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World Cup Recap, AFC West Predictions w/ Est in Oak and Tom in Montana
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We jump from the World Cup’s biggest moments to a hard look at why US men’s soccer still fights for consistency, then vent about baseball teams that can’t match their talent. We finish with a fan-first AFC West preview, including win totals, betting leans, and what the Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders, and Broncos must get right to win the division.
• World Cup takeaways, underdog stories, and why the final felt historic
• Messi versus Ronaldo debate and what “greatness” looks like late in a career
• US soccer pipeline issues, pay-to-play reality, and why other sports win the best athletes
• Padres underachievement, manager fit, contract timing, and depleted farm system
• Braves check-in, injuries, and trade deadline pressure points
• Mount Rushmore favorites for Dodgers, Raiders, Padres, and Chargers
• AFC West win totals, division order predictions, and best over under angles
• Chargers path to the top, Herbert protection, and why health decides everything
We will catch everybody next week with another division, and uh we’ll go from there.
Welcome Back And Season Setup
SPEAKER_00And welcome, welcome, welcome back to another episode of season three of uh Real Talk. This is uh around the time where we go ahead and we do the divisions uh of the NFL. So we kick that off. So we will break down every single division up until the season starts. Uh we took about a month or so off, and now we are officially back uh and ready to roll. So, Doc, how you doing today, man?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm doing fine. It's glad to be back, man. We got a couple of special guests that know their stuff. Let's do it. Do the intro.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So, my my friend, my fellow charger, uh Tom in Colorado, Montana, wherever the hell he's at, uh, he uh he joins us. And uh let's start with you, Tom. How you doing, man?
SPEAKER_03I'm doing good, guys. It's really great to be back on all of you. Really enjoyed the last time we chopped up. Good to good uh I'm gonna say this. It's uh it's gonna hurt a little to say, but it's actually good to talk to Aston actually in person for the first time. We've uh we've tweeted quite a bit over the years. Uh so it's good to hear good to hear him on here talking uh live. So good to be on with all the guys.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And as he just read I love S.
SPEAKER_03I love S, but he's a you know, he always gets the upper hand on this Dodger Padre Chargers. You know, he's always at the upper hand.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And Ed joins us. He typically joins us before every uh uh we'll give the win totals and all of that and his best bets for the year, but he does join us now for this AFC West preview, if you have not figured that out yet. So Evston Oakland, how you doing, man?
SPEAKER_02Uh you know what? I absolutely love being on this show with you guys. I I feel blessed. If I could uh if I could quote one of my good friends, I feel blessed being here on this show with you guys tonight.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, Ray. We're blessed to have you and Tom. Let's do it, baby.
SPEAKER_00Love it, love it.
World Cup Reactions And Best Teams
SPEAKER_00So uh Est, we're just gonna kick this off with you. The floor is yours on this, the World Cup. Uh, what what were your your thoughts uh in general going out, team USA, Mexico, uh, Argentina, France? What were your thoughts overall on the World Cup uh from start to finish? Go ahead, floor is yours.
SPEAKER_02All right, so Tom, I'm not sure if you know this or not, but I am an absolute soccer fanatic. I I live and breathe soccer, especially international soccer. When it comes to World Cup, I pretty much stop whatever I'm doing and just pay attention for five weeks to all the matches. I think I only missed uh three total matches this entire uh World Cup. Um so the I have to tell you guys, as someone who's been watching World Cup since 1986, when I was nine years old, this is probably the best World Cup I have ever seen.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02There was so much drama. Every single match had a great storyline. You had those underdog stories like Kate Verde coming out and uh shocking the world and making it into the knockout stages. Um, you had, but what was nice is at the end, you had, I felt were the four best teams in this tournament there at the end playing for the uh for the title. And that that's really all you could ask for in something like this. You you you yes, you like the Cinderella stories. I mean, everyone loves the NCAA tournament and loves those Cinderella stories when uh number ones get knocked out or number twos get knocked out in the first couple of rounds. But you know when when you could see just the best talent in the world out there on the pitch, putting it all out there, and there's there's nothing better in all of sports to be able to say that these are the best teams in the world to out there. And then when you got the final, you had literally, I mean, the number one and number two ranked teams according to FIFA out there playing. I mean, uh, granted, I my my predictions were were France and England to uh either one of those teams to win it all. They both ended up in the third place game, but nevertheless, you saw some great young talent, you saw some old talent saying goodbye. I mean, uh there's even though he could probably could, I doubt you'll see Messi again in four years. Um, Cristiano Ronaldo has already called in a career at patch of this World Cup. So it was good to see those guys get the spotlight. And but just the young talent that is coming up right now from these different countries, it's just gonna be very, very exciting in four years because it's not just one country holding a lot of talent, it's spread out amongst four or five different countries with 17, 18, 19-year-old players on their teams that are gonna become household names over these next few years.
SPEAKER_03I'll tell you just my my two cents real quick is uh I watched two games. I watched Belgium, USA, and I watched the final. Now, I'm not gonna pretend to be a soccer fan or know much about the game, but I'll tell you this. They are athletes, and them guys are athletes, and I'll tell you another thing, the passion is is awesome to watch from these guys. They are passionate about their representing their countries. And the other thing I really loved was just the uh the side stories of all the visitors from all the different countries and and the you know the videos of the Norwegians doing the row and and uh the Scotland's you know doing their thing. It was really fun. I mean, there's nothing you can say bad about it, but uh yeah, I like I said, I those will probably be the last two games I watched till maybe the next World Cup, but I enjoyed them.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's that's good, Tom. And Ray S. I got a couple
Messi Versus Ronaldo And Argentina Style
SPEAKER_01things for you. The first one is this, you know, we saw Messi get pretty much handled by Spain's defense. They had like seven shutouts, which is unheard of in the whole uh tournament. But here's the thing the prior match, I don't know who they played. Were you surprised in any way, shape, or form, Ray to ask the way Argentina came back from 3-0 down, or whatever it was, or three goals and seven minutes, some six stuff, you know. Messi showed his real deal, man. It's my really first time watching him. And what's your take on who would you take? You know, Messi or Ronaldo, A. And then B, uh, you know, the previous match where Argentina just went off. Does that happen naturally? You're sorry for three goals in six minutes and some seconds? Your take on that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so first of all, Messi versus Ronaldo, I mean, it's not even a uh a competition. I mean, Messi he will probably go down as we talk about Rushmore. I mean, he's probably uh two or three for me in Mountain Rushmore of uh of all soccer players of all time. I mean, this guy at his age still doing what he was doing out there. I mean, and and going into that final weekend and running for the golden boot for the player scoring uh the most goals with Mbappe, I mean, it just it's amazing what that guy was able to do. Now, as far as Argentina as a team, if you watch them throughout the entire tournament, they never really had a match where they dominated the entire match from beginning to end. You saw that from Spain, you saw that from France, you saw that from England. There they had a number of matches where they dominated from beginning to end. Argentina had to just fight and claw for to come back in a lot of these matches. I mean, gets Kit Verde. Kit Verde should have won that match. I mean, that went into extra time where there were three more goals scored in extra time, which is also something that's unheard of. So for this team to be able to do what they did, we we shouldn't have been surprised when they did that against England. But yeah, it was shocking to see them to score those three goals in those final six minutes to take that match. But you know, it's just but that's also kind of the style that Argentina plays. They um will try to just slow the game down and kind of be bullies out there in the field, which yeah, they they get they get blasted a lot for this, and then it really was exposed against Spain because Spain wasn't playing into that game that they were doing, they weren't allowing them to get bullied out there on the pitch. And Argentina just had nothing else to do. They they had no other answer to the to Spain for they they thought that they could go out there, kind of play bully ball, which is Argentina's bull all the time when they're out there, and it just Spain said uh fuck you guys. No, this is our match, we're gonna play our style, and they they did what they what Spain did the entire uh tournament, like you said. I mean, having all those uh those shutouts, their defense is absolutely stifling, and you gotta give them all the credit in the world.
