Two For The Win - S2.65 - The White House Divide, Joker Learns To Ride & NFL FA Chaos

A quiet moment for Lou Holtz sets the tone, then we charge straight into the question everyone’s dancing around: when the White House calls, should athletes go, no matter who’s in office? We separate politics from the privilege of being honored, and dig into how respect and memory travel with you longer than a headline.

From there we punch the gas. Michael Jordan’s NASCAR team opens the year with three straight wins after a courtroom victory, a masterclass in how legends evolve by building winning orgs. Shannon Sharpe’s near–$100M podcast deal that vanished amid allegations sparks a real talk on accountability and second chances in the age of instant judgment. On the diamond, spring training pop and a full-season PED ban show two paths to relevance, while the World Baseball Classic loads the board with star power—Team USA’s rotation plans, Puerto Rico’s energy, and Japan’s stacked roster with Shohei Ohtani at the center.

Hoops bring contrast: UConn’s women hit 31–0, the men’s poll shuffles, and social feeds explode over Jokic’s viral “box-out” and the first-ever ejection of a player in street clothes. The Hawks’ “Magic Monday” promotion with a famous club tests the line between local flavor and family brand. Then the NFL carousel goes wild: offensive linemen facing neck fusions, a 27-year-old center retiring, the Cowboys unlocking $66M in cap space, the Rams buying now, and the Chiefs flipping premium talent to restock through picks—proof that sustainable winners follow a plan. We map landing spots and risk profiles for Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, and Kirk Cousins, and why timing matters as much as talent.

It’s a fast, candid ride across sports, money, and meaning—with a simple throughline: respect the moment, play the long game, and know when to evolve. If this mix of big questions and bigger plays hits your brain just right, tap follow, share with a friend, and drop your bold prediction for the WBC and NFL free agency. We’ll read the best takes on the show.

Transcript

Sponsors And Show Open

SPEAKER_00 0:07

March 4th, 2026. Welcome back everybody for another episode of Sports Banter with your shirt with yours truly. I'm Brian with an eye. And I'm Mike. And we are two for the win. Mike, what we could have what are we cooking up tonight, brother? Well, not that we're top chefs or anything. Obviously. If I can learn to talk, we can get there.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Yeah. Spring training, take a little backseat. We got a little world baseball classic happening. And we're gonna go over a little bit of the teams and find out what exactly it is. We're also gonna be talking a little madness is about to be dropping on us since we are in large. And of course, NBA, gotta touch in with them, see what's going on. And NFL is going crazy right now with the transactions, and we cannot pass that up because you know how we love talking to football.

Remembering Lou Holtz

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yeah, when can we ever pass that up? The answer is never. But real quick, before we get started, let's go ahead and thank our sponsors and partners for being with us to this point. Uh first up, Body by D Gym, located in Yorktown and Gloucester. Uh Deshaun Wright is the owner up there, former bodybuilding champion, training future bodybuilding champions in their own right, some of them out there winning as we speak. Uh very community-based, very youth-based organization, very family-oriented facilities out there. Uh Bravo Zulu, my friend, great job, and we're happy you're with us. Our good friends Caden and Christian over at Saul's Outfitters, both of them athletes as well as uh businessmen, Mike, basketball players, in fact, both of them seniors, uh, and congratulations to them in their senior years, as well as moving on to the next phase of their life, displaying not just a high level of athleticism and talent on the court, but also a high level of business acumen as well. So good job, guys, keep on going. I can't wait to see where you go. Uh the Giving Tree Chiropractic down here in Virginia Beach with us. Uh Justin's very knowledgeable, very good at what he does, makes everybody feel welcome. And his uh pricing is structured so that way it's accessible to everybody, regardless of your budget. So good job, my friend. Appreciate you. And our latest sponsor, MAT MATW, Mid-Atlantic Territory Wrestling, uh, predominantly located, they operate mostly out of Yorktown in Fisherville, Virginia. Uh, but these guys have a TV deal, they're very good at what they do. And speaking of which, they have a show coming up March 14th at 106 North Constitution Drive in Yorktown. Is a live TV taping. Uh get on out there, see these guys, Man of War, PQ bringing the pain train along with his friends, uh, you know, BT Winds, uh Salazar, and his army will be there bringing chaos. A lot of fun uh wrestlers they have in that organization. They put on a very good show, highly recommended. As well as we have tickets available, ringside tickets available for this show. So pay attention to our social media uh for information on how to win those guys. So uh again, thank you, our sponsors and partners, for being with us, and we appreciate you, and we look forward to doing business with you more in the future. Uh Mike, before we dive in, we have some respects to pay real quick. Do you want to take this one? You want me to do it?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yeah, I got it. Uh so unfortunately, it just happened that today, as a matter of fact, and we found out just this afternoon. Uh college football lost a legend, uh, legendary coach Lou Holtz at the age of 89. Uh, for most people, you may remember Lou Holtz for the way he talked, but he was a darn good coach at Notre Dame for many years. And I know for a lot of the alum and a lot of the former players that played for him, they're definitely mourning this loss. Uh, so hearts go out for them and their families. You know, it's it's gonna it's gonna be heavy hitting for a lot of folks.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yes, our uh thoughts and prayers out to him, his family, and the communities affected by his loss. Uh clearly a huge loss uh, you know, for all. Sorry, I'm I've lost my thoughts and I'm I'm losing my mind, man. I gotta get back on track. But our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family, uh, Mr. Holtz. Uh Mike, I'm gonna let you go ahead uh because I got you, I got you.

White House Visits And Athlete Backlash

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Yeah. So here we go. Let's let's let's kick this off with a little bit of uh little controversy. Okay, so like the the the Olympics just happened, and usually when you have high performers like the men's and women's hockey team, they both kind of got invites to the White House. The the men went, women didn't, uh they had conflicts of schedule that kept them from doing it. Uh but it's kind of brought out a little controversy from some known names.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Yes, uh I'm glad you mentioned this, and I'm glad you helped me dive into this. So we have two different sides of the coin here we're gonna talk about. Neither of these people are political figures, so this is very interesting. And I just want to know, and you can go to our social media and let us know where you're following this, okay? Uh I'll start with um I'll start with Megan Rapineau, uh former soccer player, okay? Uh, because I think it was after U.S. hockey. Who was it? Was it Rubio or was it um Vance? Somebody It was probably JD Vance. It's probably I think it was JD Vance. Somebody was in their locker room celebrating with them, okay? Uh, and I'm just gonna quote here real quick. I'm not gonna say everything she said, but I'll just cut to the chase. Give us a synopsis. The uh the United States men's hockey team in their utter moment of glory, childhood dreams come true, once in a lifetime accomplishment, sensational, ruined it for themselves because they allowed themselves to be totally co-opted by a clown. I don't necessarily know, I don't necessarily agree with all of her statement. Um, and I I don't necessarily agree with calling anybody a clown, regardless of your political views or their political views, because everybody has a right to their view, and some of these people are do have a job to do, regardless if you think they're doing it well or not.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Okay, so this is in reference to the men's hockey team going to the White House and uh meeting President Trump. But on the flip side of that, uh Charles Barclay, he said that whenever you're given the option to go to the White House, doesn't matter who your affiliation is, you should go. It's an invitation to go to the White House. And I just mean I kind of agree with Charles. Like, you don't have to agree with who's in the White House, but being honored with the opportunity to just go to the White House, you should take that opportunity because how many chances do you get to go to the White House? You know, take a tour of the White House, go to the Oval Office, you know, actually get to see this historical building because think about it. Think of all the historical things that have happened in just that building.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

And, you know, I agree with everything you said, and I want to add to this as I'm thinking here. Oh so everything these days seems overly politically charged, okay? When it comes to honors, such as just simply visiting the White House, okay. I don't I know that people have an issue, okay? It could be, it doesn't matter who it is. It could be Trump, it could be Biden, it doesn't matter. A lot of people on both sides hate each other, okay? I think we're missing a big opportunity here to shake hands with the opposing side because let's be honest here, we're all Americans, right? Are they really on the opposing side? We're all for, we should all be for America, right? So I think we're missing a huge opportunity to shake hands and, you know, politics aside, honor the fact that America has brought home Olympic medals.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

I have yet to hear a single president say, hey, I'm gonna vite the team, but did you vote for me? Oh, you didn't? You can't come.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

Yeah, I I agree with that. I agree with that. Like, think of the flip side. Like, Trump knows a lot of these people probably hate him, but they're in you know, his administration, they're inviting these people to meet him and shake his hand. Um, and I don't want to dive into too much of the political spectrum here, Mike, because that's not what our show is about. I want to get back to the core of this of this conversation, and I think that more often than not, you likely will regret not being able to go to all to have that opportunity. I mean, you get to shake hands with the president. I know you maybe don't like him, but come on now. How often can you say you shook hands with the U.S. president?

SPEAKER_01 8:57

I I'm gonna tell you right now, if I'm offered to go to the president, presidential White House, and I don't care who's in office. It could be a Democrat, it could be a Republican. I don't care. I'm going because I've never been, and I'm gonna seize the opportunity because, like I said, it's a pretty cool thing. Um I mean, and you know when you go, you're gonna be treated great. They're gonna, you know, you're probably gonna have a meal with them, and you're gonna have probably a pretty good meal. I mean, you think the president doesn't have a good chef? I doubt it.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah, and and like I said, I mean, I think you should take the honor of being able to have that because that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You're at average people don't get that, and when you go back to your normal life, this opportunity, and even as a star, right? Even as some of these high-rated football players, how many professional star athletes of any sport are close to the president? How many of them can just pick up the phone and call or text him right now? Not that many, they still have to get an appointment, right? So I think that this is a huge opportunity for athletes uh who want to be the the country wants to honor you, and I think you should accept that. But again, everybody is entitled to their opinion, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:18

And well, it on the same token, I understand when somebody, you know, they have their feelings and they have that that they have their line, they're not gonna cross this line, and that line is I don't want to even be near somebody. Okay. Yeah, we're we're missing a scene. You you do it, you do it in a way that's you just say, look, I I I'd like to pass. I have other obligations, just don't worry about it. Don't sling mud because it doesn't help anything. I mean, that's what's that's what's so wrong right now between the two parties, is they just sit there and bicker and fight, and we're the ones that lose.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

And with and without going too far down this rabbit hole, I believe decorum, formalities, and a level of mutual respect is something that we're all missing. We should be willing to shake the other party's hand and discuss how we can meet in the middle, okay?

