you defensively, and I think they can be a little bit of a sneaky one, but I just I'm not sure if I would you have them go like if I would put them up as a team that can go against OKC or San Antonio and beat them. But I think Minnesota outside of those two teams can beat everybody else, which should give them a fighting chance, but I just don't really see it. Um, and then outside of those six teams, I don't feel great about anybody else. Phoenix at the seven, the Clippers at the eight, Blazers at the nine, and then the Warriors at the 10 speed. I don't seed, I don't I don't know, I don't like really any of them. And who knows who of them who of those four teams are even to get it out based on how the play-in goes. But all in all, I just feel like uh OKC and San Antonio are the top two, um, with Denver being behind those two, and I think outside of that, those are the three I'd put the most stock in to actually have a chance to get out of the West and go have a chance to go win a championship. But again, I think in general, if I had to choose my top five teams in all the NBA, no matter this conference, it's gonna be OKC, it's gonna be Boston, it'll be San Antonio, and then I'll pick Detroit, and then I'll take Denver. That's how I'll rank it. That's those would be my top five teams regardless of conference going into the playoffs. Those would be my top five. Yeah. So I would take I'll take OKC, I take Boston, I take San Antonio, I take Detroit, and then I would take Denver. Those would be my top five, regardless of conference. So um, I just think all in all, the NBA has turned out to be a very good season, playing a lot of good basketball. I feel like it's only gonna get better once they get into playoff basketball and like really playing like high leverage. Like again, NBA has proven over a long period of time that the the playoffs of where things really start to be really beginning, things get serious, and that's where you're gonna get the best basketball being played, and I think it's a it's a very fun time to watch. So if you haven't been watching, I think get especially get into by the time playoff the playoffs start, you'll be playing just watching any one of those series for the most part. If it's not a blowout, I think it'll be a very competitive series for the way that the NBA has been going this year. So I think the NBA has been a lot of fun. So I can't wait to see how this kind of all turns out once the playoffs get started. Um I think it'll be a lot of fun to bet on, obviously. I think that's part of it for me. But watching the basketball itself is also gonna be a very good tweet, a really good treat as well. Um now getting out of the NBA. Um did I already talk about some of the storyline things? Yeah, I already did. I already talked about that stuff. So let's get to the NFL. So I just want to talk about some of the NFL little storyline things here, and then we'll kind of get out of here. I didn't want necessarily today to be such a crazy long podcast, which it turned out to be not too bad. Um, so let me get some of the stories here and then end it off with a Jalen Hurts, the whole Jalen Hurts story, and then I will get out of here, and then we'll do the later part later this week that'll do like more of the have to do with more of the draft stuff. So so story-wise, like the story that storyline that just came out today, the Giants defensive tackle, Dexter Lawrence, has requested a trade. He has made it clear he does not this is based off of them trying to work out a contract between him and the Giants over the last couple years, and nothing has come of it. So he is saying because of that he would like to get traded, and that he is not gonna be tur he's not gonna be showing up to any sort of voluntary mini camps or anything like that until he is moved. So I don't think it's an empty threat. I think that he does mean it, and I feel like if but I do feel like if they give him if they show him the love that he that he wants and give him the money that he's looking for, he'll be able to come, he'll be more than happy to come back. But until that happens, I don't I think he's very serious whether again players can always get strong armed into coming back, even against their will with the fines and all of that. But I think in general, with all the money that they have tied up and all the talent they have on that defensive line, Dexter Lawrence was definitely the biggest piece of that. So I do understand him taking advantage of the leverage that he has because that's where they have all of the talent on that team for the most part right now, at least all the more veteran talent that they have, and it's it's on that defensive line. And Dexter Lawrence is really the centerpiece of that. So I understand him not feeling happy about them not wanting to give him a contract over the last couple years, and him not feeling all that great about it. So until they can kind of get that figured out, I'm gonna take him on his word that he won't show up to anything until that happens. Um until whether a deal happens or whether the NFL make the the team makes it harder him to do so. But I think it is a big deal because that's just where that's where they want their team to be focused, is where that defensive line being the gem of that that team. And if you don't have Dexter Lawrence, that is a huge hole in your team. So I just feel like I'm not sure what they're gonna do about getting it fixed and making sure that he's gonna be there playing in week one. But it's definitely a problem they're gonna have to worry about. Next story. Lamar is reporting for the beginning of the Ravens workouts. This is kind of a big thing because Lamar famously is a guy that never shows up to mandatory workout, not mandatory, voluntary workouts, and like all the mini camps and stuff like that. It's usually something Lamar never shows up to, especially under the Harbaugh regime. But now they have now fired Harbaugh, brand new head coach in Jesse Minter. So now Lamar, I think I think it was kind of like hinted by Jesse Minter that. If we want to build the culture of winning that we're trying to build here from the ground up, our quarterback needs to be here. Apparently, Lamar got the hint and he's there. Again, voluntary means voluntary, and there's it's supposed to be voluntary, but I think most teams would like for everybody to show up and do their thing, like do their thing with everybody else. And that's just kind of one of those things where it's like a you know a nudge-nudge hint-hint type of thing. Um, Lamar got it and he's there, and it's just it's a definitely a big thing because now with a brand new head coach, Lamar got what he wanted. Now, without all of the stuff between him and Harbaugh, if things don't work out well, nobody's gonna like you can't blame anybody else but you, Lamar, because you won that battle. There was a struggle, a power struggle between the head coach that's been there for over 10 over 15 years, and you being the star quarterback that has been there there over the last six, seven, eight years. So I think with that, Lamar won that battle, and now he has to do some of the little things he wasn't really willing to do in years past. So maybe this is his chance to kind of turn over a new