Baseball Blues and NBA News: The Rollercoaster Continues

New York baseball is in crisis mode with both the Mets and Yankees struggling despite recent isolated wins that temporarily mask deeper organizational issues. The teams have fundamental structural problems that need addressing before either can return to consistent winning ways.

• Mets split their series with Atlanta but now face mounting injuries with Griffin Canning potentially gone for the year
• Pete Alonso and Juan Soto performing well but the supporting cast remains inconsistent with Alvarez and Acuña sent to Syracuse
• Yankees barely holding onto first place with a half-game lead over Tampa Bay despite preseason expectations
• Jazz Chisholm's emotional outbursts hurting the Yankees with his recent ejection leaving a hole at third base
• Anthony Volpe struggling to meet expectations as fans grow increasingly impatient
• NBA offseason heating up with Kevin Durant traded to Houston, creating the second-best odds for a championship
• Thunder defeat Pacers in Game 7 despite Tyrese Halliburton's Achilles tear, giving SGA the triple crown of basketball
• Knicks still coachless after firing Thibodeau with potential candidates including Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins
• Aaron Rodgers signs one-year deal with the Steelers, claiming this will be his final season
• Justin Tucker suspended 10 games following misconduct allegations from multiple massage therapists
• NFL owners avoiding collusion charges despite evidence of communication about keeping guaranteed contracts low

Your hot takes are always welcome – follow us on Instagram at Rice on the Radio to participate in the midweek mic check and get your voice on the show.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I guess there's only one way to find out. Let's do it to it right. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. All engines running Liftoff. We have a liftoff. One win, one win and suddenly everything's back to normal. Come on, new York, wake up Soto's hitting balls halfway to Long Island. And Max Fried, proven why he was worth every dollar Pitching like he's auditioned for a yes Network rewind.

Speaker 1: 0:38

Let's not kid ourselves. One or two good nights isn't some magic eraser that wipes out weeks of bullpen meltdowns. Stranded runners, managers scratching their heads thinking what do I do next? The Mets split the series with Atlanta and they went back into first place barely. But Griffin Cannon might be gone for the year. Alvarez and Acuna are down in Syracuse trying to find themselves. I mean, pete and Juan can't hit for all nine positions in the lineup, even if they could, trust me, they're probably a little tired. And the Yankees, my goodness, yeah, you finally beat Cincinnati. Real parade material there.

Speaker 1: 1:18

The bigger issue is being just barely above water in the division that was supposed to be wrapped up by now. Volpe's struggling and the fans are getting tired of that real fast. Jazz doesn't know how to act like a pro, keeps getting tossed when they have a massive hole at third anyway, and both teams couldn't get a hit with a runner on to save their life. But don't worry, we got plenty more to talk about just beyond this city's baseball chaos. Kd is trading his jersey colors yet again, aaron Rodgers is prepping a Mariano Rivera-level NFL farewell tour. The Knicks are still coachless and the kicker to end all kickers pun intended Justin Tucker's legacy is looking like the double doink right now. It's been a big week on Instagram, for everyone. Sent me spicy takes, some bold predictions and an absolute gem from a Canadian listener yeah, we're international. That had me debating who the king of New York might be. I got trades, I got scandals. I got controversies. I got it all. So stay right where you're at, get locked in.

Speaker 1: 2:30

This is episode 19. This is Rice on the Mics. Time to buckle up. Let's kick it off with baseball. But I gotta warn you this isn't exactly going to be sunshine and rainbows. Folks, one good night doesn't undo weeks of disaster. So we good, alright, deep breath, let's get right into it. First of all, queens Mets. We got to have a chat.

Speaker 1: 3:19

The Mets finally split their four-game nightmare with Atlanta and yes, I get it, you're now back atop the NL East for now, because apparently the only teams that the Phillies can beat are the Mets. But it's only because of the massive lead you built for yourself now to just give it all back and, god forbid, it comes down to another scenario like last year, where you and the Braves are competing for the last wild card spot spot. Guess what? The tiebreaker is the season series, and now the Braves hold that way over your head and yeah, you might hold one over the Dodgers. But in division is the more important one, pete. Pete has been Pete. He racked up three hits last night and you know what? The bullpen stepped up after Griffin Canning left, which you know. The hits keep coming, what looks like a brutal Achilles injury. Somehow you got through the game without totally imploding. So let me give you the golf clap, because that's been the Mets MO for late.