NASCAR: Michael Jordan’s Hot Start

SPEAKER_01 11:13

I'm so glad you said respect because that leads us into this next topic. Because we remember NASCAR and Michael Jordan's team having issues and it was going legal battles and all that stuff. And how about starting out the NASCAR year with Michael Jordan's team and his racer, Tyler Reddick? Not one, not two, three wins in a row to start out the year. Bro, talk about put some respect on that name. Look, look, do you think Jordan has been at every race and they asked him, they said, Are you gonna be at Phoenix? He said, I have to. Yeah, um superstition, man. You can't not show and then him lose.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Hey, do you think Jordan's team is a little upset given the legal situation they just wrapped up, right? First of all, they won that. I don't know if we mentioned, I don't even remember if we mentioned it, but they won that case, uh, by the way, uh, against NASCAR, and now they've won NASCAR's first three opening races of the season, and he could be going for four. I think this screams drive with fury, drive angry.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Is anybody having a better life than Michael Jordan right now? I mean, because think about it. He had a historic basketball career, right? Now that he's out of basketball, he's been making money hand over fist with his shoe deals, and then he decides, I guess I'll get into NASCAR and has a successful team now. And not only did he do that, but remember we told the story about how he started a deep sea fishing charter that entered into a tournament and they finished second. So he's not only, you know, successful fishing charter that does tournaments, successful racing, successful shoe brand, amazing, amazing basketball career, has his own golf course.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

He's finding his footing. And I I look, I think his I think his eyes were opened after his baseball run. I know almost none of us even remember that because we're all.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

No, we do.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

We do. Well, me and you do, but everybody does.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Look, if you watch Space Jams, you remember.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah, everybody remembers his his brief baseball stint, and I think he learned some lessons there, okay? I I think Jordan learned, okay, there's things I can do and things I can't do. And I think from that, he really learned to identify what is for him. And look at the things that he's been successful in. Okay. Maybe not competing directly himself, but he's buying teams and starting teams that are highly competitive. And I think he realizes now that's his thing, right? Um, and it's working out for him. I'm happy for him because I don't care how rich or poor in the middle you are, you need to always find a way to make your money work for you. You should always be trying to get to the next level. Um, and I honestly, you know, nobody's without controversy, but I really admire Jordan and have my whole life.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

So that's not a question with me. I'm a Jordan fan, always have been.

Shannon Sharpe, Nightcap, And Second Chances

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Yes, yes. So, but you know, congratulations to him and his team. And we'll be we'll be tracking him. We don't track a lot of NASCAR, Mike, but I think with this situation, we might track a little more NASCAR in the coming weeks on this podcast here. The next thing I want to talk about, everybody remembers Shannon Sharp. He has a podcast now uh with Chad Ochosinko, um, formerly Chad Johnson, if we remember those days. Or did he change his name back to Johnson? I don't know. Nobody knows. Whatever his name is now, Chad. But uh, so this is just looking back before they started this podcast, back when the Nightcap. Everybody remembers the Nightcap controversy, okay? Um honestly, I thought it was funny. I heard it. I don't see what the big deal was. Worst things have been done in the public eye. But anyway, uh, I'm just gonna read this verbatim here, and this is via Sports Kita, uh NFL, Shannon Jarmin, VA, you know, front office sport, all kinds of sources here. Uh Shannon Sharp was close to securing a podcast deal reportedly valued around$100 million following the major growth of his media presence. Uh the deal reportedly did not materialize after Sharp was accused of sexual assault. Uh so all that in that thing going on there, but despite those developments, Chad Johnson chose to remain Sharp's co-host on their podcast, Nightcap, stating, uh, we all make mistakes. This is a quote from Chad Johnson. We all make mistakes in life. Uh, and I believe he is speaking from experience here. Uh, regardless of how it looks, I agreed to do the show with Shannon Sharp. Come hell or high thick water. I'm gonna stick to my guns. So, honestly, and look, coming from personal experience, I know Mike wants to say something, give me just a second, brother. Sticking speaking from my own experience, right? Like, people make mistakes. The thing is you grow from them and you recover from them. Uh, you can't always make them right, but the important part is you're able to move forward positively from them. And I think Shannon Sharp has done so, and they've had a lot of success in spite of doing so.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

When you said thick, all I could think of, and I I want to remember who said it, but there was somebody who was talking major shit, and they got to talking about Shannon Sharp, and they were like, yo, thick tongue ass. I mean, he does he does he does talk with his tongue, but he does. When you said thick, I lost it because I all I could think of was yo thick tongue ass.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

He does. And I'm not saying, look, I'm not saying we should forgive everyone, okay? I'm not gonna want run to Jeffrey Epstein's defense, okay? But Shannon Sharp, okay, different situation, right? Like, I believe some things you can come back from. Uh, I think the public opinion is very harsh at times over the littlest things. Like, you gotta remember, these people are normal people, okay? We're flawed.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

We all make mistakes. We're flawed. But but there are some people, there are some mistakes. You're not getting forgiven for that, you know, like uh like case in point, Jared at Subway. Nah, bro, you ain't cool. We ain't cool with that.

MLB Spring Training Highlights

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Some things you can't come back from. I understand some things you can't come back from. I'm not advocating for those things, but let's be real here, use our common sense here, okay? Like that ain't so common these. Some some things you can come back from, uh, and I fully believe in trying to as well. Now, you know, I mean, not a bullet. Now, obviously, things like, you know, the you know, Jared from Subway and Epstein, you know, Epstein and all those other things. You know, I can't get behind those things. I'm sorry. There's no forgiveness. There's no forgiveness there, brother. Uh, but I digress. I don't want to be dead horse. We're gonna move on in to some MLB. Mike, take it away.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

So let's go ahead and talk about some spring training. We're gonna get to the world baseball classic here in a minute, but we're gonna start with a promising young prospect. I love promising. So the pirates, they're trying to do some things. Like we've discussed how the pirates have made some moves and kind of positioning themselves to try to be a little more competitive, and they might have just found themselves a homegrown talent here. Homegrown. Yes, homegrown. Uh sorry, I'm just repeating keywords. Sure. Alright, so Connor Griffin uh is a name you're probably gonna get a little more familiar with as the season goes along because Connor Griffin has three home runs already in spring training, very short spring training so far. So to have three home runs already and looking like a promising prospect because he's actually ranked number one. Number one. So he's only 19 years old, but he he knocked his third home run against the Cardinals, of which the Pirates kept the cards to one hit for the entire game.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

They almost they almost blanked him. Somebody find this man a cougar because he is playing above his level.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

No, but look, he was dra he was drafted in the first round of the 2024 draft. Uh he reached AA last year, where he was hitting 337 with a OPS of 960 in 21 games at the Altoona squad. So he's making his way up to the majors, and he will be part of this team at some point during the year if they don't keep him back. It's a weird thing. Baseball does this, where if you keep a player down on the minors for a little bit longer, you get like an extra year of eligibility instead of like bringing them up right away. So we'll see what they do with him, but look out for that name. Connor Griffin.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Connor Griffin. Very common name in baseball, actually.

PED Suspension And Legal Trouble In MLB

SPEAKER_01 20:37

So to a little bit of news that really, for me as a Braves fan, really crushed me because I hate I hate hearing this, I hate seeing this. I love seeing Mike crushed, by the way. So Braves are gonna be without Derkson Profar for all of this next season. He has been suspended. He has been suspended for all 162 games and eliminated from being able to play in the postseason, and has been eliminated from being able to play in the World Baseball Classic because he has popped positive for a second time on PED use. He already served an 80-game suspension last year and was eliminated from being able to participate in the postseason, but Braves didn't make it anyway, so it didn't matter. But they were really planning on him to be the opening day DH, but that ain't gonna happen. He's not gonna play at all. He was actually about to play with the Netherland team and was there ready to suit up for their pre their pre-world classic games in spring training, and he basically got told, hey, this happened. And so he packed up his stuff and left because he's not allowed to participate. So he is out not only for this, he's out for the world baseball classic. Little strange he was playing for the Netherlands, but hey, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Well, Mr. Profar, I think you're worthy of a self indicted face palm.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

No, I think the next story is more more uh of a face palm kind of moment. We need a Scooby-Doo noise. And I'm gonna let you kick off the name here.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini has been sentenced to life in prison. Man, I should have said that way differently leading into that. That is not good news.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

So he is he's not been a major league baseball player in some time. Uh the 51-year-old was sentenced on February 27th to life in prison after murder after being found guilty of murdering his in-laws. So basically the short and skinny of it, his in-laws were loaded, had a place in Tahoe. He basically went over there, shot and killed them, thought that they would inherit the money. Didn't think he would get found out. Idiot. He got found out.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Look, I don't know if he was on drugs, but I sure hope he was after that plan.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Well, look, he was drafted in the first round, first round back in 1992. Not for his parts, clearly. By by the Minnesota Twins. He made his major league debut in 1996 and bounced around between teams like the Twins, the Cubs, the San Diego Padres, the Pirates, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Colorado Rockies. So and had a career ERA of 6.04. So not exactly a stellar MLB career. So he probably was desperate.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

In 1996, I was between turning eight and nine years old because my birthday's in the middle of the year.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Well, look, bottom line is he did stupid things, he won stupid prizes.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

He sure did. You are worthy of a self-inflicted. I said indicted earlier. Well, never mind that. Belay my last. I am replacing that with self-inflicted face palm. And I hope you wear a needles, a needled glove for this one.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

So moving on from that subject, and let's get into some unfortunate news for the Cincinnati Reds. The Cincinnati Reds are losing their ace pitcher in Hunter Green. He is going under an MRI for a stiff right elbow, which is his pitching elbow. And this could spell disaster for them. We don't know quite what's going to happen, but this might turn into a situation where he's out for a long time if he needs any kind of surgery on that elbow.