leaf, new start, new coaching staff, and all of that. So now they can kind of maybe take the next step they haven't done. Um they've been looking to take ever since Lamar became the superstar that everybody knows him to be. Um, next story, let's see here. Let's see here. Do I have anything else? Oh, the Kirk Cousins thing. I totally forgot about that. Kirk Cousins signed a deal to go to go and Kirk Cousins was one of those quarterbacks kind of sitting out there waiting to because after he got dropped by the Falcons, he was kind of a free agent, kind of sitting around everybody was waiting for whether he would go maybe go to the Steelers if the whole thing with Rogers doesn't work out, or maybe go to be the backup for the Rams behind Stafford if he does if he likes it there. And everybody's just waiting for him to make his choice, and he's like, okay, well, he decided, I think this is past last Thursday, that he has signed a deal to go be the error, not error parent, but be like the mentor for Fernanda Mendoza, because again, it is a well-known, not really well-kept secret, that Fernanda Mendoza is going to be the um starting quarterbart, he's gonna be the first overall draft pick for the Raiders in this next upcoming draft around 17 days from now. Um so and then Kirk Cousins is gonna be a guy where I think the whole plan is, based off of everything that the Raiders have said, is that they want to have the Tom Brady plan for Fernando Mendoza. They're saying, hey, we know we're drafting him to be our guy, but we want to give him the time and the space necessary for him to grow and to be the quarterback we need him to be, and not have to rush him in and go out there and be fed to the wolves. So with that, they have brought in Kirk Cousins to be the guy until Fernando kind of is showing that he is able to take over take over the job and be able to do the job they need him to do without necessarily being ruined. And that's the plan. So they brought Kirk Cousins in on a let's see here. It'll pay him around 20 million in the year 2026, and then the the deal that he signed with them also includes a club option for two years at 80 million and could be worth up to 172 million over five years. So again, only the 20 million this year is gonna be fully guaranteed for him. I think everything outside of that is all you know um incentives and all of that, and again, fully guaranteed. So now Kirk Cousins has made over how much money has he made? It's like a crazy amount of money. How much money has Kirk Cousins made in his NFL career. He with this newest deal, he's made over$321 million in his uh in his NFL career. Sorry, it'll be over$340 million. Which I think with that, I think the I think I saw a thing that said that now with the new money coming, he'll have made more money than Tom Brady has did in his NFL career. Which is crazy. Again, Kirk Cousins is one of those guys where it's like a long-standing joke slash flex that him and his agent are going to be goaded for making the amount of money that he has over his NFL career. And honestly, he's been a guy that's been signing guaranteed deals for like the last six, like I think ten years worth of contracts for him. It's all been guaranteed money he's been looking for between signing um what is it, the franchise tags and just being okay with it, not really looking for looking for the long-term deal, and then any long-term deals he's been getting for a while now have all been guaranteed, and that's like been one of his main things. It's like I'm only doing guaranteed money around here, he's not doing the incentives and all that other shit. So a lot of credit to him, man. I think in to the bank, he is goaded, but when it comes to on the field, it's not necessarily been that great, especially over the last three, four years or so. Um, but again, when he was playing that latter half of the year with the um with the Falcons last year, he showed to really take a step forward coming off that Achilles injury. I think two not less past season, but the season before. When Kirk was playing, it was not good, especially because again, when you have a guy that's coming off of an Achilles injury like that, and he's already a little bit older, 34, 35, 36 years old. The first year coming off of that, it's not gonna look good. It's gonna look very bad. But the longer, the more time you have coming off of that injury to heal and get better from it, the better you'll be. And I think that last half of last year, I think he played very well, and I think he showed that he still has some good football left in him. And I think the whole plan for him is to now go to the Raiders and be the mentor to Fernando Mendoza, which is crazy because, like I've said before, when I see Fernando Mendoza, I see Kirk Cousins plus, right? And I think the Kirk Cousins part is more about the personality than I think the actual player on the field. Because I do think Fernando has a lot more physical talents than what Kirk Cousins ever had, and um, even in his heyday, but I think when it comes to personality, they're very much alike, and I think it's real like buddy buddy, it's like it's like all shucks, guys, and real nerdish like, and it's not really all that great. At least I don't find it to be. And whether it's an act or not, I don't know with Fernando Mendoza, but I think Kirk Cousin has been putting on his act for a long time now. So whether Kirk Cousins is gonna be able to go to Fernando and say, hey, that either you have to take on this act and really really enhance it and make sure it's yours for your whole life, or you're gonna have to make sure you're gonna be real with the teammates, and then whatever act you put on on the outside to all the fans, it won't matter. I'm not sure which message Kirk Cousins is gonna have to get to give to him, but I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm I'm sure it'll I'm sure it'll work perfectly for Fernando. But I think on the football field, I think it's a really good plan, especially if they're that gung-ho about making sure Fernando is gonna be perfectly suited for the opportunity when he's ready for it. I think Kirk Cousins is a perfectly good option, but here's but here's the one problem. This is the one thing I heard when I was watching and listening to a couple things, is that it's not like Kirk Cousins has been a perfect mentor, right? Maybe it was because that he felt like he was lied to going into the Falcon situation, but it was very well known that he was not necessarily a great helper when it came to helping um Michael Penix Jr. and being like trying to help him become the best quarterback he can be. And again, maybe maybe it felt like maybe Kirk felt like he was being wrong when he felt when he was saying that he felt like the Ravens were telling the sorry, the Falcons were giving him the opportunity to be the quarterback, and once they went and drafted Michael Penix Jr. with a top ten pick, he felt like he wasn't giving the heads up he was lied to to sign that contract, and then he was taken advantage of. So maybe that soured the whole thing with him and Michael Penix to where he was never gonna be the mentor that Michael Penix needed because he felt like he was wronged. So now maybe with Kirk having a better uh better idea