Speaker 1: 4:21

But that doesn't change what's really going on with this team. Some guys are doing their jobs, but most are not. I am sick and tired of Tyrone Taylor being our six hitter. Look, he's a wizard in center field and that's fine in the lineup if you want to do that, but that's the guy you bat ninth to turn it over, not six-hole RBI spot and I'm tired of Jeff McNeil shooting liners, foul down the right field line just to whiff and strike out on a slider away. Beatty is either the triple-A, quadruple-a player or he's hitting .500 for the

Speaker 1: 5:05

series. There is no consistency anywhere on this team. The pitching has been above and beyond carrying us, and even in any Mets fan's wildest dreams, they didn't think of this Shit. Frankie Montes, who everybody was so worried about as AAA rehab starts, whatever he goes on, gives you five scoreless and you still barely blow the game or win the game. I mean, now that the pitching has taken a step back, it's time for the bats to come alive and be this high-powered offense that you were advertised to be. And they consistently keep setting you up for hope. And they consistently keep setting you up for hope and they consistently keep disappointing you. And now, now, canning might join Sanga and Minaya on this growing list of casualties, including Winker and Vientos, who were supposed to lengthen this lineup and make big strides, even with Soto, and instead I'm watching Jared Young be the DH for this team, who swings a three curveball at his

Speaker 1: 6:10

shoelaces. This rotation right now is held together with bubblegum and hope, and all it's doing is putting more and more stress on the bullpen, which eventually will crack, and that's what we've been seeing as of late, going all the way back to the 4-1 lead against Atlanta that you blew, which set up the whole momentum that you lost for the series. Or how about Brazavan, who's been lights out all year, walking the bases loaded, forcing you to go to read, which is even more stress on him then? Meanwhile, I got Alvarez, and Acuna are taking a timeout in Syracuse, one because Alvarez just doesn't know how to hit anymore and two because Acuna isn't getting a chance to hit. I I said it in the beginning of the year and I mean it now more than ever. It's time. It's time to ship Jeff McNeil. It's time to put him in a trade package. Let him go be a star on someone else's team. I don't even care if he hurts us. It's time to let Acuna be the everyday second baseman. Let's see what he's actually got for a full season. And, by the way, it gives some speed back to this team that they lost when jose siri broke his

Speaker 1: 7:25

leg. It's not exactly confidence inspiring that they got sent down and sure look, soto is found his full stride. He is now soto of soto hits two moon shots earlier in the week, jumps ahead of Jimmy Fox on the list of what I think it was young most multi-game home run runs on a player under the age of 26. I mean, when you're mentioned with Jimmy Fox, you're you're doing something right. But the problem is everything has almost been a soul, almost everything has been a solo shot, and because of Soto's early slump he might not even make the all-star team for the first time in his career. But I'm not putting blame on Soto. None of this is his fault. His numbers are on pace for the back of his baseball

Speaker 1: 8:19

card. This is a floor problem, not a ceiling problem. If you can just get a couple of guys that will raise the floor of this team and this lineup, I have zero doubt in my mind that things will quickly turn around. They'll get right back to where they were. But until that happens, we're all sitting around expecting Lindor, soto and Pete to be perfect players, which, for anyone that truly knows how baseball goes, that's not how it goes. Guys have ups and downs. You hope that this is only like a blip on the radar and not the actual finished product, and you know they're going to make moves at the deadline. But, man, these two past these, past two weeks they've been, they've been hard to watch. The bottom line is winning 2 of 12 isn't going to get it done. That's a slump that you're

Speaker 1: 9:17

lucky. You had a fantastic start. It's time for Stearns to be the genius that he's been touted to be and to figure it out. Now let's swing it across town. To the Yankees Boys congratulations. You won one game against Cincinnati to avoid the sweep. And, as per usual, it's because of Max Freed bailing you guys out. That man has been pitching out of his mind, I think, after a Yankee loss. When he goes the next day he has like a .79 ERA, some ridiculous number like that. But he's proven why he was worth every penny. And again, as a MFN, thank you so much for taking him out of the

Speaker 1: 10:02

NL East. If Cole was here, I have no doubt in my mind that the Yankees would be 10, 12, 15 games ahead in the division, and even without him, I mean, you've been able to handle business. But half a game up on Tampa, who had that on their bingo card, right? So here we are, just like the Mets, in that June swoon the dog days of baseball, as they say and, as per usual, the Yankees don't play baseball. Quote the way you're supposed to play the game end quote, which, to be fair, the Mets don't really either. No one bunts runners over anymore, no one shortens their swing. Everyone is just looking for a double in the gap or leaving the park and swinging out of their goddamn shoes instead of letting the bat do

