REAL TALK! with Doc and Marlon
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REAL TALK! with Doc and Marlon
October Baseball. Yankees Fall, NFL Week 5 Upsets, Lakers/Lebron w./ Mike From OC
The Yankees collapse sets the tone as we trace how playoff baseball rewards discipline while NFL chaos exposes coaching limits, injuries, and thin defenses. We weigh Lakers identity around LeBron’s brand, call out college football shockers, and crown A’ja Wilson’s rise.
• Yankees eliminated by Blue Jays, bullpen and management under fire
• NL stories: Brewers’ machine, Phillies’ resilience, Seattle’s window
• Baseball history frames expectations and standards
• Rams-Niners fallout, self-inflicted mistakes, Stafford’s form
• NFL upset week: Chiefs, Bills, Eagles clipped
• Arizona’s meltdown and the line coaches must not cross
• Chargers injuries, O-line fixes, living with reality
• Surprise risers in AFC, South gaining credibility
• WR angst in Philly and trade chatter
• Lakers outlook: defense, roles, and LeBron’s brand gravity
• College football shocks: Texas and Penn State losses
• SEC road traps, Missouri’s shot vs Alabama
• WNBA Finals: A’ja Wilson’s legacy and closing time
And welcome everybody to another episode of Real Talk. Doc. You doing all right today?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I am. Yes, I am. I mean I'm pleased to have again our buddy Mike in the OC. So let's get this thing rolling, man. Starting with baseball. It's shocking. Let's go, Molly.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely. So uh we just found out last night that the Yankees are out. Um I mean, just overall in this wildcard round, uh the the next round, Doc, what was the most important or crazy things that you saw within these past two rounds thus far?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it was only a matter of time with the Yankees, man. They haven't been playing well all year and the consistency, especially in a bullpen, man. And in a big market like that, you got to bring it, man. I think Aaron Boone needs to get blown out because he's messing up, you know, the Yankee faithful, you know, hanging on like he is, man. There's no excuse for Aaron Judge and some of these other cats standing to get blown out like they should have been swept, but to their credit, they won one game. But I think the Yankees going down. That that's really shocking to me, you know. Uh, but it it's one of those things where I think the Mariners and the Tigers, Mike, and I think you'll agree, they're battling out, you know, my man Cal Riley, who I think is the MVP in the AL, you know, he hit another one out yesterday. I think it's the Mariners year. And then, of course, you got the Cubbies and Brewers. I expected more from the Cubs after what they did in the uh wild card round, but the Brewers have had the best record in baseball. You know, say what you all about, Christian Yellish, man. He might be 33 and a little older, but he's bringing. And then the Phillies and the Dodgers, man. You know, I'm I'm surprised that Mamamoto uh got blown up like he did at home. But you gotta give Phillies credit for battling back on the road after going down 2-0 at home. But the the the the gist of this conversation to answer your question, it has to be the Yankees. A team in the division, Toronto blowing them up. They know each other. You know, and I'm not even a Yankee fan. I feel for my boy Big Ant, your boy Big Ant, and Mike's boy, Big Ant, a Yankee fan. They just puddling in water, you know, riding in circles with uh Aaron Boone. But yeah, go ahead, Mike.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, listen, Big Ann will be fine. He's on his hurricane trying to hockey season, he's got his balls, so but anyway. Listen, you know, the thing about, I mean, it's just been incredible, right? I mean, these games are just it just shows your baseball playoffs, they're as great as anything. You know, there's something about uh day baseball, you know, the sun is shining, whether it's in Wrigley or whether it's you know, wherever it's gonna be in Detroit, whatever, you know, that massive regularly. And just the drama of it is still like unmatched. And yeah, for the Yankees, listen, Doc. I mean, you know, the Blue Jays had their number all year. I mean, they they beat them uh eight to five record. Vlad Vladdy, I mean, listen, my name is Vlad, you know dad played in the Anaheim. I saw the Vladdy running around the field as a six-seven year old after batting practice. He just tremendous he's like he was hitting like 1.700 in the series or 720. It's absolutely ridiculous. I mean, they just they just had it in for the Yankees this year. You know, and they just top to bottom, they're it is better. You know, one tonight. Just better lineup, better use of it, you know, guys are just hitting the ball. I mean, you know, it's like Joe Carter out there, jocking 92-93. I mean, you know, hitting those three runs. I mean, it was just it was just a fantastic thing. And listen, Aaron Boone, what are you gonna say? You know, it's the same thing for the Yankees. They have all the talent in the world, everything looks good, but then you think at certain points they're not hitting the ball well enough, you know, or the pitching's not good enough, and Aaron's always getting kind of criticized, this, that, and the other. They've been successful. They got to the World Series last year, so it's like they've been a complete failure, but this shows you these series are so kind of you know evenly matched in a sense. And you know, one manager you'll move this way, and you know, one little this way, it kind of goes that way. And listen, I thought after they lose, after they won game, was it after they won game three, they'd win last night. You figure they're gonna take it back to Toronto.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:You know, give give the blue chase credit. You know, they just came out and took it to them, and the managers dancing around afterward and yelling. It was it was it was remarkable. So we'll see where it all goes. You know, I'm hoping the Phillies kind of cut back on those Dodgers. We've seen enough of those Dodgers, you know, they win it year after year. So let's see if the Phillies can take another one today. Yeah, and I think the tie I think the Tigers are gonna take a talk, I don't know about you, but Seattle hasn't won. They haven't been in ALCL since 01, right? They've never been in the World Series, never been. The only team that's never been Marlon, the Mariner. And it seems like every year something happens. I think they get tight and smooth takes the two of them in game fire.