as to what he's walking into, he'll be a lot more useful to Fernando and being a mentor to him. Maybe that'll be the case, but I'm not gonna necessarily gonna sit here and guarantee that. But maybe again, I just don't think they're gonna bring him in if they feel like he's gonna be not helpful for not helpful for not helpful for Fernando in helping him get ready be the in to be the NFL quarterback, the franchise guy they need him to be. So I don't know. I hope it works out for Fernando Mendoza. I really do. I think that the the act is a little bit, I'm not gonna call it an act, but it feels like an act. It doesn't feel like that's a that's a real person. Kind of like a robot-ish, with Fernando really nerdish and it's really weird. I don't I find it to be really weird in general, but again, if it turns out to be truly him and he sticks to that and it's that's what he is, okay, fine, I can learn to accept that. But on the football field, I do hope Fernando Mendoza can be everything the Raiders need him to be. Because just being able to laugh at the Raiders every single year about how bad they are can get a little boring at times. So maybe if he can kind of turn them into the team that they would like themselves to be, maybe it'll be a lot more fun in having another team that can be um competitive in the NFL is not necessarily a bad thing. Especially with some young blood at quarterback, I think it's a very good thing for everybody in the NFL. Because again, as much as I'm a I'm a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I am an NFL fan that does like to watch good football every Sunday, and having another good team be able to play some decent football isn't isn't a bad thing for me when I'm looking to watch some football on Sundays that's not my Steelers with Aaron Rodgers at 44 years old. But it is neither here nor there. Um getting off of that story, do I have anything else I want to talk about here before I get to the Hertz thing? I do not think so. So without further ado, let's get to the let's get to the Eagles coming out, this this story, right? This isn't the Eagles that necessarily released this, but when it came to this is a story that came out with Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler, who are two very well sourced NFL um journalists slash news guys, right? They they know what they're doing, they have a lot of sources. They count came out with a joint story that was all about the Jalen Hurts. I'm not gonna say is it a saga? Is it is it is it a train a train wreck? Is it a clown show? Who knows what you want to call it? Again, it's hard to call it a clown show if they won a Super Bowl. Soap opera. The soap opera with Jalen Hurts, the Eagles, and AJ Brown. It is they came out with a story this past what is this on the 1st of April. So this would be on the on Tuesday, right? So they come out with this story pretty much sagging the whole Jalen Hurts, the Eagles, and all the this whole scenario, right? And if I have to give a cliff notes version as to what this story is, so if you don't have to so you don't have to go through and read it like I kind of took a good I didn't necessarily do the greatest job of reading all the way through it, but I've watched enough videos on it and kind of skimmed my way through it to kind of have a decent idea of what as to what the contents are of this story. So this whole thing, I I think in general, before I get into my whole thoughts on all the sides in this scenario, I think my main takeaway from this is that the Eagles are making it abundantly clear. Because again, I'm gonna blame the Eagles that this this exists, because if there was a story about this about Joe Burrow, it would never get out to the media because Joe Burrow was that important to the Bengals. Right? If a story like this was available about Patrick Mahomes, do you think this story would ever get out to anybody? No. I think the Eagles are making this painfully clear to Jalen Hurts that if he does not change some of the things that he has been doing throughout the last few years of his NFL career and not changing and not being willing to kind of change with the times and be a better quarterback, then I think that I think the Eagles are making it a very clear party, like a very clear shot. What is the word I'm looking for? I'm not gonna say it's a shot. I don't think it I don't think it's like a hit piece on him, but I think they're making it very clear that hey, if you're not willing to change, we're gonna be willing to make some changes and get you out of here. I really do think so, because I think if this is a story that they didn't want to be out, it wouldn't be out. And with these two people making this story, I think that they're too well sourced, and there's people that they're talking to inside of the Eagles organization, like the people that would not talk if the Eagles didn't want them to, they're talking. So I just do think that in general that the I think the Eagles are making this painfully clear that if that Jalen Hurts doesn't change some things about how he runs, you know, is how he does it, how he plays as a quarterback, and how he not gonna say conducts himself, because he is a good he is a good dude, right? But when it comes to how he can like how he kind of connects with his teammates and with his coaching staff and with the organization, there's gonna have to be some changes that are gonna be made if he wants to be the long-term answer there. That's what I think this main part of the story is, is where I think that I think the fact that this story exists shows the Eagles are like closer to getting rid of him than they ever were before. So I think the contents of the story, I think when it comes to Jalen Hurts, I think the story shows that not only is he not necessarily all that hype about changing the way that he plays quarterback, he doesn't want to do anything under the center like some of these other, some of these coachings, um, some of these offensive coordinators would have liked him to do over the last couple years. He doesn't do a lot of things under the center and like play action and stuff like that. He doesn't do a lot of pistol formations. It's all from the shotgun because that's all Jalen Hurts really feels comfortable with doing. And the reason why he doesn't want to do anything like when it comes to play action and stuff like that for the most part is because he doesn't want to have to set his back to the defense and have to reset. And I feel like that does kind of take away once you have to turn your back and the deep you don't get to see the defense, you have to turn around and like kind of read the defense again. It is something that not every quarterback is good at, and I feel like that is something he has run away from so far as in his NFL career. Um, they say he also isn't a guy that likes to take do make a lot of in the middle of the field type of throws. Now, maybe doesn't he feel comfortable, maybe he still doesn't want to throw a lot, he doesn't want to have a chance of throwing picks, so he's more he's more likely to want to have outside throws, whether it's going to be too my guy or it's gonna be out of bounds, or it's gonna be incomplete. And then because when you're in throwing in the middle of the