SPEAKER_01Well, Raider S and Tom,
Why US Men Lag Behind Globally
SPEAKER_01I gotta ask Raider S this. I'm not really a soccer guy. I played it a little bit in high school, but it begs the question, team USA, Christian for listening, and I don't want to call him garbage because I'm not privy to what he did prior to this tournament may have been hurt. What's your take on the infrastructure, Raider S, uh, for the youngsters? Soccer fields everywhere. You know, we have a ways to go for the world to match up with the world. But uh the infrastructure, is it capable for the team USA to get better? I know Antonio Freeman's son is on there and he's pretty good. He's pretty decent. But when Christian Polismic is a superstar, I think we're in trouble even four years from now. Does it start at the youth level rate it as A, and then B, the better athletes go to other sports like basketball and and and football and baseball? What's your take on going forward for Team USA? And what I meant.
SPEAKER_02You know, Doc, it's funny because this conversation comes up every four years when it comes to U.S. soccer. And it really started in '94 when uh the U.S. hosted the uh the World Cup out here. And you had uh the the team with like Tony Miola, um Alexi Lawless, and then you had Toby Jones later on, and you had what you thought was our savior with Freddie Adu, and now you have Christian Polisic, you see as the next uh as the next uh rising star who's gonna lift uh team USA out of its doldrums. Here's the thing: if you ask a lot of soccer USA soccer fans, even the hardcore soccer USA soccer fans, before this World Cup started, if you told them that the US will make it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, will you be happy with that that outcome? And I would say nine out of ten US soccer fans would say yes, we'd be happy with it. Now, what happened was the US they showed some grit up there, especially in their first um uh knockout match against Bosnia. I mean, they they showed that they could dominate a match, but then they just met up with a much better team in Belgium, and Belgium just absolutely stifled the U.S. and really exposed a lot of the weaknesses of this team. So as far as U.S. soccer goes in the future, honestly, I think right now is the best team that U.S. has had in 20 years, and I cannot see them getting any better. And one of the things that you mentioned is the fact that in the U.S. there are so many different options for young athletes to go play games. I mean, I I when I was a kid, I played soccer, I played basketball, I played football. Yeah, some other countries, you don't see that. You see them going to soccer at an early age. They have uh soccer camps at an early age, these um academies at a young age where the kids they play soccer and they go to school, and that's all they do. So the US, we have we have some of that, especially like in in basketball. You'll see like uh there's uh basketball academies like Oak Hill, which is known for its basketball, but it's also a school. Um you have things like that, but it's just it's soccer is not a main focal point here in the US. And people always ask, well, how come it's it works that way for the women? How come the women are able to have such success and the men can't? Yeah, good point. I I I can't explain why. I I don't know why. I mean, it's maybe it's a physiological thing with between men and women and that sport, who knows the reason why why US can't men cannot get that same success as women. But uh I I just personally like I said, I I've been hearing this since '94, so for 22 years now, and I I just don't see it being any different.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it might it might be related to well, yeah, I'm just thinking it might be related to the to the excellent point you both brought up about the the options that the young men in the United States have as far as other sports, where the women uh not so much. I mean, the WNBA is catching catching on here finally, but uh they don't really have a lot of professional sports to chase, like like you men do with uh with the NFL and the NBA and and MLB. Uh S, do you compare the way that some of these other countries with the camps and and academies and stuff is the like baseball and the Dominican, is that a is that a fair, is that a decent comparison?
SPEAKER_02No, exactly. I mean the Dominican, uh Venezuela, you you looked at the the baseball landscape, and um I I I know Dolph can appreciate this, especially when it comes to like African American players. You see that decrease in African American players in the major leagues now. And um a lot of it just has to with African-American player athletes who are going into football, going into basketball, baseball, yeah, baseball. A lot of the predominantly uh black communities, they don't have the baseball fields, they have the basketball courts. Um you'll get uh players who are able to play football out in the dirt and kids playing football out in the dirt, which is not a problem. And then they fall in love with football because football is on TV. It's fun to watch a football game. Um, it's fun to watch a basketball game because it's constant action. Baseball, I mean, I know Tom and I are and Doc are all diehard baseball fans, but we were also raised on it. We grew up on this, on this stuff. And it it I mean, I I look at my kids. I I can't get my kids to sit there and watch a nine-and-in game with me. It's it's impossible. My son's 15, my daughter's 14. And my daughter will sit there and watch a hell of a hockey game. She loves hockey. My son, he'll he'll watch a basketball game, but when it comes to baseball, they're bored by it. But uh, yeah, so that that's Tom kind of a long way of answering your question is yes. So you'll see those baseball camps going on in uh in these uh Latin American countries, especially, and it's that same thing in uh South America for soccer and Europe for soccer. Well, that's a good question, Tom.
SPEAKER_01And I'm glad you brought that up, Bradley, because in the black community, especially in the cities, you know, it's expensive. Soccer is an expensive sport, and then you got to get the time. And sometimes you got three of days and all that, and this, that, and the other. And and it's one of those things where the lower-income families in the African-American communities are not, they would say, screw it. I can go to Walmart or Costco and pick up a basketball or or or a football and take it from there. Even baseball. It's not when I was coming, there was no baseball academies in Atlanta, and that's a major city. Marlon, that's Marlon, I don't know if you want to weigh in on this, but soccer is an expensive sport. You know, and what the white kids, you know, they're not gonna say, okay, mom, uh I want to go to the league. You know, more than more than likely, those kids are going to college, you know, the preppy guys, you know, they're not gonna take soccer that seriously. So the infrastructure in the United States right here, from my point of view, gets hurt because eventually you have to go overseas and play against the best or compete against the best. The camps are over there. And uh soccer is an expensive sport. So I'm glad we broke on on this topic. That's all I got on that, unless you want to weigh in some more. You know, no, that's thank you for that response.
SPEAKER_00No, everything is great and and I and I think it's it it starts it starts young and it's expensive. And and my son is three, he loves soccer. But now we're okay, he does a little something in his daycare. But if we really want to take this to the next level, of course it's going to let's get him into uh an organized uh you know uh soccer class and you know one-on-one training. And then my daughter's doing gymnastics two or three times a week. So uh it's it's definitely very fast. And and uh, of course, if you want any stuff to make it down the road, you can't sell these kids a training that fair field right at best of all time. Oh, yeah, you can go to college and you can be a time rate. It's not gonna happen. Like it's it's it's less than a zero point, zero, zero, zero point percent, it's not like that happening. Now I'm not saying never say never, but most likely it's not gonna happen. But it starts with an early and sometimes it's certainly you know, communities don't have uh the resources, if you will, to get those trainings and all that stuff. So absolutely, it's still great. Okay, all right. So we got a lot more to get into. So uh
Padres Frustration And Front Office Blame
SPEAKER_00Tom, I'm gonna throw it over to you. Um, it's not looking too good right now for our Padres. It looks like they um what is it, 701 now um against uh Doc the Braves. So what are your thoughts on the Padres season uh thus far? And then uh narrowing it down to uh this series uh against the Braves. Go ahead, Tom.