Speaker 1: 10:55

the work. Jason Dominguez is slowly starting to look like the player he was touted to be. Look, he's got the speed that's undeniable and he's got some. He was touted to be. Look, he's got the speed that's undeniable and he's got some power and pop. And, to be fair, the spring training errors aside, that everybody made fun of him for, his fielding has looked much better. But he's a baby. He's a baby out there and there's so much pressure on him to be a better player than he is right now. I mean, it's his first full year up and he's expected to be, you know this, three, four, five hitter, kind of like monster, like, no, no, acclimation to the big leagues, no, taking it slow, just get in there and live or die by the fire, which, to be fair, personally, I think is the best way to learn things, but I

Speaker 1: 11:47

don't know. The only guys that do hit correctly or hit play the game they were supposed to be are the vets goldie and belly. They're the only ones that shorten their swing up or you know, understand the situational hitting of what's going on, how to push a runner over. On top of it too. The Yankees are terrible in extra innings like historically terrible. They're one for six this season, but they don't know what they're doing in extra innings because they don't bunt guys over, hit guys over. Boone's late-game playbook might as well be a white flag. There's runners in scoring position, the manford man. Yankee fans. We do research around here. Cover your ears for this. They're five for 43. Five for 43 that's borderline impossible, and I'm sure I sound like I'm really getting hard on the Yankees here, but don't get me started

Speaker 1: 12:56

on jazz. I'm assuming most people that listen to this podcast have played some level of organized sports in their life, whether it be, you know, literally college, high school, whatever, whatever, whatever you ever have a guy on the team that was like he was pretty good or he was good enough that you actually kind of need him on the field that you couldn't take him out of the lineup or take him and discipline him or anything, but he just has a bad attitude or doesn't know when to let something go, and that indirectly shifts to the vibe of the team and now everybody else starts getting on edge. Yeah, that's jazz. And look, there's a difference between having some swagger or feeling yourself to play better. You know, deion Sanders, look good, feel good, play good and just being a downright fool. So

Speaker 1: 13:54

what happens? Jazz again gets tossed for arguing balls and strikes, when meanwhile the manager of your team is probably the most thrown out manager for having your back on balls and strikes. And, honestly, because he gets thrown out so much, it's probably the reason why you guys get bad calls, because the umpires don't want to hear from him. And yes, the pitch that Jazz freaked out on, that was a ball, that was a ball, but it got called a strike and it was a bad call by the ump and the ump knew it too. But then he lets it affect his whole at bat and he gets shut, sat down because of it. And then what happens? He gives it, he gives it to the umpire and I'll give credit to the blue instead of tossing him right away, he let him speak his piece because the umpire knew he missed the call. And what is he going to do? He can't give a make-up call on a strikeout. Look until the robo-umps come, shit

Speaker 1: 14:50

happens, right. But in that situation you say what you want, you don't show him up too bad and you move on and you don't let it affect you in the field. But no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He field. But no, no, no, no, no, no. He continues on, even into the dugout, before he even gets in the field. He continues on and Boone tried to pull him aside, didn't work. And then the captain, the silent leader, speaks softly but carry a big stick, judge, pulls him aside and tells him to relax right there. Even if you don't respect Boone or if you think nothing's going to happen to you or there's no authority or whatever, you better respect judge, and that should be the end of it. Right there, wipe it away, wipe it from your mind and go get them in the next at bat. Make sure you make a good play in the field. No, no, no,

Speaker 1: 15:36

no, no. Now you go into the field and you continue to talk, regardless if it was to yourself or whatever, or whatever, or was directed at the ump. But you're a third base and the umpire sees you. That should be it. The play should be over, you should move on. But now you get tossed. And now, instead of being the great player you are now, you put your manager and your team in a tough spot. Now they got to make a switch. They got to scramble at a weak third base position. Anyway, guys are playing out of spot. You hinder your team. What? Because you had to make a point. Jez, you're a professional athlete. You should know more than anyone that things don't always go your way, but the reason you got to where you are is because you push through the adversity. You face it your entire career. You didn't let people control

Speaker 1: 16:33

your emotions. One of the best quotes I've ever heard in the last, I don't know, a couple years or whatever, is from the king of overacting himself, mike, mike Tyson. In Mike's later years he has become a sage of advice for younger athletes on his podcast. Whoever he was interviewing I forget who it was, but the guy that he was interviewing was talking about how the fighter that he was going to fight he said something and it affected him in the ring and then he wanted to kill him and yada, yada, yada, yada. And Mike, real matter of fact, he, he said something and it affected him in the ring and then he wanted to kill him. And yada, yada, yada. And mike real matter of fact was he just said like based on that sentence alone, I can already tell that you either lost that fight or you had to struggle to win it. And the guy was like nah, like no, you don't. You don't know what. I'm in the wrong because he said something and Mike very calmly and very wisely said quote he's not your enemy anymore, he's now your master. He stole you away from you because you allowed that person to control your emotions. So now he owns you. So now he owns you. And until you learn, you'll never be in total control of what you want to do and how you want to behave. Woo, how powerful is that? I mean jeez. If that don't give each other nothing, well, jeez. Anyway, I digress Based on the poll I put out