field, throwing in tight windows, better chance of you throwing having turnovers and stuff like that that he doesn't want to do. Um and when it comes to the offensive coordinators that are coming through, they have pretty much made it very clear that he is a guy that says that kind of to makes his stance very clear that hey, I'm gonna be here, I was here before you, I won a Super Bowl here before you, and I'm gonna be here after you're gone, so why would I change my ways in the way that you want me to if I if you're not gonna be here long term for me to be like for all these changes to be necessary? And I think because of that, he has not necessarily taken some, and on top of all the regular, like he hasn't gotten better as a quarterback thing, he hasn't gotten better accuracy. Like, again, I'm not saying any of this is necessarily awful, but it hasn't gotten better. And on top of all of those things, when it comes to what changes he can make to get better as a as a quarterback, all those things all in all have not been what they needed to be. And I think the Eagles are making this very aware that making all of us aware that these things are happening. It's not like we really needed this story to come out to be to know this because this has been rumblings that have been coming out for years about the Eagles, but it was just never confirmed, there was never some real hard evidence until now. Because of how bad the offenses have looked over the years, other than the one season that they had two years ago, two seasons ago, when they went and won the Super Bowl off their crazy defense and Jalen Hurts playing absolutely awesome in the Super Bowl. But outside of that, their offense has been awful. It's been it's been terrible. Even with even with Saquon Barku last year, and it like with all the talent that they have on that side of the ball, their offense has not been even anywhere close to good or consistent or anything like that. So the way I look at it is that on Jalen's side, they the Eagles think he has a lot of changes he needs to make, not only as a quarterback, but when it comes to socially how he treats how he handles himself when it comes to his teammates and the coaching staff and all of that, there's a lot of things the Eagles would like him to change in order for them to feel like he can be their long-term answer as their quarterback. And this is so I understand that when it comes to them trying to change Jalen because at the end of the day, it's hard to find a quarterback, and as much as I think the Eagles are one of the best drafting organizations in the NFL, drafting a quarterback is crazy work. It's hard, it's a lot, it's a dice roll part, like most of the time. Because a team like the Eagles is never going to be bad enough to be picking a top five pick and going after one of the best QBs in the draft, you really are throwing a crapshoot as to whether you can get your guy where you're at later on in the first round. If you're not a top five pick, getting out getting after one of the best quarterbacks available in that year's class. So I think, especially with him being a Super Bowl winning quarterback for that organization, that has really built up a real I'm not gonna say maybe a legacy there. Because again, legacy is really strong because I feel like even though he has a Super Bowl win, do I think he has done enough on the football field over the course of his career to be really to be worthy of the legacy he probably holds himself at? No, probably not, but he does have a legacy nonetheless because he does have does has done some things that guys like Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen haven't. Whether I think he's the quarterback that they are, I'm not like that doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that he has he has pelts on his wall that some of the best quarterbacks we have in this NFL don't have. Okay. So all that being the case, here are my here are my questions slash statements that I have to make about this whole situation. They don't want to have to get rid of Jalen because getting a new quarterback is a hard is the hardest thing you can do. Not only because good quarterbacks aren't always available in free agency like other positions are getting one in the draft is super hard and harder and like it's a crapshoe whether they're gonna work out or not. And they already have so much money tied up into Jalen Hurts that they don't want to get rid of him and have a bunch of money tied up in him and dead cap money and all that that'll mess up their team for years to come. For all those reasons, I understand the Eagles trying to do some things where like, hey, we try to do it the nice way and do it in house, but now we have to make everybody aware of the madness happening inside the house to maybe make you want to change. So now with them doing that, what is that where does that take my brain? Okay, first place that takes me is it to AJ Brown. The most recent news on him was that there was a trade that was pretty much agreed to between the Eagles and the Patriots that'll happen post-June 1 to kind of save the Eagles a little bit of money on their dead caps, dead cap hit, to be like, hey, we'll trade AJ Brown away to the Patriots so they can get the number one wide receiver and we can get our that number one wide receiver and the headache he is off of our back and out of our locker room, right? But my question is, why would you do that if the whole problem that AJ Brown is is because of Jalen Hurts? The reason that AJ Brown is the problem that he is is because the offense has been broken because of the some of the things that Jalen Hurts has been unwilling to change throughout his time with the Eagles, and AJ Brown's been the only one standing ten toes down to talk about that shit. AJ Brown's been the only one. Again, has he handled it in the best way? Absolutely not. He hasn't. He hasn't. At the end of the day, he's still a D.A wide receiver to a certain extent. In that and again, he handled it terribly after I think there was a time for a while where he was doing all the right things. He was trying to do it in-house. Was he having his outbursts on the field? Yes, but he wasn't necessarily taking it to the media and like making being super loud about it until well after everybody was finding reason to blame AJ Brown and try to find the problem with him. When we all knew the offense was an issue and we everybody was looking for somebody to blame, and everybody chose a dude that was crashing out on the football field because the offense wasn't working well. Everybody wanted to blame somebody, and because Jalen um Jalen Hurts is such a good guy and he's so buttoned up and he does interview so well, we chose the guy that was crashing out in the football field that maybe. Maybe not be as buttoned up as Jalen Hurts. It turns out the issue is truly Jalen. And partially the organization for keep getting all these stupid offensive coordinators that don't know what they're doing and don't have the cache to tell Jalen Hurts what to do and actually have him listen. Again, partially part of this is on Nick Sirianni because Nick Sirianni is an offensive guy. He's an offensive coach. At one point, he was helping the offense. But apparently, because now