SPEAKER_03I'm disgusted with the Padres. And I'll tell you what, this this is one of the most underachieving rosters that I've ever seen. And I and and I I would rather watch the 1969 Padres. I think they won 45 games or something, where they won. But they had hard this team. I'm I'm super disgruntled with them right now. Uh the seat roster. Uh I think uh hiring uh Craig Stammon as the manager was this one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. Uh you got this $270 million roster, and you hire a guy, you know, he's a great pitcher, but uh they had uh Albert Pools was sitting there waiting to take the rants. And uh these guys would have related to him. He could have related to Tatis, to Bachado. Uh I don't know why they didn't hire him. I I thought when I heard he was down in uh interviewing for over 24 hours with the, I thought it was a done deal. I thought Poohs was going to be our manager, and the next thing you know, I hear it's uh it's it's Craig Stamin, and it's it hasn't worked. So I'm just renting. And you'll see when I when I read my top five Padres, I purposely left everybody on this roster off my top five. I think the last time we did the show, I had it, I had a couple of guys on the current roster of my top five. I can't do it right now. I'm I'm uh it's been a very frustrating season.
SPEAKER_01Well, Tom, that's a good good point there. And I gotta weigh in on this on you and Wallin. Uh Fernando Tatis and uh Machado, these are big names. And I yeah, I'm trying to not tuned in to the Padres a few weeks. Tat Eastern hit his first home run into what was uh three weeks ago, his first home run. It was in June. In June, got that no home runs for for three months. So what is is it ownership? Because you had you had Dylan C's. I don't know why you let him go. And I don't know, man. It just seems like the talent was there. I'm going back to Ozzy Smith, you know, and Dave Winfield. What happened? Yeah, what happened from that time to now as you reference your fan? You're just sick of it, underachieving, you know. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03I think I think Preller, AJ Preller, he he he was too quick to to pay these guys. I mean, I'm not talking so much about Machado or Catese. I the they they made sense. But Cronerworth. Cronerworth had a a decent season and they gave him like eight twenty million a year. Uh Will uh uh the young guy, Will uh his name escaped me right now. Zara Pilders. Uh help me, Martin. What's that kid's name? Uh anyway. Uh Jackson, Jackson Merrill. So he he had one good he had a good rookie season and they threw the bank at him. Now can't hit 220. I mean, so they've thrown all this money out there and these guys really didn't earn it yet. Uh I don't know what's going on with Manny. He just is, I don't know if he's out of shape or if he's from, you know, how do you a guy like Machado doesn't forget how to hit? So there's I I don't think they have respect for the manager. I think he's lost the clubhouse already. And uh again, I think all I I my guess from uh with no inside knowledge is that Machado, Catese, these guys, they were all looking, they were all wondering the same thing I was. Why wasn't Fujos hired to manage his team?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and from the outside looking in, and really I want you to weigh in too, because you're the national league where you lost Seeth. I don't know, your best guy, and he just pitched a shutout or a no-hitter or something. I don't understand what's going on there. But San Diego's a beautiful city, man. And since you was up 2 1 three postseasons ago, it seems like things went haywire and went down from there. You know, you were two one on the Dodgers and lost. So three one, something like that. But uh that's just on the outside looking good. So I feel sorry for you, Tom. You're a true sports fan, Padre. Beautiful city. Me and my wife and kid. Up San Diego. You deserve better. Raider S. Your take.
SPEAKER_02Sorry, I had you guys on mute because I was just laughing listening to Tom. Raider, you know good, but go ahead, brother. He's cold. He's cold. I got it. I gotta correct you on one thing. You you got you the 1969 Foggers, you gotta give him a little bit of credit. They won 52 games that year, okay?
SPEAKER_04So 52.
SPEAKER_02So Marlin, Marlon, if you didn't know they played 162 games in Major League Baseball during the season. So really for you. So thanks, okay. So the thing is with San Diego, and and uh like uh honestly, I I don't get it. I really do not get it. And and if I had a heart, I would feel sorry for you, Tom. But um the the Padres year after year, all I ever hear is this is the year. This is the year that they're gonna challenge the Dodgers, this is the year they're gonna overtake the Dodgers, and every year you guys are still little brother to my LA Dodgers. And you guys, like you said, you have all the talent in the world, and it's sad to see, especially what a waste you guys are doing for Miller, your closer. That guy is an absolute stud. When you guys got him, I was so pissed because I wanted the Dodgers to trade for him from uh when he was on a trading block with Oakland. But when you guys are able to sign him and get him on that roster, and and you saw what he did beginning of the season, I mean, that guy was absolutely lights out coming out of that bullpen. I mean, he was a sure thing, but but then all of a sudden, I mean, I don't know, call it getting Padre'd because that's what happens is these players they get Padre'd for some reason. Well though, they might come out hot, they might have their moments and things like that, but just like come the dog days of summer. I mean, the month of July is uh notoriously bad for the Padres. Um, August has been bad for the Padres, and then they they try they they they start to put out a little fight in them towards like late August and into September. But by that point, I mean look at right now, you guys are 14 games out of the uh in the standings after night, probably 14 and a half. So it's just with these with the Padres, I just there there's a lot of players on the Padres that I've loved over the past, and you'll probably name some of them on your uh Mount Rushmore. But it's just I I I I just don't get it. I I really, really do not get it. What what's what's going on with that team? Because you like you said, it's a beautiful town. You think it would be a destination that players would want to go to? The ballpark. I I admit it's a great ballpark. Oh, yeah. Um, but uh yeah, but for it's all it whether it be ownership, uh the general manager, I mean, yeah, you're I mean, you you guys haven't had a a really a legitimate uh manager since Bruce Boshi. I mean, he just I mean I I I thought Bob Melvin would be able to turn things around and he did a decent job for a moment, but uh yeah, I mean the the I just I just don't understand what's wrong with these paw trees, and I I hope I never figure it out because I want you guys to continue to suffer.
SPEAKER_03They're at a point now where I think they should sell. I think they I think they should trade Miller to either the Yankees or God forbid the Dodgers, probably the Yankees. Uh we gotta replenish our farm system because we we we we gave away all of our top prospects for him, for Soto. Uh our our our farm system has been depleted in the last five years because we went all in. And I can't blame the ownership as well, you know, Peter uh rest in peace. He he threw it, he threw, he opened the checkbook. He did everything, and he, you know, that's why that stadium's full every night. And uh they're just underachieving. And then it's like it's all accumulated to this year where they're just completely like they've just completely given up. And I think to Doc's excellent point, that was that Dodger series last year, just like just robbed their soul. Because they were and they they just all of a sudden shut down. What was it? We were up uh two games to one, I think, or whatever it was, and and we didn't get a hit for 20 or didn't get a run for what 22 innings or some crazy number.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I remember. Yeah, hey Tom, real quick before we move on, uh and YouTube morning. Everybody knows the Angels are a train wreck and ownership, threatened to sell it, they resent it. What about your ownership down there in the San Diego or manage general manager? You know, when you let Dylan Assisco and I don't know what happened to you, Garvish, and then all that was Soto walked out of there. You know, I don't know. Do you blame them? Do they need to sell, you know, on new ownership? Okay, yeah. Okay, Tom.
SPEAKER_03It's at that point. They got a clean house. Uh, there's a new owner coming in. I don't know all the details on the team on the cell of the team or when it's gonna be finalized. Uh yeah, prelir's gotta go. Uh I would try to trade that piece. I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but I would. I would try uh it's one of those back to ground zero. Build up the farm system, start fresh, uh, and just build from the ground up because that's I I think that's this this experience. I don't want to call it an experiment, because that they went all in and didn't work. So now what do you do?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Braves Check In And Injury Worries
SPEAKER_00But go ahead, Marlon. And how you feeling about your Braves, Doc? You know, looking pretty good so far. How you feeling about them?
