Rice on the Mics

When the Script Breaks

• Ian • Season 1 • Episode 49

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We watched a week where perfect plans fell apart and real identities took over, from chaotic playoff turns to New York’s whiplash across football, baseball, and basketball. We break down who stayed themselves under pressure, make our picks, and question whether patience is progress or a stall.

• divisional round chaos and QB volatility
• Patriots win the mud game with structure
• Bears’ hero ball highs and lows
• Seahawks’ no-frills dominance and identity
• Giants reset with Harbaugh and realignment
• Jets at rock bottom and culture prescriptions
• coaching carousel signal vs noise
• Championship Sunday picks and totals
• Mets’ coherent plan vs Yankees’ patience
• Knicks’ boos, meeting, and statement win
• quick Rangers-Devils updates and Aussie Open notes
• the theme: Plan B is who you are

If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor, share it with the one friend who's always talking sports and never knows what they're talking about. Leave a rating if you can and a comment. And hit me up on Instagram. It's at Rice on the Radio.


SPEAKER_00:

Eikä siis mun weer fine. So I had a thought this week. And you ever walk into something feeling so prepared? Like, you got the whole thing drawn up on the blackboard, the plan, the flow, the here's how this is gonna go. Nice and neat. Nothing can go wrong. And then life walks in, grabs the eraser, and just clears the whole thing. Like you're not even standing there. Well, that's this week in sports. That's episode 49. Because everybody had a plan A. Everybody. And then boom, the script breaks, calls get weird, momentum flips, somebody gets hurt, somebody gets fired, the crowd turns on you, the market shifts, and now you're not running what you practice. Now you're running to stay alive. And that's the theme today. Plan A is what you draw up. Plan B is who you actually are. We're gonna get into championship Sunday, and I gotta be honest, I love these matchups because this is where you find out who's real and who's just been surviving on the good vibes and the hot streaks. I got thoughts on Seattle Rams, I got thoughts on Patriots Broncos, and the polls that we ran this week. Some of y'all are on one. Plus, I've got some picks to make to hopefully make you guys some money. We're also talking New York, don't worry. Obviously, the Giants are officially in the Harbaugh era, which sounds great on a hoodie, but now comes the part where the building changes, the culture changes, and the we mean business stuff has to actually turn into wins. And as for the Jets, listen, we're gonna talk about it, not in a dramatic hot take for clicks kind of way, more in a how did we get here and what do we even do when you're scraping the bottom of the barrel kind of way. Because right now, it's rough, man. Like rough, rough. After that, we're gonna jump into some baseball because the first time in a minute, we actually have some real winner moves worth yelling about. Mets making moves, Yankees playing the patience game, and we're gonna ask the question that nobody wants to say out loud. Did you actually get better? Or did you just not get worse? As for the Knicks, oh boy, yeah, trust me, we're going there. Booze at the garden, players only meeting, then they turn around and absolutely embarrass the Nets, which is fun. I enjoyed it, I did. But also, let's not throw a parade because it beat a G-League roster by 50. If you're a contender, that's what you're supposed to do. Then we'll sprinkle in a little hockey because I promised somebody I would, and I got a little Australian open in the mix too. Tennis is back, and I'm not gonna pretend that I don't secretly love it. So grab a drink, settle in, episode 49. The script took a turn this week. Let's dive in and see who everybody really is.

SPEAKER_01:

Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed.

SPEAKER_00:

So let's just dive right into some football because there's really only two weeks of games left, and then the rest is just draft an off-season mumbo jumbo. And this week was the perfect example of what I said in the intro. The script gets erased, and then you find out who people really are, who teams really are. And we'll start right there. We're gonna start with a divisional round recap first, because we have to. I mean, the Broncos Bills was basically there was a football game with chaos and shoulder pads on. Denver didn't just win. Buffalo basically handed them the keys to the car and said, just total it, take it, get out of here. I mean, five takeaways is insane. And Josh Allen, listen, I'm not doing the Allen is trash thing, Allen, you know, he can't win the big one thing. That's lazy. But four turnovers in a playoff game, man, and overthrowing your tight end on a go-ahead score, and under throwing your wide receiver for also a go-ahead score, that's the kind of stat line that follows you around like a shadow going forward, man. That's the Sam Darnold of old, the seeing of ghosts kind of line. Really, really a tough look for old Joshi Boy there. But the officiating man, uh this is the one where the this is the kind of stuff where the fans go nuts, right? It's like the Saints of old with that pass interference. I don't know, man. It wasn't just even the call, it was the whole process of what happened. So if you missed it, huge playing overtime, deep pass down his team. Josh Allen hits Cooks. Cooks looks like he comes down with the ball, looks like it might have got ripped out and taken. I mean, the one play turns into a whole circus. It gets rule to catch, and then it's an interception, and then it's just sitting there in limbo. Nobody really knows what's going on. And then Buffalo has to burn a timeout because the league can't get its own operation together in real time. Should we look at it, should it not? Yeah, I thought all turnovers are considered uh reviewable. That's the stuff that changes games. Even if the final call is right, I mean, you're messing with momentum. You're messing, you're messing with the clock, you're messing with the team's ability to breathe or rely on the momentum or keep the ball moving. I mean, in January, that's brutal. By the letter of the law, it looked like a catch, but then it also gets wrestled away from him. Was he down already? Was it even a catch? I'm sure Des Bryan and Calvin Johnson were half smiling at home, knowing that they went through the same bullshit. But the wild part, out of all of that, Denver made it through, and they lose their quarterback. Bo Nicks fractures his ankle in overtime, surgery done seasons over, with the AFC championship staring him in the face. That is the literal definition definition of the blackboard getting wiped away from you. You win the biggest game of your season, and immediately you're staring at plan B like, uh, okay, so now what? And that brings us to the Patriots Texans game. Weather game, ugly game. And the Patriots just did what good teams do in these spots. They didn't try to be cute, they let the defense dictate the game, they let the other team make the mistakes, and they capitalized on them. Stroud throwing four picks. You gotta talk about Josh Allen with four turnovers. Stroud throwing four picks, that's a nightmare scenario. Because now the conversation turns to it's not scheme, it's not about it's it's about trust at this point. It's not how do we get better next year? We were close. It's what happened to our identity? What happened when it got loud? Like, is this the guy that we even want to build around going forward? Crazy what a turn of events that game was. CJ Stride looked terrible. And it sucks. It's tough to put it on the kid, but hey man, in the biggest spots at the quarterback's pos quarterback position, that's the role of it. You gotta take the slings and arrows, even if it's not your fault, but especially this time because it was your fault. From there, we move on to the Rams and Bears, and this is this is the one where if you're a Bears fan, you're probably sitting there like, I hate this team, but I also think we might be okay. Because Caleb Williams is playing Hero Ball, and Hero Ball is intoxicating when it works. I mean, that late touchdown to force overtime, I think that was one of the cleanest throws I've seen since the last week when he did the same thing. I mean, that's the stuff that makes you buy the jersey again in a different color. That's the stuff that makes you text your friends. I I believe in this team again. But but Hero Ball also has a bill waiting for you at the end. Throws the overtime pick, game over, sees it over, see you next year. That's the warning label. It's all fun and games until you're down a point and you think every play needs to be a movie scene. I will give Caleb credit though. Him and Ben Johnson have figured something out. And with another full offseason under their bell together, I can see this Bears team being uh being players in the NFC for the next couple years at least for sure. And lastly, Seahawks Niners. Well, I saved this one for last because Seattle took