SPEAKER_00:That's right. Well, the Mike and Ron Marlon, the Tigers are a historic franchise. Even them really haven't done anything recently. Of course, Jack Morris in '84, yeah, Lou Whitaker, and Alan Trammell. If you want to go back to Mickey Lowlich, you know, and those cats, you know, uh Al K-line. The Tigers are very much embedded in baseball lore and the history of the sport, Marlon. Um, so are the Cubbies and the Brewers. You know, I I I remember watching the Big Blue Brew crew, Mike, and you do too from Milwaukee, you know, Robin Yao, Paul Molliter, Rick Saron, you know, Pete Vukovich, Cecil Cooper, you know, Rob Deere, yeah. And the Cubbies are the Cubbies, going back to Ernie Banks, you know, we're not that old, but I just think that uh this is a historic thing here, Marlon, to ask your question. And baseball is in a good place. It's just that the Yankees, man, when I think of the Yankees, I think of the 80s, Ricky Jackson, you know, Mickey Rivers, you know, um just, you know, um Ron Gidry. You know, I can go on and on. The Yankee faithful deserve better, Mike and Marlin, because, you know, every year. Boom made it to the World Series last year, and they should have won it. If you remember, he made some baffling moves there. But Volpe in the infield was problematic for the Yankees. And Aaron Boone's managerial moves, sticking with the bullpen or sticking with starters when they were tired, anything all year, and they came back to bite them in the ass. I think the Phillies, and and I was in the National League uh West during the 80s and the 70s, they had to throw back uniforms, Marlon. And I thought about Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose and Lonnie Smith, Baker McBride, Gary Matthews, and all that. So every team in this in this uh NLDS has some history value for the history of the sport. I'm naming names, and you know, the Mariners, even they had their best record in the old one, they have some value. They had Ichi Rose, they had King Griffith Jr. You gotta love baseball, but leading off is the Yankees' disappointment. Right, you know.
SPEAKER_02:I should say real quick, uh, because Phillies, you know, you're talking about those Phillies with Zinski and Schmidtle. I mean, they played the Dodgers at 77 except back to back now. So yeah, so they were both excellent. That was Tommy Lassor's first couple years. And it was, they were great series. Gary Maddox out there in the center, and you mentioned all the other guys, Wazinski and Boone and everybody. And, you know, they were fantastic series. The Dodgers won both those years, actually, got to the World Series. And we're seeing their baby blues last night really brought me back like 50 years ago. But think about the Yankees guys, you know, say it's almost like the Lakers. You know, it's like if you don't want to title everybody, everybody's watches, you know, they won 27, right? So it's it's it is, it's kind of like championship, or it's been a disappointment. And if you don't, if you don't do it, it's disappointing. Like for our Lakers, right? We get disappointed because you expect it to be there every year because they've had so many great teams, so many great players. You know, look at these Ruth and you know, Ruth and Garrigan, Mandel, Demaggio, and Geterfield go on and on. I would go where Judge ranks. I was telling Shine the other day, where do you put Judge? You know, and it's all yeah, they had a nice series too, by the way.
SPEAKER_00:So yes, he did. Judge had a great year. And Marlon, I just think that uh, you know, right now in moment, in space, you got to go with Toronto Blue Jays versus the LA Dodgers. So I know the Milwaukee Brewers are dangerous, the pitching staff, and but I I I just feel like nobody's gonna beat the Dodgers gonna come back tonight and close it out. But you got to give Phillies credit. I just think the Toronto Blue Jays had that it factor, Mike, and Marlin, and and and Guerrero leading the way. You know, nobody talked about the Blue Jays until late in the regular season. You know, nobody's they weren't even in competition with the Yankees who melted down in July, in August. Toronto is like in third place. So, yeah, there you go, right there.
SPEAKER_04:Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. All right, so jumping on to the NFL real quick, Mike. I know we have only have you for about another five minutes or so. So that Thursday night game, I know it was rough to take. Uh, you know, with this Niners team, I think they're a team that's uh they're they're they're scrappy. Everybody thought they were on somewhat of a rebuild season, and here they are uh four and one. Some people didn't have them in their power rankings in their top five, and now they have them as high as, you know, one or two or whatever. But looking at this, your Rams team, are you nervous about this loss? What are you thinking about uh Stafford and the boys going forward?
SPEAKER_02:Listen, I mean, it it was one of the worst losses for McGay that he's been there. I mean, it was just a terrible loss. They just said they just weren't ready to go. The Niners came out and would score 14 early. With all the injury, you know, you just can't underestimate these teams, especially when it's Niners Rams, Doc. It's Niners Rams, for goodness sake. It's always going to be a battle, you know, going back to Brody and Gabriel and Montana and Everett and all these guys, and Harris. Yes. I've seen it all. So, you know, they didn't come out strong, and the Niners took a two, and Mac Jones looked like Joe Montana out there. He's going crazy. Yes, he did. You know, and McCaffrey's running like wild, and you know, the guys are cashing the boat. They just they just took it too, and the Rams finally got it going. Stafford's been fantastic, by the way. He's been as good as anybody in the league. He had another 389 yards, three touchdowns. He's had six in the last few games. 37 years old. He's doing what he could do, but the play, saw what happened there. I mean, we had the terror, of course, the terrible fumble on the one. I just couldn't believe Ty Romans fumble because we're gonna go win the game. Look at my son like, what happened? I couldn't even see a fumble. I just saw the Niners dancing around. I go, oh yeah. And then they had a chance to still win the game. And of course, McBay had a terrible fourth down call, and he blamed himself. I've never seen him so upset after a game. He's still pissed off about that game. He says it's just it was just a terrible, terrible weekend for him to lose in that game. So they've lost two games. I think they could be five and oh. They should have eaten the Eagles. They completely self-destructed there. They self-destruct it in this one. So what do you do? They're three and two. You know, I mean, it's early, somewhat early. Now they got to go to Baltimore, who's depleted, obviously, but I'm not gonna understand. They made them after what happened last week. And I don't know if Lamar's gonna play or not. So you got to take each game seriously, you know, because these teams come up and bite you, you know?