Speaker 1: 18:07

this week. Fan patience is wearing real thin with Anthony Volpe, and I get it. Slumps happen, but you got to realize where you are and who you play for. This team, for the past few years, has been banking on this kid to be Derek Jeter 2.0. And so far he couldn't hold his jockstrap. You've been lucky to get Jeter light, if anything. Look, I still got hope for him too. I got hope for the kid hometown kid, you know a lot of pressure on him, but someone needs to talk to him and sit him down and talk about his approach to the plate and what he really wants out of his MLB career, because right now, whatever, whatever he's doing, it ain't working. So here's what it boils down to. Here's the real problem. Neither of these teams are built right. The Mets have no killer instinct or no gimmick to rally around, and the Yankees are sacrificing defense for bats who couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat anyway. There's very little excuse me, very little, if any, leadership and accountability. And where it's going to come from, I don't know, but at some point some of these guys on both of these teams are going to need to look themselves in the mirror and realize that what is going on ain't working. Yeah, so I can't say it any more clearly than this this is a slump, but it's also a telling pattern from last year and again, until someone steps up and takes some responsibility, it's not going to change Some of the stories you might

Speaker 1: 19:46

have missed. Let's go around the league real quick. Around the league real quick. A disgusting fan got banned for life from every stadium for heckling. Uh, kytel marte about his deceased mom. I mean, jesus christ, I mean, how low you gotta be to you know chirp somebody about their dead mother. Those are the moments when you're, uh, you, you would kind of be okay with a ron artest moment happening, or at the minimum, at least he should be allowed to have a no holds bar conversation in the

Speaker 1: 20:19

parking lot. Cal Raleigh uh, leads MLB in bombs and dropped a very thinly veiled shade about short porches. Judge might have something to say about that. Might have some words. Acuna Jr, after coming back from injury, said he's going to compete in the Derby at home because it's in Triwis Park. And that's what stars do man Hurt or not? Pca, you should take some notes and embrace

Speaker 1: 20:46

the stardom. Degrom, my boy almost no hits Baltimore. God, I would love to see him back in a Mets uniform. Boston, listen carefully, even though you might be out of it, and he would be a great fit for the Yankees or the Mets. Do not trade Alex Bregman. You already shipped Devers and there's so much smoke going around about you guys moving to Rant. Your fan base will riot and they deserve better. And lastly, barry Bonds is getting a statue outside of

Speaker 1: 21:21

Oracle Park. Finally, some notation. Posey continues to just make all the right moves as a GM and it wouldn't even surprise me if he had some say in the city ownership. Listen, bonds will never be in the Hall of Fame and that's unfortunate, but at least he can be memorialized outside of his park. To wrap it up, look, one good day of baseball can't wipe away weeks of failure. It takes a culture shift, it takes a lot of things. Mets, yankees you're on notice right now. It's time to fix it. Show your fans you actually give

Speaker 1: 22:00

a damn. With the disaster of the Yankees and Mets out of the way, now let's shift it over to some hardcore someba. The season might be over, but the offseason has only just begun. Stay tuned. We got lots of nba is cooking with gas. We got championships. We got blockbuster deals and a franchise hitting the self-destruct button. Let's unpack it all. First of all, we got to start and give props Oklahoma City, your 2025 NBA championships. And what a ride. I mean laughing stock of the NBA a couple years ago. It's a royalty now and a potential dynasty in

Speaker 1: 23:11

the making. Thunder beat the Pacers in Game 7. Sga caps a dream year for any player League MVP, scoring champ, finals MVP and the triple crown of basketball and it puts them in rarefied air. Just a fourth player to do it Kareem Jordan and Shaq, and now SGA. I mean young player, you come in the league like that, you take that all goddamn day. Unfortunately, the big story of the night for Game 7, instead of it being about the Thunder winning it, was more about Tyrese Halliburton tearing his Achilles In the first quarter. Nonetheless, it's tough too, because you don't wish injury on anybody and you want to see the best game available, especially in Game 7. And the Pacers led at halftime. So I mean Thunder ran away with it late and I'm sure not a lot of people watched, but if Hallie was in there, I mean