care of business and let you get in bed early. They let you turn the game off and say, okay, that's enough. That wasn't a close for three quarters type of win. That was we're better, and you're gonna feel it immediately. We're gonna kick that, kick your ass, and that's that. They look like a team that knows who they are right now, what they want right now, and that's to go to the Super Bowl. So with the divisional round recapped and you guys all cut up, before we get into championship weekend, which gonna be great games, like I said, we gotta touch the locals. And we'll start with the Giants first, then the Jets, because the Giants landing Harbaugh, it's a real move. It's not just a headline hire. That's that's a we want adults in the building higher. And the funniest part is how people instantly start doing the power structure conspiracy thing, why it took him so long to sign his deal. Harbaugh in the press conference comes right out and basically said, relax. That's all overblown. I report to ownership and I'm working with Joe Shane. And really, that's that's what Giant fans should want to hear. No weird politics, no weird press conference, no I didn't get the groceries because you didn't text me kind of deal. Just out in front of a story. Out in front of a story that was bubbling, that the media could spin quickly, saying all the right things, and showing that there's there are real adults now steering the course of this franchise. And you can already see the building shifting. Abrams leaving after 27 years, one of the most tenured vets there. There's staff changes, they're training in medical stuff, special teams, defensive staff. Hell, they're even rebuilding the cafeteria already because Harbaugh wants every detail taken care of. Look, whether you love it or hate it, the point is this things are moving. That's what a reset actually looks like. It isn't one press conference. Joe Judge did great during his pref press conference. How'd that work out? It's the guys taking care of the boring stuff behind the scenes, making sure the minutiae details don't turn into giant details later. The mic check was interesting on the Giants question, too. If you're new here, every Wednesday on Instagram I put out a variety of polls for you guys to vote on. That's called the Wednesday mic check. And this week, I asked what the priority is this offseason for the Giants. And surprisingly enough, it was basically split down the middle. I get it, but option one was get more offensive weapons, and option two was get defensive additions. And forty-five percent of you said get more offensive weapons. So that would leave 55% of you getting defensive additions for anybody doing quick math. So I don't know. It's not like people are screaming one thing. It was pretty split down the middle, but defense technically wins, I guess. All that tells me is that the fans are tired of living in games where you need your offense to play perfect just to survive, and you're tired of this defense giving up late leads. And speaking of, there is that stupid rhetoric floating around of, well, Harbaugh got fired because they lost games late that they should have won, and that's been the Giants' problem as of late. Yeah, sure. Maybe the Giants lost some games this year in the last couple years that they should have won. Well, the year that they went to the playoffs, they were on the other side of it. They won a bunch of games that they probably shouldn't have. But you know what has really been the Giants' problem as of late? Starting the season one and six or two and eight, having a comparable winning percentage to the Jets of the last ten years. You should thank your lucky stars that eventually you'll be sitting around arguing about a clock management decision while looking at a record of five and three. You are about to enter an era of winning football Giants fans. Be happy. Enjoy the moment. And you know what? Speaking of mediocrity and loser mentality, it's that time. On to the Jets. This is where I'm just gonna be honest with you guys. This team is as low as Rock Bottom gets. They're SpongeBob level, bikini bottom, under the sea. They can't even get candidates to interview for open coordinator spots. Think about how crazy that is. There are only 32 of these jobs in the world. 32. And the Jets front office might as well be putting ads up in the New York Post for a defensive coordinator. But why would they, though, to be honest with you? Why would any coordinator want to come here? Why would any person want to come here? First of all, look at the setup that any candidate walks into. You come in, you don't have a quarterback, you don't have structure, you have an owner who constantly gets impatient or sticks his hands where they don't belong. And if you have a bad season, or hell, even half of a bad season, Aaron Glenn is probably fired. Which means in the long run, you're probably fired. And now a promotion that you've been working your ass off when you finally get it, you get asked to clean up a Mount Everest level of shit. And when you can't do it, you get fired. And going forward on your resume will always have a black spot of a one and done