SPEAKER_01Well, we're still three games up on the Phillies in the National League East, but you figure with all the injuries to Ronald Acunya and Spencer Strider, it's only a matter of time before we fall back to Earth. You know, uh, we get a break in the schedule, and I say the break, you know, because we're playing the popular and we uh, you know, took care of business over the weekend, but we split with the Mest right before the All-Star break, Tom and Marlin and the Red S at home in Atlanta. That bothers me. That means there's leaks leaks somewhere. And then Phillies with Harper and uh Regis Suarez and Aaron Nolan and Wheeler, and of course Bryce Harper, you know, we ain't in here August yet, and I'm sweating it out. We were up 13 games, gentlemen. But right now, I'll tell I think the Phillies lost to the Dodgers. We might go four up. But you know, Ronald, Ronald, you're talking about trading Catese. I'm sick of Ronald Acunya's ass, you know. ATLs, you know, hamstrings, ankles, you know, when he's healthy, he's one of the top two or three players in the sport, Tom. You know? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And Ray S.
SPEAKER_01You guys know baseball, but we can't count him. He had two good years, the MVP year when he had 40 and 70 steals, and the year after that. Uh or was it last? I don't know. He's been hurt so much that it bothers me. Michael Harris III is doing good. Ozzie Albee's Matt Olson is solid. You know, he has 26 bombs, you know, Drake Ball and a catcher. Now, there's a surprise. But Alex Antopoulos to answer your question, we have to make him. I want Scooby, but I'm afraid he's gonna stay in the American League. Uh, we need another pitcher. I don't trust Strider. Uhlenback's gone, and all we got is Chris
Mount Rushmore Picks For Teams
SPEAKER_01Sale. So there you go, right there, to answer your question.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, so all right, on uh uh some well, before we get to the NFL action, I asked the guys to put together a list of their uh we just started talking about Dodgers and Padres. So uh Ed will give his top five uh Dodgers of all time, and then he'll do the Raiders, and then Tom will follow, and he'll do the Padres, and then top five chargers. If you have to do an honorable mention, you know, by all means go for it. So Ed, I'll go ahead and start with you with the Dodgers, your uh your top five uh Mount Rush or if you will, Dodgers of all time.
SPEAKER_02First of all, you you you allow uh Doc and Tom talk about the Padres and uh Braves. What about my Dodgers? I mean, what are you talking about my Dodgers? It's just what a lot of people you had your time to talk about them.
SPEAKER_00You you missed the you missed your shot. Time to move on.
SPEAKER_01Go ahead, Raider.
SPEAKER_02All right, all right. Uh yeah, we'll we'll we'll we'll talk in October when we're uh when we're getting the the the the ring fitting on our fingers. So that's right. So that's right. So Marvin asked me to do my Mount Rushmore of Dodgers and Raiders, and I did it a little different than what you normally see for Mount Rushmore. Normally Mount Rushmore are like the top players of those of those teams, the the most iconic, the best players of those teams. For me, I decided to do my favorite players on these teams. They might not have been the best, but they were my favorite players. I'm gonna start off with my honorable mention, and that's Doc, you're gonna love this name, Kenny Landro. Oh, yeah. The reason why I say Kenny Landro play center field for the Dodgers is that their Dodgers are very unique. They have a 76 gas station in the parking lot. Wow. And my family and I, we used to park near there, and we play kick the can in the parking lot after the game, waiting for traffic to die down. Kenny Landro pulls up in his convertible Corvette to fill up his his gas tank. I go over there as a kid to go asking for his autograph. The guy was the nicest guy in the world. He gave me a high five, he signed my hat. Um, I mean, I didn't win this is back before uh cell phones, so I couldn't take a selfie with him, but I know he would have done it with me. But yeah, so for me, honorable mention, Kenny Landro for for making a child, uh child's dreams come true. Anyway, so my Mount Rushmore. Let's go with Fernando Valenzuela, of course. I mean, being Mexican American growing up in LA in the 80s, I mean, Fernando Mania was the real deal. I mean, Fernando took over that city, and I mean, really, I mean, he took over the country with his play. I mean, coming out there, what he did that rookie year, it's something that that you'll it's hard to repeat as a pitcher. I mean, to when rookie of the year and Cy Young go to the World Series, I mean, that guy just was absolutely phenomenal and just carried this team and really carried a whole community of uh uh Mexican Americans, especially in in the LA area. Um number two for me, Jackie Robinson. I mean, I love as a Dodger fan. I I I did I did reports on Jackie Robinson as a kid. Um, I still have uh Jackie Robinson rookie baseball card. I have his stamp set that came out. I just absolutely love Jackie. I mean, the one thing I do whenever I go to all the different stadiums across the country, I've been to all the stadiums except uh four of them. I always look for the number 42 out in the outfield to see where it's hanging. Because that's the only number in all of baseball that's retired and deservedly so. It just absolutely love, man. I never gotta see him play, but just his story and what he did for baseball was just absolutely phenomenal. Now, number three. This guy, he had only one at bat in the 1988 World Series. Yeah, before he make it count. I mean, Gibby, what that guy did for that Dodgers in that 88 season, not only the season, but I mean, in that World Series, like I said, the guy had zero knees, he had no legs to stand on, literally, and he was able to really change the narrative of that World Series. The Dodgers were huge underdogs against the uh the Oakland A's going into that series, and Gibby just turned that entire series around for them. So I will always love Gibby. I remember the next day at school, all the kids were running around for uh mimicking his trot around the bases, doing the first pump as we ran around. So I absolutely love Gibby. Now, my number four, this is a guy I just absolutely think is the epitome of how you play the game, and that's Mike Sosha. Mike Sosha as a catcher. That guy, I don't know how many concussions that guy had because he was notorious for blocking home plate when you could, and just getting the way of those base runners, taking hard hits, and um he just was a smart player. I mean, there's no Angels won their only World Series because of Mike Sosha. That's why they won that World Series. It was because of him. So he was just was smart, he wore the wore the tools of ignorance, and so Mike Sosha, I have to give it up to him as just for his grit and him being a baller. Those are good choices.
SPEAKER_01Good job on that. No problem whatsoever. Great. Uh yeah, go go ahead.