he's the head coach, he's only a CEO and he has no input on the offense whatsoever. So now when they're changing out offense coordinators like draws, there is no offensive system that is like the bedrock for what they're bringing these OCs in to do. Because Nick Siriani doesn't have a say in that fact. Because he's not really a great head coach. That is neither here or there. I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole, but again, that's the that's just the truth. So why would you get rid of the guy that was the only one that was honest about all this? Again, I know the reason why is because getting rid of a wide receiver and getting that money off the books, which isn't nearly as much as a quarterback, is a lot easier than the quarterback. But I think if you made all the money equal, who would you rather get rid of? They'd rather get rid of Jalen Hurts. But I think they have played around for so long and stuck their head in the sand and let this whole thing simmer for so long. Now AJ Brown is not just mad at Jalen Hurts, he's mad at everybody. And they've ruined that relationship because they've been so willing to overlook all these issues that they're now letting come to light in this article with because of Jalen Hurts. And now the Eagles are finally sick of it, and now they're kind of thinking the same way AJ Brown is. But guess what? AJ Brown's still gonna have to go, and he doesn't have to go play somewhere else because things have gone so off the rails when it comes to the relationship between him and the organization. And again, at the end of the day, it's very shrewd behavior when it comes to business business-wise, but getting the money of a wide receiver off the books is a lot easier than getting the money of a quarterback off the books because of how much of a difference it is and how much those those players are making. That that's that's the that's that's the that's the best of it, right? Like that's the most of it right there. So that's where I get frustrated because then they're like, like, all this was the case, and the AJ Brown taking all this blame for all this time, it doesn't make any effing sense to anybody, especially not to me. Again, he's probably gonna end up in a better situation anyway, because if this if this deal with the Patriots is a true thing, true thing, then he'll be off to a play in a play with his old coach again and Mike Vrabel, and he'll be playing with a I guess better quarterback and Drake May, which I'm like, again, last year he played better than better than Jalen Hurts, but can't is he gonna is the quarterback that played last year and was an MVP candidate, is that what he is and what he's going to be, or is it more like what we saw in the playoffs from him that was struggling and not really playing all that well and kind of like lacking confidence? Like, which quarterback is closer to what he actually is? I don't know, but maybe adding a guy like AJ Brown would be a good way to figure that out, maybe help him find his best self at the quarterback position. Maybe that is the case. But I just feel like the AJ Brown thing now makes zero sense to me because I'm just like, you've you've proven AJ Brown right in all this, but you're still getting rid of him. And so now you're giving Jalen Hurts his last chance to go and change some of his ways if they're if he wants to be the quarterback at the in Philly long term. But if you don't do it, you're just you're gonna be you're like you're gonna be resetting your offense altogether because now you're gonna be without a quarterback and without a number one receiver that you had in AJ Brown. I I just don't know. It's really weird, and you got also got to blame the organization because they've let things simmer for so long and go to crap for so long that it just it just it can't be fixed because they were so willing to play stupid and play dumb and say, ha ha ha, everything's fine here. It's like the meme with the dog with the fire in the house, and the dog's like, everything's fine, no problems here. Like that's the meme I think of when I think of the Eagles' front office and like everything all the shit's burning down. That's what annoys me about this whole thing. Like, because they let this stuff go on for so long, and then they made it to where it's it's it's it's not fixable anymore. And that's what annoys me about all of this. That's what annoys me, because if you just nip this stuff in the bud long ago, again, I get it, for the quarterback, it's harder to do to have some of these hard conversations, but like, you know, now like you delayed those hard conversations enough and you let it go enough to where now you're gonna have you have to do this whole end-around thing where you're getting rid of a great player that's on your team and making your team worse in the chance of maybe the quarterback that you're not necessarily all that so to sold on will become the quarterback you need you want and need him to be. I I just I it's just so ass backwards to me. I I just I don't know what in the hell this whole thing is. It just it's it's a mess. It's a mess. And again, I get it because partially because you have a head coach that can't actually command the respect of his locker room. So with that being the case, it's just like you have a front office, and then you have you're supposed to have a coach that's supposed to be the middleman between the co the players and the front office, but that head that head coach is a fucking buffoon. And he's only a uh um he's only a uh what is what is the oh no he's only a talking head, he's not making any actual decisions. It's the GM and it's the coordinators like he's not doing shit. So I can get how maybe the front office maybe isn't getting all the information they need to get because the the guy they have giving it to them isn't good at his job, and they can't trust him to work on his own and make sure all this stuff works out because he's not really good at like being the kumbaya guy either. So he's not the kumbaya guy, he's not the ex is a no guy because they don't trust him to run any offense. Like, imagine if he was good enough to be like an Andy Reid and can run the offense as well as be the head coach, they wouldn't have all these offensive coordinator problems to begin with. Again, offensive coordinator problems because of this stuff's been going on so long, they had to beg in a young OC to come coach with them because no reputable OC would take on that job because they're like, this shit stinks. Something's rotten with the way that things are run here, and I'm not gonna put my career on the line to try to come fix this shit because things have been going wrong for so long. Not gonna have this on my record, not gonna have this stand on my record because y'all don't know how to get your quarterback and your your offensive your offense in check because you don't have a real head coach. So, and I and I do think that maybe the last straw in this whole thing was the fact that the Eagles have such a great group of offensive skill talent on that team and couldn't get anybody to say yes to go be the OC there.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:38

Let me look at let me see if there were OCs were in the running for the eagle shell.