coordinator. So why would you even want to interview for the situation? That's the problem. When the whole league feels like you could get blamed for the mess, the mess starts repelling people away. And look, I know Jet fans don't really want to hear this, but it's the truth. If the Jets ever want a realistic chance to get Mike Tomlin, they should do everything they can to do it. But not because he's magic, but because he's a real culture guy. He'd be our John Harbaugh. He's a guy with real credibility. And it turns into another, oh, two years into a five-year deal, and the coach is fired. What else is new for the Jets? But for Mike Tomlin, it would be worth it. Even that comes with a reality, though. Tomlin isn't going to be coming in to be a passenger. He's going to be bringing his staff. He's setting the tone. He's going to be demanding alignment. Can Woody Johnson keep his hands out of the cookie jar? Would it just be him coming in, filling a gap, and then not being able to get it done anyway, not because of his own volition, but because for whatever reason things go wrong with the Jets. Shout out Garrett Wilson, by the way, too. This franchise, God bless him for even defending this franchise publicly. He went at it with Stephen A. Smith and this, that, and the other. He doesn't owe anyone that. He got drafted here and he's been a professional. He's put up numbers when he has played, and he's still trying to hold the line for the brand. I respect it. He's doing his job. He's doing a job that nobody, nobody wants to do, which would defend the Jets. I'm trying to defend the Jets, but I can't. I literally can't anymore. There's kids next year, if the Jets don't make the playoffs next year, which they won't, there's going to be kids that are getting their permit that have never seen the Jets in the playoffs. How insane is that? And just to make it worse, here the Jets going into this draft, they have the number two and number 16. Of course they have number two because Mendoza looks like a god, so let's have the Jets pick two. But alright, I'm not going to turn this into draft talk radio. There's there's no point, but long of the short, there's no point in taking a quarterback in the first round unless I guess it's the exact guy that you believe in and you have a plan to protect him, but even still it's not. You don't take a guy of quarterback in the first round here. You want to take Chambliss or somebody, or somebody slips in the second or even the third, by all means, go ahead. I mean, you don't buy the sports car when you don't even have a garage. Hell, you don't even have a tarp to cover the car in the winter, and you sure as shit don't play games in January. So what are we rushing this for? Build the house, fix the infrastructure, get some grade A blue chip talent, make the roster something a quarterback can actually survive in. Then go get your guy. I mean, Jets fans that I talked to are either completely checked out at this point or it's like a religion. People go every Sunday out of habit, but nobody believes in the scripture anymore. And it sucks because that's where we're at. And how they'll fix it, well, that's not really a question that I have an answer to in this exact moment. And I wish I did. But the Jets are, like I said, bottom of the barrel, disastrous right now. Alright. I got that out of my system. As far as uh other moves around the league, I guess, the league coaching carousel, a couple quick hits. Well, the Bills firing McDermott, that's the big one besides Harbaugh and Tomlin. I mean, and now it's it's Bean running the show even more so. He gets promoted to president. Their GM gets promoted to president. Allen apparently is involved in the direction of the team, and Buffalo is basically saying we're done watching the same ending. The Ravens make their move. They hired Jesse Minter, that's the defensive coordinator from the Chargers. Surprising, I guess. Falcons go Stefanski with Matt Ryan in the front office role at president, which is also a weird sentence to say out loud, but I have a feeling that they might actually live up their potent to their potential sooner rather than later. I mean, Stefansky brought the Browns to the playoffs twice, for God's sakes. The Titans hire uh Salah, former Jets retread. We'll see how he does. Five years, too. God bless him. Dolphins go healthy. Uh Chargers bring in Mike Daniels as OC, which is going to be great for Herbert. Can't wait to watch that, actually. Packers extend LaFleur even after the bad loss. And Steelers are still searching. And the biggest problem is still the same. They don't know what the quarterback situation is. They don't know what the structure is. They don't know who the operation is going to be run by. So Steelers are in a little bit of a mess for a team that's only hired three coaches in their entire franchise history. But yeah, that's the uh that's the whole league right now. Everybody's kind of chasing stability and pretending that it's easy. Now, I promised you championship Sunday preview, and we'll get into it a little bit, but not super deep because next segment we're gonna do make our picks, but we'll start with the NFC first, and it's Rams at Seahawks. The mic check, the poll went Rams plus two and a half, and it wasn't close. 