Speaker 1: 24:18

it's tough. You can't help but wonder that big. What if that's a brutal run to an incredible playoff run and even beating my Knicks? You know I got to give credit where credit's due. It sucks and I hate him, but he won, so you give credit where credit's due. He'll be joining tatum and lillard on that achilles injury list next year, which, funny enough, by the way, all three players wore the number zero. So, you know, take that for what it's worth. But thunder fans soak it in. You earned it. Pacer fans, well, you know, hold your heads up high. You made it to the finals, you made it to game seven of the finals and your, your boys, left it all on the court, literally not trying to be a dick about it, but you guys did knock out my Knicks, so I got to give it back to you a little bit. That being said, championship's over Time to get into the real meat of everything, the trades going on in the NBA,

Speaker 1: 25:27

this league. Whew, let's kick it off with a team that started us off early, got buried in all the drama, all the news. Orlando swings big, makes a trade for Desmond Bain and Memphis gets a haul back, they get Caldwell Pope, they get Cole Anthony and a pile of unprotected picks Four, if I remember correctly, magic GM is saying it's win now mode. And look, I'll believe it when I see it. Orlando was good but Palos hurt, you know whatever, but it's a bold move and with a good young squad I can respect it. It pelicans moved cj mccollum to washington. They ended up they got younger with jordan pool and sadiq bay. Like it's smart, it's. You know it makes sense, but washington clears about 100 million dollars in cap space in 2026. And a move like that and they're hungry, they've been irrelevant for a little while, I don't know. Mark

Speaker 1: 26:40

it down. I think something is brewing in DC. I think they can throw a lot of money at some players. The Celtics are just punting on next year, I guess, or I don't know, maybe not. I mean, they had a bit of a fire sale Porzingis to Atlanta and Drew Holiday to Portland, which Portland, you know, drew Holiday is going to fucking. They're going to flip him right away. But they got back, like Annafrey Simmons, a couple other players. They got some picks. The big thing was it was a salary, though the celtics saved about 180 million dollars. 180 million dollars that's how much those players are worth. That's crazy. That gets them way below the second, second apron, which, as a gm, gives you so much more room to maneuver. And you know what? Not to mention, there was a lot of talks draft night circulating about that they might trade Jalen Brown. There was some talks about Sabonis, and this, that and the other Ended up not

Speaker 1: 27:47

happening yet. But listen, moving KP and moving Drew. Holiday holiday you want to remodel the bathroom, you want to redo the kitchen, that's okay. You move jaylen brown, that's like you might as well just do a full foundation upheaval, that would be crazy. And lastly, on trades, we get to the big dog. Kevin durant trade it again. What do you know? Kitty moves from phoenix to houston, joins fred van fleet, singoon amen thompson he's got a doko over there. But the suns get jalen green and Dylan Brooks and a 10th pick. But Jalen Green is enough for

Speaker 1: 28:36

that, jesus. It sounds like a fantasy baseball trade gone wrong. I mean, what are we doing? But here we are. You know what this trade reminded me of directly. This reminded me of Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff. Both teams got better but both teams definitely got worse. But you know what. You know what justified that deal? For the Rams, a

Speaker 1: 29:00

Super Bowl. Look, losing Jalen Green is it's gonna hurt later rather than sooner. It's gonna hurt for Houston because all accounts points to him blossoming into like just a fantastic player. But for KD it's ring or bust. And this solid young core and a good head coach, they might be good enough to get there. I mean, they were the two seed in the west, which the west is no pushover. They were two seed in the west last year. They might need some veteran leadership to get them over. And KD might be that guy mean he's still good for 25 a night. He ain't playing no defense, but he's good for 25 a night. So if Houston ends up hoisting a banner, nobody gives a shit what they gave up, including Jalen Green. But on the flip side of that coin if they don't hoist a banner, but on the flip side of that coin if they don't hoist

Speaker 1: 29:55

the banner. Well, you know how that story goes. Spoiler alert it's a heartbreak and Kevin Durant jersey burnings, and not for nothing. Vegas is usually pretty spot on. They aren't exactly in the business of giving out money nowadays. And once that trade was made, the Rockets title odds jumped to second best at plus 850. So you know, not bad for a 37 year old shooter who, uh, switches teams more than Dre switches

Speaker 1: 30:21

NBA jerseys. But uh, you know, this is what the NBA is now it it boils down to five to eight guys on a roster that you can just turn over quickly and often, I mean that's why you see these GMs nowadays making massive franchise altering moves. The risk versus reward is worth it to them and the turnaround is. It's so much quicker than any other sport is. I mean, could you imagine if after last year, the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl and in the offseason they go? Well, you know, well, we got close, but you know we could probably do better. So let's trade Mahomes. No, no, I know it's apples and oranges of quarterbacks, but it's still star players. That would never, ever

Speaker 1: 31:06

happen, ever. But in the NBA, time and time again, you see big guys move. You see LeBron move, you see KD move, kyrie, anthony Davis, luca, jimmy Butler, damian Lillard, hell, giannis might even get moved right now. I mean that'd be like moving like Kelsey from the Chiefs because the fit wasn't right. Am I making sense? You get what I'm trying to say here. Like there is no turnover, like there is in the NBA in any other sport, which is part of the reason why these GMs take these big swings, why they fire Tibbs after getting to the Eastern Conference Finals after 25 years. Like this is the reason the NBA is so fun. In the offseason they figured it out. All the big free agents go off the board right away. They get paid an ungodly amount of money and then teams swap players and picks like they're playing cards.

