Two for the Win
Mike is a U.S. Navy Veteran and Bryan has more than a decade of civil service experience. Together, these blue collar guys dissect the latest sports headlines and events.
Two for the Win
Two For The Win - S2.60 - Olypmic-Level Let Downs, Focus On Athlete Safety & Ethics, How Do YOU Ai?
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A wild sports week tested our favorite lines between edge and ethics, and we went straight at it. We open with fighter safety in the UFC after a divisive title bout and Nevada’s automatic medical hold: why “suspension” sounds punitive, what it actually protects, and how CTE-era policy is reshaping combat sports. From there, we head to the Olympic world for two very different stories: Norway’s ski jumping suit scandal—yes, a literal wind sail in the crotch—and a skeleton qualification mess where withdrawals reweighted points and knocked a U.S. athlete out. Fair play needs clear rules, and this is what happens when it doesn’t.
Baseball brought the market lessons. The Giants shore up the outfield with Harrison Bader, the Mets push chips in for ace Freddie Peralta, and the Nationals trade one arm for a farm of prospects. Layer in the World Baseball Classic opt-outs by José Altuve and Carlos Correa over injury insurance, and the Tommy John debate turns sharper: should surgery ever be a preemptive performance move? We argue no—save the scalpel for repair, not advantage—and point to workload management, mechanics, and pitch design as the real path to sustainable velocity.
Hoops and college football added fuel. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo hits 2,000 career points at record speed and snags a steals mark, a snapshot of how fast women’s basketball is rising. Deion Sanders fines players for lateness, an old-school standard for a new NIL era, while Duke’s NIL dispute with a transferring QB spotlights the hard reality of contracts. On the NFL front, we break down the Steelers’ McCarthy hire, the Bills promoting Joe Brady, the Browns tapping Todd Monken (and the ripple with Jim Schwartz), and Washington’s sneaky-smart DC pick, Durante Jones. Plus, why Bill Belichick’s non–first ballot Hall result says more about process and politics than greatness.
We close on the field: New England survives Denver in a snow game that flipped on a fourth-and-one, Seattle outlasts the Rams behind timely plays and a Cooper Kupp twist, and we make our Super Bowl pick with a lean toward Seattle’s defensive front and situational edge. If you’re into the crossroads of safety, integrity, and strategy—from cages to ice tracks to gridirons—this one delivers. Enjoy the ride, then subscribe, share with a fellow sports nerd, and drop your take: where do you draw the line between gamesmanship and cheating?
Open, Sponsors, Agenda
SPEAKER_01January 28th, 2026. Welcome back, everybody, once again, for another episode of SportsBanter. I'm Brian with an eye. And I'm Mike. And we are two for the win. Mike, we have a very uh juicy agenda this evening. Can you brief us on what we have coming up on tonight's episode?
SPEAKER_02Well, we're gonna talk a little fight. We're gonna talk about some Olympic news because the Olympics are right around the corner. Uh, we're gonna get into a little bit of baseball news because baseball never likes to disappoint with little news. Baseball. And as always, we're gonna touch on football.
SPEAKER_01Football, the foosball of the football. Football, but real quick, before we dive on into that, I just want to take a minute to thank our sponsors and partners. Body Body Gym, located in Yorktown and in Gloucester. Uh Deshawn Wright uh is a former bodybuilding champion himself and building that gym business up there. Uh they're very involved in youth-oriented activities, very involved in community-oriented activities, as well as a few charities. Uh so a lot of great things, a lot of feel-good things happening uh up there out of those uh almost like fitness centers at this point. Uh but good job, guys. Thank you, Deshaun. Our good friends Kaden and Christian over at Saula's Outfitters, two young athletes, basketball players, in fact, Mike, uh also building a brand of their own. Uh, you know, not just displaying a high level of uh sport, you know, athletic ability, but also high level of business acumen as well. So good job, guys, over on that. And the Giving Tree Cobble Practic, uh, located down here in Virginia Beach. Justin's uh very knowledgeable, he's very effective, very outgoing guy, loves to talk, and uh has his pricing uh geared towards so it's accessible for everybody, regardless of what your budget is. So good job, guys. Thank you for being our sponsors and partners, and we look forward to doing more business with you in the future. Mike, we have some little bit of off-beat uh things to talk about now. We're gonna talk a tad on the Olympics here, and then we got a tad on UFC. We're really gonna talk about UFC, but I thought this particular thing was interesting because it talks about athlete, uh kind of goes into athlete safety.
UFC Title Fight And Medical Holds
SPEAKER_02Well, which do you want to start with? Do you want to start with the Olympic stuff or do you want to start with UFC?
SPEAKER_01Oh, we're gonna start with our good friend Patty the Baddie, okay. English fighter coming over, getting his first shot at a title, taking on Justin Gagey. Uh this round, I mean, this fight went all the way through the rounds. Five rounds. Yeah, five rounds. Uh it was actually criticized. Some people think it was great. People seem to either love it or hate it. Uh, you know. Sounds like politics. A lot of people were hating on, you know, for it being a title match, it being, you know, poor technique and poor fighting capabilities, but a lot of people thought it was a great match. So nobody's really in between on it. But anyway, Patty got so beat up that according to uh Nevada law, actually, he has uh, you know, he hasn't just been beaten, but he's also gotten himself a nice 30-day suspension from competing and fighting. And I thought this was interesting because it seems to be really geared toward uh fighter safety, especially given uh in the last decade or so, um, you know, the discovery of CTE uh and the severeness of uh you know concussions and multiple concussions and TBIs and what's that, uh, aside from the other injuries you can sustain from this type of sport. So, Mike, what do you take of this, man? I mean, uh some people don't like it. I honestly think it's a pretty good deal because he has to now have a doctor testify to a judge, because it's law, uh, that he is capable and ready to go back to competing again. So he's not allowed to compete in another fight uh until he is medically cleared. I think honestly, it's a good rule.
SPEAKER_02Well, Nevada has always been up on the fight game for a while. I mean, they've been doing boxing matches, and UFC has kind of been there from the start. I mean, these guys, these well, not from the start, but but that's kind of where it blew up was in in Vegas. And there were a lot of rules when it comes to fighting in in Nevada, and these are these are requirements. And this 30-day medical suspension, uh I wish they wouldn't use the word suspension. It's not like he's you know, oh my god, you're in trouble, so you're suspended. This is a situation where he has just been suspended because of his injuries. They want him to heal up, they want him to get better. And I honestly think it's a good thing because you're gonna have fighters, especially in UFC fighting, because guys wind up with broken jaws, broken noses, concussions, like you alluded to. And these kinds of things, they need time to heal. And especially some of these take longer than 30 days, and this is this actual suspension can lead up to 180 days, depending on the severity of the injuries. So basically, all they're saying is you must get medically cleared if you want to fight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I was gonna go back. I agree with the uh with with you saying they wish it didn't call it a suspension because it gives us such a negative connotation. I wish they call it something like a like a hold, right? Or something a little more simple, a little watered down. But I was just about to mention, as you just did, uh it's 30 days, but it can last up to 180 days if he chooses not to be seen by a doctor. So even if he's like, uh forget that, I'll just not compete, he will not be allowed to compete for up to 180 days, is basically like you said, six months.
SPEAKER_02Well, no, it's not six months.
SPEAKER_01Is it 180 days is six months? You're right, you're right. My bad.
SPEAKER_02Uh let me get let me get to where I was gonna go before you derailed me with that that thought. Um, but remember, this is only Nevada. Yeah, this is this doesn't mean he can't participate in other UFC events that are not in Nevada. So if UFC was to fight, say, overseas somewhere, like they fight in London or something, he might be able to participate sooner, but he needs to be medically cleared.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, in Nevada, he can be cleared sooner than the 180 days by a doctor, but it's a very kind of obscure rule. But you're right, if he goes to another state, now I'm sure there are other laws in other states, uh, and I know this is a relatively common thing, but I wanted to hit on the relevance and the focus on um athlete safety here.
SPEAKER_02Well, being someone who's had concussions and has had, you know, broken facial bones and stuff, I can tell you that uh he probably doesn't want to fight right now. Even though he he might get medically cleared, he's obviously gonna want to be 100% before he gets back into the ring because you don't want to walk into that situation and not be ready, not be prepared.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he probably looks like Meatloaf from Thundercats. If you guys are familiar with Adult Swim on, you know, back in the day on Cartoon Network. His face probably feels like that right now.
SPEAKER_02You mean Meatwad? Sure. And it's Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Look, man, it's been like 20 years. Your references, you can't even get your references right now.
SPEAKER_01It's been like 25 years, man. It's been like 25 years, okay? Forgive me. Everybody, or maybe nobody knows what I'm talking about. But either way, you hit the nail on the head. So I just thought that was interesting. Uh my friend. Thank you, thank you. We have each other's backs. I know what you meant. You know what I mean, and I can pronounce some names. Speaking, speaking of meat wads, why don't you get into this Olympic news? Oh, I thought this was relatively funny, okay. So everybody knows Olympic qualifying is going on right now, okay? Uh I thought this was pretty cool. Well actually, not pretty cool. I thought it would be cool to talk about, is what I thought it would be. Um, three members of the Norwegian uh ski jumping team have been suspended for uh enlarging the crotch area on their uniforms. This was a brazen attempt to bend the rules, and that is verbatim per Natasha Die of People magazine. Uh I don't know. I read this article, right? So it's very obscure.
SPEAKER_02So this is this is the the ski jump team, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, this is the ski jump team for the men's ski jumping, okay.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so I think I know what's going on here. It sounds really bad that they're uh enlarging the crotch area of their uniforms, but what I think they're doing is they're trying to create a little bit of a windsale effect.
Olympic Suit Scandal In Ski Jumping
SPEAKER_01So this is this is weird, right? One ski jumping coach and the team suit technician, they have a suit technician, okay? Uh, we're seen on video inserting illegal, non-elastic stitching into the crotch areas of the suits, while the team's assistant head coach also confessed to participating in the plot.
SPEAKER_02Look, all I could think of when you said that is Dave Chappelle, when he's like, you know, I'm a master of the custodial arts, or a janitor if you want to be a dick about it. When you're talking about a suit technician.