WBC Venues, Tickets, And Team USA

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Yeah, yeah. Tough, tough blow there for the Reds, but you know, we'll see what happens as that goes forward. Uh baseball clearly heating up. Uh, as also World Baseball Classic coming up, Mike. And real quick before we dive into that, I have a screenshot here. Yes, I screenshot a lot of my information. Anyway, the top 10 baseball classic games coming up in 2026, Mike. You may or may not agree with this, but shall I read them? Go ahead. Okay, this is by average purchase purchase price. Okay, so the popularity may be skewed based on dollar value of the tickets. Go through it. Anyway, okay, uh, Dominican Republic versus Venezuela. Actually, I am kind of intrigued to see that. Uh Puerto Rico versus Cuba, Mexico versus USA. That's usually another good high-hitter classic. Puerto Rico versus Colombia, Puerto Rico versus Canada. Uh Puerto Rico and Canada is a very off-beat matchup. I kind of want to see that. Uh Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Netherlands versus Dominican Republic. I would like to see that as well. Puerto Rico versus Penna. Puerto Rico has a lot of favorite matchups here.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

Well, you'll find you'll find out why here in a minute when I go over some of the teams.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Well, baseball very big in Puerto Rico, understandably. Uh Dominican Republican versus Israel and Great Britain versus USA. That's one that I want to see as well. Always want to see USA perform.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

Yeah, top ticket prices going from the top being$337 all the way down to$93 for Great Britain versus US.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Still cheaper than an NFL game. By a wide margin.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Or an NBA game for that matter.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Unless you sit in the nosebleeds and bring the not binoculars.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Anyway, so like we said, let's dive into some of these teams and let's start off with the U.S. and kind of discuss what we have here. Oh, you want to go over to the stadiums instead? Go ahead, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Yeah, yeah. I figured we'd talk about some of the stadiums up here just in case some of y'all are wondering, right? Uh the four stadiums in play here. Uh and forgive me, I'm so sorry. Haram, hold on, let me try to enlarge this. Haram Bithorm Bidorm Stadium. This is San Juan, Puerto Rico. I'm sorry if I'm butchering these names. Uh Dyken Park in Houston, Texas, Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and Lone Depot Park in Miami, Florida. So uh two of these on American soil, Mike. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

That's how it went last time. Uh so diving back in here, let's uh see the lineup for the US real quick. Uh I'm not gonna hit every name, but we'll hit some of the more popular names. So let's go through some of the pitchers. So we're gonna have Paul Skeens, Logan Webb, Clayton Kershaw, uh Matthew Boyd, Clay Holmes, Nolan McNe McLean, or McNeil, and uh Michael Waka.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

That's McClean stuff. McLean. And I know that because I watch Fallout on Prime.

Puerto Rico And Japan Lineups Preview

SPEAKER_01 27:52

Catchers, we got Cal Raleigh and Will Smith. Not a bad bad duo there. Infielders, we have Alex Bregman, we got Paul Goldschmidt. For some reason, Bryce Harper listed as an infielder. I know he's played a little first base.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Maybe he's maybe he's experimenting.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Bobby Witt Jr. is gonna be in there. We got Gunnar Henderson, we got Bryce Turing, and then we got Ernie Clement. So that's pretty good, pretty good infield right there. Outfield will be patrolled by the Roman Empire, Roman Anthony, and then we got Byron Buxton. You're right? Okay, Pete Crow Armstrong, and Aaron Judge. That is our outfield. Excuse me. We got Kyle Schwarber as our designated hitter. Schwarber! Some of the coaching staff, you might recognize some of these names like Mark DeRossa, Michael Young, Brian McCann, Sean Casey, Andy Pettit, Matt Holliday, David Ross, like former players. Like you're you're seeing some of these names. It's like, dang. George Lombardi. Anyway, so the US, they got a they got a pretty good little comp compilation of pitchers and going on here. And actually, it's already come out that Mark DeRosa has decided that Logan Webb will take the first game. Next game is going to be Terrence Skubel's game to start, and then it's going to be Paul Skeen's following. That's not a bad one, two, three to go right there.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

Not at all, Mike, and I like your use of the word compilation.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

So moving on from that, let's talk about some of the other teams and what who you might be able to see and who is going to be playing for those teams. And since we mentioned Puerto Rico, let's go ahead and head over there. Puerto Rico! Let's head over there and see.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

That might be Mexican. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

I don't know. So heading over here, we got Edwin Diaz. Everybody should remember him. Diaz! He's gonna be pitching for them. There's a guy that works for me named Diaz. I'm not quite sure how how Jorge Lopez. Jorge Lopez, he's gonna be pitching. I was confusing him with the other local people. I'm pretty sure he pronounces George.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Oh, is this Puerto Rico? It's Puerto Rico. He might say Jorge, but I'm pretty sure he pronounces it George. No. I know a lot of guys who say George, but I might be American, so they might be appeasing me. I don't know. I hope not.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

Anyway, getting away from that. Nolan Arenado will be playing for them. Martin Maldonado, he's gonna be playing for them. I know a guy named Edwin. Edwin Arroyo is gonna be playing for them. Emmanuel Rivera is gonna be playing for them on the infield. Outfield, let's see. We got Eddie Rosario. Will Castro? Yeah Willie Castro. Yes. Willie Castro is gonna be playing for them. We got Matthew Lugo. Let's see. MJ Valendez. Yes, yes, yes. So they got some decent players going on right here. Yeah, they got it. Anyway. So Puerto Rican team usually does very well in these. And let's go over here and see. The team that we're probably everybody's gonna have to beat is Team Japan.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

Because I want to say the name. Go for it. All of them. Go for it. I don't want to read it. Let's start with this one. Look, I don't want to read everyone. Can we just pick the big hitters? We're picking the big hitters. Start with this name. UCUchi. Kikuki. Okay. I don't know. But he should start a knife company because it sounds like cutlery. Hmm. Okay. Let's scroll down. Sakamoto. Sakamoto. Nakamuro. They're on. Can you say this one? Murakami.

unknown 31:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Munitaka Kamurakami. He'll be over there. Yeah, you should remember. Kazuma Shimoto. You should remember him. Yeah, I re I remember him. I recognize some of these guys. Uh Kaido Kazano. Sayasuki. That's another one coming over to the American game. Yeah, the Cubs. Cubs player. Yoshida, another one. Should be able to get this one. Designated hitter. Um Shori Otana. Shori Otana.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

You're fucking with me. It's Shohei Otani. Oh, that guy. Anyway. So yeah, they have to be.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

He looks younger in that picture, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

So they have Otani. And like we said, Yamamoto. They got they have a just a powerhouse team. So basically won it the past few times.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

So basically, Japan's gonna win, is what I'm hearing.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

They have a darn good chance.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

If you gamble, put money on Japan.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

They have a darn good chance.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

They have Shoei. That's all they need.

Veterans Returning And Global WBC Talent

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Anyway. So let's move on and talk about some of these players. And one in particular that that kind of caught my eye. Alexei Ramirez. You might remember this guy. Yes. He is playing in the World Baseball Classic again after playing in it in 2006. He has had 20 years since that time he played in it, and he's now 44 years old, has been out of baseball for 10 years. But he is going to be playing in the world baseball classic for Cuba.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

They must have really been needing folks to fill out.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Well, no, I mean, but it it it's impressive that somebody. Yeah, he played in it. And there's actually, if you go, if you go to an article that's on the MLB, they actually show a picture of him when he played back in 2006, and then him taking his picture for now, and it's actually pretty cool because you see he almost looks the same to me, but but they do have a photo up here where it's him back then and here now, and it's like, wow. Honestly, he looks younger. But it's the point of the matter is it's pretty impressive if you think about it for a sports star to do something that they were doing 20 years ago, but still doing it at a high level. It's gonna be see it's gonna be interesting to see how that works out. Um but yeah, I mean there's gonna there's gonna be players throughout this you're gonna recognize from the MLB because that's basically how they made up these teams. They're all major leaguers, and some of them not major leaguers. Some of them are just players from their respective countries, you know, like Australia has a team, Brazil has a team, Canada.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Well, honestly, I I think all of these players probably have nationalities or family history in these countries, which is why they're on those teams.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

So Canada's interesting because they've got a lot of good player players that you'll that you'll recognize from if you're a big MLB fan. Uh because I'm pretty sure, let me just see where he's at. He might be the designated hitter, but they should have Freddie Freeman playing for them. I don't see him on the team. Oh, but they do have Tyler O'Neill. It helps if you start at the top. Jared Young, he's on the team. Let's see. Catchers, they got Bo Naylor, Liam Hicks, James Paxton. Let's see. No, I guess Freddie's not participating this year. At least he's not playing for Team Canada, it looks like.

UConn Women Perfect Season, Men’s Poll

SPEAKER_00 36:05

Freddie doesn't know! Freddie! Oh wait, that's Scotty. I'm sorry. Missed up the line. Yeah, you messed it up. Oh well. You don't messed that up. Same syllables, what ifs? It's the 2026 version.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Even Italy has a team.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

Italia.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

Yeah, John Bertie, he's playing for them. Let's see. I always like going through this. Aaronola, he's playing for for team uh Italy.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Team Italia.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

Matt Fista!

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Michael Lorenzen. Let's see who's playing Jeff Barbo.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Let's see who's playing for this team.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Philip Kapka, and he might be the Mike Kafka of the MLB.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

How are they saying in an Olympics? They were they weren't saying saying it wasn't Czech Republic, it was like Chechnya. Chechia. Chechia.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

Chechnya. Chechia. It's Chechia or Chechna. The Czech Republic, pretty much. Pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

Pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

Well, they're also known as the Czech Republic or Chechnya. I may be wrong. Double check me. I'm not always right.