73% of votes voted Rams. People are feeling the Rams. I get it. The Rams are they're dangerous, right? They got that Genese qua, they got that we're not scared of anybody vibe. And Caleb Williams aside, they've been fine in their ways, right? But I'm gonna stay where I'm staying. Seattle at home, Seattle with the identity, Seattle with the moment. I like I like their chances. Uh AFC wise, Patriots at Broncos. This one was also a landside, but in the other way. Patriots minus five and a half got 88% of votes. That's the audience saying that we don't believe in Broncos without boneks. And I get it, that's fair. But this is what we've been talking about the whole episode. This is where you find out if Denver has an operation or they're just riding the hot hand. You can draw up whatever you want. You can have the cute plan, the clean plate, the plan that looks great on paper. And then that paper gets ripped up, thrown in the shredder. Now it's about who you are and how much you want. And that's why we're going right from this into rolling the dice with rice. Because the picks are basically my way of putting my money where my mouth is on a ball of them. Keep it right here. Picks up next. Let's try and make some money, huh? Staying right on brand with the episode, plan B coming into full effect here. We're actually gonna kick this segment off with a little college football real quick because the title game was the perfect example of the whole point of this episode. Everybody comes in with the same stuff on the whiteboard, right? The matchup keys, the scripted drives, the if we do A and do B, we'll win C. Then the game starts, and none of that matters anymore. The air gets heavy, the crowd gets loud, somebody makes one mistake, and now you're not running the plan that you practice all week. You're running whatever you actually are. Indiana gets it done, and they end up beating Miami 27-21, the first title in school history, and it wasn't some perfect masterpiece like it had been all year for them. It was grit, it was nerve, it was we're not blinking first. And the play that swung the whole thing early was the block punt for a touchdown, honestly. That's the momentum changer of momentum changers. That's championship football. It's not glamorous, it's special teams kids doing the damn thing. It might make Sports Center, but it it rips the rhythm out of the other sideline. You can just feel it. You can just feel the momentum shift and get ripped out of the other team when they give one of those up. Because now every drive later feels heavier. Now you're chasing a game that you didn't think you'd end up having to chase, that you didn't think you'd end up being into. You were just trying to punt it away. Now you gave up seven. And then late, when it's tight, and everybody in the stadium knows the next couple snaps are going to decide everything. That is when Mendoza shows exactly who he is. Fourth down, season sitting on the edge, and he doesn't get cute. No, let me be a hero in the pocket. They call a timeout, they come back, see the defense different, they call a quarterback draw. He tucks it and runs it to take the lead right up the middle, takes a huge shot diving into the end zone. That's a highlight that's going to get shown forever. And that's not a highlight decision by him either. That's a winning decision. That's a quarterback saying, I'm not waiting for the perfect look. Give me the ball, I want the ball. Winners want the ball, right? Replacements, who wants the ball? I'm taking this game right now. That's the difference between a guy trying to look like the main character and a guy that's actually trying to win a title and is the main character. And not to not to shit on Miami either. Miami had chances. They pushed late, they had the ball with life left, and then the interception happens. It's a bad throw. Well, it's not a bad throw, but you know, a little, not enough touch to it. Gotta arc it over a little bit more. But that's it. Done. That's the cold part about football, too. You can play a good game, a great game for three hours, and then one decision, one throw, one split second, and the whole thing is over. Season's done. Hope it was fun. Signetti after the game, calling it a paradigm shift, talking about irrational belief moving forward. I kind of love that. I mean, every champion, every high-level athlete has to have a little delusion. You don't win titles being realistic. You win titles because you believe that you can survive stuff that would break other teams, that would break other people. And Crystal doing the we'll use it as fuel for next year thing after the game. That's what you have to say, right? That's that's what you got to tell your guys, that's what you got to tell your program. But you can tell that this one hurts, man. Losing a title game in your own stadium, in your own city, the whole world watching you, that's one of those losses that you don't shower off right away. That you it sticks with you for a while. Now, I'm not turning this into a draft segment. Again, I know