SPEAKER_00Go ahead and do your raiders, yes. Yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Right, yeah. Now again, my raiders, again, I'm I I I I'm going with uh with players that uh that are my favorites. And my honorable mention, Adam True, long snapper. I absolutely love long snappers. If my son would ever tell me he wants to play football, I would tell him be a long snapper because this is a position that gets uh um paid more than the average player. It's a specialty position, but is so needed. And Adam True did it for a number of years for the Raiders, especially in their heyday with uh Dan and uh Tim Brown. I mean, this was a guy who was uh a team captain on the special teams, and so I just I love long snappers. Anyway, but Bo Jackson. I mean, growing up as a kid in the 80s and 90s, what Bo Jackson did, not only on the football field but on the baseball field as well, that's something that you'll never ever see again. I mean, if you ever get a chance to watch the ESPN 30 for 30 on Bo Jackson, I mean this guy, he he is a hero. He's a superhero. I mean, he's got superpowers with what this guy is able to do in the stories about him. So I and you just loved watching him play because anytime he touched the ball, it could go to the house. I mean, the that guy was just a combination of power and speed like none other. He was just absolutely phenomenal and just sucks what happened with him with his hip. But yeah, Bo Jackson absolutely loved. Number two, Charles Woodson. I mean, this guy coming in from Michigan after winning the Heisman, and you know, Heisman trophy winners, especially during that time, they didn't always live up to the hype. Charles Woodson lived up to the hype. I'm glad he got his ring with with uh Green Bay because during that time the Raiders in the middle of dysfunction, and um they just were were a mess. So, but Charles Woodson, when he came back to Oakland, was welcome with open arms. He absolutely loves Oakland, still lives out here in the Bay Area, and he was just phenomenal to watch him play uh I mean quarterback at a at a high phenomenal quarterback, and then to make a transition to safety, we'd continue just to be a presence on the field. I mean, that guy did everything for this team. When you wanted him to go out there and return punts, he would do it. I mean, he played receiver a few times, but uh yeah, so I just I love Carlos Woodsy because he also just embraced the Raider Nation. All right, number three. Doc, you're gonna love this one, Jim Otto. I yeah, the reason why I love Jim Otto, I'm again a guy who was before my time, never really I gotta see him play on uh on YouTube videos and uh VHS tapes, but O T T O and his number was double zero. That is the greatest jersey in all of sports when you see Arrow double zero on it. I mean, there's nothing better than than seeing that. I I just absolutely love him, and plus another guy just loves Raider, loved Raider Nation, um, was phenomenal. I mean, just a Hall of Famer, a great player, but yeah, I love the model. And for me, number four, again, I go out of the box with this stuff. This is a guy who's uh you guys saw me in Vegas wearing his uh his jersey, Shane Leckler, the punter. I love Shane Leckler control. And if it wasn't for him, the Raiders probably would have given up 90 points in most of those games. But he was able to pin these teams deep. Um this guy was just you tell him to put it on a certain spot, and he was able to do it. So I absolutely love Shane Leckler and with his leg, what he was able to do for the Raiders.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's so many. That's a good list, there, man, on so many levels. The Dodgers got so many great players, man. Drysdale, Steve Garvey, you know, Ron Say, all those cats, you know, and from the 80s, and Kirk Gibson was a classic, though. The Raiders, man. I mean, Kenny Stabler, Cliff Princh, G. Hopshah Shell, Marcus Allen. So yeah, I know there's your list, brother, but you got so many, man. That's a great list that you came up with, man. I used to love John Mathusak because he was strange at 6'8. He didn't give a shit. Ted Hendrix, all that, you know. So yeah, good list on that, man. And I love your inclusion of the partner. He's the best in the game. You know, Janikowski, if you want to go special king, he's the best kicker for two decades almost, it seems. Like he was a first-round pick, Tom. You know that, being an AFC winner. So, yeah, good job on that, Ray, ass. Good job. Okay, Tom, you're up. You're up, baby.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna with my padres. I'm gonna, I'm gonna go from fifth to first. Uh, I gotta start with my guy, uh Nate Colbert, 1969 to 1974. Uh, my first favorite player in all the sports. Uh, he, you know, that was a horrible team, but but Nate was popping them out 24 knots his first year, 38 his second, 27 and 38 his first four years. Uh, so Nate Colbert for uh for for for being one of my first heroes. This one I put on my list just for S. Because on a cool night in San Diego, October 6th, 1984, I was 21 years old. I was in the left field bleachers when Steve Garvey stepped up to the plate, game four of the Cubs Padres in LCS, and Garvey walked it off. So Garvey gets on my list just for S. Steve Garvey, number four on my Padre list.
SPEAKER_02Uh number three, I gotta go to Garrison. Marlon, Marlon, real quick because you don't know this. Steve Garvey actually won Rookie of the Year as a Dodger. I just wanted to throw that out there. Okay, thank you.
SPEAKER_03All right. Number number three, I gotta go with my guy, Trevor Hoffman. You know, when when they would put Hell's Bells on, and you know, he would come out of that bullpen again on some teams that worked great. You know, he was that shiny star, Hall of Famer, lights out out of the bullpen, nasty slider, couldn't be hit when he was on when he was you know locked in, which was most of the time. But yeah, that that that goosebumps you would get when when you know the bells would ring for hell's bells and he would come onto the field. Uh number two on my list, Ozzy Smith. Ozzy Smith was was the first person as a fan that I remember watching saying, I don't know how he does those things he's doing. I don't know how his body contorts the way it does. I was at an afternoon game, a businessman spelled. My dad took me out of school, we went to the game, and uh it was a it was Ozzy was you know, he back then you couldn't play, you know, behind the bag like they do now. He was at the normal shortstop position, guy hit a rocket up the middle, one hop. Ozzy dove fully laid out uh vertical diving. The ball hit a rock, took to like a 48 to 50 degree angle back to his right side, and he reached back with his bare hand, picked the ball up, and completed the play. One of the greatest plays I've ever seen. Number one, simple. You can't, I mean, this is as easy as it gets. Mr. San Diego, Tony Gwen. Uh there'd never be another Padre that that could uh could could uh outshine Mr. Gwen. He was uh he was everything that you dream of as a Padre fan, uh, good guy. Uh never you never heard any you know nonsense of uh any kind of character was top-notch, uh humble, and uh probably you know next to Chad Williams, maybe one of the greatest hitters of all time. So that's my Padres list. My Chargers. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go old school again to start. Uh I've got to go with Bambi, Lance Allworth, you know, back in the early 70s. Uh good one. Yeah, gotta go with Bambi. He was uh, you know, ahead of his time, uh, made some plays like you know you see guys do today more often, but back in the day it was uh it was a lot more rare. And uh he was our first uh uh Hall of Famer, I believe. And so he's number one on my list. I gotta go, and this was tough for me because I love you know the three quarterbacks that stand out, of course, Justin I love, Philip I love. I gotta go down. Fouls. Dan Fouls and Eric Corial set the stage for a lot of the modern football we get to watch today. You know, you look at some of his numbers and compared to today, they're not that great. He only completed 58% of his passes. But that was but that was so uh uh new for the NFL when Fouls and Eric Corial was doing what they were doing, the kind of numbers they were putting up. You know, they're winning games, you know, 41 to 38. And uh so I gotta give Fouls his nod there. Uh number two, Danian Thomason. Danian Thompson is one of the greatest backs of all time, all time touchdown uh CU single season record. Uh just poetry in motion. Just loved him. And then, of course, number one, my all-time favorite charger, Junior Seyao. Played the game with an abandoned like no other. Uh put his by, unfortunately, you know, it may have cost him his life in the end because uh he played with it with a total lack of concern for his own safety and health. Uh was like a torpedo out there. And uh, you know, it caught up with him with the with the with the brain injuries and whatnot. But but as far as while he was playing, I've never loved the Charger more than I love Junior Seattle.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's great stuff, Tom. From the outside looking in from the deep south in Georgia, I used to like Kellen Winslow Sr. He was the epitome tight end. 6'6, 250, ran a 4'5 out of Missouri, JJ Jefferson, you know, Charlie Joyner. All those cats, you know, Chuck Muncie. Oh, you guys had an offense. And then you have Gary Big Hands Johnson and you know, big Louie Kelcher at 350. That can't go to the horse, way station. As far as the Codres man, you know, I just gotta bring up Dave Winfield's name. You know, your list is your list. I gotta before he was a Yankee Marlin and Raider S, Jay Winfield was the man in San Diego. Of course, you know, uh one of the Ozzy Smith is that's all you need to say about Ozzy. But the guy that preceded him traded for, I mean, I thought Gary Templeton was a smooth shortstop. You know, he's on the Hall of Fame, but he was smooth, man. You know, he ran reminded me of Catese, tall, and then smooth, you know. But Gary Templeton, you made the trade with St. Louis. But I love your list, man. I just had to throw Dave Winfield's name out there. But those charger offenses, and you know, Barley, you know your history, with Dan Foust, Kellen Winslow, West Chandler. That's the name, Todd. West Chandler, Bay. I used to love it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, man. I I I don't know why I was I was not looking at my list. I skipped over my number three guy, Antonio Gates. I'm wondering about again along those same lines with Winslow on a great tight end for the camera.