SPEAKER_01 37:18

Yeah, we're just trying to peruse it real quick, quick, and see if we can pick out names of big name players.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Well, that's okay. I mean, there's there's a lot of players spread across the clock. Words are difficult. Words are difficult. They are. And you know, I do uh voice exercises before we get on air. You know, she sells seashells by the seashore. Do you know how many times we practiced that? Okay. Okay, Peter Piper picked up Pickled Pepper Piper Pickle.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

How about this one? Venezuela has Ronald Ronald Acunya Jr. and Jackson Chirio, who is going to be playing playing for them. Gleber Torres. They have Wilson Contreras. They have Luis Araiz. You know, Venezuela. I'm I'm looking at their squad. They might be they got William Cotrez. Salvador Perez. Yeah. Hey, they I'm looking at this lineup. Man, you might want to put some money on Vincent.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Eduardo Rodriguez, Ricardo Sanchez. They got, you know, De Zeus. They have, you know, they're not all big name players, but they they got some talent. I don't know. I mean, Ronald Acunya is a big name player. Well, Acunya Jr. is one of the bigger ones.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

Miguel Cabrera, who probably could be playing, is going to be a coach.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

I don't know this guy's name, but he's a big one. Oh on Santana. Look, his last name is Odor. I hope that's not a bad omen. I hope they don't stink. No, it's Odor. Holdor. Yeah. Yeah, that's Odor. Well, there should be an H in front of it. This guy.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

No, there shouldn't. Holdar. Anyway.

SPEAKER_00 38:59

He's from Harry Potter.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

This is the rings. Bottom line, this is going to be one hell of a world baseball classic. You should definitely watch. There's going to be plenty of good players to see.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Yeah, I think so. And uh, you know, jumping from that springboard into another. We're looking forward to the world baseball classic. Can't wait to see the first few games. Uh, but real quick, uh, we got some women's college basketball news. We're gonna jump into some March Madness, which also applies to women's college basketball. We we don't often, and it's not because we're sexist, we just don't often pay as much attention to things. But we got some interesting news out of Yukon, Mike. Do you want to take the lead on this?

NBA Highlights And Viral Moments

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Honestly, dude, this is I I feel like this is a situation of it's expected. You know, like we don't we don't necessarily it doesn't wow us like it used to. So the women's Yukon team has finished a perfect 31 and 0 for the regular season. And they've done this. This is this is not new to us. It's kind of like you you should do that. We expect that from them.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

It's almost like we're I mean, honestly, like Yukon has a strong history in basketball, both men's and women's. They're one of my favorite March Madness teams for like all time so far.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

Well, it's not like you don't see a bracket and see Yukon on there, and most people go, yeah, they'll win their first game. Yeah, they'll win their second game. And they might make it the next round. Like, you you have a hard time not picturing a bracket without them in it.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Yeah, and and like I said, they have a strong history of making the bracket. They are a strong basketball school uh in general, uh, even more so than our very own ODU. Well, ODU women's had a had a streak there for a little while where they were pretty hot. Well, they ODU women's, but uh, we don't see ODU's. Not the men's men's for long time. We almost never see the men's basketball break, you know, make the bracket.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

No, we see we see Norfolk State make it.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

But anyway, they win 31-0 in their first one. Uh congratulations to them. Very good going. Uh and so they'll be in the bracket. They will be the women's bracket. They will be in the bracket. Let's talk a little bit of uh men's college basketball while we'll at while while we're at it. Thank you everybody for bearing with me through this rough evening. We don't do any editing. You get all this very raw, so I think, you know, unedited, raw. I hope you enjoy it. Enjoy the follies. Enjoy the enjoy the rawness.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

Anyway, so just like last week, top three really haven't moved. It's still Duke, Arizona, and Michigan. They haven't had much movement. The Yukon men moved up two spots. Speak of the devil. Speak of the devil. And Florida moved up two spots. Florida. Causing Iowa State and Houston to move down two spots.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

To six and no. Six and seven, respectively.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

That's called seven. That's what we call seven, Mike.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

And rounding out the the rest of the top ten, Michigan, who moved up five spots, or Michigan State, I should say, and Nebraska coming in at number nine, and Texas Tech coming in at moving up six spots, so good for them. They got a much needed win just just last night.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

Honestly, rather impressed than see Nebraska in the top ten.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

And speaking of which, I think No, I don't even maybe you see it. I don't see Kentucky up there in the top 25. Kentucky? According to the AP poll.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

I do not see I do not see Kentucky in there. I see Kansas, but I do not see Kentucky. I don't know why you said it like that. How you say Kentucky? No, you don't. You don't like Louisville. Nobody says it like that. You guys say Louisville, you can't say Louisville.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

You guys say Louisville. Nobody says it like that. Anyway, so Purdue had moved down seven spots, being the biggest loser this week, moving down to 15. So for the most part, back end is not much change. Still see a lot of the same teams.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

I like St. John's there. I know they're at number 18, but you know, very they they kind of like wiggle in and out of the bracket over time. I I like they had a strong run a few years ago.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

The only problem with St. John's though, they had a very horrible loss the other game, the other day, where they just they couldn't seem to buy a bucket. Like they were they were looking absolutely horrible.

SPEAKER_00 43:39

Mike, we're gonna make up a segment and it's called Buy a Bucket. And I don't know what it's gonna be about, but that's gonna be the name of it. And we're gonna do some shit. Oh my bad. First curse word of the episode.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

No, no, I had the first one.

SPEAKER_00 43:54

So we've got a lot better about that. Maybe our AI app.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Huh. Did we get better? I don't think we did.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

I think so. We used to curse a lot. And if we want to be a little more family-oriented, we have to cut that shit out.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

Anyway, let's move on over into the NBA and let's uh see what's been going on with the NBA here recently with a couple of games from the last two days.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Yeah, we'll just go over our favorites, some of the high performers. I'll let Mike pick first because he's the one with the mouse.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Alright, so going back over, going back over to Monday night, uh, let's take a look at the games we had. We had the Rock Rockets and Wizards going on with a 123 to 118 win for the Rockets uh beating the Wizards. But in this game, there was actually a little bit of a controversy, not from on the court, but kind of off the court that became on the court. I know a little confusing. But here's the here's what happened. So uh Trey Young has set a precedence. He's done something that no other NBA player has ever done, and it's not a good thing. So he becomes the first player who hasn't even played a game with his team, but has been ejected from a game.

SPEAKER_00 45:10

What in the actual sir is going on?

SPEAKER_01 45:14

So Trey Young, he is sitting courtside in street clothes because he's not playing, he's still heart, and they're and and to his defense, he is trying to get the ref's attention like, hey, that's a flagrant foul. How are you not calling it? And it was a flagrant foul. They did review review the play and see a flagrant foul, but they're like, wait a second. Uh-uh. You can't walk on the court, and especially not walk on the court when you're in street clothes. Nah, get out. So they ejected him from the game. So, I mean, Trey, come on, boy.

SPEAKER_00 45:51

Trey, you know better than this, bro. You gotta let the coaches handle that situation, man. The coach is not gonna get ejected, okay? They'll just tell his ass, get back. But you as a player in street clothes, I understand, okay? You need to be in your coach's ear so he can handle the situation, okay? Coaches will handle this, they know how to handle this, okay? I guarantee you, I don't care what sport you play, Mike. I guarantee you, your coach knows how to handle the ref better than you do, okay? That's why they're the coach, all right? So, like, I I feel for him. I do feel for him. He probably just wasn't thinking. I don't think he did anything bad or malicious. You know, obviously taking up for his team, trying to point something out. But you know, you just can't do that, man. You gotta you gotta use your head.

SPEAKER_01 46:43

I I applaud the passion though. I do because I applaud the passion. Team player all he cares, but like, bro, let's let's wait for that when you're on the court.

SPEAKER_00 46:55

He's only lucky he wasn't set to play, but then again, if he had been in uniform playing, it might have been a little bit different. But I digress from that.

SPEAKER_01 47:03

So as we have talked before, the Utah Jazz kind of had a little bit of a tanking situation going on, and uh they got slapped for it. The the the commissioner said, yeah, knock that off. Y'all need to play.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

Bro, we know you suck, you have to get better like the rest of us.

SPEAKER_01 47:21

So they played a game Monday night uh against the Nuggets, where the Nuggets versus the Jazz, final score being Nuggets winning 128 to 125. Uh but that's not one of the bigger things that came out of this game. I mean, yeah, you had Murray with his 45 points, you had George for the for the uh Jazz who had had his 36 points.

SPEAKER_00 47:44

36 points and four steals.

Hawks’ “Magic Monday” Controversy

SPEAKER_01 47:46

So, more importantly, more importantly, is is what what happened on the court between Jokic and George. Brian, look at this. Look at this picture. I just want you to see the picture, first off. So this this is this caught some fire more so on social media for this than the game. Like, people ain't talking about the game, they're talking about how look.

SPEAKER_00 48:10

I just want you to know, I'm a very progressive person, and I support their decision to be that close in public in front of everybody.

SPEAKER_01 48:19

Okay, so to give you some context, George, he's like 185 pounds, right? Jokic is 284 pounds, so he's got a hundred pounds on this dude, right? But I give it to him, he's trying to box out Jokic, but Jokic is like all up on him, like he he's almost riding him like a horse. I mean he is on him, like putting his whole weight on him. But like you you that's not boxing somebody out. That is like riding somebody's back, like he's literally about to collapse.

SPEAKER_00 48:59

Honestly, if you look at the angle, it is dangerous. You could break your spine in that in that position. But I mean, you know, Chiante, don't get in that position, bro. Especially against one of the NBA's more elite, you know, players than Nicola.

SPEAKER_01 49:16

Like, hey, all I can say is it it was a bad look. If you haven't seen it, just go go look for the video. I'm sure you can find it. It is kind of hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 49:26

It looks like Nicola is about to hug Keontae and make a family with him.

SPEAKER_01 49:31

It looks all kinds of inappropriate, but honestly, it's it's funny from the standpoint that everybody knows that the Joker he likes to go back home after a season because he wants to go ride his horses and tend to his stables. Like he doesn't want to be sticking around. So he rides horses. So he does look like he's trying to ride them like a horse. Anyway. I like it. I like it. Anyway, point of the matter is bad look. If you want to go see it, go look for it online. I'm sure you can find it pretty easily.

SPEAKER_00 50:05

Maybe a bad look for Keonta George. I mean, Nicola wasn't the one on bottom.