Speaker 1: 32:04

It's crazy. And speaking of the Knicks Knicks fans, deep breaths here. I mean, we still don't have a coach. Jason Kidd is off the table and all the eyes are currently on Mike Brown, taylor Jenkins, mike Inori and I think they now say James Borrego. I mean, what are we doing? Look, no matter how you slice it, this is ugly. Look, no matter how you slice it, this

Speaker 1: 32:31

is ugly. If you didn't have a plan and fired Tibbs because of I don't know internal reasons, the players or whatever you could have waited a little longer than three days after and let things shake out a little bit to see where you're at. If you didn't have a plan and this was an impulsive move slash a Dolan move then then shame on you and I should start preparing myself for the dark days of the Knicks again. And if you fired Thibs and your plan was to call other teams to try and lure their coach away, then that's almost worse than anything else. I mean a caller I heard put it perfectly like imagine, imagine you go home, you go home to mom's and she says sonny, when are you gonna bring a good wife home and your response is like well you know, listen, ma, a bunch of my friends are married, so I was gonna call them and I was gonna ask them if I could have their wife. Do you see how insane that sounds? And now, on top of it, all your friends, aka the league they're going to all talk to each other and say can you believe Tommy wanted to take my wife? What an asshole he is. I mean, look, I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful for the Knicks and I think they have a lot of talent on the team and they can pull together, but right now it's not looking good, so all we can do is hope. All right, that'll do it for

Speaker 1: 34:04

the NBA. We've got a couple NFL stories and we're going to close the show out with some viewer DMs and emails that you're definitely gonna want to hear. So make sure you stay tuned, folks. All right, time to strap those helmets on, boys and girls. Time for some NFL news a little around the league. I mean, it's June, but there is no shortage of off-season drama. I got quarterbacks riding off into the sunset, I got kickers going from heroes to headlines for all the wrong reasons and I got Woody Johnson apparently becoming the savior across

Speaker 1: 35:03

the pond. So let's dive in. First of all, aaron Rodgers, 41 years young, he's the football equivalent of your buddy, who just won't admit that it's time to go home and leave the bar. Well, if you haven't heard, signed a one-year deal with the Steelers and says he's pretty sure, pretty sure this is the end. I don't know like I don't know, I pretty sure. To me sounds like rogers speak for, uh, ask me again, mid-season, depending on what our record is. And on top of it he starts the farewell tour against his former jets, week one that'll be nice and friendly, I'm sure, god, they better go out and rip his head off and get the win. And then, on top of it because the schedule makers know exactly how to build drama he faces the Packers in week eight. When's the last time the Steelers played the Packers? It's like they knew Full circle closure, right? Maybe potential disaster. You don't think Jordan Love wants something to say about that? Either way, grab the popcorn. Rodgers goes on to say he's playing one more year for love, peace and closure. Look, I get itaron. I, that sounds nice. Just just. Uh, if you're gonna be it, if you're gonna do this damn thing, try not to carry your tear, your achilles on the first series. This time, huh, yeah, yeah, I am that bitter. Oh god

Speaker 1: 36:46

damn it. Anyway, let's talk about a story that popped up and about a legacy taking a serious hit. I'm talking about Justin Tucker. He is one of the greatest kickers the league has ever seen. Well, he has now suspended 10 games due to misconduct allegations from multiple massage therapists. Yes, I'm not talking about Deshaun Watson. I am talking about Justin Tucker. The Ravens already cut him loose a while ago, but now it's about reputation and, unfortunately, his reputation is probably gone for good. The allegations go back from 2012 to 2016 and the nfl's personal conduct policy had to get invoked. Look, tucker. Tucker denies it all. He calls it false, tabloid nonsense, basically calling it like fake news. But the nfl disagrees and, regardless if he's on a team or not, they drop a 10 game suspension on him, which, to me, that tells me that their lawyers the shields lawyers did their due diligence and they found plenty. So I don't know, you do the math. Look, legacy is one of those things that's fragile. It takes forever to build up but can be immediately destroyed, and justin tucker might have just shattered his. It's always innocent until proven guilty, but regardless, regardless. This is a real tough look for him. I don't think he'll be singing opera on any team planes anytime soon. If you guys saw that video, you know what I'm talking about. Speaking of tough looks, by the way, the NFL dodges a bullet