SPEAKER_01You know, back then, man, Atlanta used Falcons used to get blacked out. I couldn't wait until the 4 o'clock uh Eastern time said to watch either the Raiders on NBC or Don Cricky or the Chargers, man. That off, you should have beat Cincinnati, but if Cincinnati was 57 below us, so you had the great game with Miami the week prior, three overtimes. You know, Winslow had to be carried off. And from go to the Miami Heat to 57 below, that just killed you. Killed you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that was the year I thought we were gonna go all the way. With the 2006 Chargers when we got beat when Marlon McCrae fumbled that interception. Those were the two years I thought we had the boss team. I got a real quick story about Gibson. Uh S mentioned Kirk Gibson. About 20 years ago, I was living in Nashville working at this pretty fancy restaurant. I waited on Tommy Lasorda. And I mean, you know, near the end of the meal, I went up, I said, uh, Mr. Lasorda, I can't give you any more water. He said, Why not? I said, Well, I'm a lifelong pottery fan. He said, I'm so, so sorry. And I said, uh Yeah. So I asked her, I said, What were you thinking when you when you sent uh Gibson up for the he said I asked him if he could hit? He said he could hit, so I sent him up.
SPEAKER_01Um most iconic hit in the history of that sport, man, especially for the nation. And uh, you know, he played football in Michigan State if memory serves me correct, you know. And uh, but he chose baseball. And uh, you know, the numbers over a long period of time doesn't say Hall of Fame, but that was a Hall of Fame home run.
SPEAKER_03And uh I hate the Dodgers, and I've watched that video probably 25 times.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Well, and and well, here's the here's the thing though, Tom, and I mean, you guys have only been around for 57 years, so maybe one of these days you guys will have an iconic moment.
SPEAKER_03I mean, yeah, Garvey's home run. Garvey's home run in game four was iconic. It was beautiful. Now that Taco Bell, that Taco Bell brown and orange, look beautiful out there.
SPEAKER_01And for me, and for me, for me, it was Sid Green crossing the plate against the Pirates in game seven at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium in the NLPS to knock out the pirates. That was exciting. You know, Ronnie Gann, Mark Wollers team that year. But yeah, you're up, Molly. This is good stuff. Go ahead, brother.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Okay. All right. So uh we're gonna go. I I actually didn't do my list because this was this is this you gotta you gotta cater to the guests. So the guests give you some history docs. We talk about that, and then we good we're good. So okay. All right, so now on to the reason why we're
AFC West Odds And Division Order
SPEAKER_00here, the uh the AFT West. Um Doc, do you wanna give off Dr. Ed real quick? Do you want to do an Atlanta one real quick or off Dr.
SPEAKER_01No? Oh no, I'm good. Okay, perfect, perfect. Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00All right, so on the AFT West documents, I'm gonna kick it off with you on this one. Um right now, I believe the over under uh the win totals uh are two star ten and a half, bronchos and the charters are at nine and a half, and the raiders are at five and a half. So Doc, you can just go ahead and just spit out whatever predictions you have.
SPEAKER_03I'm sorry to interrupt my my phone was cutting now. What was the re what was the over under for the raiders?
SPEAKER_00Uh five and a half.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Oh, you're crazy. I'll I'll ready to have one, Tom. I got your one.
SPEAKER_01That's right. So uh gentlemen, I I I got uh it might sound crazy, and it's not because you're on, Tom. I don't have trust in Bo Nicks to repeat as in AFC West. I'm taking the charges to win this thing, man, because Omarion Hanson and you upbeat your defense for uh the kid from Miami. Uh uh he he's good, man. Uh the kid edge rusher. And then you got Mac. I I just like I like I like this this this team here to win the division. My second choice, uh, you know, um I'm gonna go uh Kansas City. I got to, man. Anytime you're number 15, I don't care when he comes back. Fourth week, fifth week, you gotta go sing. Third, third would be the Raiders. I put the Raiders there. Yes, I'll pick, I'm pissed Chad. I'll put Denver in fourth. I don't trust Bo Knicks coming back from that injury. And, you know, uh they have some losses in free agency, and I did pick a couple of guys up, but I got Denver coming in last, man. You know, Chad, Chad's pissed at me and never talked to me. But again, I'm going Chargers, Kansas City, Raiders, and and and uh, you know, uh, you know, and Denver. Now, the Chargers should win 11-12 games. Um, Kansas City, they're Kansas City. You know, they still got the board on defense, the edge rusher, and Calopolis, the uh the other edge rusher, and and they picked up the kid from uh Seattle, Washington, I think, Kenneth Walker the third. But the Raiders, Raiders, this is one of those things where we're expecting a lot out of this fresh, this rookie. I think Kirk Cousins are gonna start the first six or seven, and then you take it from there with the rookie quarterback from Indiana. But I need something big out of the running back, you know, Ashton Genty. I need Brock Bowers to be healthy. If those things happen, I can see you pushing Kansas City for second place, Raider S. Your take, you know, bring it. AFC West, baby. Tom or Raider. You don't care. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, Doc, Doc, I I I can't I can't argue with you. I actually agree with you on the standings. Yes, I I I like to talk shit and we'll talk shit to the day I die, but I'm also a a realist. I I know my Raiders are uh they're up and coming, but they're not there yet. They're still probably two years away from being a a true contender for uh for the division. I mean I'm not even talking Super Bowl, I'm just talking about division itself. However, I the the AFC West notoriously is tough, tough division where you got every single every single team is a rival with one another. And I would not be surprised if this year if within the division or all the teams are three and three or four and two. I I I can't see uh one team winning all their division games. I can't see them winning more than four games in the in the division. I think uh each team will have at least two losses, but um I would like I said I wouldn't be surprised if uh if the division they're 500 against one another. Like all the teams win their home their home games against the division rivals.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think before Oh, go ahead, go ahead, finish.
SPEAKER_02No, I was just gonna talk about the uh the win totals. Um so it's funny. Two of my favorite bets are in this division. One of them is an under, the other one is an over. And if you haven't figured out by my standings, Broncos under, Raiders over. The Broncos, I agree. I I think they're gonna have a regression. Um I I I'm I'm not a believer in bone. I know uh there's a certain person in Montana that's not Tom, but he's uh it sounds like Tom, but his name's Tim, who is uh a believer in bonex. I I don't I don't see it personally. But uh what the Broncos did last year was shocking, and I don't think they have another shocking outcome in them again. Um you look at their team, yes, they they have a young running back, RJ Harvey, but I I'm I don't think he's I I think O'Marion Hampton's and uh and Aston Genti are much better than uh RJ Harvey is in the in the division, and now Kenneth Walker is over in uh Kansas City. So you look at RJ Harvey as probably being the fourth or even fifth best uh running back within the division alone. Um you look at Bo Knicks, who's I I mean, right now you have to have him as the third best quarterback because you have Mendoza as an unknown. But uh come the end of the year, you could see him possibly being the fourth best uh quarterback in that division. Their defense, I think, is gonna what is what's gonna regress the most. I I don't think that that defense is gonna be as uh stifling as it was last year. So I just I I see them more as like a seven-win team with a seven and ten record. Um the Chiefs, I I look, I look through the schedule, I see them as a ten and seven record. Because the other thing is that you have Mahomes coming off a major injury, and you still don't know what you're gonna be getting out of that guy. And yes, it's still Patrick Mahomes, but yet he's still another year older. You have Kelsey who's another year older. Um I mean, yeah, they got I think Kenneth Walker is gonna be great for them. I think he's a huge upgrade at the running back position. Um, Rishi Rice, if that guy can can keep his head on straight, and I think he could be a a stud wide receiver. But uh yeah, I mean, I I just think that this is the Chargers division to take. And but at the same time, I only see the Chargers winning maybe 11 games. I I see them as an 11-16. Um, that'll put them over their win total, but it's not enough to for me to be able to like definitely definitively say that this is like a bet, a lock, that the Chargers will surpass the win total. Now, my Raiders, it's been a while since I've had optimism, and I am optimistic. When I saw the five and a half, I could not call my bookie quick enough to make a bet on the over. I mean, I'm looking at their record, let me let me throw this out to you guys. Raiders played the Dolphins
Raiders Over Bet And Schedule Wins
SPEAKER_02at home. Win or loss. That's a win, man. At the crib? Heck yeah. Yeah, the Raiders, the Raiders played the Jets. Win or loss. That's a win. I think it's gonna be tough. I think I think the Jets are gonna be approved, but I still think it's gonna be a win. Um against Cleveland.