SPEAKER_01And you know, it's funny, uh, Olympians Johan Andre Furang, I hope I said that correctly, forgive me, uh Marius Lindvik, hope I said that too, uh, who claimed not to know about the manipulations to their suits, also received three month suspensions. This was apparently back in August, but so uh that's another facet. Imagine your coach and suit technician making illegal changes to your suit, and now you have to pay the price for it. Imagine if they really didn't know.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, I mean you think about how okay, Olympics happen every four years. So up until that point, you're training. You are training your butt off to be the best in your country to represent your country. Now, granted, if you come from a smaller country, you probably have less of a competing factor, but I'm pretty sure when it comes to skiing and it being Norway, I'm pretty sure they got a pretty competitive bunch competing for their spots. Now, you you consider that you've been training for four years and you're getting your shot, you're gonna be in these qualified longer than that. Right, right. You know, their whole lives, you know, and they're eligible or old enough to be able to compete. Or maybe maybe you're down to your final years of competing and you'd really want to get that gold, or just place in general. And then you're faced with this where you find out, hmm, I'm being disqualified for something I didn't do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know, these members of the team, the technician, uh, they were seen obviously making these changes after the suits had already passed inspection. So it was even more egregious. It's not like they snuck it in and then tried to pass it and it got passed inspection. It's like, no, all right, they've been inspected now, now let's try to install it. This is like the the hiding weights and bobsled thing, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, all I can think of though, when you say this is my first thought when you say they they altered the crotches of the uniforms, it just it gives the just bad, bad, bad mental image to start out with. Bad mental imagery. I'm just thinking, well, if you're gonna have a ski jump team and you want to catch more air to keep yourself up more, maybe you need to also worry about how big the ski jumpers are. It was designed not just height-wise, but you know, girth-wise.
SPEAKER_01It was designed to make, quote, La Crotch area more aerodynamic, is what they said. Yeah, creating a windsale.
SPEAKER_02And I'm just like, okay. It's the equivalent of sagging your pants. You know, like you get that baggy spot because you're not wearing your pants all the way up. That's essentially what they're doing. They're just making it baggy, trying to create a windsale to kind of gain longer. Because I mean, the whole point in ski jumping is to go the distance. Go as far as you can. So if you create a little windsale, you know, kind of doing a flying squirrel, you go a little further.
SPEAKER_01Now, as funny as it is, like you say, I'm sure the two competitors are very upset.
SPEAKER_02Well, if they didn't know, they might be in on it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I uh, you know, they said they didn't know. I kinda, you know, they're already gold medalists, so they've they've been here before, uh, which I didn't mention earlier. So sorry about that. I know. But I thought that was rather interesting. And here, just one more piece of Olympic news here, and this one a little more serious, okay? Uh US Olympian, uh, what's her name? Katie Hullender, uh, she's on the what team is she on? She's on an Olympic team. Um, the American Skeleton Cup. Anyway, basically, she was uh qualified for the Olympics, but because of the way points are distributed, uh Canada withdrew a few of their competing athletes and it redistributed the points differently, and now suddenly she doesn't qualify. Um, and she's obviously um petitioning the Olympic uh board to reconsider that. Um so four Canadian women skeleton athletes were withdrawn just before competition, which is kind of weird given the rules. Uh, under international bobsled and skeleton federation. So this is uh two and single person bobsled.
SPEAKER_02Um but you said skeleton. So isn't that the one where they lay down on the sled?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's the that's that's basically single-person bobsled.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, pretty skeleton skeleton.
Skeleton Points Controversy And Appeals
SPEAKER_01Yeah, skeleton. That's what they call a skeleton. So two-person bobsled and single-person skeleton bobsled, or what you call it. Anyway, 75% of points were issued, mathematically eliminating Uhlinder uh from the Milan Cortana for the first heat event began. So um what Mike again, what do you make of this, man? Uh she was expected to compete and qualify, and now before he even gets underway, she's already been cut out. And it's not like uncommon for national teams to adjust their competing squads or even withdraw entirely. Um, but for that to indirectly affect your positioning or even your placement.
SPEAKER_02Well, these things have been going on for a long time. This is not the first time somebody's missed out because of a re-justifying of you know, people being removed or points being distributed again based on the competitive crowd. So this isn't the first time something like this has happened, and probably not the last time. It's very sad, but but there is a silver lining for her. There has been times where people have appealed these decisions and gotten in still. So she has a chance. I mean, and let's face it. Well, she's out of the heat already. Like well, let's face it, if you get in, if you get to walk with your country displaying the colors for your nation, that's all you need. Well, she's because for some athletes, that's all they need. That's all they want, just to represent their country. Because there's a lot of countries they know they're not gonna meddle, but just the honor of being selected to represent your nation at the biggest stage with other professional athletes at the height of their competitive sport, yeah, it's it's just so great.
SPEAKER_01Well, what what she's saying, I agree with you, Mike, but what she's saying is she's already been mathematically eliminated.
SPEAKER_02Right. So she's already out. That's why she's appealing.
SPEAKER_01She's trying to appeal it with the ability. So she can do it, and I hope she can, but Canadian Canadia. Canada. Canada did this so they could qualify one more spot, basically sending two athletes instead of the potential one. Um so like, I mean, it's war games in the Olympics, pretty much.
SPEAKER_02It's a tale as old as time, man. This is how the Olympics go. This is how they have to cut it off somewhere. They can't have 20 people from one nation competing under for one event, you know.
Tommy John Surgery And Youth Sports
SPEAKER_01Well, the Canada, well, they withdrew because of the points distribution process. So by having less athletes overall in the competition, points are distributed differently, which gives more points to the Canadian competitors and less points to her because of the way they distribute. It's kind of a weird, obscure thing and kind of stupid, if you ask me. But that's a little bit we got on some a tad bit of funny news, a little bit of uh Olympic stuff, touched on some obscure UFC fighting, but we're going to jump into our normal agenda here now, ladies and gentlemen, and everybody in between. Uh, let's talk a little bit of baseball, man. We got one more conversation before we talk general transaction things going on, Mike. We talked this, I thought this was a good conversation we had uh, you know, socially last week after we wrapped up last week's episode. We were talking about Tommy John surgery, right? So uh you were telling me that sometimes people, athletes, particularly younger athletes, uh can have Tommy John surgery done before they really even need it, before they have the injury uh that prompts that surgery. Uh do you do you think that this is something acceptable? And could this be the next edge of perform performance enhancing procedures being looked at like perhaps performance-enhancing substances, PEDs?
SPEAKER_02Okay, so just a little bit on what Tommy John surgery is. It involves your right or left elbow, and essentially what they do is they in order for somebody to need Tommy John, usually what has happened is the ligaments within your elbow, you have torn, ruptured, destroyed, basically a ligament in your elbow. Well, if you're a pitcher or any person playing any sport, it's kind of a big deal because now you can't really move your elbow, you can't really play. Because think about it you pick up something, you try to throw it. You're always gonna bend your elbow, you're always gonna move your arm in the direction you want to throw it. Well, when you tear something like that, you're losing function of your elbow, which if you're a pitcher, that's a big deal. Any athlete, it's a big deal. So, what they do is they drill holes in your bone, both the upper and lower part of your arm, and they run a ligament through that section and kind of uh affix it to the bone on either side, running it through those holes to kind of give it an anchor point on either side. Now, this the surgery is called Tommy John. That's not after the doctor who did the procedure, that's named after the first person who ever received the surgery, a pitcher named Tommy John, obviously. Um, but this surgery in particular, a lot of reasons why you're hearing more younger athletes looking to get this surgery, not only some of them needing it, it's also because what they're seeing from their uh the higher you know MLB players, what they're doing. You're having guys, they wind up screwing up their elbow because they're just throwing gas all the time. Not excuse me, not really pitching, but just throwing. So what's happening is these guys are tearing it, going and having the surgery, and they come back and they almost pitch better. Like they almost pitch harder, faster. And what this what is happening is these young competitive traveling teams and these younger athletes who are trying to get themselves onto maybe minor league staffs or trying to get to the majors themselves, they see this and they think, well, can I just you know have this done ahead of time so I can possibly avoid having this happen when I get to say college or I get to the major leagues, if you get to the major leagues, and you know, prevent myself from having a lengthy recovery then. And a lot of doctors, there there's kind of a middling study where people are saying it's a good thing, and there's a lot of doctors who are saying, No, you shouldn't do this unless you act actually need it. You know, you you don't go and get your knee worked on if you don't need knee surgery, you know. That's why they're like, don't do this to your elbow. You know, just do normal stuff, do workouts that help your elbow, help your arm, help your shoulder. Don't do stuff that tears it up. Unfortunately, what we're seeing out of baseball, pitchers are not pitching. And when I say not pitching, you have guys going up there and they're just trying to hit triple digits, they're trying to throw as hard as they can for as long as they can. And a lot of times, these players are the ones getting paid because they get up there and for a while there they're just blowing guys away with gas. You know, people just can't catch it. Well, that's good and fine, but you give it a couple years of doing that, and then you're gonna wind up with your elbow jacked up, yeah, and guys wind up having to have a surgery. Now, there are freak cases where that's not the case, you know. The Randy Johnsons of the world who let me remind most folks that Randy Johnson was 6'7. So 6'7? Don't, don't. That's over with. Don't do that. Anyway, um, yeah, it's over. That's over. But no, that's over. So because he's so tall. Don't bring that shit in my house ever again. Because he's so tall, he creates more torque and more drive when he's coming down off the mound, which also, by the way, when he was pitching, the mound was just a smidge higher. So there was a lot more for him to throw. Plus, you know, when he hit that bird, that kind of really made a lot of people who don't pay attention to baseball pay attention.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But in my standpoint, and the way I feel about it, uh, I agree with the doctors. Do not have this surgery if you do not need it, because you're you're incurring something that you should not have to go through. This is an invasive surgery, it does have a lengthy recovery time, and yeah, you you probably will be able to throw a little harder, a little faster, but for how long before you need an additional surgery. Just because you have the surgery does not mean you won't have another one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I agree with you, Mike. I think that especially for young athletes, I say you ride it till the wheels fall off, man. Uh, don't have any surgery, don't have any cosmetic surgeries or performance-enhancing surgeries. Like, it's not like getting your tonsils out, okay. Uh like these things, and once you pull your body apart, like it's it's more susceptible to needing more surgery in the future. Like, you raise your risk of needing another surgery or having another significant injury.
SPEAKER_02Speaking of somebody who's had multiple surgeries, I can tell you it's not a fun experience. Like, it depends on how well you do with anesthesia, you can come out of it feeling like just garbage. Like you want to throw up, you just feel nauseous, you feel out of it. And generally, wherever you had surgery, you just feel beat up. You have stitches you got to deal with, you have wounds you gotta clean, you gotta deal with extra stuff, and you're just you're not yourself for quite a while. So you're right again, you don't necessarily want to do something electing to do it, especially if from an athlete standpoint.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I put under I got put under with anesthesia just to have my wisdom teeth out. No, thank you. And for my endoscopy, and also fun. Lucky you.