MLB ABS Challenges And Umpire Accountability

Wrap Up And Listener Requests

SPEAKER_00 1:14:08

So, I'm just doing a quick Google search of what the candidates were that what were the last candidates that were there to potentially be the guys to like be the OCs for the Eagles, right? Before they finally came down to Sean Manion, who was the the guy that ended up being the OC who finally took the job, right? So, let me see here. He were the guys that were also considered Frank Smith, who was a guy they interviewed, who spent four seasons under as four seasons as the OC under Mike McDaniel in Miami, who's also 44 years old. That was a guy that they were interested in. Didn't that it didn't happen, but again, was he a guy that was gonna get a job somewhere else? Not necessarily because he wasn't already an OC. Another guy, Gerard Johnson. He was the Texans QB coach um for three seasons before this pass offseason, right? So who was a guy that also interviewed for that same job before they hired Kellen Moore a few years ago? Um, but he doesn't really work again. He was the QB coach for CJ Stroud, who didn't really play all that well this past season. I understand that him not getting that job. But let me get to some of the guys that have been coordinators before that didn't, that were part of it that didn't take the job or just didn't work out. Jim Bob Cooter, who was a guy that was in OC before. I think he was an OC under Shane Steichen, who is the um Indianapolis head coach slash OC. Um, so he was a guy that had been working as an OC before and didn't take that job. Matt Nagy, who was the recent OC for the Kansas City Chiefs, but was let go. He didn't take that job. Um, but again, he had just gotten fired, so like he should have been more than happy to take an OC job, but it didn't work out. He didn't take that job. Brian Dayball, he was one of the more widely looked at OCs for plenty of jobs, and he had an opportunity to pick between them and the Tennessee Titans, and he chose the less talented Tennessee Titans job, at least talented when it comes to like guys that actually coach. Outside of Cam Ward, they don't have nothing there in Tennessee, and he took that job overtaking the Eagles job that has the cupboard full of offensive weapons and a quote unquote franchise quarterback to run your offense. And he didn't take that job. I wonder why. Especially if he could have taken that job to then get back at the organization in the Giants that just recently fired him. He had that opportunity, didn't take that job. I wonder why, because of how bad things have been there. Like that's probably the biggest one. Like he was the guy that like is a well-known office coordinator, known to like coach quarterbacks, like he was one of the guys met um given a lot of credit for the credit that a lot of credit for the um jump that Josh Allen has taken over his NFL career to being what he is now. Like Dable's given a lot of credit and he had an opportunity to take this job and he didn't take it. I wonder why. Because of all this shit coming out now. So now instead of a guy like him that has been proven to do it in the NFL, now they have to take a 33-year-old guy that had never been an OC before and hope that he can be the guy to take like take that job and help out Jalen Hurts and hope he can Jalen Hurts takes the coaching and is willing to make the changes necessary to be a better quarterback like he needs to. I just don't know, man. And I'm like, and I'm just like, and here's the problem, right? Because of the issue with your head coach being an o being an offensive guy but not having any hand in the offense, and now you're like going through these OCs like toilet paper like draws. The problem is that if this guy works out, he's gonna go and take a head coaching job at some point, if that works, if it works out this season with them. And then you're gonna be back in the same scenario because Jalen Hurts, and again, it's feeding into the whole Jalen Hurts thing saying, hey, even if I do what I'm supposed to do with this, with this OC, it's gonna change anyway, and it's gonna force him back into old habits. I d I just don't know. This is a this whole thing with the Eagles is an absolute mess. And that was most reason why I wanted to get on this podcast is to sit here and talk about it because it's just so insane that this whole story exists at all, because I'm just like, why let this come out now after so long? You've been keeping this stuff under wraps, and it's just been rumbling with nobody ever able to get a true source or anybody to actually give any sort of validity to it. There was a there was a it was for a while, it was a while that there was never a true source that was able to be put on there, like again, there was no names put on it. So it wasn't like there was like one of like somebody actually wanted to put their name on this information, but now there is sources to be looked at and be able to put it, put out a story like that. So I just don't know, man. It's a it's a freaking mess in that Eagles organization. Again, it's crazy to say that when they just won a Super Bowl, not this past season, but season before. It's like it's crazy to say all that, but I'm just like it's it is what it is, and it's very obvious if you read that story. Again, it's on ESPN. If you're if you're interested in hearing what um to of reading what I was what I've been talking about the last 20 minutes, go read it. It's an interesting read. It's crazy how much have gone on there, but it's just it's I think I think it's a I I they want to blame it all on Jalen Hurts, but this is a this is a this is a down, that's not a downfall, but this is a failure of uh failure of duty of everybody involved in that scenario. It's a failure of duty of everybody, and that's the part that makes it suck because I'm just sitting there like as talented as you were and as good as you look coming off that Super Bowl where y'all destroyed the Chiefs and made them look you made Patrick Mahomes look fucking human after two years worth of him looking like the next next coming of Jesus Christ slash Tom Brady. Like he looked so untouched so untouched touchable for two Super Bowls in a row, and it felt like the Chiefs were gonna just keep running off Super Bowls as long as Mahomes was healthy, and the Eagles made them look made them look human. And they beat the brakes off that Kansas City Chiefs game and error team, and everybody was like, hey, it's now the Eagles time, they're gonna be the next team that everybody has to be fearing over the next couple years, and it went straight to the crapper. It's because of those issues you were letting slide before, and you let them slide for so long, and now you can't you can't sweep it under the rug anymore. It's a mess. It's in the carpet. You gotta get the carpet cleaner out. You gotta do it the hard way now. It's like it's like slime, right? If you get the slime up right away, it won't, it won't, it