SPEAKER_01Lost. That's a win. Come on, that's three right there.
SPEAKER_02That's three right there. Let's say the the Broncos at home. Lost.
SPEAKER_01That's a win. That's four.
SPEAKER_02All right. We got Tennessee Titans at home. That's five.
SPEAKER_01That's that's that's five right there.
SPEAKER_02And then second to last game, Arizona Cardinals. Who knows who's gonna be quarterbacks for them by that point?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, get your over. I'm gonna go to Vegas in a few weeks and do that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That's six wins. And then yeah, you have all these other these other games. I mean, yeah, you have uh the Niners, the Rams, the Bills, um, those are probably all losses. Um, and there's another toss-up game with the Saints there in New Orleans, which I mean, I wouldn't be surprised the Raiders lost, but I think they'll have a chance to win that that game. Um, you have San Diego and and uh Kansas City four times, and notoriously we split with with at least one, if not both, of you guys every year. So it it the this team, I see them as an eight-win team, possibly nine-win team, and just crushing that uh their that win total.
SPEAKER_01Well, Radio S, and that's a good thing. And Tom, you almost uh let me just say this about Red S. Rad S, you you mentioned a few games that I had wins. That there you go, right there, man. You know, and you split with the division. Uh and then the kid, if if Kirk Cousins, I had him in Atlanta, Tom, you already know that. If he flutters the first two or three, put the boy in there, put that kid in there. The arm challenge there, you know. Uh uh Tucker, I think his name is, the one of the receivers, but Brock Bowers out of Georgia in his third year. He's all pro. He was hurt last year. So that'll be his best friend. You know, put that kid in there. He has the it factor, and I'm glad you're happy. You had to go young eventually. And what better the kid just won a natty, Tom? And rare SMR.
SPEAKER_03That kid's winner.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03That kid the winner, and he'll he'll be on the field no later than week four. I would be surprised if he didn't have Curtin Strell the first two games. That you know, and people in uh Vegas are gonna be screaming for the kid. And uh he's a smart kid. He's gonna learn that team quickly. He's already, he's already talking like a pro. Uh yeah, the their future bracket, it all comes down to the quarterback position for your team to have any hope for the future, and then the Raiders have that now, so it is what it is. Yeah. Uh as far as the Chargers go, the Chargers, it it all comes down to health. And a bit, we've been, Marlon knows, we've been down this road so many times, and I know everybody has injuries, but my God, you know, the Chargers have had this curse. Uh, you lose your two top starting tackles last year. Herbert almost gets killed back in the in the pocket. Uh nobody that can block Bradley, but but you know, here we are at the uh offset. We're and the optimism is running very high. You got a new center who is going to be a huge upgrade from Brady Bozeman, uh kid from uh from the commanders. You got Alt and Slater both back healthy. Right there is just an incredible upgrade from what we saw last year in the last second half of the season. If those guys can stay healthy, I mean, and you got McDaniel. It sounds like they're giving him the keys to the to the ship. They've let him go out and get some guys that he had over in Miami. He obviously hasn't faith in those guys with strange at guard and uh the fullback. Uh so I think we're gonna see a different scheme that's gonna protect Herbert a little more. A lot of quick releases. Uh, that kid, the fourth round or the uh third round pick, no, it was fourth round from uh Brilliant Thompson from Mississippi State. Remember that name? Speedster.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03And uh he fits right into his, you know, I don't want to go comparing him to Tyree Kill quite yet, but that's uh perfect for Mike McDaniel's scheme to have that speed on the outside. Uh so it but it just comes down to staying healthy and you know, and and then talk about schedule. We have to win the first two weeks, Cardinals, Raiders, because then we get uh Bill, Seahawks, Jeets, and Broncos. So, I mean, we've got to get to that buy at at least four and two, hopefully five and one. We'll find out who we are in the first uh quarter of the season. And it's all about staying healthy. I think the team's got a lot of uh upside if they can stay healthy. I think there's not gonna be a huge drop in the defensive coordinator, the guy that worked for Jesse Minor before he uh took the defensive coordinator job, I think, in West Virginia or somewhere back east, uh spent a year in college, now back with the Chargers of the DC. Uh the defense is gonna be top-notch. Uh I got a lot of excitement about the rookie uh uh Akeem Mesador. Yeah, I used to get a well, you got Mesador, Mack, and Tooley, all three on the field at the same time. You slide Mesador into the middle. You got Mack and Thule on the edges. That's gonna be a force-to me wreck with that guy is a wrecker. Uh so I'm super happy about that. Uh Jake Slatter out of Florida, he's uh he's a center. I think they're gonna move him to guard, left guard, most likely. So I think that'll be an upgrade as a rookie, though. Offensive line's not an easy position to learn. Uh, you've got to learn a lot of schemes, a lot of uh today it doesn't say it's a lot harder. You guys know, you guys are uh knowledgeable football guys. You know how hard it is to pick up that offensive line scheme and blocking schemes at this level. So hopefully he gets making this good transition. Um I don't know what they're gonna do with Keenan. I'm I'm on the fence. Me and my nephew talked about this earlier tonight. He he he's mad at me because I'm kind of at the point where I think they they gotta let Keenan go. I don't know. Uh McCocky's number went way down this year with with uh Keenan on the team. He was getting a lot of those third-down balls. I love the guy. He's one of my favorite chargers, but yeah, might be time to move down from him and let some of these young guys uh get more reps. Uh I'm optimistic. I'm I'm optimistic
Chargers Health Plan And Herbert Pressure
SPEAKER_03every year. This year, more so than most. Uh I think it is our division to win or lose. And I think that uh, hey, Rams, Chargers, Super Bowl at SoFi, why not? They've been making great stories. And uh, but we gotta get Herbert's gotta get the playoff kitters uh behind him. He's got the he's got a couple three bad playoff games in a row now. He's got to get that out of his head. But the kid's been getting mauled. You know, and if if we lose our tackles again, share and that offensive line falls apart, uh we're gonna end up doing to him what what the Colts did to Andrew Lux, you know, and just ruining his love for football.
SPEAKER_01So he's got a big contract.
SPEAKER_03He has a big contract, Tom, and the big I love I use that comparison more as they they've got to find a way to protect that kid because he got mauled last year. It was it was hard to watch. I mean, I don't know how he came out of it alive, to be honest with you. That Patriots game was just brutal. And in the playoffs, and uh the whole the whole second half of the season, he was running for his life back there. It was amazing he was able to pull off what he did. So I love the addition of uh running back from Baltimore that we got Keaton Mitchell. What's that name?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Keaton Mitchell is another speedster. He's he put him with that O'Marian Hampton. That's gonna be a huge uh we got my fate, one of my favorites. Uh Videll is a coming back, the little bowling ball. Love that guy. So I'm optimistic. You know, I'm optimistic every year, this year a little more. I'm just praying to the football God for crying out loud, letting my team stay halfway healthy for once.
SPEAKER_01Well, I love your tackles, and Marlon knows this. Joe out out of no game, a consistent all-American. I love his size, his footwork. The other tackle, Tom's, yeah, Slater. Is he all the way back, or you still got to take it slow with him?
SPEAKER_03They're both, no, they're both 100% healthy, uh, both 100% participants, uh ahead of schedule. You're you know, hearing all the stuff out of camp, they're they're both uh full go. Uh there's some talk about uh how much Harbaugh is gonna put Slater in in the offseason, trying to protect them a little bit. But from all signs and all indications, they're both ready to go.