SPEAKER_02I was awake when they did mine.
SPEAKER_01Your endoscopy?
SPEAKER_02No, that's weird. No, no, no. When they did uh when they did my wisdom, they I had all four removed and I was awake.
SPEAKER_01I had to it sucked. I had to have oral surgery for mine because the bottom two were sideways, impacted, and all kinds of messed up. And so they had to cut me open for that. Those are really the reason I had to have oral surgery. The top two, they were crowding everything. I was getting sores because they were crooked. So I was getting sores on the inside of my cheeks from chewing and stuff. Um, so they just yanked those out. But yeah, I and I've I've broken one bone, two bones in my life. Um which is weird because I've been in a motorcycle accident on the highway and a couple other things, and it's you know, fortunately, I probably have more brain damage. You know, that's that's probably the where I took the most brunt. I'll be honest.
SPEAKER_02Mike maybe agrees. Well, I was gonna say maybe our listeners agree because they do hear the show.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. If you've ever listened to me talk for longer than 10 seconds, you probably know I'm I may or may not have one or more TBIs in different parts of my brain. So, but yeah, young folks, run your body, take care of your body, but run your body till the wheels fall off uh and perform until you no longer can.
SPEAKER_02Just do everything you can to keep yourself in in prime physical shape without resorting to exactly.
MLB Moves: Bader, Peralta, Gore Haul
SPEAKER_01It's not like buying a car and building a motor. You are the motor, now you're just looking for replacement parts. But let's jump on into the Giants here. What we've got going on with Mr. Bader, Mike. Tell me about Mr. Bader and the Giants.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so uh last year uh the San Francisco Giants had probably the worst outfield in baseball. The worst. Okay. And so they have signed Harrison Bader to a two-year$20.5 million deal to address that outfield issue. And I I like this signing. Harrison Bader is a good outfielder, he provides some speed on the base pads, and he's going to be a much needed lift to that outfield.
SPEAKER_01No relation to Ruth Bader that we know of.
SPEAKER_00No, not at all.
SPEAKER_02But moving right along, and there's been some trades that have happened. And one of the trades involving the New York Mets. The Mets finally pulling off a deal. They've been trying, they've been trying to get players left and right. Now they have they have landed a few free agents, but this one, this is probably a this is a good deal because they get Freddie Peralta from from the Brewers uh handing over just a bunch of a bunch of prospects and stuff, high, high-level prospects from their farm system, but landing an ace pitcher for themselves. Um I'm surprised the Brewers were so willing to let him be traded, but it was probably a deal where he probably told them, hey, I'm not gonna come back once I get free agency. And they said, All right, well, we're gonna get what we can. So they traded him, and now the Mets have their ace to head the front of their rotation, which they still need more pitching help, but this is a good start. It's a definitely a good start. Now, there was another trade that was a little interesting. Mackenzie Gore's name has been rumored for the last few years that they were gonna be that the Nats were gonna trade him, and it always seemed like deals were about to happen and just fell through. It was it was gonna happen, but they pulled out the last deal. This time, this time was different. McKenzie Gore has been traded. He has gone to the Rangers, but what makes this deal a little more unusual, at least from my standpoint, is the fact that the Rangers traded for just Mackenzie Gore and sent five players in return. Five prospects. Five ranging all all within the you know ranking system for prospects within their organization. Ranking system of prospects. So they get a shortstop and and Gavin Fine Finds or Fiend, and uh they get a right-handed pitcher, an infielder, an outfielder, and a first baseman and outfielder, all of them ranked 24th or lower, or 24th or higher, I should say, 24th or higher within the prospect rankings. So they just got themselves a huge haul that might flip what the Nationals are doing in the coming years, barring these prospects turning out. I mean, you're you're looking at just a haul of picks, you know, hall of players that could turn this organization around.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I'm eager to see what they do here, how this plays out. Uh but honestly, I like it. I like the move. I do too.
SPEAKER_02I do too. Especially, especially for the two clubs, because they're in two different areas within their where their clubs are at. So the Nationals, they are trying to rebuild. And McKenzie Gore is the top guy they have, and they trade him off to the Rangers who are more in line to compete. So both organizations kind of win here.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_02We offload a few prospects and get a top-notch pitcher that we hope to provide us a push into the playoffs and hopefully into the deep into the Rangers clearly trying to play offs creep into that conversation there. Speaking of conversations, we do have the world baseball classic coming up, and a lot of players we're going to be seeing participate in the world baseball classic, but two names you will not see is Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. Neither one will be participating in the World Baseball Classic Classic because there's no insurance for them. And what I mean by no insurance is within their contracts, there is no insurance that they will get their salaries if they get hurt participating in the world baseball classic. So both players have opted to not play because of this.
SPEAKER_01You know, sometimes I hate that money runs everything. Uh I can't say I blame them. I can't say I blame them, but at the same time, is this their first contracts? Or they've been they've been around for No, no, no, Lord no.
SPEAKER_02They've been around for a long time, especially at Tuve.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so to me, like you should be financially well established by now. I get that you want to make the money, and it's probably a significant amount of money, but I'm like, man, go play in the classic.
SPEAKER_02I know just everybody's motivated differently.
SPEAKER_01They are, yeah. Everybody, you're right, everybody's motivated differently. If it's me and I'm established and financially I'm good, if I'm if I'm at the point where I'm kind of playing more for the love of the game, then I'm like, all right, I don't mind.
SPEAKER_02A lot of players like performing in the world baseball classic because you're representing it's kind of like the Olympics. You're representing your country. So a lot of these players, they're not necessarily from the U.S. You know, we've got guys from Venezuela, we got guys from Cuba, we got guys from Japan, we got guys from from over in Spain, we got players from all over. Yeah, we even have players from Africa.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, baseball is a true worldwide sport, just like blitz ball in Final Fantasy.
SPEAKER_02Okay, and so basically, these players, uh Altuve and Correa, they've both played before in the World Baseball Classics. So it's not like they haven't competed before. So this might actually give an opportunity to someone else to perform. So this might be a situation where them being out helps elevate someone else to show their show their stuff at a world stage.
SPEAKER_01Well, I guess that's what karma feels like because that information would have been helpful up front.
SPEAKER_02Well, I look.
SPEAKER_01This is like the gold medal. I can't medal thing. But you're right, no, you're right. But they've already been there. Uh so that changes things maybe a little bit. Maybe they just don't want to go, maybe it's an excuse.
SPEAKER_02Hey, Lindsay Vaughn has been in the downhill competitions in the Olympics maybe years and years and years, but she's still going back for another try.
World Baseball Classic Opt-Outs
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Maybe these two gentlemen feel that they've established themselves so well that maybe that's like, eh, give Youngblood some turn, some chance, you know. Yeah. It's kind of like NFL players saying, nah, I'm not participating in the Pro Bowl. But to me, if it's as good as it's cracked up to be, and I'm a player, I'm thinking, all right, I probably want to go to this if I can go to this. But that's just my perspective, okay.
SPEAKER_02Well, speaking of good, we gotta bounce on over to college basketball and specifically women's college basketball, because we gotta give a little shine to Notre Dame star. I'm gonna let Brian do it. We love let letting Brian do the names.
SPEAKER_01Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo. There you go.
SPEAKER_02And he hit it. He hit it just right.
SPEAKER_01You couldn't pronounce Hidalgo. There's a movie called Hidalgo.
SPEAKER_02No, it's not that I couldn't pronounce pronounce it. I'm trying to give people the chance to let Brian name.
SPEAKER_01Brian does the name. I get it now. It's our thing, it's one of our little things. I get it. So I nailed it this time.
SPEAKER_02So Hannah has made history with scoring 2,000 career points in college basketball. And this is impressive for another reason, too. She's also the quickest to do it. She reached this incredible milestone in 86 games. The previous the previous record was 89. So now she is not only in the 2,000 points scored, but she did it in a faster clip. She's gonna be in the WNBA for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, she's probably a future WNBA. And you know, this is just like that other girl. I wish I remembered her name. Uh, but there's a couple rising stars through college in the college race that I are gonna be household names in the WNBA one day. Um, I can see now. And congratulations to her. And being in Notre Dame, Notre Dame, you know, an independent school at that, so they've had to go out and find matches and you know, organize exhibitions.
SPEAKER_02She also most recently not not just did the 2,000 points, but she also recorded her 382nd steal with Notre Dame, giving her the school record. So now she has two milestones. Maybe she should commit to the NBA. I don't know.
Women’s Hoops Milestones And Co-Ed Debate
SPEAKER_01Hey, I've seen her play, dude. She can ball. Now that would be a hell of a sport, okay? No more NBA, no more WNBA. From now on, it's co-ed. Men and women together. Could you imagine the strategy and the offensive schemes that could unfold?
SPEAKER_02Look, I can tell you, watch these WNBA games, you see these girls sometimes. I hate to say it, I hate to say it, guys. Y'all lacking. Because these girls, they are competing harder than the guys do sometimes. You know, and that's that's sad. Well, yeah. And the girls, girls are faster. Sad for the guys to not put up as much effort. You know, I don't know if the guys those girls play hard.
SPEAKER_01I don't know if the girl, now I do know that a top-tier men's college basketball team could probably compete with an NBA uh WNBA team. Uh, but I still like the skill level in the WNBA, and I like the skill level we're seeing in the college ranks as well. Uh the WNBA is clearly an up-and-coming uh professional sport. And honestly, some sports like baseball and basketball, I wouldn't mind seeing a co-ed league pop up because I think in today's day and age, that you know, that would be widely accepted.
SPEAKER_02Well, don't forget that Ice Cube offered uh Oh damn, why am I forgetting her name? This is horrible. Brittany Greiner. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Uh Indiana. Fever. Oh. Caitlin. Yeah, he offered Caitlin Clark a contract to come be in the Big Three League instead of going to WNBA. She turned it down, obviously, because she went WNBA. Obviously. But she would have been performing in the Big Three.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the big and yeah, that and I think doesn't Caitlin Clark perform in that three-on-three league as well, or is she just WNBA only?
SPEAKER_02I I think that whole league is built up on WNBA players, the three-on-three league.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's built on it's built on WNBA players, but it's also built on other professional players that didn't make it to the WNBA. Uh it's it's got some non-WNBA players in it. Okay. But it's it's like speed basketball. I kind of like it.