Speaker 1: 38:47

yet again. Story came out about owners avoiding fully guaranteed contracts and there it was deemed in the courts that there was no collusion found at all. After deshaun watson's fully guaranteed deal triggered the nfl into a panic session. But meanwhile in those same files you got owners like bidwell from a, from Arizona, literally texting other owners about keeping guaranteed money low. Sure, no collusion whatsoever, none at all. Got it. That makes sense. Look, I'm not reaching anybody's pocket. I'm not counting anybody's money. I'm not telling owners how to spend their money anybody's money. I'm not telling owners how to spell spend

Speaker 1: 39:35

their money. But shit like this, this, this is the shit that, like the nflpa freaks out about and players forget about, and that's why oh, it's a business I gotta make the most for my team, my money, my family and your favorite player leaves your team because they got offered 10 million dollars more. Like this directly affects guys like lamar jackson, josh allen, kyler murray, like all the stars in this league and up-and-coming stars who, like, are going to seed out guaranteed deals. And now it comes out that they got squeezed out because of bullshit behind the scenes, I don't know, like John Mara Giants owner, like he is denying it vehemently and like, oh, I was never part of it. But none of that matters, that doesn't matter. Just the fact that, like, some owners behind the scenes were texting about keeping salaries low, suggests otherwise and suggests foul play. And like the nflpa says, oh, we're gonna fight on, but what? What does that even mean? I mean, the collusion train just rolls right along. Remember, remember, folks, when a billionaire tells you that they're not teaming up to save money, I don't know, man, man, I wouldn't take their word at face value. And speaking of billionaires who just spend terrible money shifting into some local stuff for the Jets, just to prove that, now that Dan Snyder is out of the league that Woody Johnson Jets owner extraordinaire, he now takes the title for the worst owner in the league, which we've all known. Well, guess what? He just bought 43% of Crystal Powell's football club. What? Because he doesn't have enough on his plate with the Jets for a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since the

Speaker 1: 41:27

last Pope. Meanwhile I'm doing my homework, I'm out here. I find a video of some British commentators basically their ESPN talking about the sale and this, that and the other, and I quote he goes this will be a good, this will be good for crystal palace folks. I hate to break it to you. How badly does an organization have to be run that when Woody Johnson sums it jumps in. It's

Speaker 1: 42:01

an upgrade. They don't know anything about him. Don't forget, ambassador Johnson swung and missed trying to buy Chelsea last year and look, I get it. I know when you got money you need to look for other ways to make money and this, that and the other, and it's all you know. Return on investment. It's like why the Lakers got sold, but Jeannie Buss is still in charge. It's all about making money, but all this screams to me is that it just proves that he just does not care about his team winning and he cares about the money in his pocket. So all right, go ahead. Now he's off to Palace. They were FA Cup winners, they were UEFA, europa League bound and I don't know. Everything's on the upswing, yet somehow they still think that Woody is going to be a good fix

Speaker 1: 42:50

to them. Listen. As a loyal, beaten down forever Jets fan, all I can say to you guys is Godspeed, godspeed, palace fans. Whatever that's NFL in June? Folks, rodgers is retiring, tucker is suspended and owners are dodging collusion charges. Just another normal offseason, right? Well, stick around

Speaker 1: 43:20

Coming up. Next we get into your calls and your hot takes. You guys were all over the Instagram DMs and you did not pull it back, so it's time to show you guys some love. All right, I know we're running a little long on time here, but I promised to get to a little bit of viewer segment. Everybody wrote in with some great takes and I picked some good ones here. Hopefully you think so. At least we're going to kick it off batting leadoff with our international Canadian friend Ethan from Edmonton. He writes in with the Oilers losing the cup again and players moving around. I'm worried I may lose the best player in hockey, connor McDavid. There's chatter about him going to the Rangers. I'd love to see him win a cup, no matter where he ends up. But here's my hot take Forget

Speaker 1: 44:29

Brunson, forget. Judge Based on what he meant to the city. Henrik Lundqvist is still, and until someone wins a cup or a ship will always be, the king of New York. His name is King for a reason. Ethan, I got to say you're kind of not wrong, but I don't know. Based upon what he meant to his team, henrique was God, but unfortunately, in New York you're nothing until you win a championship. You know all the arguments against Judge. Judge will go down as the greatest Yankee of all time if he wins one ring, but until he wins that one ring, he's just another guy. That was really good for them. Same thing with Brunson. Same thing I mean same thing with any athlete in this town. Unfortunately, that's how it goes. Next up we got Brad from