SPEAKER_01 50:10

So wrapping up the Monday action, we had Celtics beating the Bucks one 108 to 81. Bad luck for the Bucs. The Clippers win 114 over the Warriors 101. So moving on in Tuesday's slate of games, we did have some action that was worth mentioning because we had some playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 50:31

There was a lot of action, a couple high-scoring games. Yeah. So one major blowout.

SPEAKER_01 50:37

One major blowout was actually between two playoff hopefuls in the Spurs and the 76ers, with the Spurs coming away with the 131 to 91 victory.

SPEAKER_00 50:48

The Patriots of the NBA beat the Eagles of the NBA.

SPEAKER_01 50:53

Anyway, it was a really it was a really good game if you watched it, at least from a Spurs perspective. Uh Sixers, even though they got their 21 points out out of maxi, it did not turn into a good game for them. But two teams that are pushing for the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 51:09

Yeah, that 21 points at eight rebounds is about the top of their stat line for the whole team. So they didn't do terribly well.

SPEAKER_01 51:17

Moving over to a game between the Cavaliers and Pistons, with the Cavaliers coming away with the 113 win to the 109 of the Pistons, which is a big thing because right now the Cavaliers are trying to catch up to Pistons because the Pistons are leading the East.

SPEAKER_00 51:32

Yeah, and I was just about to say, uh, watch this, watch this division here because this division heats up right before playoff time. If you remember, Pistons had a very good deep run. Uh, what was it, two years ago when we started this podcast or a year ago? Uh either way, it was last year because they ultimately lost to uh Indianapolis.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

Yeah. Well, one thing that was kind of uh I I kind of paid attention to in this game is the fact that James Harden still played despite he's been dealing with injury. He did put up 18 points in his 35 minutes of play, and equally so Evan Mobley gave up or put up 18 points as well. Yeah. Uh still weren't the high scorers of the team. That was uh Jalen Tyson being with his 22 points, aiding them in their victory. But really, you're seeing other people on the Pistons starting to show their scoring ability because you had Duran with his 24 points and Harris with his 19 points. Usually Cade Cunningham is like their lead horse, but it's good to see that you have some other guys putting up numbers when you're gonna make this push in the playoffs. You need to have somebody other than Cunningham being the guy.

SPEAKER_00 52:48

No, I I agree, and Pistons another strong playoff push team as well.

Gators, Photoshoots, And Close Calls

SPEAKER_01 52:52

Oh, yeah, they're they're definitely gonna be in the mix when it comes towards the uh end of the year. They're they're gonna be in there for sure. Like there's not gonna be playoff without them. I know that.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

No, no, I'm I'm actually more eager to see how the Pistons do without their star player, Halliburton. So how about these Hornets, man?

SPEAKER_01 53:11

Since the since the trade, trades uh that they've made, they've kind of taken off a little bit. They're up to a 31-31 record with and just had a 117 to 90 victory over the Mavs.

SPEAKER_00 53:23

Look, I know that honestly, I like both these teams, Hornets and the Mavs. Okay, and the Hornets, I know DC's close, but I'm actually a little bit more of a Hornets fan than I am a DC fan for basketball. Um and then the Mavs. The Mavs give them an off-year, okay? They got Cooper Flag as a rookie. They just replaced some from front office people to and coaching to help with his development along some of the other players. Uh, don't look for the Mavs to be down terribly long. They might have a mediocre run this year. I don't think they're gonna make the playoffs, but next year I like to see the Mavericks as a strong team.

SPEAKER_01 54:01

Yeah, with that said, coming away with uh the most points for the Charlotte Hornets was Brandon Miller with his 17 points. Uh right behind him was Lamelo Ball with his 15. Uh Khan Knipple had 13, so not a not a bad showing for the rookie.

NFL Feel-Good: Chris Long’s Donations

SPEAKER_00 54:18

By the way, Lamello Ball has the infamous Cheetos foot where he has fire tattooed from his toes back. I wanna I just want to say that's awesome. Right. I might copy it. Don't do that. Who's gonna know? I wear a shoe and sock all the time.

SPEAKER_01 54:40

Anyway, jumping back into the slate of games from Tuesday, we're going to touch on uh at least one or two of the other games.

SPEAKER_00 54:49

One or two. Uh let's see here. Who had some high performers here? We got Anthony Edwards with 41 points from Timbertown, the Timberwolves over the Grizzlies. Nobody really cares about that game. Yeah, Timberwolves knocking off the Grizzlies. I mean, the Grizzlies' highest performing player put up 12 points. Come on now. Well, 12 points and 11 rebounds. 11 rebounds because the wolves were shooting so much.

Injuries, Early Retirements, And Cap Moves

SPEAKER_01 55:14

Anyway, Lakers got themselves a win against the Pelicans uh 110 to 101. In that performance, Luca came away with 27, 10, and 10 rebounds and seven assists. Just three shives, triple-double. But they've been having a little controversy with the team lately. JJ Redick kind of chewed out Luca, and he went to the end of the bench, and Redick followed him and had a few words with him. And, you know, people have been speculating, you know, like, oh no, is there trouble with the the Lakers now? There's the is their animosity. And I you know what I see? What I see is a coach doing his job. He's gonna a coach should be able to go over and coach his player and rip into his player. That should happen, period, no matter who they are.

SPEAKER_00 56:03

So I think a coach should be able to coach his player. This is so this is where coaches and professionalism kind of collide, okay? As a coach, you have to decide am I gonna tear this player a new asshole right here in public in front of everybody, or am I gonna do this in private? Okay. I think it's better done. I think you say, hey man, I'm not happy with you. Go sit down, we're gonna talk later. I think it should have been handled behind closed doors. That's a coach player thing. No player likes to be publicly ridiculed, uh even when they're in the wrong.

SPEAKER_01 56:42

But famously, Bill Belichick would go in and rip Tom Brady, you know, up, down, and sideways in front of everybody, and people would see that and go, Oh man, if he's willing to chew him out, what is it gonna do to me? I'm a rookie. You know, like and it sometimes invokes the other players to get right. So sometimes it's a message thing, not so much correcting the player thing.

SPEAKER_00 57:05

Brady was the leader of that team at that time, and Belacek leaned on him in that role. So I think Brady knew he was gonna take some public regals, although I don't agree with it.

SPEAKER_01 57:17

But part of coaching is also knowing your players and knowing how to get the best out of your players, and sometimes you have that player you have to rip into.

SPEAKER_00 57:24

And when there's when that situation comes, I don't think it gets done on the sideline during a game.

SPEAKER_01 57:30

So jumping back over to this this game between the Lakers and the Pelicans, uh, give a little nod here to LeBron James coming up with 21 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. So he wasn't too far away from having a triple-double himself. So, I mean, not that you know, we've seen numbers like this from LeBron James before, but moving over to Pelican side, you had Zion Williams with 24 points in his effort, and Murphy, the third, getting his 21 points. So pretty good showing by some of their starting lineup. They just couldn't get it done down the stretch.

SPEAKER_00 58:03

Not bad, not bad at all. And uh, you know, uh basketball, NBA clearly in the heat of their season. Uh college basketball getting ready to hit March Madness, as we're all excited about. So get your brackets together if you haven't yet. But let's go ahead and dive into a tad, okay? We're gonna talk some football. We're gonna talk a little bit college football. It really has nothing to do with college football. That's a college coach. This, Sir, wait, before you get into that.

SPEAKER_01 58:30

Oh lord. Wait, wait, wait, wait. You're jumping ahead. You're jumping ahead. Huh? You are you're skipping something important. Oh my! We have to talk about the latest promotion for the for the Atlanta Hawks. They are doing a promotion called Magic Monday, and the reason it's called Magic Monday is they're paying homage to a a Atlanta Mainstay Magic City Gentlemen's Club. It's a strip joint.

SPEAKER_00 59:01

Listen, sir, I thought you were about to say something important and I face palm myself for this. And you may have heard it on the mic. No, listen. I I listen. Listening. Hear me out, hear me out. Listening, hearing.

SPEAKER_01 59:12

I have a question for you. Uh-oh. Should the NBA be involved with having a sponsorship a night? Uh no, I will say this. It's on a school night, it's not necessarily a Saturday night or something. But should they be doing a sponsorship with a nightclub, a gentleman's nightclub at that? Now they're saying it's because of the fact that this is a staple for Atlanta and they're known for their lemon pepper wings, which is going to be part of the promotion.

SPEAKER_00 59:43

So this you say this is a gentleman's club, okay. So I assume a strip club? Yes. Who also specializes in very good. It's a jiggle joint. I've never heard that, but I like it and I'm going to use it. Um and this also special so is this a restaurant? Like is it a gentleman's.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:01

This is a place that you know has the strippers and but is known to have good eats while you're there. Mainly the lemon pepper wings.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:13

So, how do families get a hold of these amazing wings that this place produces? Okay, I'm gonna answer your question in a second. I just need some more uh probing questions. What? Like, this obviously is not a family place. Do they have ours? You might of course it's not a family place, it's 18 and up. You know, like you don't just go to a strip club. I think strip clubs are 21 and up.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:36

Certain sides of it. And then you can't there are some that are 18 and up, but you can't go to the other side where they have drinks.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

In the commonwealth. In some places. In the commonwealth. In the commonwealth. Anyway, point of the matter is Jinx, knock on wood, and it's a strip club.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:53

It is a strip club.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:54

I don't know. Optics is not good. Now, if it's an Atlanta. So here's the thing. If Atlanta wants them as a sponsor, I say locally, sure. Let them put a banner up, you know, let them contribute something, you know, as a sponsor, or maybe, but I don't know optic-wise, if I the as the NBA, I would put them on TV as a sponsor of the Hawks.