SPEAKER_04:And then Doc, I got something for you. So this is almost like an upset week. Obviously, we saw what happened Monday night with Jags beating the Chiefs. You had the Patriots beating the Bills, you had my commander or my my Chargers losing to the commanders. And of course, you can't forget about the Broncos uh beating the Eagles. So this was a wacky week. What was something that really stuck out to you the most, Doc?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think the Arizona's meltdown at the house, man, and then the coach going off and hitting the player that fumbled the rock uh before the goal line. Who does that? We've seen that so many times before, a Donnie Mitchell and all that. Guys being too cute and they drop the ball. If they score a touchdown, they're up two touchdowns. But you got to give Cam Ward and the Titans credit, man, because Cam Ward made plays. He made a beautiful throw on several occasions to uh Calvin Ridley. But when you lose at the house to a to a team that you should have beat, Arizona, I don't know if they'll rebound that. And to pick it back on Mike's point, man, this was a division home loss. This is a brutal loss, Mike. I'm not jumping on you, but I expected more out of McVay. I expected more out of Williams, who you gave a big contract to. I thought the fumbling issues were over. A brutal home loss in the division. But to answer your question, Marlon, I think Arizona uh losing at home the way they did, and the coach going off. He was fine, but you never put a hand on the player. And a running back was wrong. If you're so mad at him, put them on waivers, you know. Of course, Jacksonville upsetting the Chiefs, you know. I thought the Chiefs were gonna win, but give Sunshine credit for going right down the field. He actually tripped and failed on one of the most blooper things you'll ever see. I thought he was gonna get tackled and no timeouts, but he got up and go. But the Giants losing to the Saints of all people. I know they're depleted at receiver with Malik Neighbors. You never lose to the Saints, man, who ain't won a game. Uh I know it's the Giants, but you know, it's a lot of things that stick out, man. You got to give Drake May credit, you know, for beating Josh Allen on the road. That might be the coupe de gras. But to answer your question, I think Arizona's meltdown, you know, against the Texans, a rookie quarterback on the Titans team, excuse me. And then when the running back fumbles at the one, that's painful. You know?
SPEAKER_02:That was a horrible. I mean, Arizona's had to listen, the franchise is just very up and down. And I just don't think Cotton's that great. I mean, he's just too inconsistent.
SPEAKER_01:But that was an awful loss.
SPEAKER_02:And you're you know, what there were they have 21-6 going in to make a 20-28 and the guy, and we've seen it, like Doc said, in the Colts-Rams game, the guy fumbled, right? Helped the Rams win the game. It's um just go to the end zone, wait for the rep to, you know, to ask for the ball. I mean, this is inexcusable. That was a terrible loss in that other weird fumble where they picked it off and fumbled and uh and the Titans went in. But the coach, that's it. That's almost fireable. I mean, he was in a space kind of pushing the guy. The kids already felt bad. He can't do that in front of all the cameras. I think he I don't know if they can recover from this, and I don't know if Ganon can recover either. He might have lost the team on that one, even though he apologized. You know, that's a rough one. That's a look, you don't want to be doing that. And you know, go in the locker room, do what you need to do, yeah. But not not there in front of everybody. That that's just not a good look for ref. So we'll see that. Yeah, that was low class.
SPEAKER_00:That's what we're doing for team. And Marlon, Mike and I old enough remember Woody Hayes, the great Woody Hayes who hit the Clemson player, Charlie Bowman on the sidelines, you know, because Bowman picked off a pass. And then that was the end of uh Woody Hayes' great career. But it goes noted, man. You know, you put your hands on somebody, no matter how bad he messes up, you know. You and I, you know, you think your coach last year, Marlon, wanted to beat up uh Justin Herbert for four picks in the postseason, or any of the Falcon bad years, real bad. Some of the quarterback plays, you know, but you don't you don't do that. Of course they wanted to hit him, but you never do it, you know, and this guy did it. But yeah, go ahead, Marlon.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely. So as we look forward to the next oh, Doc, by the way, you you didn't have to have any headaches, no nausea, heartburn, upset, indigestion, diarrhea, because your Falcons were on a bye. So that's good for you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:But going forward, um, you guys got a Monday night, the two double two Monday night games. You guys got the bills. Now, Doc, I got confidence in you. How you feeling about coming up on Monday night?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I feel that we're resting, we're getting our tackle back. And I think the young linebackers, Pierce Jr. and uh uh Jalen Walker, of course, Xavier watched the safety who had a pick in the Washington game. Our rookies are we we're number one in defense. It might surprise you, you know, it might be flawed, but we're number one in defense. But we got to play a pissed off to answer your question, Josh Allen uh coming to Atlanta at the crib on Monday night. And uh Kyle Pitts might be show that, you know. So we'll we'll we'll we'll see how that goes. I'm looking forward to the matchup. It's a challenge to say the least, but yeah. Well uh we should be ready.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:So you know the NFL more than the league, it's it's it's really any given Sunday, right? It really is. You just can't predict how many games. You just don't know what the heck's gonna happen. You know, you're gonna go in there, and nobody everybody's hurt, everybody's healthy, and everybody everything goes well. You never know what's gonna happen. Nobody, nobody looks great in this league so far. Nobody looks like invincible. You know, the Bills lost the game the other night to the Patriots, you know, no one's undefeated now. So everybody can, I mean, almost everybody can knock off everybody except, you know, except the Raiders, they look terrible. But uh maybe other teams, but it's really it's really one of those things, you know. You just don't know.
SPEAKER_00:To look at Mike and Marlin, can you believe that the Baltimore Ravens have melted down to the point to get a 44-point burger at home? You know, what happened to that Gronka defense, Roquan Smith and Kyle Hamilton and Malik uh Malachi Starks? That that's another team we failed to go on with that's shocking. And this is this is Harbaugh, you know. And but I know they don't have the quarterback, but don't go on it, man. CJ Stroud was floundering early in the year and you made him look like his MVP candidate. 44 points given up at home. That's no excuse for Harbaugh's Ravens. But I digress. Go ahead, Marlon.