Speaker 1: 45:29

Tom's River. He writes in this may be a dated conversation, but some Yankee fans still think that Mike Giancarlo Stan's playoff clutch gene excuses everything. Two good postse post seasons, two garbage ones, one that he was injured for. I think Stan's one of the biggest busted contracts ever. Two postseason runs, one MVP and zero rings, not worth the 300 million dollars. Look, you're not wrong. All right, he um, he got paid that contract by Miami and the Yankees ate it all. And that was when Jeter was running Miami too. He forced the MVP over to the Yankees. At the time it looked like a great deal and he did have an opt-out clause. But you know, by the time he was old enough for that opt-out clause, there was no way he was taking that I don't know busted contract. 300 million dollars for a player like that nowadays looks pretty good, I guess. But you know, go tell that to Akuna, who's on like a seven-year, like 188 million. Now he's playing for peanuts biggest busted contract, I don't know about that but definitely a little overpaid for

Speaker 1: 46:47

fleeting moments. So you know, next up we got uh ny red from the empire state he writes in. I'm still pretty salty from the playoffs. Tibbs cost us a championship. No adjustments, running players into the ground. Pacers took OKC to seven games. We could have too. Bridges could have slowed down. Shy. Coaching lost us that series. Well, yeah, yeah, no shit Costing losses that series. Rick Carlisle was the better coach and I likeibs. I think Thibs gets the most out of whatever he's dealt. But yeah, coaching lost us that series a

Speaker 1: 47:29

hundred percent. And you know, we can play the what if game all day, but if you win game one, who knows where that series goes? Right, if they went to the final, like we did this last year too, oh well, if they beat them, then they could have beat Boston and they could have you know, whatever, I don't know. Look, if you beat the Pacers and you go to the finals, maybe, maybe Mitch holds Harkinside under control, maybe Bridges and OG do the thing. But you know, playing the what-if game just leads you down the spiral of bullshit. I do agree, tibbs might have cost us that. So we just got to hold on and see where we end up next. Maybe we'll actually hire a coach that has some offensive prowess, you know? All right, moving on, we got Rob from North Jersey

Speaker 1: 48:19

going full. Nostradamus here he writes in Daniel Jones ends up leading the colts to the playoffs in the afc, really, and anthony richardson, former top pick, gets traded mid-season for maybe a fifth or sixth rounder. Some team takes the bait and thinks that they can actually fix him. You want to talk about a hot take, dj, dj leading the team to the playoffs. God, giants fans would love that. Huh, yes and no. I think DJ might be better than Anthony Richardson, just because he's always hurt. And I don't think Anthony Richardson is actually a quarterback. I think he's a running back that can kind of throw. But jeez, I don't know. The AFC is so loaded. It's going to be incredibly hard, even in their own division, for the Colts to make the playoffs,

Speaker 1: 49:14

all right. Lastly, wrapping it up here, we got Cap from Salt Lake City a Yankees fan in Salt Lake City, okay. Tap from Salt Lake City a Yankees fan in Salt Lake City Okay. He thinks that the Bombers slide into second place in the AL East by the all-star break Oof. Well, I mean, they only got a half game up on Tampa right now and you know, boston might have traded some guys away, but they seem to have the Yankees number and I don't know. Toronto's not good, but they're definitely not bad. I don't know. It depends. If the Yankees keep playing how they're playing, then there's a strong possibility. What do we got about two weeks, two weeks for that. So I guess we'll check in with two weeks for that, but it's definitely for sure a possibility. Well, that's fantastic stuff

Speaker 1: 50:14

all around. Ladies and gentlemen, as always from you guys, keep those hot takes and bold predictions coming. Hit me up on the socials, rice on the Radio, get your voice heard. After all, without you, I'm just a guy yelling into a microphone and I love answering all your questions. So keep them coming and that's gonna do it for episode 19. If you made it this far, I appreciate you more than

Speaker 1: 50:47

you know. Whether you're riding high with the thunder, you're clenching your teeth over the Mets and Yankees, or just waiting on the Knicks to hire someone anyone, this is your spot. This is your outlet. This is your mic check. If you enjoyed the episode, share it, post it, drop a review, text it to the group chat, start a debate. You know how this works. We grow this thing together. Don't forget, every wednesday, we run the midweek mic check on the instagram story. That's where your hot takes your bold predictions. That'sweek mic check on the Instagram story that's where your hot takes your bold predictions. That's how you get on the show, just like today. So follow me at Rice on the Radio. Tap in vote, vent, speak your mind. I read it all and, as always, spread good energy. Tell someone you love them. Be the reason someone smiles today, because when you put positivity out there, that's exactly what finds its way back to you. I'm Ian Rice. This has been Rice on the Mics and I'll see you guys next week. Thank you.