SPEAKER_02But let's roll on into football and pursuit and let's before we get into NFL, I want to talk a little college football. Because we do have some news in college football. And I I kind of like this situation that's going on here. So we just saw the Oregon Ducks do a little something. On they kind of got bumped out of the playoffs. But I mean, they still made it, they still had a good run, though. I gotta give them credit. They did, they did, but they landed a commitment uh that the last name should sound a little familiar. They just got an outside linebacker, Sam Hanada. And if that doesn't ring a bell, that last name, maybe it will if I say Halone. Halone Nada. Yes. That is his son. His son is making his way to the Oregon Ducks. Man, outside linebacker.
SPEAKER_01And Nada was part of that Super Bowl team with Ray Lewis and that all-premier defense, one of the best defenses the league might have ever seen.
SPEAKER_02He was an all-American in 2005. His dad, Helone Nada. He was also, let's see. He was an all-American in 2005. He was selected 12th overall in the 2006 NFL draft by the Ravens. Uh let's see. They won the Super Bowl in 2008. Five-time Pro Bowler. Uh won the Super Bowl championship with them. He played 13 seasons where he played with the Baltimore Ravens, the Detroit Lions, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02But now we're going to see his son and see what he can do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, coming into the college ranks as well. And I'm excited because now we're seeing second and in some cases third generations of NFL players coming down now. Um, and maybe one day my son might be in the professional athlete ranks as well. But anyway, uh so good luck. Good luck to Nada's son and uh him as well. And uh, you know be watching for him with the Oregon Ducks. Hopefully he's reliable though, because some teams have an issue with their with their players being reliable. Dion here coming up. Dion, this must be coming a real issue because he's now issuing five hundred dollar fines for being late. Okay.
SPEAKER_02I like what Dion's doing here. I like Dion Dion is going old school on them and he's making these players accountable. Now, remember, NIL. These players are making NIL money, so they can pay these fines now. So now he's gonna five fine them$500 for being late, and no shows are gonna cost$2,500.
SPEAKER_01You know what's funny? Everybody on a college football team is not getting paid, okay? But it's funny because I'm betting the ones not getting paid are the ones that already know that they can't screw up and they're probably already reliable. Yes, you're probably right, you know.
SPEAKER_02But this is this is a simple thing. Like and Dion's just trying to push upon them, be where you're supposed to be on time, which is a good lesson for anybody. You know, you don't want to be showing up late, especially later in life. If you've got a job interview, you can't show up late. You probably won't get the job then, you know, it or no show. You can't no-show for things. You know, if you have a job and you don't show and don't call, they're gonna fire you. So you need to you need to instill some of these values within people.
SPEAKER_01I agree, and then people and the guys, and again, the guys lower on the totem pole, they already know they can't mess up. So they're the guys that show up to practice or the people I say guys, but really I mean people. They're the people that show up to practice on time and every day, just like the workers in your job who can't afford to miss any part of that paycheck.
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, I think it was uh oh dang. I heard I heard I heard a former NFL player who said that he was so terrified of being late when he was a rookie that he literally one point pulled over and put his spare tire on his vehicle and pulled into practice with the spare tire on just so he could tell his coach, hey, I had a flat, that's why I'm late.
College Football: Legacy Recruits And Discipline
SPEAKER_01You know, hey, so he wouldn't get signed. That's better than sending a fake picture. Well, yeah, it never works. That's better than going on Facebook and saying, Hey, to a group of random strangers, can you make my car look like blank so I can send it to my boss? I love those words. Oh Lord. It's usually they always get some ridiculous stuff back. Yeah, I'm sure. But anyway, I won't go into details on that. We'll keep moving on here. Uh, but here, this is interesting, especially as the NIL area era unfolds. Uh, because now we're gonna start coming into some. Are they gonna start changing some rules or adding some rules? Because Duke is filing lawsuit against our uh QB Darien Minsa in the wake of his last-minute uh transfer portal entry. And by the way, they have not removed him from their roster, despite the fact that he is legitimately really not even on their team anymore. Um, and this is part of so he committed to Duke. Duke commits I NIL, they're like married now, but he changes his mind last minute, wants to go somewhere else. Mike, what do you make of this article here? Because I feel like this should be a lesson. Uh obviously he signed the NIL deal and was fully I mean, he was taking classes, he was he was showing up to team events, he was all in part a you know part of the school.
SPEAKER_02So we just went through a little bit of this with the quarterback there with Washington, where he signed an IL deal and tried to get out of it so he could go play for uh Lane Kiffin. But now we're in that scenario again where obviously they're not getting good advice from people they trust because if you're being told, hey, it's okay, I know you signed a deal, I know you got money from the school, but you can leave. No, no, if you make a deal, a commitment, and they gave you money on that commitment, that means you have to be there.
SPEAKER_01Like, these are kids, they're not going to anybody for advice. They think they know everything, okay? They you're right.
SPEAKER_02He probably ain't even But but no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Hold on, hold on, hold up. Not all not all young people are that way. There's a vast majority of them, I will agree. They feel like they know everything. Christ, when I was a kid, I used to be the same way. I was like, I know what I'm doing, I don't need it, I need any advice, I'm good, and I'm like, man, I really screwed up.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I know so I'm so confident now, and I know what I know now because you screwed up. I screwed up so much before in my younger years because I thought I knew everything. Now I actually do kind of know everything because I've been there and done that and learned the hard way.
SPEAKER_00Well, maybe not everything, but no, I know everything. I'm Galactus. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Look, there's something you said in there that's that should be a wake-up call for anybody who's a little younger. That you said that when you had made mistakes, you learned from those mistakes. That's right. Mistakes, albeit let's not make huge mistakes, mistakes are okay as long as you're learning from these mistakes because that's how you grow. You need to make mistakes to know, oh, you know, I can't just come rolling in the house at 11 o'clock when my parents said I had to be here at 10. Now I'm grounded for a month. Mistake. You learn. You know, depends on your family on that one. Look, look, as long as you're not making mistakes like I got drunk, I drove my car, I crashed it into this other car. Yeah, I mean, like that's big mistake.
SPEAKER_01Don't show up to work hungover. Okay? Don't show up to work under the influence of anything, right? These are decisions that people make every day. Some the right decision, some the wrong decision. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Sir, I can tell you there are some people in this world that are functioning alcoholics and they still show up to work and still work, even though they're blitzed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know a lot of them in the industry that I work in, it's very common. But it does not still make it a good decision.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I didn't say it was a good decision. I'm just saying there are folks that do that. You know?
SPEAKER_01There are folks that do that and other things. Uh but you know, you you the the thing is you need at least I say you need at least three good avenues for advice, okay? Uh a lot of times your parents can be them. I don't advocate you making your friends them, because your friends, most of the time, unless they're good friends, will always tell you what you want to hear, unless you're Mike, who doesn't tell me anything I want to hear, and that's why I love them so much. Um and then you can get an advisor. I very regularly tell you that's dumb. Exactly. And that's why he's such a great friend. Because friends don't let friends do dumb shit.
NIL Commitments And Duke Lawsuit
SPEAKER_02But or you want to know when somebody has no friends. When you see that person walking down the street and they're dressed all kinds of wild, and you're just like, did they get did they get dressed in the dark? Like, what is this? You know, when you see that and you just go, Yeah, they ain't got no friends. Yeah, yeah. Either that, it's it's one of two things. Either they don't have friends or they have some really good friends that are messing with them.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_02They're they're they're like, Yeah, man, go ahead. You look great. And they're secretly sitting back going, look at this idiot.
SPEAKER_01Or they didn't seek advice from people they may call friends to be able to tell them that's a bad idea. Or you can seek advice from an advisor, such as somebody who you know may have been there and done that before. It don't have to be a friend, don't have to be a family member. Can just be a random guy or girl or person who coach, somebody who you're familiar with, even on just a name basis. Hey, teacher, professor. I wonder if that guy who I know who I'm friends with on Facebook, but I've never actually talked to in real life, I see his post. He's clearly been through this. Let me reach out to this person real quick. You're gonna ask AI for advice? No, I said you're doomed to fail. I said person. And I don't think you know it's a person. I don't think you're doomed to fail if you utilize AI.
SPEAKER_02No, I I just don't think I would ask for investing advice from AI or you know, ask thirty. You know, if you want to ask AI, hey, who won, you know, the the 1967 World Series, sure, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01Well, AI can give you investing advice, not that this is an investment co you know podcast, but AI, if used properly, can give you good advice on pretty much anything you're doing. Uh, you have to be able to ask the right questions, and you have to be able to understand that the answers it's gonna give you.
SPEAKER_02But that's the problem. You have to know what the right questions are, sir. Sometimes if you just ask it dumb questions, it's gonna give you dumb answers. Well, this is true. Look, South Park did a whole episode on this where you know you're sitting here having having Randy ask AI what he should do with his business, and it's just pandering to him the whole time.
SPEAKER_01Like, I don't think South Park is a reliable source.
SPEAKER_02I didn't say it was a reliable source, but it was hilarious. I don't think it's a reliable reference. It's a cartoon, it's made up. No, no, listen, listen, listen, listen. Every bad idea Randy had, AI was like, that's an interesting idea. You should really think about that. Huh. I guess I will. You know, and it was just bad idea after bad idea, and things just kept getting worse. And eventually, eventually he just goes to Sharon and says, Sharon, can you take my phone for a while?
SPEAKER_01Not to get too far off topic, but I will say I use various AI platforms for various functions. Um, and it if I do have a not so great idea, but the way I present it as well is different too, maybe. When I talk just generally, just say ChatGPT, for instance, when I have an idea for a business, it will tell me the likelihood of it being successful and if it is quote good, not good, or maybe needs some work. From my experience, AI does not just passively or actively approve of everything you put into it. But I am also using it and have learned to use it in a way that benefits my efficiency.
SPEAKER_02Sir, I guarantee you, within the legal precedence of what you if you go look at the agreement with that service, they're gonna say, We do not advise you to take it legal or medical or financial advice using this service. No, I guarantee you that it's written somewhere in there.
SPEAKER_01No, they're probably gonna cover their ass and say, we don't recommend you taking any advice, but it does, if you ask it, it it does give you relatively decent advice. If you ask it, hey, I'm going through a divorce, how can I win? Obviously, it's gonna ask some probing questions because you gotta give it some more information about your specific scenario, your locality.
SPEAKER_02I seriously doubt AI knows what a uh uh well, I don't want to get too graphic with the other half of the scenario, but just we'll just say, you know, I don't think it knows the uh harshness you have to deal with from the other half. So AI can only go so far.
SPEAKER_01AI cannot give you emotional advice, it can't give you romantic advice. No, it can't do that. But things logistically, especially things that have a numeric value that can be measured, things logistical, it can help guide you on, obviously, and it and it usually gives you the sources it pulls information from, and for me, typically it's sources I go to anyway. But this is getting way off from what we're doing.