SPEAKER_04:No excuse at all. I think that um the the defense is just remember the days where Ravens defense was when you saw them on your schedule, you knew that you would be lucky if you scored 10, 13 points. And now it's just you know, but it's but it's crazy when all the top teams, even the I know the Bengals don't have Joe Burrow, but would you look at that defense? It's horrible. When you look at the Bills defense, horrible. Ravens defense, horrible. I even put the Lions defense up there is not that great at all. So it's almost like all these teams are just beefing up their offense and they're saying, hey, our defense, we won't even worry about the defense. We're just gonna try to beat you on offense. Go ahead, Mike.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean that, yeah, the Ravens, of course. That's what you think of, you know. So I don't know what's going on. I've got you guys, you know, they got injuries, but for them to lose a home like that, it's concerning. So I don't know what's happening. If there's something on internally, I don't know if they're chewing out harbour, things. I mean, you just won't see it. I don't know the last time they've been this bad. They've always like, you know, every year they're in the they're in the mix, but of course, you know, without Lamar, and they can still recover. Hopefully, not this week. Hopefully keep it down halfway rounds.
SPEAKER_04:I was gonna say, I was gonna say, take care of business, man.
SPEAKER_02:But I'm not gonna overlook them because they got a lot of pride. I mean, you never count these teams out, even like the Chiefs are up going to you, right? You think, oh, they're gonna be Chiefs. No, you know they're gonna kind of get it together somewhere along the line. You gotta put them down, and they're still that team. Until you knock them out and take them out of the playoffs, you still gotta worry about them. You know, 17 games season, really week five, week six, whatever it is. So you gotta just go in there and just, you know, don't look at those records. Yeah, they got killed the last game, the Ravens, but I'm gonna test me them playing better. I don't, I don't look I hope they don't, but I'm gonna test me them coming back strong this week, especially all the criticism they're getting.
SPEAKER_00:Well, Marlon, the AFC West is is is haunted now. I mean, you look, you go to Denver. Denver went to Philly one by one, getting 18 straight points, putting Philly in the locker room disarray. Now, but your charges, what let me ask you, Marlon, me and Mike, we want to ask you, what are you expecting from your charges going forward, starting with week six, man, given what you're seeing in that AFC West, especially with Denver doing what they did? Rocal.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I think that it's just all the injuries that we have. We have almost all of our star guys on IR from our we know Slater's out, Joe Walt, the other big tackle's out, our new running back now is out, um, Martin Hampton. Khalil Mack should be coming back from IR pretty soon. Um, and our online is just we're we're we're depleted, but we we just got to figure it out and get healthy. And Herbert can't take all these hits, and he's taken so many hits, it's almost like you just hope he gets up every time he takes them. But I know we have the Broncos um coming up pretty soon. No, no, I'm sorry, we have the the Dolphins coming up. So that should be fine. I'm obviously I'm not worried about them as far as going forward after that, which we obviously got to stay healthy, but it's not gonna get any easier because we got the Colts, uh, then we have Minnesota Thursday night football at Tennessee, then we play Pittsburgh Sunday night in Jacksonville, then we can get our bye in week twelve. So if if we can come out of there, I don't know. We've got we've got to figure it out. We start off that you don't want to make that 3-0 in the division lead step away because you can have a winning record uh or the best record in the division to even win the division. So it's got to figure it out. We've got the great code, we have the quarterback, we've got our receivers are healthy, they've got to find the game. Let us find some alive, it's a five. We need help. And now it looks like we may put 50 trades for a um uh guy in New York. Uh Bree Call, Chimara. We've got to figure something out because as of now, two of our number one and number two running backs, Najee Ham Najee Harris is out, excuse me, and Amara Hampton is now out for at least four weeks. So um it it's as as a Charger fan, we we thought this would be our year, and it's still not over. We're we're still tied for first uh in the division, but uh we we gotta get healthy and we gotta get healthy fast. But it is a long season, but we gotta get moving and get these wins back.
SPEAKER_02:Hey Amara, well m there's no way a John a uh uh what's Justin Herbert, you know, team should have 10 points, right? What'd you guys have? You guys score 10, then what'd they score 27 in a row? Yeah, that's just ridiculous. I mean, yeah there's no way, you know, with the talent he has. I mean, this is this is they're not making them doc. They're not making him forget Eric Coriel back in the day with Fouts and JP Jefferson and West Channel. That's right.
SPEAKER_00:West Chandler, Chubb Monsieur, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:He got uh I was shocked. I mean, I saw uh you know, I saw that score. I go, what the heck is going on here? And a lot's expected of you know Harbaugh. It just is. You brought him in here to be the guy. So we'll see where it all goes. I know the injuries, you talk about the injuries, and they do mean something, but after all, no one's gonna care, right? It's about can you do it or not do it with the guys on your team? Because everybody's gonna have them. Uh, if you have too many, you just can't overcome it. But you're getting a point, it always goes back to like, well, how'd you do? End of the year. It's all about you know, you are what you are with your record. Simple as that. You know, you can see this, yeah, that whatever. Three and two, two and three, whatever it is, that's what you are, and you got to kind of somehow make it work. And I'll let you go on.
SPEAKER_04:And I'll let you go on a second, Doc. But when you talk about the injuries, you're looking at you know, Malik neighbors, you look at uh some of these other guys losing some of their star players, even quarterbacks are are going out and not playing. So everybody's dealing with it. It's a part of the game. It just it just you don't want to use that as an excuse, but you know, every everybody's whether first round pick, uh, you know, whoever. We're we're all dealing with it, but you gotta overcome it. And as you said, Mike, you got the coach, he's there to figure it out. We're we're benching, interesting fact for you guys, we're benching our start and center, and we're bringing in the backup, and now he's gonna start because our start and center was so bad. That typically doesn't happen at all. But he's been really he's been so bad, at least your center, your floor general. Uh he's been so bad. So, yeah, we have two backup guys essentially on our tackles. We have a backup center too as well. We do have Becton from Philly, uh, but right now, yeah, we are depleted, especially on the offensive line. Go ahead, Doc.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think the AFC is wide open. Mike, I'm sure you'll agree. For the record, old Doc surprise team is the Steelers at 4-1. And then you got to put the Colts at 4-1. This is Danny Dimes, a reject from the New York Giants. They are 4-1. And they put up a 40-burgh on the Raiders, you know, this past Sunday. And you you might say, well, it's the Raiders, but still, it's still Danny Dimes, damn it. You know, and it's one of those things where other than Jonathan Taylor and and maybe the receiver, I can't think of his name now from UFC, who do they have Coach have? They're four and one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, and but the Steelers, those are my two teams, Steelers and Colts, right now, today, as we speak, you know, this is this is otherworldly here. So you got a chance to to wreck the uh situation in the AFC, Mona. Good luck for and four.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:But uh your take on your surprise teams, both of you.