Cowboys Restructure And Defensive Needs

SPEAKER_01 1:01:22

Well, see, this is a thing. Like it, they they're trying to pay homage to the city and the hip-hop culture, and this is a big staple in the city and hip-hop culture and lemon pepper wings. And actually, when they were doing the whole COVID season and they had restrictions, they actually had a play a player who got in trouble for going to the strip club to get, as he said, get his lemon pepper wings. So it's it's come up more than once.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:50

First of all, lemon pepper sucks, okay? Speak for yourself, sir. I like lemon pepper. I just want to put that out there. Lemon pepper sucks. Speak for yourself, sir. I think it's good. Clearly, we have a political difference here between me and Mr. Mike.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:04

No, just just the wings. But there have been players speaking out that this is not a good look.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:10

I don't think I'm gonna be honest, Mike. Excuse me. Yes, sorry. I'm having issues. I I'm gonna be honest, Mike. I don't know if this is a good look either because of the optics that so the NBA wants to be more family-oriented, right? And they want a young audience. How can you promote or uh a sponsor that is a gentleman's club? Okay, this I think they're both in the wrong realm. Okay, I think the Hawks I'm sure it's an Atlanta staple, but like, do you really? I know what I want to say, I'm just having trouble saying it. I have a better question.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:53

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:54

What's the halftime show gonna be? Like when you're doing a a jiggle joint halftime show, what is the halftime show? Listen, sir, what is it gonna be?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:07

Listen, hold on, number one, number one, number one. Can we stop calling it a jiggle joint? Because it is a jiggle joint. Number one, this makes me feel weird about it. And number two, I can't stop laughing about it. Hey, that's why I keep saying it. Because think about it. And by the way, uh I'm gonna be honest, I've been to some quote jiggle joints a handful a handful of times. I don't make a habit of it. I just want to say, when I was in there, I never spent my own money. Usually a drunk friend of mine puts their money in my hand, and then we go from there. Uh, I don't think that this is good. See, we're not from Atlanta, okay? We're from Virginia Beach in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Hey. So we're a little more conservative than our friends down south.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:53

No, no, no, no. I don't think it has anything to do with that. Jiggle joints are everywhere. We got them all the way from Fort Lauderdale all the way up into Canada.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:01

But they have different rules depending on where you're at.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:04

Yeah, some of them have better rules.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:07

Some of them have better rules where it's like full nude, some have to be wearing pasties. By better rules, we mean less rules. Well, there's always the same rule. There's no sex in the champagne club. No touching. They made a song about it and everything. No touching. I don't care how much you pay. Anyway, point of the matter is it's uh it's a hot topic.

QB Carousel: Kyler, Tua, Cousins

SPEAKER_00 1:04:27

It's rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Don't taint the product. You break it, you buy it. This guy. Alright, move on into the college. We'll move on past that. We'll let you be the deciders if you think that's appropriate or not. I don't think we accomplished anything with that segment, but hell, it was fun to talk about. It was fun to talk about. We're gonna talk about a brief uh college football moment. This has nothing really, as I was saying before, it really has to do with actual football. So, verbatim here from Wavy TV 10. And it's funny that this is Wavy TV 10 and it's about the gators, okay? Florida coach John Sumerall. Summerall. Summerall. Excuse me, I'm just You're excused. Anyway, John Sumerall has a new appreciation for gator chomp, okay? If you're unfamiliar, basically, Sumerall got hissed at and snapped at while posing for promotional pictures with a live alligator last week. Uh, can you imagine, Mike? First of all, I'm sure there was a trainer or a professional nearby, but could you imagine being close enough to a gator for it to permanently incapacitate you just for doing promotional? I think this is rather hilarious, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:45

Uh somewhere I have a picture of my drunk self uh right up next to a crocodile that was bigger than that, that seven-foot gator. And uh There was a trainer. I will say that there was a trainer, but you see me, beer in one hand, touching the tail with the other hand. Yeah, that was that. So yes, I can I can relate.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:12

Yeah, that was the tail. By the way, this was a seven-foot gator, and I'm rather flabbergasted that can't this came out via Portsmouth of Wavy TV 10 in Virginia, and it's a Florida news article. But I thought it was funny nonetheless, I thought it was funny to share with you all. Just put yourself in those shoes. We're not going to dwell on this too much or beat a dead horse. I just thought it was funny to mention. Imagine that. But Mike and listeners, are you ready? I have a quick question. Are you ready for our favorite subject of the evening? And I'm only calling it our favorite because we talk about it more than any other subject, and it's probably why you come here, because I actually know about it, and Mike also knows about it in conjunction with the other sports.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:59

Yes. All sports.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:03

I love sports in general, but my experience and knowledge is also getting. By the way, fun fact, I signed up to be my son's assistant baseball coach. So yay me for getting hands-on on the job learning.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:14

One one uh asterisk to my love of sports. I'm not the biggest uh uh football fan. Well, that's when I say football, I mean European football.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:27

Well, that's just first of all, that's just because you're weak and real men love football. No, I I just I get bored with it. In America, we call it soccer. I actually think it's about as interesting as the NBA. They move about the same pace, back and forth down the field.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:45

No, no, at least with the NBA, there's actual action going on. I feel like if they shorten the fields a little bit and maybe put a wall around the actual field where the ball can't go out and you play it off the wall, bro, it'd be a much better game.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:59

If an NBA court was the size of a soccer field, soccer would be the way better sport to watch.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:04

Yeah, because it would be there would be way more happening. Anyway, we're gonna on tangent away from what we can do.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:10

We're supposed to be talking about the foosball. Anyway, we'll start out with a happy note. Uh during the 2017 NFL season, uh Philadelphia Eagles defensive and Chris Long announced he would donate his first six-game checks to fund scholarships in Charlottesville, Virginia. His hometown, Mike. What do you think about that? A lot of professional players coming out of Virginia. I love it. Uh later in October, Long announced he would also donate his remaining 10-game uh checks, effectively giving away his entire 2017 base salary, uh, which is equivalent roughly around$1 million, uh, toward educational equity via his Pledge 10 for tomorrow campaign. Uh, you know, every athlete has a charity campaign.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:56

Yeah, yeah. But what I'm on I'm missing the point here. Like, so he donated all this money like almost 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:03

What's what's the so uh basically and he he won the Super Bowl, he won Super Bowl 52 after uh it was named uh 2018 Walter Payton Man of the Year. This came up, I don't know, I know this is probably rather common knowledge, but it came up again just as a refresher. And I thought since we didn't have a show in 2017 or 2018, it would probably be a cool thing to mention. I don't think I think Chris Long is even retired by now from the NFL. Oh, he's been long retired. Yeah, he he's long retired, but I thought that was a happy, feel-good story, came back from the history. It's always fun to talk about previous good doings. Um totally missed that. What? I said he was long retired. I see what you did there. Anyway, totally anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:51

Let's get on to some actual news that's happening right now with the NFL. Uh so the the Raiders, or not the Raiders, the Steelers got some interesting interesting news.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:02

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:03

Because Broderick Jones underwent fusion surgery. Uh this is the same type of surgery Peyton Manning had uh where he had bones in his neck fused together because of issues he was having with his neck.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:19

You know what I think is interesting? That first name Broderick. Are you from Greece?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:23

Well, here's the thing, though. This is not a quarterback, this is this is a offensive lineman who has had this fusion surgery, just further proving that you know these offensive linemen they go through a lot of punishment in that in that offensive and defensive line.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:40

Well, yeah, their neck takes a lot of and their technique, their neck takes a lot of wear and tear, right? You look at the stance they line up in, and their head is lined up, okay? Defensive linemen can have their head down a little bit. Offensive linemen, they gotta have their head up because they gotta have they have to see what's coming at them, right? So their head probably takes a hit, gets snapped back. You talk about that action repeatedly over and over.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:03

Well, think about how many times we've seen a legal use of hands where they are basically put the hand right under their chin strap and push their head straight up.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:11

Yeah, those those scenarios a couple hundred times over a season, it kind of sucks.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:17

Yeah, those scenarios as well. With that said, it kind of leads to the next thing we're going to talk about, which is kind of an interesting scenario, and we've seen it a lot more of here recently. Uh, Bears just found out their center, uh Dolman, Drew Dolman, is retiring at age 27. And this was his first year with the Bears, I believe. And he's he's done, he's calling it a career. And we've been seeing a lot more of this where players are retiring a lot earlier in their career. So, you know, wear and tear, maybe he just he doesn't love it anymore. I mean, whatever.

Trades, Tags, And Chiefs Reloading

SPEAKER_00 1:11:57

We've seen it over at least the last decade or so, more and more. Uh, two of the most notable, Luke Keekly and Andrew Luck, among others, retiring early. Um, that seems to be the thing to do. I mean, that was pre-NIL era. I think we're gonna see more of this after NIL because these guys, they're gonna get their money, they may or may not go to the NFL, they're gonna get a little bit of fame, make some more money, and then they'll probably retire out and save their health, right? Because you can retire comfortably with millions and millions of dollars.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:34

So moving on to some good news for Dallas fans. Uh, Dallas was able to restructure contracts from Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Smith, uh, freeing up nearly$55 million over the cap. So that's that's gonna be making some huge room. I mean, the restructures clear around$66 million in cap space in total. So the$55 million was over before they were$55 million over, and now they have$66 million in space now. So they're gonna have room for add-and-free agents. But what happened was with some of these salary moves, Dak Prescott goes from being owed like$40 million down to$1.8 million. Uh Smith drops down to about$1.7, and I believe it's very similar for Lamb as well. Yes, Lamb drops down to about$1.7 owed to him this year as well. So what it means is a lot of these higher contracts where Dak was owed$40, they're just gonna make most of that money guaranteed, and the rest will be broken up over to season. So he's gonna get he's getting his money, but it's gonna be paid out straight.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:46

Well, there's two things at play here, and this is why I believe they traded Trayvon Dix in the middle of the season at Green Bay. Um they're trying to make room for both George Pickens and Javante Williams. Javante Williams already signed a deal. Uh George Pickens is on a franchise tag. They're trying to keep them both.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:07

I think this is a a showing of much more than that, sir. I think what you're seeing here is the beginning of a move to re-fortify that defense. Uh, you watch, they're gonna move one of their defensive tackles. I'm not, it's either gonna be Kenny Clark or I forget the other one's name. It's it begins with an O. Uh, but they're not they're not gonna move Quentin Williams. They just got him and they want to keep him there. I agree. I agree with the pinnacle spot for them. But they need edge rushers, they need linebacker help, they need safeties and corners. So they they're gonna be trying to find that, but one way you make this work and make it beneficial for you, you get some in free agents and you get some through the draft. So they're probably going to sign an edge rusher, probably sign a middle linebacker, and probably sign a corner, maybe a safety, you know, get one at each level, and try to structure that way. I don't think it's a bad move.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:05