won't make any any stains or anything like that. But if you let it sit, it'll get sticky, it'll harden, and then you can't get that shit out to save your life. I don't know, man. I again it's a it's a fascinating story, but it's also infuriating based on how bad that that that whole thing had gone. So that's it for me when it comes to that story. I'm I'm done complaining. I'm done complaining about it. Um, I know, I know, again, I know it's interesting, and I know I haven't been necessarily like sitting here like whining this whole time, but it's just I can't help but think that I'm like, man, this is going way too far. Like, all this, it's just in it's inconceivable that it has gone like something has gone this bad with a bunch of adults. That's where I'm like, like this is stuff that happens with like high school teams and maybe college teams. You're still dealing with 18, 19, 20-year-olds and um coaches that have a little bit too much power. Like the this in the NFL, this is supposed to be all fucking adults that all get paid, they all have families and all this shit, and stuff like this still goes on. Like, I I just don't know, man. That's just insane for a story like that to come out, and I'm like, I'm just like, where did all like why now? I it doesn't make any sense to me. Alright, we're getting off of that. Um, do I have anything else? I really oh, last thing, this will be it before I get out of here. Um MLB. And if you haven't been watching, I think the MLB is gone for a couple weeks now. But my main thing I wanted to talk about was the um the challenging balls and strikes, right? With with the what what do they call it? With the A ABS, right? Hold on, am I crazy? Is that what this is called? Um is the challenging um, what is the challenging umpires? It's ABS. ABS challenge system. I just want to give my my thoughts on the ABS challenge system and how it's been going as of right now. Again, I know the ABS has had its its little quirks and it's there's been times where it's been off and it hasn't gone well, but I think all in all, this ABS challenge system I think is a good thing for everybody, even if it has caused a little bit of a clusterfuck to begin this to begin this season, right? Because my main point of this ABS thing, and I think it's I think it's I think it's shown plenty, that it is giving players a chance to challenge these umpires that are making obviously bad calls and get them to have to eat the fact they're making bad calls in the moment in front of everybody. There is you have to hit accountability in that moment when that challenge, when that thing comes up on the screen and it shows how wrong you were. Again, I'm not saying like again, the ABS is a little bit weird when it comes to umpires that are just barely off, and then they challenge it, and then it's like, oh, it's just the ball ever so slightly hit the strike zone. Because again, all this is based off the fact that they take the heights and the heights and measurements of all the players in the MLB and then kind of calculate your strike zone based off of that. And that's a strike zone that the ABS uses for each and every single batter for them. Once those challenges are made, that's what it decides what your strike zone is, and then does it based off the flight path, the ball, and all of it. So for the ball that just barely touches the strike zone and it's considered a strike and they and the the umpire call to the ball, I think that part sucks because it does like give some people be like, oh, these umpires don't know what they're doing, they suck at their jobs. I do it does suck for that, right? And it's feel that it feels like there are times that players are are challenging balls and strikes when it's not even necessary, let alone um trying to help the team actually win a game. So I do feel like I do feel for the umpires there. But I think all in all, this this ABS system is going, this ABS challenge system is going to force the umpires to have to eat their bad moments and be like, hey, these dudes have just called you, because I think there was a game, there was a Yankee game that they like they challenged like six calls in the first like four innings, and they were right on all of them. And it was on low strikes, and that umpire in these moments is gonna have to eat the fact that if I keep calling these strikes the way I am, they're gonna keep challenging me, and I'm gonna keep looking, be I'm gonna keep looking like a fool in front of all these fans all night. And then once I go home and then have to answer to my bosses, they're gonna be able to look at me and say, hey, they challenged this many calls, and you in in one on most of them, you're gonna have to change the way you do your job and change the way you're doing things, or you're gonna keep getting challenged and it's gonna be a problem. There, there's gonna be real stats to look at you and say, you're not doing your job the way you need to. And I think some accountability is a good thing in this scenario. And again, because here's what here's my thing at the end of the day. Baseball is one of my is my one of my true loves as a sport. I truly love the game of baseball. Okay. Do I hate umpires? For sure I have. If you are a kid that plays sports, especially baseball from a young age, you are taught, especially as you grow up, that umpires are gonna screw you over, they suck at their jobs, they they're people that suck at times, and more often than not, they're out to get you because that's just how sports are, and that's what they're teaching, that's what you're taught. So I'm not saying you're saying I love umpires, but at the end of the day, I understand the fact that having umpires out there is better than having a a little a little green, red little light that tells you whether it's a strike or a ball. Having umpires out there is better than that. I'm not gonna sit here and say it's not. It is because who wants to see that? How that's an eyesore on the baseball field. Like, who wants to see all that? Having an umpire back there is more is what I would rather see than having just a little green machine out there with the green and red light that tells you whether it's a ball or strike. So if that's gonna be the case, these umpires that we're throwing back there behind the plate needs to be willing to take this coaching, this live in the moment coaching that's telling you you're calling these all these strikes low, they're not striking. You're gonna have to fix this shit or you're gonna have to eat it in front of all these fans, and this is gonna be actual stats that can be used to either teach you or to maybe fire you at some point because you're not doing what you need to do. And for all of this to work, these umpires need to understand that these are some teachable moments, and if they're willing to be open to them and willing to understand and actually take them in and really take these lessons on and take them head on and not and