SPEAKER_02It is getting way off. I digress, okay. The point of the matter is for this quarterback with Duke, he needs to just you made a commitment, you agreed to something. You if you agree to things, you should honor that commitment. And if you can't, you need to have a legitimate reason for not committing and doing what you have agreed upon, especially in this situation. This is why you're getting sued because you did not hold up your end of the bargain.
SPEAKER_01That's right. And I mean, fair is fair. You sign a contract, and trust me, I've had my own run-ins with contracts, and we won't go specifically, but those of you who know, if you know, you know, right? You sign that piece of paper, you're liable for your half of whatever you committed to, okay? And that's just the way it is, whether you get your benefit or not, okay, whether you get your side or not, which you should get your side because it's a contract. But anyway, I digress, we move on from that. Uh, good luck to him and his suit, good luck to him and his whatever team he's gonna play for next year. Uh, Mike, are you ready to jump into some NFL action? Yes. Before we jump into that though, I just briefly I was gonna do this at the end of the show, but I just briefly want to say, given our our uh rabbit holes a second go, um this is why I love this show, and this is why I love you, Mike. Okay, well, it's not the only reason, but it's part of a multitude of reasons. Uh some of you viewers may recognize when we disagree, we are legitimately disagreeing, okay? That's not script, okay? Yeah, um, we have very different views on a lot of things. Everything from politics to AI to how we wash our ass, okay? Um no, no, we we do agree on you should wash your ass.
SPEAKER_02No, I said how we do it, not that we do it. Hey, hey. You want a better one? How we how we take care of or how we decorate our vehicles is very different. I can tell you that. Yeah, I don't I don't think spike lignuts look good on anything. First of all, I don't want to I'm not fighting the Romance. This is not a chariot. I don't need spikes on my vehicle.
SPEAKER_01Sir, I think the word you're looking for is modify or custom, and decorate is something you do to your house. Okay. Or your girlfriend.
SPEAKER_02All right, hold up. All right, fine. We could say custom modify, but really all you're doing is just unbolting and putting something else on. So it's not really customizing anything. You're sometimes you're not chopping or welding or modifying a motor, you're just accenting.
SPEAKER_01I have done things like that. And yes, I am doing things like that. It's just the spike lug nuts are part of it. By the way, this time they're short spikes, they're not long spikes like I had on the truck. They're short, they're chrome, they match the wheels, they look like little studs.
SPEAKER_02You're not finding as Roman gladiators in a chariot race. You don't need spikes on your lug nuts.
SPEAKER_01No, that's why they look more like studs, okay? They poke out of the lug hole. But anyway, to each his own, and it's gonna look clean when it's done. And I'm doing other things to it. Exactly. But anyway, as I was saying, you know, uh, so I I like this podcast, not just because it's about sports, and actually, non-sports people could listen to our podcast because we banter a lot, right? So I like that we have different views a lot. We agree on some things, uh, but we've been very good friends, uh, pretty much best friends, for like two months.
SPEAKER_00Where are you going with this, dude?
SPEAKER_02Anyway, I'm just saying you're beating this dead horse.
SPEAKER_01I just want to say I appreciate that we're able to put on a show and talk because a lot of people can't have conversations anymore that don't have that have conflicting viewpoints, right? Or beliefs. Oh, they can't live and let live? Exactly. I but I think that we do a very good job and set a very good example of doing that.
SPEAKER_02I I believe in live and let live. I mean, honestly, I I hate that people can't disagree and still be okay. Like you can have different views and be alright, because guess what? That's the beauty part of being in our country. Exactly. You're you can sit here and disagree and it's fine. We're not being told, nope, thou shalt believe this, or you are going against the the country and you will go to jail.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_02That we don't live in that. It's okay. Everybody can have their opinion. That's right. Your opinions are, and I'm gonna say this, it's it's an old tired phrase, but opinions like assholes.
SPEAKER_01Everybody has one, and they all stink. Exactly. I am a Christian Buddhist, and Mike is a gay Republican. So the hell you say no, I'm not.
SPEAKER_02Sorry.
SPEAKER_01Uh LGBTQ plus Republican.
SPEAKER_02Might become the first podcast with a recorded punch, with a with a recorded homicide.
Kelsey Brothers’ Donation And Representation
SPEAKER_01Anyway, let's go on ahead. jump into some NFL news here, Mike. And our listeners as well. By the way, some of y'all, you're familiar with the Kelsey brothers. I hope you are. If not, you're about to be who? The Kelsey brothers. Or we call them the Kelche brothers now. Wait, wait. Who they? They're the Kilts they're the Kelts. They're the Kelche brothers. Who they? Anyway, Jason Kelsey, former Philadelphia Eagles, Super Bowl winning center. You mean Mr. Swift? Mr. Swift Mr. Swift? No, that no, that's Travis Kelsey. I mean I'm talking about Jason. Oh that's right, that's right. Jason. Travis Kelsey, aka soon to be Travis Swift, plays tight end for the Chiefs and is also a uh Super Bowl winner his own rights. Their brothers uh they don't look much alike other than their beards and maybe their eyes. But anyway, these two brothers some people like them some people hate them some people don't care about them. But anyway, I kind of grown to like them a lot. They're donating uh real quick what do you got Mike?
SPEAKER_02Alright typically I don't like the Kelsey's I mean I Jason's alright here comes I just don't I don't like I don't like his brother. Lay it on us. I typically don't like him because the way he the way he is on the field, the way he basically he mocks and taunts and gets in people's faces and acts like a D-bag half the time is kind of why I don't like him. You know he just has he has the type of personality that when I played sports he was the guy that I would want to be going against because I'd want to make sure that he lost I like because I hate that type of personality you can't just win you have to try to put people down and try to be you know mocking people to make yourself feel better. Like I hate that personality. But I will give the Kelsey brothers this they did an amazing thing for somebody unselfishly there was a GoFundMe for an athlete by the name of again Brian said the name Layla Edwards come on man oh it is Brian said the name we're getting some easy ones man we need some we get we get some easy names tonight we need like Antoupe I'll get you some good names next time but Layla Edwards uh started GoFundMe because she has qualified to be on the Olympics female hockey team and she's looking for donations in order to send her family to go watch her compete. They don't have they don't have the money to travel themselves. So the Travis and well Travis and Jason Kelsey stepped up and donated$10,000 which was more than they had asked for now the Olympics the winter Olympics are going to be in Italy so this is not going to be a very uh cheap ticket you know especially the you know considering that she's a star at the University of Wisconsin and she wants to have her family come watch her compete. So the Kelsey brothers pitched in 10k which got both got her way over her goal and now I'm sure based on the fact that you know whenever the Kelseys seem to do anything charitable they tend to see more money come in. Well yeah I'm sure that her they're going to get even more money to help get her family over to Italy to watch their daughter compete.
Steelers Hire McCarthy And QB Questions
SPEAKER_01Yeah she she said here a lot more of her family can come down and you're right anytime you get uh a big name especially a celebrity more people want to buy into it because they just have that following okay and I'm not knocking it I think this is a great thing I think it's huge for her um and by the way Edwards uh Layla she's the first black woman to play for the U.S. women's senior national team uh so this is kind of a big deal not just to her but for US American Olympic history as well and I think especially you know whichever side you're on politically given the climate in this country right now I think this is a a huge deal. So I would I would love to see more good news and good stuff like this versus you know somebody uploading their next vacation or you know I I want to see more positive news like this this is this is big you know for for her family this is big they get to go watch their daughter on a huge stage and get to enjoy the event with her like share in a moment that she's gonna have for the rest of her life I I think this is great and this is uh Olympic history as well as American history um and every little bit counts so congratulations to her and good luck to her and her team in the Olympics so hats hats off to the Kelsey brothers for stepping up and doing something very unselfish for somebody who is representing our nation. Yeah I agree with that uh you know moving right along here though we had a few coaching personnel hires update okay uh uh all right so the Steelers are hiring Mike McCarthy uh Green Bay Packers and former Dallas Cowboys head coach to be their new head coach uh he says he would definitely like Rogers to stay now Rogers played under McCarthy so what do you make of this Mike well first uh you know Rogers was kind of the reason McCarthy got pushed out in the first place so that's a little of a weird scenario there you're right he kind of started that whole situation but um so let me ask you would you say that Mike McCarthy is kind of comparable to Mike Tomlin being that both of them seem to do well enough in the regular season they get to the postseason and they don't win they get bumped out usually in the first round and both have a Super Bowl won you know the similarities are striking but give me just a second the similarities are striking but I think Tomlin is a little bit better of a coach than McCarthy.
SPEAKER_02So I heard I heard somebody make an analogy of this and it's probably the funniest thing I've ever heard when somebody comparing a coaching change and it being kind of a eh because it really is kind of a eh I don't think this is what Steeler fans were hoping for.
SPEAKER_01I I I think I know where you're going with this.
SPEAKER_02Here's what I here's what I heard and I I I you tell me what you think of this so somebody said that hiring Mike McCarthy to be the next Steelers head coach is like shitting your pants and changing your shirt you haven't really changed the situation you know I think the Steelers were looking for a splash hire a name brand higher I think they really was that pund intended well I think they really want to keep um Rogers I think they really want Pun intended it was splash higher I I think they really want to attract Rogers for at least one more year because I honestly I don't think the Steelers know what they're doing.
SPEAKER_01Right. I think they're just throw him darts at this point. But McCarthy was willing to come coach and they didn't run he's a Pittsburgh negative a what? He's a Pittsburgh native oh I thought you said Pittsburgh negative I said no hold on a second but they didn't uh they didn't run an extensive coaching hire. Like they only interviewed two or three people well think about it.
SPEAKER_02The Steelers for the last few years you can say had you know they focused mainly on defense for the most part and they weren't so great on offense. Now if you look at Mike McCarthy when he was with Dallas he had a good offense didn't look so great on defense. Now you're getting almost the reverse in with the Steelers you're gonna have them focus mainly on offense and not so much on defense. So I mean like well I they have they have so many players on the defensive side that are way overpaid that they're gonna have to figure out what they're doing with these contracts and maybe let go of some players. So now you're gonna be in a scenario where you really need Rogers to come back because you can't pay to get any of these free agent quarterbacks or go after a Kirk Cousins or a you know any other name that might be out there for trade.