No, I I don't think so either. And I think obviously it sounds like in the draft they're probably gonna go defense, right? They have uh the Dall Cowboys offense is okay. I don't think they needed anything really. Look, as a commanders fan, I just want to say I honestly really like what the Cowboys are doing right now. I'm a big George Pickens fan, okay? Um obviously has differences, didn't fit well in the Steelers, whatever the hell they're doing. Comes to Dallas, probably has the best year of his career. Um, I I think Dallas picks around uh where is Dallas picked? They're picking in the teens. They're in the teens. So I I think it's safe for them to go defense. They had Quinton Williams to build off of among a couple other defensive pieces, but their defense really needs help. Um, and I think at the same time, they're trying to afford their running back and their newfound receiver, as well as their original number one receiver, CeeDee Lamb.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:04

So speaking of a Ford, this has become the season of trying to figure out your pay scale and what you're gonna be doing and trying to get rid of some dead weight. And the Cardinals have come up and said, Kyler, we wish you well, but they're going to cut him. So Kyler Murray, though.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:21

Who okay? Kyler Murray is clearly out. He's going somewhere else. We'll talk about that in a minute. We know two is probably gonna get moved either through trade or cut. Hold on.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:32

What do you think the Cardinals do at quarterback? There has been a little a little bit of linking of uh how do I put this? So their coach came from the Rams, and more so uh is it Mike LaFleur is his name? Mike LaFleur. He was also part of the 49ers back when Jimmy Garoppolo was there. He was also with the Rams, who also had Jimmy Garoppolo, and there's been speculation that they're gonna bring in Jimmy Garoppolo to run Mike LaFleur's offense and be the bridge to the next quarterback.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:16

I think that's interesting. I I'm eager to see if they take a quarterback uh in the top three of this year's draft and put him behind Garoppolo, if that's what they do.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:26

I don't I think they're everybody's waiting until next year, and I I would suspect for the Rams it makes more sense to wait till next year anyway. Yeah. Get somebody, make them sit behind Garoppolo, do the Alex Smith route. You know, where Alex Smith got to the Chiefs, they got Mahomes, Mahomes sat behind him, and then Mahomes took over and it went from there.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:44

No, I I agree. There's really only one quarterback this year worth taking, and the Raiders are gonna take him at Mendoza. Uh there'll be a few other quarterbacks, but Simpson. Simpson, yeah, but some of the notable quarterback, like Oregon's quarterback, they're re-declaring for college. So like and Archie's, you know, Archie obviously not NFL ready. Okay, I don't care what anybody says. He's not NFL ready. Uh maybe he'll be there one day.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:09

So what do you think happens between Tua and Kyler? And which one would you want?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:16

Um, I think Kyler ends up in New York where all careers go to end. The Jets? Yes. Okay. I had to clarify, you said New York.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:25

I didn't know which team.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:26

Honestly, I could see the Cardinals taking a chance on Tua, but they probably won't.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:31

Well, you do know by them cutting him, they're paying his salary, so you can get him at league minimum. You can get him at 30 minute minimum.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:37

Yeah, they're they're they're paying his base salary, but they're saving a lot more money in the long run. I think it's like 36 million or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:44

Well, I got two scenarios for you for both quarterbacks, Tua and for Kyler. Okay. So if you have a team that's kind of in cap hell, you know, like and you need a quarterback, you kind of need to go after a quarterback that's going to be affordable. Well, that's not going to be a whole lot of options for affordable quarterbacks, but Kyler Murray is one. And to me, the Vikings make all the sense in the world for him because of the fact, hear me out, hear me out. It makes all the sense in the world because they're kind of in cap hell. They can't afford to go after a Daniel Jones, they can't afford to go after any kind of quarterback that's going to want a payday. There's no Malik Willis in their future because he wants a payday. And they really don't need to go that route anyway. The quarterback they have, JJ McCarthy, has already shown he's not ready. He's not, he needs to sit back and chill out. I think he'd be a good fit there. Now for Tua, Tua, I think the perfect place for him to go, Atlanta. And here's why. Penix, left-handed quarterback. Tua left-handed quarterback, the one thing you can you can definitely say by having two left-handed quarterbacks, you don't have to change the playbook. There's no flipping of the playbook when you go to your backup and you know, from starter to backup and vice versa. Now, Penix has shown an injury history a little bit. Tua has shown an injury history, but in the time that Tua has played, when he has had a good offensive line, he has shown that he can move the ball. Atlanta has one of the best offensive lines in football. You put him behind that offensive line with time with one of the best running backs in the game, and you give him those pieces, those weapons that they have in London and Pitts. Bro, come on.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:36

So I wholeheartedly disagree with you, Mike. I'm sure you do. Sometimes I agree with you, but this one I disagree with you. Tua, I think he's done. I don't think he's getting signed. He's had four concussions in two to three years. I don't think anybody is gonna want him. Uh Kyler, I think he still gets one or two more years somewhere as a bridge quarterback. Oh I just I just don't see Tua landing anywhere, to be honest with you. And it's sad, weird, because Kyler probably did not perform as well as Tua. Because Tua had a very high powered offense, and it was evident, but I think that was a Kyler had his moments.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:21

He had a lot of passing yards his first three years.

Running Back Moves And Roster Cuts

SPEAKER_00 1:21:23

Kyler had his moments, but just short of the Tyreek Hill injury, like Miami really had a high-powered offense. And Tua was barely able to operate it. Well, yeah, he was barely able to operate it.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:37

Uh and I don't know about barely. They did put up 70 points in a game against the different Broncos.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:42

That was in that was in like two years ago, two to three years ago. It was a whole different circumstance. Um just saying. But I think I don't think Tua lands with Atlanta because here's what I think. Atlanta is expected to part ways. Atlanta is expected They already parted ways with Cousins. Yeah. I could see Cousins. I think Minnesota is gonna see where the cards fall, but I think Cousins lands back with Minnesota.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:08

They don't have money to pay him, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:09

I don't think that's the problem. I don't think he's gonna be looking for money. I think Cousins is just gonna be looking to stay in the game at this point.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:16

So everything has shown that Cousins is all about getting his money because every time he has gotten paid. So here but here's I no, no, no, here.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:25

I'll listen. I'm listening.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:27

You have to pick a spot for Tua to go. This is not saying he's going to, not going to. If he goes somewhere, where would he go? Where would be the place for him to go? Home. He goes home. No, no, no. You have to pick somewhere for him to go. That's part of this. Tell me where he goes.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:48

If he goes anywhere, it's as a backup.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:50

And I think it's to go I I don't care if it's as a backup. Just tell me where he would go. I think what would make sense.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:57

I think Tua lands. I think he could land in Tennessee as a backup. Uh why Tennessee? Because Cam Ward's a mobile quarterback. They like their mobile quarterbacks. Tua has always been more mobile than he has been a pocket quarterback. If not Tennessee, then I think goes the Panthers. He's gonna go somewhere cheap, somewhere that's not gonna want to pay him a lot, but somewhere who wants him just as like uh, hey, just in case scenario. I don't think Andy Dalton's gonna be back in Carolina as a backup or anything. Uh so I I think Tennessee or Carolina probably top two landing spots for if he stays in the game.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:41

Getting back to your Kirk Cousins Kirk Cousins situation and going back to the Vikings is not gonna happen. And here's why I say so. They've already cut two veterans in Aaron Jones and Hardgraves because of trying to get under under the cap, and they're still gonna have more cuts to come. So I don't see them because they're probably not even gonna be able to bring bring back Naylor, one of their better wide receivers, because of their cap situation, which is why I don't know that Cousins will be able to go there because they have no cap room.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:15

Well, after thinking about it a second, I think you're right because they still owe Cousins money, and even though they traded him, they still owe him like 30 mil 20 or 30 million, I think. So yeah, they're not gonna bring him back unless he agrees to restructure for a really cheap price. I don't see you're right. I don't see that happening, but I do think cousins excuse me. I'm sorry, y'all. I do think cousins, uh well more than Tua, has a chance to land somewhere. And I think actually Cousins has a chance to start. I can see him going to Pittsburgh for real. They're a pass heavy team, they only need a running back to set up the pass. And maybe another receiver. Maybe another receiver, which they'll probably get in the draft.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:59

Or free agency. But let's get over to some cap casualties and some trades and stuff going on. Uh Texans actually made a low-key trade where they sent their right tackle, Titus Howard, over to the Browns. It I like the pickup for the Browns. I'm not quite sure why the Texans are offloading linemen when their offensive line was horrible.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:21

This so uh the Texans, I think, have a top 12 draft pick position.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:28

No, they were in the playoffs, so they'll be in the 20s. Oh, yeah, never mind. They're not taking a tackle.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:32

They're not taking a tackle at all.