SPEAKER_01If Herbert doesn't do it this year, if if Herbert doesn't do it this year, what are you gonna do? You know, you got a big contract invested. Do you lose faith in them? This is six years, man. It's time, you know, in a big spot. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, I I I don't see him as the problem. I I see him as uh just not being protected. I mean, I was screaming about this two seasons ago, and the team did nothing to address the interior offensive line. They went back out there with with uh Pipkins and uh and Brady Bozeman. Let me tell you what, that dude was horrible. You know, we you guys are like me when I'm watching game, and I'll go back and watch the game again and watch the like a coach, you know, watching film. That dude couldn't block anybody. And uh they were coming right up. Once teams figured that out, they were coming right up the gut. And uh you got that we got tackles out there I'd never heard of, you know, they were bringing them in for for you know jobs out in the normal jobs, bringing them in guys that hadn't played in a couple years. And yeah, it was a it was a rough year on the offensive line. Uh, I was a little frustrated that they didn't. Do anything in free agency to get a top-notch guard. And uh, but I you know, like I said, I guess from Daniel's uh knowledge with uh with Cole Strange, he was a a former first-round pick, same with Penny and the kid we got from New Orleans last year, both uh first round picks. So uh dealing with injuries again, if they can get healthy, it all comes back to staying healthy. You know, if this team will find a way to stay healthy, they're gonna have a company.
SPEAKER_01That's good. Lar McConkie, you brought him up, Tom. I didn't mean to interrupt you, but being from Georgia, being a Bulldog fan, he he's a special player, but he's not a true one. And I'll talk to Marlon about this. His best friend and former roommate at Georgia was Brunt Bowers. So it's a little bit of a thing there that from Georgia that I keep an eye on those two players because they went to my favorite college team. So good luck, fellas. I need a win total from all three of you. Tom, Rader S and Marlon, of course. Win total right now for your respective team. Uh I'll say I'll say this.
SPEAKER_00Um, and and and and I'm pretty much redirecting everything that that Tom said. McDaniels is gonna make all the difference in the world. We've got to stay healthy. Um and if if he can, if McDaniels can do what he did with Tua, make Tua look as great as he did, just imagine what he can do with uh quarterback that's bigger, stronger, faster, all of the above, better arm strength and everything. So um I I tough schedule to start off. Um definitely think that it's I think we'll we'll probably end right at 10, hoping that we win the division. Um but it's gonna be, just as was saying earlier, it's gonna be a tight race. We always the rate of play is tough. Uh it's always hard to play in Denver, and the Chiefs are to the Chiefs at the end of the day. Um, one thing I think we can all agree on, at least uh between the Chiefs and the Broncos, they're gonna beat each other up week one. So let's get that out the way. And of course, one of them obviously is gonna come out with a loss, but um we'll see what what they're made up with. Now, both of your quarterbacks are uh coming off of injuries, so we'll see how they they look uh week one. But um, yeah, I'm gonna say it's a very tight race for our for all all the teams, but I do think we uh finish with uh 10 wins. Uh go ahead, S.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and let me like I said earlier, I I my Raiders, I I do have uh some optimism this year because I first got in a long time. I'll have you guys know that I I just picked up my kids right now, they're in the car with me. And you're talking about hope. I thought my kids are very valuable. When you are a Raider fan, if you live life with zero expectations and zero hope, you have zero letdown. So my kid live their life with zero hope and zero expectations. They have no dreams, so they have no letdowns whatsoever. My kid.
SPEAKER_03There's a lot of wisdom to what your father is saying. So I I I gotta give him that. Uh my heart's been broken so many times because of my expectations and uh optimism. Uh Chargers are gonna win 12 games this year. Mark the tape. Right on. Speaking about speaking of optimism and hope.
SPEAKER_00Go. Absolutely. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they'll sweep the Raiders.
SPEAKER_00Go ahead, uh Well, they're gonna win 12.
SPEAKER_03They're gonna sweep the Raiders, they're gonna sweep the Broncos, they I they might sweep the Chiefs. I want 6-0 in the division. I want the team, and I'm thinking all of that. Uh I uh bo I have not impressed with Bo Mix at all. And remember this at the press conference after he broke his ankle. I don't know if you caught this, but Sean Payton, I guess he had the same injury when he was either in college or high school. And uh somehow that came up, and Sean Payton looked at him. They were both sitting at the table and he said, if I'd have known that, I never would have drafted you. Yeah. Oh
Win Totals And Closing Thoughts
SPEAKER_03my god.
SPEAKER_02Well, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, you have to remember one thing. You guys are shopshake. What did Morgan Freeman say about hope? Hope is the worst thing you could give a guy, all right? You you just you can hope in one hand and sit in the other and see what hope fills up first. And I guarantee you'll have a handful of shit when you have uh a Chargers winning the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_01It's a competitive division, fellas, from the outside looking getting in. It's good for the NFL, you know. This is old school. Whether it's Raiders Kansas City, Raiders, Chargers, Chargers, Kansas City. This is the old AFC West, man. I gotta throw stabler in there versus South, you know, and all that, you know. You know what I'm saying? And uh even with airway, airway, uh, and and and all that, you know. This is historic, the division. So yeah, this is good stuff, man. This is I'm proud to be a part of this. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. You guys know I'm sure maybe you remember or not. I've mentioned it on the show with Adam several times. I was in the end zone seats for the Holy Roller. Uh, watched Stanford Couple ball down the chair. Oh, yeah, me and my uncle. 1978, I was uh 15 years old, uh, and my hatred for the Raiders was born on that day, and it's uh it's grown. As much as I like John Madden, you know, I would try to watch all those tribute shows, but every damn tribute show they had showed that play about 20 times, opened up a lot of old wounds, and uh so yeah, we'll uh I I I want I want to like I said, they got a quarterback now. So I is gonna be a rookie this year. So I want to I want to smack him down this year before he starts because the Raiders got a future, and I you know I can be uh like Raider said uh S said earlier, you know, we could be realists because we are good sports fans. The Raiders are gonna be better. That kid's the real deal, Mendoza.
SPEAKER_01Man, you went way back. You brought in Bambi, you know, John Hadel to Bambi, and then of course the Raiders have Doc.
SPEAKER_03I got one for you. Another one of my favorites almost made my list. Speedy Duncan. You remember Speedy Duncan, Doc?
SPEAKER_01Speedy Duncan.
SPEAKER_03No, I don't. I don't, Doc D. He was he was electric. He was electric, dude. He was he was he was the fastest guy on the team. I got a poster for the 1970. I'm looking at it right now on my wall, the 1967 Chargers, and and Speedy signed it. So he gets a special place in the heart.
SPEAKER_01I used to like Gilbert. You guys have some great players, man. Historic. You know, Marlene, come on, man. You've Oakland Coliseum and then Jack Murphy Stadium. Shit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like playing on the baseball diamond. Remember those old games when you'd be, you know, in October, September, and you're you're playing, you got first down at the set at second base?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Still playing on the dirt.
SPEAKER_02Well, well, well, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, you did lie a little bit right now because there was no dirt still in October. The Pates weren't never made, never played in October.
SPEAKER_01You guys are crazy, man. This good stuff. Oh, I really enjoyed this, man. AFC West, baby. Absolutely. I ain't got nothing else, Bonnet.
SPEAKER_00On that note, uh, we're gonna wrap this thing up. It's been great. Uh Est uh and Tom, thank you guys for joining. Um, any final words?
SPEAKER_03What a pleasure, man. What a pleasure. I really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. God bless both of you. I love beat love you all, and this is good dialogue, man. This is why we do this. Thank you. 100%.
SPEAKER_00All right. We will catch everybody next week with another division, and uh we'll go from there. We'll catch you guys next time. Peace. Peace. Peace.
SPEAKER_02Thanks, guys.