be a little bit have some humility in these scenarios, I think this will lead to a lot better baseball in the future, and in a future where we'll actually keep these umpires. But if the umpires aren't gonna take these moments and they're not gonna eat it, and they're not gonna sit here and take the coaching and they're not gonna change their ways, we'll replace you with robots. We will, and again, they won't change the stuff for the um the the base umpires. I feel like those will have to be out there either way because you're gonna have to have somebody to talk to at all times. So I do think those guys are gonna be out there all all like pretty much for all time. I don't think that's gonna change. Um and I don't think it's like the bad I don't think the calls on the base are bad enough where you're gonna need somebody like just a robot telling you all the time whether it's right or not. Um But if you want if you're behind the plane umpire, you want to keep your job, have some humility and take the coaching that's given to you right now. And if it is and if you do, and if you change your ways and you keep changing, and if you're willing to make some tweaks to what you do and what you've been doing, you'll be able to keep your job, and and then guess what? That ABS system, when they challenge you, you'll be you'll be able to look at them and be like, ha, you're okay, fine. If it if it works, it works. If it don't, I look at you and you're stupid, okay? Like it can be it doesn't have to be the end of the world, it really doesn't. But the umpires have to be willing to take this moment and be willing to be open to change and be open to take the coaching and like take these moments and be like, hey, this will make me a better umpire. This will make me better at my job, and then once that happens, you if you actually internalize these things, I think it'll lead to a lot better sport in general if that does happen. Again, there are some tweaks that have to happen, all these things like I I think all these things are there's always gonna be something that has to change about it. But I think at its core, this will be a better change will be a better change for everybody. I really do think so. So that that's the way I look at it, and I think that I I just totally I just think it'll make everything better for I think it'll be make a lot of good changes for the better for everybody. And again, this will be a ebb and flow thing. There will be times that I think this is kind of like um it'll be more concrete that like when the NFL starts a season, they call a lot of calls on certain things and they kind of lax, and then the NFL makes it a thing to start calling it again, it goes back up and they call it all the time. It's an ebb and flow thing. I think this it'll be the same thing with ABS. Umpires will start the season, their strike zones will be off, it'll be challenged a lot, umpires will adjust, they'll get better, and then there will be something else that happens, the challenges will go up again. And it can be a back and forth. It doesn't have to be the end of the world like it kind of it seems like right now for certain people. It can just be a thing that can just be a part of the league that a part of this whole thing that makes umpires better, that makes the product better, and it just it only will be that if these umpires will just take it, take it on the chin, take it as a learning lesson and get better from it. If not, we'll replace you with fucking robots. It will ha it will happen. It will happen if you're not gonna be willing to change. But if you take it on the chin, if you if you do what you have to do with it and you you you treat it at as what it is, I think we'll be we'll be all the better for it. I really do think so. Alright, that's it. That's all that's all I have today. Hour and 30 for a pod. I was just this is like a more of an impromptu thing. I'm more than happy to kind of end it off like this and say this is a pretty good pod to kind of make up for me not having uh having done my thing in these last two weeks. So I wanted to make it up to you. So we're gonna have this pod today. I'm gonna come um I'm gonna release it today, and then we'll do another plot pod later on this week where we'll do mostly football talk, talking about some quarterbacks and wide receivers coming out in this year's draft, on top of maybe doing a mock draft and like doing a reaction based off of that, and then I think I think I might do more position than that, may do running backs and corners and safeties, like all the skill positions that'll be a lot easier for me to kind of have an eye on and be able to make an actual. I'm not gonna sit here and say I'll be a a a um pro at it or anything, but at least be able to have a decent opinion that I think will make a little bit of sense. So that's about it for me. Um, let's go ahead and end the pod here, guys. So if you guys have been listening for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now jumping on, hopefully you'll like us and enjoy us enough to join us on this road of talking about sports in the dumbest way possible. And if this is the first pod you've listened to, make sure you go listen to a different pod with both me and Jace on so you have a better idea of what we are this pod is at its best when you have both me, my brother Jace on here talking, talking shit, talking sports, going back and forth, um, talking about sports in the dumbest way possible. Make sure you go do that if this is your first pod you've listened to. But again, if you listen to the whole thing with just me sitting here rambling on to you, I definitely appreciate that as well. So if you do like us and enjoy us, we would appreciate if you do if you could do a couple things for us. If you could like our podcast, subscribe to the podcast, rate the podcast five stars wherever you listen to us. We're pretty much available on all audio platforms out there, so wherever you listen to your podcast, we'll be a bit there and available. Make sure you give us a like, give us a um, give us a download, um, do everything you gotta do there. We would appreciate that. If you could also um share our podcast with friends, family, enemies. Anyone you feel like could enjoy our podcast we put out on a weekly basis, when I'm not being stupid, and then during um once a week, and then during football season will be twice a week. So make sure um you share us with people that you think will enjoy the podcast we put out on a weekly basis. And then last but not least, make sure you go follow us on Twitter and or X, whatever you'd like to call it, at JB Sports Pod is the podcast handle, at Jovante Boozer is my handle, and then at Jace Boozer1 is Jace's handle, and that is about it. So I'll finish it all up here. So thank you guys for listening. Thank you guys for always listening. You guys have a great night, great day, have a great night, and we will see you guys later on this week. Bye y'all.