Closing Thanks And Event Giveaway

SPEAKER_01 1:25:33

Well, this is a tack, I think this is a tackle heavy offensive line, really heavy draft.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:38

But um they they could be preparing to move on for him. Maybe it's an age thing, maybe it's a performance thing. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:44

But the one that didn't surprise me that happened, and I I'm like, about time. Juwan Taylor of the Chiefs finally, finally was cut by the Chiefs. And I don't care if the Chiefs draft a guy in the seventh round and put him at right tackle. It's gonna be better than Juwan Taylor at right tackle because that guy is a flag machine.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:11

Yeah, he really held them back quite a bit on a number of plays this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:14

In like 48 games, he had something like 40. I think no, in 48 games, it was like almost almost 60 flags.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:24

Yeah, that's an average of like one and a half or 1.7 per game. Uh you can you can't be hurting your team that much. Uh and and I agree with the cut, honestly. Uh, you can't perform it's it's not enough to be a high-level uh talent. You have to be able to keep your team out of trouble as well. And if you can't do both, you're not gonna last long.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:46

Well, the Chiefs weren't done, man. The Chiefs weren't done. They they again are kind of in cap kind of cap hell, but they they have proven something that they have done time and time again. They don't pay their top corner. Right now, their top corner, or was their top corner, Trent McDuffie. Yeah, they traded him to Los Angeles Rams. So he's going to be part of the Rams now. In this trade, they have given Los Angeles has given the Chiefs their 29th pick in the first round this year. Uh they also receive a fifth round and sixth round pick this year and a 2027 third round pick next year. Guaranteed. So they weren't gonna pay him. He's gonna be like one in 30 mil, you know, top of the market for a corner. And they've done this before. And last time they traded Marcus Peter. They sent him to the Rams, didn't they? Yeah, they sent him to the Rams. Last time they sent Marcus Peter to the Rams, and before that, Legarius Sneed. They sent him off to the Titans. Right before these guys went big contracts, corners, just corners, they Trade them away, get a buttload of picks, and use those picks to re-fortify their defense.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:05

There's two teams in the NFL, okay? There are the teams who develop talent and get rid of them right before they have to pay them, and there are teams who need talent and who pay that price.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:16

The Rams is the team that pay.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:17

The Rams are now in the category of the team that pay. The Rams are like F them picks.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:25

They just offload the picks and get played.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:27

Do you know what this screams to me? This screams to me that the Rams are closing their championship window. Which they they have a last ditch effort because when Stafford's gone. They they have a championship. They won one.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:42

They did. And they did the same thing when they won. They they went all out and they went out and got Odell Beckham. Yeah. And then they picked up uh Jalen Ramsey. And there was like one or two other players they picked up through trade to fortify their team.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:56

To me, either the Rams GM or Sean McVay, the Rams head coach, is looking to hang it up soon or move on.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:05

Well, you know Stafford is.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:07

Well, you know Stafford is, right? You your Pro Bowl quarterback is on the back end of his career. He might have one or two good years left, maybe a few more. I don't know. Quarterbacks play pretty well far into their age. Um to me, and Sean McVeigh's been around for a while. Who knows when the Rams brass is gonna be looking to shift directions, right? They they've been playoff competitive, but you can see a decline, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:29:32

Well, Sean McVeigh knows he has a career after football. He was gonna go walk away, let's not forget, not too long ago, and he was gonna go be announcer. So he has a career. He'll be fine.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:43

I I I agree. I think he knows he has a career. I don't think Sean McVeigh is worried about what he's gonna do after football, but I do think he's closing in on the end of his coaching career. I don't think he has to.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:55

I think he's gonna choose to because when Matthew Stafford's gone, you lost your bell cow.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:00

I I agree. He's he's choosing to, and that's because now he knows what it takes to build a championship caliber team. Is he gonna want to do this all over again? No, I don't think so. I think when Matt Stafford goes, even maybe even before, actually, I think Matt Stafford retires when Sean McVay retires. I think they both walk away at the same time. I I think they walk away at the same time. Uh that's just I think they walk away at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:28

Speaking of walking away, there was a pretty sad post that came up from Jameer Gibbs where he was saying farewell to Sonica Knuckles because the Texans have traded for David Montgomery from the Detroit Lions. And in this situation, uh, which is kind of puzzling, the Lions wind up acquiring an offensive lineman in Juice Scrugs and Scrugs, yes, and two draft picks from the Houston Texans. Uh so the the two picks, they will receive a 2026 uh fourth round pick this year and a 2027 pick in the seventh round of of obviously next year. Yeah, I seen. I seen I've seen the post, dude. You don't have to show it to me. Anyway, I'm sure the point of the matter is David Montgomery wanted to be more of a lead back, wants to have a bigger role because Gibbs was getting the bulk of the carries for obvious reasons. But I I have to think for Montgomery, careful what you wish for, because they just literally gave up two offensive linemen, and you need offensive linemen to block for you. So you better hope they have a good plan in creating some uh blocks for you. Otherwise, you're gonna not have a good run game.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:48

Honestly, I I don't think he's gonna have a problem. David Mag David Montgomery is very fast. I think he's gonna I think he's gonna run hard for them.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:56

I I'm hoping he does, but uh on to what happened with your team. Yeah, I bet you're excited about this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:02

Honestly, honestly, God, I'm not because I had high hopes for Lattimore. I thought I I didn't think he was gonna come over and be a star player or anything, but I thought he was gonna help shore up the defense. Uh he was largely part of the problem more than he was part of the solution. The Redskins, uh sorry, Commander's Brass took a chance on it. They traded for him. In two years of playing for us, it hasn't quite worked out. I understand why they're letting him go. Uh I had higher hopes for him. You know what this reminds me of?

SPEAKER_01 1:32:34

This reminds me of a player that you traded for and got, and it was the same type of scenario where all they did was get a bunch of flags thrown on him. This reminds me of when you guys traded for Chris Culliver and got him from the Niners, and all he did was just get you penalties, just like he did when he was with the Niners.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:50

Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. Albert Hainesworth, anybody?$110 million per year, by the way, on a four-year deal contract per Dan Snyder. Thank you, sir. We're still paying for that contract. And that man did nothing. He got cut before the first season was even over. They just cut Shannon has said, no, get off my team. Week 10, week 11, he was gone.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:14

So with the onset of teams cutting players, there's also teams trying to do franchise tag or transition tags, and the Jets decided we're franchise tagging our running back, Brees Hall. He's not going anywhere. We want that man to stick around.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:30

So this is a play to me. I think they're gonna trade him.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:32

No, sticking around.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:34

No, they're looking for trade bait. I think they're gonna trade it. They get the right price, they're gonna trade him.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:38

So, like I just mentioned with the transition tag, uh, hasn't really been applied in a long time, but the Colts have applied that to Daniel Jones. Now, what this means is whatever team offers Daniel Jones a contract, they have the ability to match dollar for dollar that contract and give Daniel Jones the option of choosing between the two teams. Likely they would want to keep him and have him stay with the Colts, which if you've seen the first few weeks with him running in that Colts offense, he looked damn good. But the Colts did not put any tag or anything on to Alec Pierce, so now he's gonna be a free agent. That was one of the number one targets for Daniel Jones, so it might be a different looking offense.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:25

Well, yeah, uh yeah, they might be a different looking offense, but I I think Daniel Jones uh clearly has found a home in Indianapolis. Uh he balled out there before he got injured. I think he's gonna ball out again.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:38

Also, another player that the Vikings might take a look at if they can get him for the right price. Uh moving over to right price and maybe bad situation, uh the Chargers decided to cut ties with Makai Becton, who might the name might sound familiar. He was part of the offensive line of the Eagles when they were dominating and going to Super Bowls and stuff. Like he was a big part of that. Uh, they cut ties from him, saving about 9.7 million on the cap, which is good for them, but Makai Becton's gonna be looking for another team, and he will find another team. There's no way he's sitting on the sidelines.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:18

To me, that's just a scheme fit. He probably just didn't fit or perform as well in Jim Harbaugh's scheme or his offensive line coach scheme. Uh, I think he'll find his footing again.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:30

And there's there there has been some mention of that where there was some the the six-year vet veteran battled injuries throughout the seat season and voiced his frustrations with the Chargers back in November. Basically, it it probably is that of a mutant.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:45

I mean, he he probably wanted to be traded, but he maybe waited too long to voice it. But either way, they're moving on from him. Hard to trade somebody when they're hurt. Well, yeah, you're you're right. Hard to trade somebody when they're hurt. They're moving on from him, he's moving on from them. Um everybody wins. I think he'll find his footing. I'm not worried about it. He will.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:03

He will. Uh, another player on the look for another team is Bobby Orique. Is that how you say it? Bobby Orique, linebacker for the Giants.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:14

Sir, I want to slap you. It's O'Kikri. Oh, Kikari. Even as a Redskins fan, I know this.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:19

Okay, well, that's why I asked you.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:21

So, anyway, figured you'd know.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:25

Anyway, after three years that one I do know. After three years with the team, he's been released. He's gonna be looking for a new team. But more so, the big news that came out today. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:37

So, big news come to before I move on to that. I'd like to see how Keekri land with the commanders because they could use the services. But today, uh, who's surprised? Is anybody surprised about this? Uh, the Patriots releasing Stephon Diggs, uh, probably due to off-field issues, and he wasn't really utilized as much in the offense as I think they that he might have been. Uh so Stefan Diggs looking for his next gig. Look, every superstar has to figure out when the end is near, okay? And I I think Stefan Diggs is close to it. He's still an effective receiver, but I think Stefan Diggs is close to it. He needs to focus on raising all his like 10,000 kids and shit like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:24

But I I don't know that he has that many kids, to be honest. Um, but neither here nor there. The main thing is we're still gonna see a lot of this still happening. There's gonna be a lot of cuts happening where teams are just cutting bait. I mean, the franchise tag period has already happened. If you didn't franchise tag a player and they're not on your roster right now, it's done. They're free agent. Unrestricted.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:47

Yeah, they're they're unrestricted free agents. And honestly, Mike, I think there's a lot of good uh free agents. Trey Hendrickson. Trey Hendrickson, I could see him. I'm a Commanders fan.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:59

By the way, the Bengals really screwed that up. They could have traded him for a boatload of picks, but they just hung on and hung on and hung on.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:07

It's like now you got nothing. Bro, the commanders were interested. They were ready to send you a second and a third round pick. But sometimes you just gotta learn how to read the tea leaves, and I and I agree with that. Uh, but before we close out the show tonight, uh once again I want to thank our uh listeners for joining us. I want to thank our sponsors and partners, Body by D Gym, Sauce Outfitters, uh the Giving Cheat Cowboy Practic, and Mid-Atlantic Territory Wrestling, our newest uh partner. And by the way, don't forget they have a live taping Saturday, March 14th, 2026. Doors open at 5 15. The bell rings at 6 p.m. 106 North Constitution Drive in Yorktown, Virginia. That is, by the way, Body Body DJam. They have a network, they have a TV deal with RightNow Network. And if you want to win ringside seats plus a free gift, refer to our social media, uh Two for the Win on Facebook, Two for the Win on Instagram, or twofor the win.com to figure out how you can win ringside tickets plus that gift. So I realize we ended that rather abruptly, but um I just want to thank everybody for listening to us. Uh thank you for being participating, even if it's on your own, uh for the last time tonight. I'm Brian with an eye, and I'm Mike, and we are two for the win. Thanks, everybody.