SPEAKER_02:Well who would who would have thought that who would have thought the that the South with the Jaguars and the Colts, you know, have the two best records, you know, at what the book for one. I mean, that's surprising. I mean, you know, who would have thought that, you know, the you know, the the Jaguars brought in, you know, the new coach, you know, he'd speak for the Rams, by the way, Cohen. And you know what's guys? You know, their GM. Oh my god, I forget his name. I forget his name. The GM of the uh GM of the Jaguars who they brought in, another guy from the Rams was in my limited. He was actually coaching Les needs kid in high school, right? Wow. An assistant coach. And he brought him in to join the Rams in St. Louis. It was crazy. And now he worked as he's there for eight years, worked his way all the way up to one of the top assistants, top scouts, and then he got a GM job at 35. It's like a McVeigh story, you know, getting in so yeah. So you never know in sports what's gonna happen, your connections, but they've done it, they've done a nice job. I mean, look at that game the other night, you know, Trevor Lawrence fell down, got it done, got the end zone. So they're playing good ball, and the Rams got them in two weeks, by the way. They got Devin England coming up at this next game. So that's been a surprise for sure, the Colts and the Giants. Absolutely, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:Mike, I got one more football question for you, and before you hop off, I have a uh a basketball question for you. Uh, and then me and Doc will continue with some college football. So obviously, tonight we got the Giants and the Eagles. When you look at the stars not happy, AJ Brown not happy, uh, and Devontae Smith now not happy too as well. It's almost like down there the offense has essentially ran through Jalen, and whenever they need Saquon, they'll use Saquon. But if if you're one of those receivers, how are you feeling? And do you think one of them, or really more so AJ Brown, could get traded this year?
SPEAKER_02:Boy, he's such a he's such a talent. You know, it's strange with them, right? Because, you know, when you bring him Saquon, let's say without Saquon, they would have won last year. I mean, they won those two games against the Rams, they have four touchdowns at 50 yards plus. He's a great player, so he's got to utilize it. But I get it, these guys want the ball. But when there's a lot of that going on, and if you go a little public, you know, it could happen. I mean, I've seen great players get traded. You hate to see it. My guy Eric Dickerson got traded years ago from the Rams, and I was crushed, you know. So you never know who can get traded. But yeah, if they don't get it together here and they lose another game or two, and he's unhappy and he's saying whatever, they're gonna have to do something. But he's such a such a phenomenal talent. You would think they figure out a way they could kind of utilize everybody. But keep an eye on that. That was a that was a rough loss of them against uh China California's Broncos last week for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Marlon, before Mike goes, you gotta give him two games this coming weekend who Mike likes as a lock this upcoming slate. You'll call Mike. Go ahead, Marlon.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, two games this weekend? I haven't looked at the whole schedule. I'm gonna put my Rams in there for one. How's it? I'm gonna have some confidence. It'll be the Ravens. Yeah. And without seeing, um I haven't looked at the schedule for the following week, tell the truth. So I don't know who's on the who's on the doc. Give me give me some of them, give me a couple of them. Um on the schedule this week?
SPEAKER_01:The Bills are pokey. We've got yeah, we've got Lions and Chiefs.
SPEAKER_04:Lions and Chiefs Sunday night football that's gonna be in Kansas City. Tough. Uh two Monday night football games, Bills and Docks Falcons in Atlanta. Bears at Commanders, Monday Night Football, the second Monday night football game. Uh, what's another good one?
SPEAKER_00:Bengals and the Packers. 49ers at Tampa Bay. 49ers at Tampa Bay. That's a great one. Yeah, that's a good one.
SPEAKER_02:I can see the Commanders winning that one for sure. I can see the Commanders. They said they played so well last week and she goes, Oh, I can see them taking care of this as the Bears. But you never know. I mean, look at Kayla played well last game, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So I go Rams and Commanders this week.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I like the uh I like the Seahawks at the Jaguars game. I'm thinking taking the Jaguars, and of course I just referenced 49ers at Buccaneers. Selfishly, I want the 49ers to win. I know you don't, Mike, but the Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield's playing at an MVP level. You gotta take uh, you know, the Buccaneers. So those are my two right there. You're okay, Marlon. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And then yeah, I have uh, let's see. I I gotta throw my charges in there. I I have to. We're we're in Miami. I uh it's it's a lot we have to win that game. We can't lose. Win three in a row and lose three in a row. Uh and then I got the um I got the Bengals upsetting the Packers in Lambeau. Um I got I got a lot of people.
SPEAKER_02:Well they got to figure out Flacco now, right?
SPEAKER_04:And well he's not gonna play. I don't think he'll play this week, but Jake Browning can figure it out in this Packers defense. Everyone wants to rave and talk about this Packers team as one of the best teams in this league. They crown Jordan Love like he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league when we all know Jordan Love will still Jordan Love at the end of the day. This defense with or without Micah has been horrible. I don't care what anybody says in Dallas. If you had Micah, the defense would still be horrible. I'd like the Bengals to beat the Packers outright. I don't need any points. I like them to beat him outright. With Joe Flacco, it gives him another little uh a little boost whenever he comes back and plays for Jake Browning, but Jake is gonna try to save his job. I like the Bengals to win this one. So mark my words on that one.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, you you you you're on record. You're on record. In Lambeau. Lambeau kill, Mike. We're gonna remind Marlin of that next week.