SPEAKER_01Whether first of all whether Rodgers comes back or not I think they go after rookie quarterback in the draft. Well they have Howard well they have Howard but I still think they probably get a draft one even if it's in the later rounds but I I think they got McCarthy for a couple of exclusive reasons okay I think they got McCarthy because one he although it's not spectacular he has a proven um consistent track record okay of not managing the clock well I agree well that but Tomlin had things that he didn't do well either as a coach even though he's a great coach like run the ball yeah that but he couldn't build an offense either I mean I go as far back as Rothlisberger like he couldn't they they really haven't had much of an offense in like 15 years.
SPEAKER_02Just like Mike McCarthy doesn't use any motion whatsoever in his play calls?
SPEAKER_01Well that too and again I don't necessarily agree with the McCarthy but I think they feel like they wanted a coach that they knew that they could reasonably keep around for a long time.
SPEAKER_02They want to they like continuity and consistency I think they would with the coach who they knew that they could give some leash to you don't say the team that has only had three coaches in their entire history since 1969 is looking for consistency and longevity in a coach you don't say well I think I think all teams should be doing that but I think they're looking for a coach. Go ahead sorry well sometimes you you wear out your welcome and I in this case I think the reason that you had Mike Tomlin walk away is he was just kind of like this is over. This is time to move on you know it's kind of like you see the couple where it's like they're obviously done but they're not done and then finally one day they just walk away and everybody goes I get it yeah it makes sense that's kind of what happened with with Tomlin.
SPEAKER_01I think that this writing has been on the wall for at least the last two years especially since they drafted Pickett and then let him go a season later traded him a season later I I think I thought it was two seasons two seasons ago I I think this started around when they brought in three quarterbacks to compete I really thought he thought he was going to find a franchise quarterback there and when that didn't work out I think Tomlin started really considering when he's gonna hang it up but the other thing is I don't think this was totally Mike Tomlin's decision. I really think the Steelers brass came to him or they met up and they had a mutual agreement because the Steelers they don't want to fire anybody and they they like the history they have with personnel and I think that they said hey if you don't want to step back we don't think that you're the guy anymore.
SPEAKER_02So I think they gave him the option so I just thought of something kind of funny so in his presser he talked about you know being a Pittsburgh guy and coming back to Pittsburgh and you know putting on new colors again and you know trying to bring back bring a seventh Super Bowl trophy to the Pittsburgh Steelers and in saying that I thought about this what if he does get that seventh Super Bowl championship to Pittsburgh how mad do you think Jerry Jones is going to be if Mike McCarthy gets a Super Bowl win with the Steelers I just just you know the fly on the wall for that scenario when Jerry Jones sees the Steelers win another one well Dallas hasn't come close would just be so delicious. I would just I would be so on board even though I don't want to win another one I would be so in love with seeing the reaction there.
SPEAKER_01I think so too and I I really feel like unless the results like with Pete Carroll right unless the results just really are not what you're looking for in year one like I think you should give head coaches and their staff like two to three years to really show some progress. I don't even think five I think two to three years you should be showing some progress with your team some continuity I think teams that let their coaches go sooner than that I think they're not seeing what they want to see.
SPEAKER_02Well obviously well sometimes you just know I mean sometimes sometimes case in point we'll get there but one of the teams in the Super Bowl they let go of a coach after one year and look how it turned out for them.
SPEAKER_01The opposite there's another one we'll hit on the Raiders and Pete Carroll here shortly um because they didn't add it to the agenda but we do have some things to talk about with that.
Bills And Browns Coaching Turns, Schwartz Fallout
SPEAKER_02So moving on in the agenda let's talk about uh there's a new coach there's a new coach for the Buffalo Bills and his name is Brady no not the Brady you're thinking of Joe Brady their offensive coordinator got moved up got a promotion from the Brady bunch so Joe Brady is now the head coach instead of the offensive coordinator. Now this is a kind of a puzzling move because didn't they just say that the coaching staff wanted to get Keon Coleman that that owner disliked the move and they didn't want to do that. And at a at a minimum and then you then you sit there and promote the guy that you said was part of the decision that went against what you wanted so you're what what did you really do here? I mean you just pushed McDermott out but did you really change anything?
SPEAKER_01Yeah and after trying to put the Keon Coleman draft on the coaching staff you know at a minimum not just McDermott but Joe Brady also had to be in that conversation. So why are you an offensive coordinator? Exactly I don't I don't understand I think that the Bills did not I think the coaching candidates got sucked up actually honestly rather quickly uh we're not even at the Super Bowl yet and most of the teams looking for a head coach have already found one uh for there being an exceptionally high number of head coach openings this season eight um I thought that was pretty quick well don't forget there might be some people on these current teams about to be in the Super Bowl that they might be trying to pluck you know coordinators and whatnot off of those staffs as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah I I don't know McDonald's only been in Seattle for like what two years now don't kill the lead dude we haven't talked about what happened in the games we're getting there.
SPEAKER_01Well we're getting there but everybody knows what happens by now so we'll just hit on it briefly but I don't as far as coaching staff goes I don't I don't think either of these coaching staffs have been intact and successful long enough really for people to want to pluck them maybe next year.
SPEAKER_02I don't know dude I mean we've seen some strange things happen. But then again you come from a winning organization people want what you got so moving on to the next coaching hire the Browns have found their head coach and I gotta say I kind of like the move they hired Todd Munkin to be their new head coach who was the offensive coordinator for the Ravens and Todd Munken had shown he could run an offense okay I mean yeah the Ravens were down this year but I think Lamar was more hurt than he was letting on and there was just some just odd things happening with their team you know between the fumbling issues between the catch non-catch issues the you know guys not being being lined up right just there was just all kinds of problems and offensive line issues and but when they were humming Todd Munken was at the helm.
SPEAKER_01Yeah I agree I I kind of like the Tom Munkin hire as well uh the only issue they it brings some controversy though even more so than the quarterback controversy that they're gonna have next year because Deshaun Watson is coming back to compete and now they have Shadur who by the way we'll get to in a minute who's on a Pro Bowl roster somehow but I I now this what I was going into excuse me guys sometimes I hiccup it's a neurological thing. Anyway um I like I do like the Monken hire but this brings up controversy because now Jim Schwartz once out of his contract he's the Browns defensive coordinator. Jim Schwartz feels that he should have been promoted to head coach and I think obviously he's looking for another head coach opportunity. Why do you think the Browns why do you think the Browns passed on him?
SPEAKER_02Well I think you could easily point to the fact that Jim Schwartz was formerly the coach of the Detroit Lions and they never really did much when he was the coach. Right. I mean yeah they made the playoffs but they were bumped out of the playoffs so you can't really say that you know he had a great tenure most people remember him for the Harbaugh slap to the back where he wanted to run down and yell at Harbaugh over it when the Lions and 49ers played but as a defensive coordinator he's been excellent. Defense defensive wise they've been the the Browns have been a pretty stout defense not just because they have Miles Garrett but because they've been taking the players they have and making great schemes for them. They've just been having players go down and they still seem to perform pretty well as the defense it's not the days where you could just push the Browns around. So now that he's on the market he's got quite a few spots where he can go elsewhere and that might be part of his motivation is to go elsewhere where he can make a name for himself again.
SPEAKER_01Now do you think you see Jim Schwartz get out of his contract or do you think we see a coordinator trade here?
SPEAKER_02I think he'll get out of his contract because I don't think the Browns want to deal with in-house fighting I think they want to just start the new regime if he doesn't want to be there let him out let him hit the open market and go where he wants now there's going to be plenty of opportunities doing that. So I mean uh case in point the Niners need a defensive coordinator and his name has been linked to a possibility of being a coordinator there.
SPEAKER_01So that's a that's a possibility of a possible landing spot and uh yeah so yeah that's a good landing spot and you know I was just gonna jump off the Browns for a second One last coaching hire update. The Commanders, this is a little bit of a homer, but I'm not gonna go too deep on it. This is only a couple days old now. The Commanders have landed their defensive coordinator, Durante Jones, and I wasn't gonna talk about this, but I like this hire, Mike. Because this is a this is a sneaky good hire, okay? This isn't like when they hired Joe Witt from the Cowboys, who was the defensive, who was the DB's coach then, uh, who came over with Quinn, by the way. Uh DeRonta Jones is Brian Flores' right-hand man and the DB's coach for the Vikings. The Vikings regularly have one of the best defenses in the league, and they have one of the highest blitz rates as well. Um they couldn't get Brian Flores, but they got Durante Jones.
SPEAKER_02I think this is Yeah, I was gonna say it's because of Brian Flores, it's not because of his assistant.
Commanders’ DC Hire And Scheme Fit
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's because of well, his assistants take after him, and Durante Jones is a is almost like Brian Flores light. Okay, he was his right hand man, has followed him everywhere he's been. So don't yes, I'm a commander's fan, Redskins fan. Homer is a little bit Homer, but I cannot stress this isn't like some over-the- I think this is a good hire. I think this is a sneaky, good under-the-radar hire. We'll see about that. Um, and speaking of snubs, though, Mr. Schwartz feeling snubbed, uh, they had Hall of Fame voting mic this last week. Uh, and the Hall of Fame board is pretty extensive now. Can you believe and Bill Belichick's first year eligible? He does not get in.
SPEAKER_02So there's a few things going on here. First off, players have to be out of the league a minimum of five years before they're eligible for the Hall of Fame. Coaches are only having to be one year out, one year removed, to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Now, you might ask why why is it players get five and and coaches get one? Well, let's think about it for a second. Coaches generally older, you know, we're seeing coaches like, okay, Andy Reid, he's in his 70s, right?
SPEAKER_01So when he looks good for 70, not gonna lie. Right. So he looks 60.
Belichick Hall Vote And HOF Process
SPEAKER_02Chill out. When he retires, you're gonna make him wait five years and possibly not be around anymore for the possibility of him being in the Hall of Fame. No, you give him a year and then he has the possibility to go in. Now, players, when they retire, typically you're anywhere from 33 up to, thanks to Brady, now 44, 45, or or should I say, uh Philip Rivers in this case, you can be 44 and still play. Uh but the point of the matter is the players have a much longer window in which to make it. But what the the committee does is they try to dial things down to a group of five and then try to dial things down to a group of three, which I am finding more and more frustrating with the way that they do this Hall of Fame voting. Now, some people have said, How can you not put Belichick in with the contributing factors that he has put into this game? And now there's probably people that look at one of a few things. They look at the fact that he was involved in the Spygate scandal. He was defending Brady, he was not involved, but defending Brady in the deflate gate stuff. And yeah, he was kind of a D-bag to the media, and the media does hold over, you know, part of the voting when it comes to the Hall of Fame. But I think there's one thing we're also missing in this factor. Robert Kraft is not in the Hall of Fame either, and he is part of this vote right now. I'm thinking that part of this is them trying to vote in Robert Kraft by himself without having to share the spotlight with a tumultuous breakup between him and him and Mr. Belichick. So that way they're snubbing Belichick, but also giving Robert Kraft a stage to himself.
SPEAKER_01Once again, I'm gonna slightly disagree with you. So I was reading into this a little bit. From what I understand, from what I read, and I'm not I'm not disagreeing with you on merit. I I think there's weight to what you're saying. I'm just disagreeing with you from what I read, uh, because first of all, Spygate was basically debunked. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Oh no, no, no, no. They had evidence over this Spygate, and they also enforced rules upon upon the Patriots the next year over Spygate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because Rut Roger Goodell already preassumed that they would have been guilty of it. So he assigned um well, he penalized them and fined them just on merit, just on not merit, but just on hunch. But Spygate was loosely verified, and it was more on Brady than Belichick.
SPEAKER_02No, Spygate was Belichick, it had nothing to do with Brady.
SPEAKER_01Well, Belichick didn't have anything really to do with Spygate, it was his assistants, but the they were not fined for spying on other teams' practices, they were fined for recording practices from an illegal position on the field. So the the wording is different.
SPEAKER_02They were also in trouble for finding recording devices in the opposing locker room.
SPEAKER_01Well, I didn't hear about all that. But I do know that their specific fine for recording practices was from an illegal location. Not that the recording itself was legal.
SPEAKER_02I mean audio recordings, let me re be specific.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, the audio recordings.
SPEAKER_02They weren't sitting there filming guys trying to take showers.
SPEAKER_01But either way, yeah, the scandals were there. There was a couple of them, you know, Deflate Gate, Spygate being the two that blew up. But really logistically, this team under Bill Belichick won what six championships or five championships? Six championships. They won six championships. A lot of people say, oh, if he never had Brady, he would have never done it.
SPEAKER_02Well, remember the first few few championships were Adam Vinateri's last second field goals that got them the victory. Yes. And it was it was the defense that carried Brady to those championships because the defense was the prime leader. You know, it was giving Brady short field advantages because they were recovering, you know, fumbles or getting interceptions. And they also made it to where the play scheme and play situation for Brady was a much easier read because remember, he was thrust into action when Bletso went down from a hit from a Jets player over on the sidelines.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I I credit Brady a lot for performing the way he did and being ready to go, especially as a sixth-round draft pick, because look, we've seen it over and over and over again. You throw a quarterback in there, sometimes he just ain't the guy, sometimes he just ain't ready. Brady been ready to go from the get-go. He was a true diamond in the rough, a one-off generational player, and I think his preparation played into a lot of that. But I think there was a lot of politics involved with this Hall of Fame voting. I think you're right that's getting. Two names that repeatedly come up in this are Bill Polian and Tony Dungey, uh, who probably had leading voices against voting Belichick in on the first ballot. That doesn't mean Belichick's not gonna get in. No, he's getting in. He's just not gonna be first ballot. He's just not gonna be first ballot. And I think you're right, the Robert Kraft thing does have some to do with that. What do you got, Mike?
SPEAKER_02So uh getting sideways away from from the Belichick thing, I am I am ploring with the NFL for the love of God get over this only three scenario with getting people in. You all have to get past that. You you are letting some really great athletes who are deserving to be in the hall, you're you're passing them over and you're making them wait forever for a chance. And it's only going to get harder because you're gonna have players coming out like the Brady's that are going to be voted in and leave these players out. You have players like Lou Keekly, whose career was cut short by injury, but did so well in the short amount of time he was there that he is no doubt a Hall of Famer. You have players that from yesteryear, like Roger Craig, who was the first thousand yards rushing, thousand yards receiving back in the NFL history, and you don't have him in the Hall of Fame, and he won multiple Super Bowls with the 49ers, you don't have him in. You have Reggie Wayne and Tori Holt sitting there waiting for their their due when both of them have won Super Bowls and have been to multiple Pro Bowls and have put up just ridiculous numbers in their play in their playing time. And and you you're just not giving the the players that deserve their due their due. You're letting don't get me wrong, there are players, some players getting their due, but there are so many guys being passed over that you're gonna wait so long that they're gonna be gone. I mean, we just we just had uh we had McMichaels. McMichaels, who's suffering from a brain disease, a degenerative disease that's that's killing him, ALS, and he can't even get up there and do a speech because he's bedridden. You waited so long to put him in, and he was part of that 85 Bears defense that was so dominant and just kind of got lost in the names. But you let him you you let him basically rot away to where he can't be up there and give a speech. Now you did you did get him in before he passed away, but what was that? You didn't give him a chance. You didn't give him a chance to be up there and give his speech, you didn't give him a chance to do that with his family and look down at his family and thank them for the sacrifices they made. Like, I just I hate that the NFL is doing it this way. Well, there's a need to review the way you vote people in and do it better. It is it is a crime that you're doing that to these players.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's there's a lot of talent that I think it's gets forgotten about. And the more time goes by, the more likely are to continue being forgotten about. Um and I think that's unfortunate, uh, especially given that the Hall of Fame process, like a lot of other things in life, are very politically driven, you know. Uh we can't help that though. Uh so here, jumping into the conference round championship, though. We're gonna go ahead and talk about some football, some actual on-field football, real quick. What happened in the conference championship round, AFC and the NFC, and all those good things going on. Okay, first games up. We had New England and Denver, a lot a lot, not a lot of high expectations because Bo Nicks was out with a broken ankle. Um, a lot of people just expected New England to run away with it, which they did not.
SPEAKER_02Dude, this game was like two different games. It was. Because the start of this game, it's clear, it's sunny, everything looks okay. Denver goes up by a touchdown, so it's like, okay, here we are. We got the lead. Yeah. They actually get the ball back, they get it downfield, they get into a position where they can kick a field goal and be up 10 points. 10 points on your opponent. You're up two scores. They go for it on fourth and one and don't get it. Huge mistake. Huge mistake. You then give the New England Patriots the ability to gain momentum, and they never looked back. They took that momentum, they rallied and got a touchdown themselves, taking it in, taking it in, tying up the game. They eventually kick a field goal. That field goal puts them up, and we never saw another score after that. No. The rest of the game because the snow came in and it was like nobody could do anything on offense. Nope. And the teams just a bunch of punts and kicks. Now we did get a late field goal attempt by the Broncos, but it was blocked by a New England Patriots defender. Just barely got his hand up in there and got his mid on it and deflected it wide.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they had an opportunity. Um, I know Sean Payne, look, you you called a good game, man. I know a lot of people are knocking him for the way he called that game, especially with the field goal and the fourth and one early on in the game, uh, with Jarrett Stidham. Um, I I recognize like should have been Jarrett Siddhim. Siddhem. What yeah. I recognize that like with such an inexperienced and especially like a spare-of-the-moment quarterback, right? You don't usually make that call.
SPEAKER_02Well, he's a longtime backup. This isn't like a, you know, we drafted him in the sixth round kind of dude, and he's his first actions he've he's ever seen, albeit it's been a while since he's took you know live reps.
AFC Title: Patriots Edge Broncos In Snow
SPEAKER_01So yeah, and to call it on fourth and one, anything short of a quarterback sneak, which I think isn't that what they called?
SPEAKER_02No, they call they they called an out route for the running back into the flat, and it was covered. And and they basically had two defenders right in his face pushing him back, and he put off a bad throw. But it take the points. And even even Sean Payton said, I figure he was going aggressive. He figured if we could get up by two touchdowns, it's a more likelihood that we'll win the game because we're gonna put the pressure on New England to try to make up the ground. And look, hey, if they would have, if they would have got it, I know what ifs, if they would have got it, you're talking about a situation where they're up 14, New England would have got that that one field goal and be 10 to 14 because nobody could do anything in the snow.
SPEAKER_01I mean, number one, okay, when you go fourth and one, when you don't make it, you're always dumb. You always should have done something else, okay? When you do make it, when you do make it, you're always a genius, okay? Fourth and one is such a double-edged blade. It's probably the most longest double-edged blade in the history of humanity because it's always the same. When you don't make it, oh, why'd you do that? What'd you do that for? When you do make it, ah, he's a genius, he's a genius.
SPEAKER_02Well, remember when he was the Saints coach, he went for an onside kick coming out of halftime and they got it. I remember that. So, I mean, it's he has a track record of hey, I'm gonna try something to give my team an edge.
SPEAKER_01This is not the first time. I mean, he was Ron Rivera, he was riverboat Ron for a reason. They were willing to try things that were unorthodox. But anyway, switching over to the here, I'll talk about the Chiefs, okay? They go fourth and one all the time, except for this past year because they sucked. Um same thing. Like, you just gotta know your capabilities, but sometimes you sometimes you win the call and sometimes you lose the call.
SPEAKER_02You could have gone Lions, Lions and 49ers in the AFC Championship game, where they were going fourth and one a bunch and didn't get them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Over and over again. I I believe that probably hurt them a lot. You repetitively go for it and don't get it. Now, now that in my opinion is just play called.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because they were up and then they went 24-7 where we had 24. They had the seven, costing the game and having Eminem flipping the bird at all the fans and the fans turning around and flipping on the bird back.
SPEAKER_01I I remember that, and I remember seeing those clips. And to me, that's just bad play calling, okay? Go for it once or twice, you don't get it, okay. Later on the game, you're like, all right, we're on fourth and short. This hasn't worked yet. What are some other options? We gotta do something different.
SPEAKER_02But it's like you said, it was his mentality.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02It was his mentality, go for it. So they kept going for it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and they did. And it's more common these days, and I kind of like it because it makes things interesting. But let's go ahead and jump on to the next thing here, uh, which has something to do with what we're already talking about. NFC SAC. The NFC Conference Championship, okay? The Rams versus Seahawks. Seahawks barely get out with a 31-27 win, and Cooper Cup laughing along the way. We'll hit that in a second, but let's talk about the game real quick. Okay. So here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02They were talking about how Sam Darnold, last time, well, one of the last times they played, he threw all those picks and he needed overtime, and he needed a two-point conversion, he needed all these things to win win against the Rams. Yeah, that's all nice, nice and all. But let's remember this particular team was not the same team that they played those times before. This defense has been playing with their hair on fire. All playoffs, they've been playing great. And led by that defense, it put a lot of confidence into Sam Darnold to be able to just let some throws happen. Like right off the rip, Shahid took a big pass to start the game, get him way downfield, starting out like, oh my! Like, we love seeing that because we they traded for that guy for a reason and it's paying dividends. Now, albeit they didn't get a touchdown from Shaheed, they did, however, get three receiving touchdowns by JSN, Cooper Cup, and Jake Bobo. The only reception he had was a touchdown. So he did good work.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He also got a running touchdown from Kenneth Walker, and bro, did you see that juke that Kenneth Walker put on a middle linebacker in that game? I did. I did. He put that dude on ice skates. He said, Boop, here I nope, I ain't there. He moved, he moved, dude. It was like that dude had concrete feet. He just stuck them and couldn't move. And Kenneth Walker was like, bye. Bye.