SPEAKER_02:Defense is caps.
SPEAKER_04:This defense isn't that crazy. This is gonna be a uh offensive game. Both these defenses are horrible. But Green Bay's, it doesn't matter who you have right there. Micah's not scaring, Micah and that defense aren't scaring anybody.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, that's fair, man. But damn, that quarterback backup for the Bengals doesn't show nothing, though. But you you already put it out there. Okay. Reaction to two. I got you on that one, brother. Good job, Marley. And then last and then last question for you, Mike, before you get out of here.
SPEAKER_04:So uh how are you feeling about the Lakers? We got two weeks till the season starts. How are you feeling about us? Two weeks? Uh chemistry, what are you worried about, concerns? What are your thoughts? What can this Lakers team do uh in this 2025-2026 season?
SPEAKER_02:I listen, I mean, I'm not I'm not gonna predict they're going to the NBA championship. Put it that way. I think I think they'll be in the mix for a good year. Obviously, you got Luca. He's you know he's slim down, he's looking good. You're up, you know, you see this and that and the other. LeBron's 40 coming up on 41. He's already got this whole pre-what's he got a clue, what's he got something going on? That got a clute thing or something? Yeah, you know, and we're still we're still relying on him to see that guy along with Luca at that age. That's a tough one. That's a very precarious thing. And I don't know how much longer he's going. That's a whole nother story. I mean, I don't know if this is the last year or whatever. But DeAndre Ain, dog, he's gonna come up big. I mean, they miss Anthony D. Davis in the middle. You can say what you want about Luca. He missed the defense. He missed the rebound. You saw what happened against the Currentwell. Nothing. You know, and of course, you know, JJ didn't want to play uh what's his Hayes. For whatever reason. Anyhow, so we'll see. And he's gained 20 pounds, so we'll see how he goes. But yeah, a lot of question marks still. And we'll see what JJ can do in a second here. So your reason I gotta see them play. I haven't seen them play together, right? We haven't seen anything. So I think they'll be good. I'm not gonna say they're gonna be great, though. I just can't say that for now. But I think they'll be in the mixes. You know, obviously one of the best. That's a tough conference, though, man. There's so much.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it is. The West is brutal. And mom would agree with that. And we even talked about Dallas Maverick with with flag and and and uh kind of coming back in January. Yeah. I'd give the Lakers the sixth seed right now as we speak. I gotta see how the locker room is, not a LeBron, not the man. But good response, Mike. Good job. All right. Oh Doc, by the way.
SPEAKER_02:As long as he's there, he's always the man. That's the thing. He always it's not he's just too big of a guy, too big of a personality not to not to give up who he's gonna be, right? As long as he's the guy in the team. In his mind, it also, even though Luca is the guy, it's still gonna go through LeBron. That's just the way that's just the way he's just bigger. Marlon, he's a bigger brand than the Lakers. And that's the thing about him to me. He's always been a bigger brand than the Lakers. All the Lakers greats. All you go back to Jerry, you go back to Korean, the magic. They've never been bigger than the Lakers brand. They've always fit in Kobe, but LeBron is, sadly, for the Lakers. It's always like he's bringing his brand to them. You know what I'm saying? It's just a little bit different dynamic there. So I'm kind of ready for the to move on eventually here. Yeah. But we'll go over this year. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_04:I agree on that, Mike. That is that is the the realest thing you said. I'm I'm ready for this chapter, respectfully, because it is LeBron, but I'm ready for this chapter to be over because now we're tying into he's a defensive liability when you think about it.
SPEAKER_02:You know, he he can be the oldest he can be the oldest player. This is crazy. You're 23. Yeah. You're 23, for record. He's still efficient, which is the first time. I'm giving my credit, but it's crazy.
SPEAKER_04:But we don't have the with hit with what he's with what we're paying him, we don't have the ability to spend that money elsewhere and get a a ton of role players and all that.
SPEAKER_02:So but uh and the thing is, you know, Martha, you know, the thing is, you know, Roth Lincoln said he wants him to retire a Laker. So that's like as long as he wants to be there getting his 50 million, he's gonna I'm like, well, what are we gonna do? How much longer are we gonna do this? Because he if he wants to keep going or they're gonna sign him again. I don't know what the plan is here. It's like he's holding us hostages. And this is, you know, they did saying things at the offseat, you know. I I don't know. The whole thing's kind of weird.
SPEAKER_04:And he's not going anywhere else. He's he's not gonna, unless he may go back to Cleveland. I don't think so. He's in LA. Let's go. Exactly. Your kids, your kids are there. It would be a great story for him to go back to Cleveland again, but it's for him to move his family and do all that stuff. You're in LA, you're in Hollywood, that's where you want to be, that's where your kids are.
SPEAKER_02:You know, it's it's a perfect prices in Arizona this year. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so it's not gonna, it's it's it's not gonna, he's not gonna go anywhere. But just like in the old Kobe years, we paid Kobe essentially whatever he wants. He kept signing these two-year deals for 30, 35 million or however much it was, and we we did the right thing by paying him. And so now we'll do the right thing by paying LeBron.
SPEAKER_02:He deserved it. Yeah, everything he gave. Exactly. He did, but you're not doing anything. Jeannie loves her stars, she just always loves her stars, she feats her stars well. But eventually, here we're gonna have to just cut the cut the cord.
SPEAKER_00:Well, it's the brand as you referenced, Mike, and you're hoping Vanderbilt and and uh Ryu, Hashimur, all those cats step up to give you a shot at uh being an upper echelon in the West. Well, yeah, Reeves, too. Well, Reeves is gonna bring it. Uh, number four, Dalton Connect. These are role players that the Lakers need to step up to have that bench, Marlon, and like from the outside looking in, you know. So we'll see how it goes. That's a good response, bro.
SPEAKER_02:Come on, let's go. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we'll talk about people that's three rollers. Three rollers, baby. Yeah. All right, guys.
SPEAKER_04:Mike, we appreciate you, man. Thank you for the time, man.
SPEAKER_01:Anytime, guys. Thank you, Mike. Love you, man. God bless. Thank you. All right, take care. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_04:Whew, that was good. Okay, so Doc, over on to the college football, man. I mean, we got um yeah, your Georgia Bulldogs took care of business. Thought it would be a little bigger of a win, but hey, I, you know, the win's a win. But what were your thoughts on your Bulldogs uh on uh Saturday?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I was happy that the running game uh showed us hey, we got a new running back, you know, Bowen, Chauncey Bowen's number 33 since Frazier. Nate Frazier, the kid out of Santa Anna Moderate, likes to put the ball on the ground. So Kirby Smart doesn't mess around. It's a big win over Kentucky at home. Now we got to play Auburn on the road. But I'll be remiss if I didn't mention some of the two shockers, uh, Marlon, this past weekend. You know, how in the world can Orange and Sarkeesian down there at the University of Texas get blasted by Florida, who was flounding around with their quarterback, Lagway. You know, if you're a big time school like Texas, you don't let that happen. You got blasted on. And then, of course, Penn State and Drew Allard, the quarterback who's projected to go number one. I don't know. But James Franklin has to be in trouble after losing to a beleaguered UCLA team. It just fired the coach, man. You know, they players don't want to play. The Nico came out there, he was the Nico of Tennessee balls from last year. Penn State can't go on the road and get blasted like that, you know, 44 to whatever, 42 to whatever, and show yourself in the Big Ten. You know, James Frayton can't win against Ohio State, but now you lose to UCLA on the road. And then I reference Texas, man. Texas is in trouble, brother. You know, those are the two things that stick out. Alabama did what they did after beating Georgia. They come back and win big for the board. That coach was on the high seat. Now they got to go to Missouri. So it was a big college weekend coming up, but highlighted by Georgia at Auburn and Alabama at Missouri. And of course, Oklahoma, Texas, and the in the uh in that in that wild game every year. They call it something, but you're down there.
SPEAKER_04:Cocon Bowl, yeah, absolutely. So uh that'll be at the state fair uh coming up uh this weekend. So it's you have the Gremlin Purview one week, and then you have Texas OU the next week. So um that'll be a good one. Other good games, Ohio State, uh at Illinois. That spread's 14 and a half, so of course Ohio State can take care of business. This one could be, and I want to get your take on this one. Alabama and Missouri, and the spread's only three and a half on this one. So I I think we may be smelling a potential upset.
SPEAKER_00:It might, it might happen, man. Missouri ain't no joke, man. That coach has it going on. Now he lost the receiver to the Bears. But Missouri, anytime you're on the road in the SEC, there's warning signals. That's why I'm a little concerned about the Auburn thing, because we we beat them 14 out of 15 times, you know. But it goes noted. Alabama, the board, they can't lose Missouri if they want to do the things they need to do, you know. So uh, yeah, it goes noted. The SEC road games. Of course, Tennessee, you know, they're gonna blast Arkansas. I mean, uh, yeah, Arkansas and all that in the Southeastern Conference, you know. But I'm I'm willing to see out here in the West Coast how did the UCLA, after beating, after destroying Kenn State, you know, uh uh, what's his name? Burke, um, what's it got? Oh, ex coach. He bees on the now. His son is uh coach of UCLA now. They just blew him out. They just blew out the head coach, the running back, Sean Foster. So, you know, it's interesting what UCLA does as a follow-up, you know. New Heisel. The younger new Heisel is the coach of UCLA now. So wow. Let's see what that goes on. Just put it up. Um, and then you got Berkeley, Cal, Raider S's Cal team, you know, they're that dude trying to do something up there in Berkeley's. We'll see. I love college football. But the headliners, as you referenced, is uh Alabama at Missouri and Georgia at Auburn. So get your popcorn ready, ABC.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, one other game too, as well, and a very interesting thing that I saw uh a couple days ago. But we also got Indiana at Oregon, two 5-0 teams. Uh that one should be a good one too, as well, uh, out there in the green. Now, you hear the news about Bill Belichick, I'm sure you have. I I think this is something that uh I don't think anybody saw coming. I think he just jumped on an opportunity when that when it presented itself. Um I definitely think that he needs to uh just get out of there as soon as he can and just figure out what your next step is because you don't want your legacy, because we don't we know you're only a few games away from from being the winningest coach in football, but you you gotta get out of this situation. You're wasting your time, wasting your years. You have to be in a position to where people now see you in a different light as you were before, before you took this job. And whenever a team is just just as is as is uh Peyton did, Tom Payton, where he was doing his broadcasting and got his stuff, and then eventually we all knew Harbaugh was coming out, but he has to get out of that situation, figure out the buyout, just get in the NFLs, people know you still got it, and and and you know, get at least one or two more seasons.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it I think Belichick's ego got involved, obviously. We were stomping his nose at the NFL because they didn't give him another job to break Don Schuler's record of what 327 wins, whatever the case may. So he took North Carolina, and you you and I knew that wasn't a fit to begin with. Never coach college, you know, and all that. And just because you're the all-time winningest coach doesn't mean that these kids are gonna listen to you. You have no pedigree in college, you have no personality to present the program and you're live in a parent's living room. You know, I wouldn't want my kid to play for a guy like Belichick. And then you got a 25-year-old putting distract, your girl that is putting distractions on your coaching career. Well, you know, you're dating uh uh uh a distraction, if you will. She wants to be in the news. And so, you know, unfortunately for North Carolina alumni and fans and they're died fans, you know, you got to go all the way back to uh, you know, Amos Lawrence, you know, that went to the US of L or Lawrence Taylor, Jordan, all these cats, you know, Brad Doherty and basketball, you know, these North Carolina alumni, they're not happy with what's going on. And then he takes a bye week to go on a vacation instead of trying to recruit. You get away from the situation, you know, instead of trying to soothe and trying to recruit and say, hey, everything's all right, he needs to go, as you referenced. It's a bad deal in North Carolina. I'm glad I'm not a Ta Hill fan. The guy's already in his mid-70s. So did you take that seriously from day one? You know, so you know, and and these parents, these recruits, they know. They know, man, he's not a good fit there. But it's embarrassing. It does hurt his legacy, as you referenced. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_04:And when when you go and find he he got that job so early. And and which, mind you, you need to get that job early to recruit and do things like that. But it almost felt as if when he realized he wasn't getting a job in the NFL, he said, you know what, I'm out of here. I'm gone. And it's it's but yeah, you gotta get out of there, revivor's career, because you know, you don't wanna I it it got to the point to where they were getting um that Monday night football, the the week one of the college football season. I remember he was on TV and they were hyping it up and talking about him, and he was leading stories. North Carolina's never led a program ever, but it's since it's Bill Belichick, that's what he brings. That's that's who he is, and he's gonna get you that headline. But if he can get a a I don't know what teams are we obviously don't know what it's gonna look like toward the end of the season and who's on the hot seat, but if we can get him in and and turn around a defense and I I would love to see it. I would hate to see him go out like that, but you you gotta get out of there and and and start the next chapter.