SPEAKER_01He said, Bye, Felicia. I'll leave you in the desk. He said, bye, Felicia. And you know, I think this win is kind of bittersweet for Cooper Cup because the reports came out shortly. I don't know if the while the game was going on or after the game, but the Rams actually tried to caution other teams against taking Cooper Cup because what did he want to trade or did he just went out? But either either way, they tried to tell other teams to lowball him, and now he's with the Seahawks on his way to another Super Bowl, and the Rams were not. Uh, what do you make of that, Mike?
NFC Title: Seahawks Top Rams, Cup Fallout
SPEAKER_02Okay, so the scenario. That happened in this situation is they had drafted Pukanakua, which we can all agree Pukanakua is definitely a number one. And nobody can doubt deny that he's one of the best receivers in the game. All facts. So when you have him coming up and he's looking great, and Cooper Cup has been dealing with some injuries, he's not quite as fast and not quite as available as you would like him to be. The Rams basically said, look, how about, you know, you just go ahead and you retire and everything will be fine, you know. But he's like, Well, wait a minute, no, no. I I can still play. Why am I why am I retiring? No, I still want to play. Well, it won't be with us. So, you know, we're not gonna keep you, so you know, you can uh you can explore elsewhere. But the Rams didn't like the idea that he was gonna go elsewhere. They wanted him to just retire and go away and be done and always be a Ramp. Well, because I think they knew, hey, where's Cooper Cup from? Washington State. Oh, what team plays in Washington State? Seattle. Seattle Seahawks, Seahawks. Yeah, we could put the pieces together. So they started telling teams, hey, look, you know, no, you don't oh no, you don't want him. He's got injury history, he's not doing well, he's hardly available, you know, he wants a big contract. And Cooper Cup's like, what the heck? And so when they let him go to go out and explore the free agent market, he said that no one from the Rams contacted him. No one said, Hey, uh, thank you for your serv service with us. Yep, hey, uh, we still love you. You you you were a great teammate. No kind of pep talk, no nothing. They just kind of left him out there in the wind. Let him go, man. And this kind of shows, I mean, I mean, get it, it's a business. There's a lot of you have to have no feelings in some cases. But when somebody has been so impactful for your team and has provided such a big lift to your offense and was your Super Bowl MVP when you won, you're just gonna throw him out like he's yesterday's trash. You know, like that's kind of a messed up business model there, you know.
SPEAKER_01And and even though he's not WR1 in Seattle, he's made his impact known and he put up a touchdown on his former team. And a key first down. And he's getting the last laugh right now because Seattle's on their way to the Super Bowl and the Rams were not.
SPEAKER_02By the way, I wanted to point out a bonehead move by one of the defensive players from Seattle. Remember, I gave him praise, but now I'm gonna give him a little down, down note here. Downer. So they had a scenario where it was a third and long, and the Rams are trying to get down the field and score and keep pace with the with the Seahawks because they were trying to stretch that lead. It seemed like they were up 10, then they were up three, or up four, I should say, and then they were they're up by 11, and they're only up by four. So it seemed like they're always just kind of trying to keep away from the Rams. And there was in this scenario when they were had them in a third and long, they get the pass breakup, and almost the defender almost gets the pick. Now, after this, uh pardon me for not remembering the name, I remember the number, number 27. He gets up and he's jawing with the players on the Rams bench. At which point, you know, they're kind of like, hey, you know, go ahead, go back, go back to your sideline. And he starts jawing with Matthew Stafford and a couple other players, and finally that was it. Ref throws the flag, penalty, taunting, 15 yards, gives them the first down, and very next play, pass, puka Nakua edges the pylon, touchdown. Like, you just cost your team points, and they're arguing like even his own defenders on his defense are arguing with him, like, bro, what in the heck are you doing? You know, like you lost your head. You can't do this. You could have cost this game. He's lucky that they didn't cost him the game.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But you know, kudos to Seahawks for do coming up with timely plays and timely ways of covering up for one another's mistakes. And part of the reason they got ahead was a muffed punt reception or recovery by the Rams, who they did replace the kick returner or punt returner with Kyron Williams later in the game. But that poor guy, he's he's probably not gonna be with the team next year.
SPEAKER_01I just want to say Seattle was in control of this game pretty much the whole time. They maintained almost a two-score minimum through the majority of the game. The Rams had opportunities, but they just did not rise to the occasions. Um, and let me tell you what, Sam Donald is more volatile in the Seattle offense than he ever was in the Minnesota offense. And that is with less weapons.
SPEAKER_02I'm glad you brought Minnesota up. By Sam Darnold making it to the Super Bowl, there's two things that come out of this that are kind of like putting putting dirt on other people's faces. Because here's the thing. Here's the thing. Right now, the Vikings have to be feeling very foolish letting Sam Darnold leave.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, they they were inept at offense this year, and Justin Jefferson looked a shell of himself because of McCarthy not getting passes to him. So that's first. You know, they look they look foolish.
SPEAKER_01The whole offense struggled all year.
SPEAKER_02Now, let's go back in time and let's go back to the year that Sam Darnold was drafted. The year Sam Darnold was drafted, Baker Mayfield was number one pick. He has not been to a Super Bowl. He was also followed in that draft pick by Josh Allen. Yep. Because you had Sam Darnold drafted after Baker Mayfield, you had Josh Allen drafted after that, who has not been into a Super Bowl. Then you had uh what was it, Josh Rosen, who was drafted after that, who's not even in the NFL anymore. I thought Josh Rosen was older than Sam Darnold. No, Josh Rosen was.
SPEAKER_01I thought Josh Rosen was right before Sam Darnold.
SPEAKER_02Josh Rosen was picked number nine in that draft and said there was eight other teams that made a mistake or whatever it was, he said. That's when he went to Arizona, right? Yeah, when he went to Arizona and he was quickly replaced by Kyler Murray a few years later, or like a year later. And then later the next year. Literally the last pick in that first round, Lamar Jackson, who has also not been to a Super Bowl. So if I would have told you that out of all those quarterbacks drafted, after the first year of them playing and the craptastic year he had with the Jets, that Sam Darnold was going to be the first one of those quarterbacks to go to the Super Bowl, you would have told me I was crazy.
SPEAKER_01And you know, um he could win it. Now, I, you know, we'll get into projections in a minute. But Sam Darnold has a real chance to, and the rest of the Seattle team has a real chance to win this Super Bowl, okay? Especially with the way they're scoring points. Um, Mike, real quick on our last thing, which is what I'm leaning into, Super Bowl predictions. We'll talk about Pro Bowl next week. Don't worry about that shit right now. Let's talk about we're not gonna cover Pro Bowl. There ain't nothing going there. Who are you taking in the Super Bowl? We got Seattle versus New England. They're both 14-3 regular season record. They both walk walked all the way through the playoff brackets. These teams are about as even as they come. Who you taking?
SPEAKER_02So, okay, let's look at this logically. Both teams had to face some very formidable defenses to get to where they are in the first place. You know, because uh the Seattle Seahawks had to face uh the Rams, they had to face the Bears, they had to face a lot of like they didn't face them in the playoffs, but they faced them in the regular season. They have faced some pretty tough defenses through the year. Now, go over to the other side. Patriots had to face the Houston Texans in the playoffs, considered to be one of the best defenses in the league. Then they had to face the Denver Broncos, again, one of the top defenses in the league. Beat them at home, by the way. In their house. Then went to Denver and beat them in Denver. And beat them in a snowstorm to get to the Super Bowl. So what we can say for sure is both these teams are resilient and can recover from stumbles. Like they can make mistakes and they can recover from it. Because remember, in one of those games, you had Drake May fumble against the Houston Texas multiple times and still came out with the win. So you can say that they can have mistakes, but it won't cost them the game necessarily. So both of these teams can lean on their defenses quite a bit. Now, where I think you might have a little bit of an edge is the fact that I trust the Seattle Seahawks defensive line more than I trust the New England Patriots defensive line. Now, if they start doing some of the stuff where they were showing six on the line and backing off into a you know sixth zone, you know, backing up where they're in zone coverage and fooling what you get out of out of Sam Darnold, that might work. But it ain't gonna work the whole time. So you got to really figure out how to get him off his spot and put pressure on him. If they can't do that, I think Seattle's gonna eat.
SPEAKER_01Um, I heard Marshawn Lynch was signing a contract for a fourth and one run on goal for the Seahawks. Look, I think the Seahawks look, I've been I've been calling the Patriots to win this, but I the more I think about it, I think the Seahawks walk in there.
SPEAKER_02This isn't a revenge game for the bad play calling from from Pete Carroll when he wanted to throw the ball instead of handing it off. Because mind you, they had a third down and still had a still had a timeout to use. So they could have run the ball twice and still got the touchdown with Marsh Marshawn Lynch, who had a three-yard run before they decided to throw the ball from the two-yard line.
Super Bowl Matchup And Predictions
SPEAKER_01By the way, speaking of Pete Carroll, how bittersweet is it for him to get fired in his first year for the Raiders and then watch his former team literally the very next year they let him go go to the two years after they let him go.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, I guess two years because Mike Mike McDonald's been there two years.
SPEAKER_01He's two years, but he served as a team person for a year. Consultant. A consultant. So he was still kind of involved with them, but then first year with the Raiders, next year he's not involved with them at all. Seahawks go to the championship, go to the Super Bowl. So I just imagine how he's feeling with that right now. Uh, but we have a very good Super Bowl game coming coming up uh here in the next couple weeks. What do you think, Mike?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, I agree. It's it should be a very entertaining Super Bowl. I think the whole playoffs have been entertaining. If if you have not enjoyed these playoffs, you don't like football because it's been great.
SPEAKER_01It's honestly been one of the best playoff practices in a long time, but you know, once again, thank you everybody for joining us. Uh thanks again to our sponsors and partners, Body by D Gym, Solace Outfitters, and the Giving Tree Cowpractic. Uh, thank you everybody for joining us tonight. I'm Brian with a lie, and I'm Mike, and we are two for the win. Thanks, everybody.