SPEAKER_00:So um Yeah, but every every coach that hangs on goes there. Don Schuller was horrible his last few years in Miami, but at least he stayed in the NFL, man. And it's not like Vince Lombardi, as doggy loves is Vince Lombardi. He went to Washington, and that wasn't a piece of cake either. I think they were 500. You know, Landry got blown out, a legend. Tom Landry in Dallas, because Jerry Jones bought the team. So he he got blown out unceremoniously. But this cat here, Bill uh Bill Park um Belichick, he went to the college level and they're getting blown out, they're not even competing. Nope. Not even competing, getting blown out by 30 or 40 points is not cool, man, for the alumni and down fans of Ty Hill Nation, you know. Everybody has uh uh alumni. People graduated from North Carolina, they can't be happy with what's going on here. If it was three or four point losses, game to game, because they don't have to recruit five. But you lose about 40, and I'm not exaggerating. Yeah, but yeah, that's what that is.
SPEAKER_04:And then and then, Doctor, last thing I got for you, obviously the WNBA finals. Uh, it is a uh the aces are running away with it. Aja Wilson, the best player in the league. Of course, she's paired with Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, um, you know, they which I I feel bad for Kelsey Plum. If they would have kept her, they probably would have been in the same situation. But Jewel Lloyd's been coming alive too as well. Uh game one, they won by three points, 89-86. Game two, 91, 78, and then pulling away a little bit. And even in in Mercury's crib, they won last night, last second um uh uh field goal by uh AJ Wilson 9088. So uh I mean obviously I I'm pretty sure we know it's over historically speaking, but does Mercury have any chance to come back and win?
SPEAKER_00:No, they don't, and I'm glad you brought that up. And I asked you this before on previous shows relative to AJ Wilson's legacy right now, today, in today's space. You know, I mentioned some of the greats, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, Diana Trossi, Brianna Stewart. And I always loved Cheryl Miller. There was no league back then for her, but it goes no there. Asia Wilson's going on climbing up the depth chart here as far as greats. You know, I think Cynthia Cooper won four at that time, and she was great. But man, Asia Wilson, a four-time MVP, about to win her second or third title, you know, and the way she's doing in clutch, they depend on her, and she hit the shot late. That's Jordanesque. So it goes no, no, Phoenix, Phoenix is done. You know, that was a devastating loss, second shot, devastating loss for them. But you got to give it up, man. You know, this is a, and if you remember during the season, they started slow. People was wondering what's wrong with the ages, and then they went on a 17-game winning streak, and then that's all she wrote.
SPEAKER_04:You know, everybody wanted that coach gone. They they were calling for a job. They said it's time for her to go. There's no way that you trade for somebody like Jill Lloyd of her magnitude. She's not as great as she used to be, but still at her magnitude of a player. Um there's no way that you need to be in a position that you're in now. So um, yeah, so this is uh, yeah. And then you got the Unrivaled, which will be starting up pretty soon in about a month or so down in Orlando, I believe it is. So we'll definitely be looking forward to that. It does suck, and I don't want to say this is karma for Alyssa Thomas because she is a great player. She's a very rough player. Um so she's um she's like almost, I don't want to say like a shack, but she's like one of those physical big women, big men, big women uh that that play. So that's how she plays, and she was the reason why uh Nafisa Collier messed up her knee and possibly I think she may need surgery, so going in for a steal. But that's just how she plays. Like she's it's almost like one of those, you know, Doc back in the day when you get some of those guys that when you're hooping, you get some of those football players that come in and want to play too, and they're just too physical and they don't understand the game. And I think to a certain extent, that was that is really um uh uh Alicia Thomas uh no, not uh Alicia Thomas, yeah. So that was her. Yeah, Alicia Thomas, yeah. But yeah, so she wasn't. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you know, uh when I watch her game, man, it reminds me of uh uh Big Bob Lanier or Otis Gilmore, Moses Malone, big physical, you know. Yeah, and uh and and in mid-season, I had uh the Minnesota League, Nafisha Carlier. I hope I'm pronouncing her name. I had her winning the MVP. She was putting up sick numbers. Minnesota Lynx was the best team in basketball because she missed two weeks because of the injury. And then, of course, AJ Wilson won the MVP. So yeah, I agree with you, brother. Physicalness, you know, big girl.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah, but other than that, Doc, man, we we covered a lot, man. That's that's all I got for you. Got anything else for us?
SPEAKER_00:Oh no, everybody enjoy the weekend, starting with college on Saturday, and joy the night's game with the Giants and uh Philly and the NFC East. And I thank Mike for joining us. And this was a great, great, great show. And I appreciate it, Marlon, you MC ing and being the producer. Thanks a lot.
SPEAKER_04:All right, no problem. We'll catch you guys next week. Peace! Peace.