I just did it a little bit last segment. I'm not doing it now either. We got a draft show coming up in a little bit once the offseason gets rolling here, so there'll be plenty of time for that. But I gotta I gotta talk about Mendoza here. It's so fitting that the Jets would have the number two pick when this kid is the clear number one quarterback and there is no other quarterback coming out of the draft. And you know what? I hope for the Raiders' sake, he does turn out to be something good. I'm actually rooting for the kid. I hate that it's not on my team, but with Brock Bowers, with Ash and Jantey, with a new coach, they gotta fix that lineup or this kid's gonna die. But Mendoza could really be something in this league. But Jet fans acting like they're on Zilla looking at a mansion that they can't afford with him. I mean, what if we what if we trade everything for the number one? What if we somehow convince them to move up and go get him? Look, I was on that train for a while and I'm off it. I jumped off like a wild west. I'm rolling, rolling in the dirt. Okay. And I get it, I understand the emotion. The Jets are starving for a quarterback. But if the house is falling apart, buying the fancy thing doesn't fix the house. That's the whole Jets problem, too. Everybody wants the shiny new quarterback. I'm dying for a shiny new quarterback. But we don't even have the basics. There's no foundation, there's no protection, there's no stability. You're trying to hang a chandelier in a house that doesn't even have drywall up yet. And what are we doing? Bringing Mendoza in, yeah, the line's a little bit better, sure. Maybe they sign Brees Hall, maybe they don't. Maybe Garrett Wilson is good, but to get him, you'd have to give up everything. This defense is terrible right now. You gotta build the structure first. You gotta give the next quarterback an actual chance to live. Stability, some competence, a roster that doesn't just ask one guy to be the superhero just to complete a third down. I mean, you watch Josh Allen put the cape on every week, and where did it get him? Where did he get him for the last five years? Got him to an AFC championship a couple times and a fired coach. You gotta stop repeating the same movie every season. Anyway, I I gotta I gotta pull my fandom out of this a little bit and stop getting on the getting on the Mendoza with the Jets situation. Let's get to why we're really here. The roll in the dice with Rice gambling picks segment. Okay? If you're new here, which you're not, but maybe you are, this is where I give you picks. I've been doing it all season, and we've done alright all season. Little quick accountability here from last week. The Bills plus the points buying it up hit. Bears plus the points buying it up hit. Texans did not. The Seattle under did not. And I gave out Indiana. That didn't hit either, and it sucks too. That was a heartbreaker because we bought it down to six and a half, and they had the chance to go up by seven late. They just couldn't punch it across. But that's how it goes sometimes, right? Overall, I'm sitting at 52 and 42 on the season, plus tens, not half bad. And in the playoffs, we're seven and four. Look, we're winning, right? We're not perfect, but we're not pretending we are either. We're doing okay. So, for the card for championship Sunday. Usually all year I'd be giving you five picks. It was three games, and then the two locals. Well, the locals are nowhere near this. And since there's only two games this week, here's what we decided on. I'm gonna give you the pick and the over-under for each game. And then I built out a nice little parlay for pick number five, a little bonus pick. So let's kick it right off. Patriots at Broncos. And I'm on the Patriots. Okay. The line right now is minus four and a half. I'm buying it down to minus one and a half. And I'm on the Patriots, and it's not because I think Denver is some joke at home. I mean, they're not. But it's because the entire game changed the minute that Bo Nicks went down. Now you're betting on a backup plan in the biggest spot of the season. That doesn't mean it can't work. Doesn't mean it can't happen. It just means you're betting on execution under stress and from a guy that hasn't thrown a pass in two years. I trust the Patriots structure. I trust their defense more. I trust their ability to win the gross version of this game more. This feels like a game where everybody's gonna talk themselves into the points because it's championship Sunday and they're a home dog and they're the number one C. And then all of a sudden you look up in the third quarter and it's tense and it's a two-point game. It's ugly, nobody can breathe. And with that, too, we're gonna lean into the under for this game. But I also am gonna buy it up. It's currently sitting at 43.5. We're gonna buy it up to 47.5. Look, man, sometimes you just gotta eat the juice and take your wins. That's how it goes. So the official pick there is Patriots minus one and a half under 47.5. Now onto Rams Seattle. And we're just gonna keep it simple here. I'm taking Seattle money line. I saw the mic check poll I put out. People were heavy Rams. I respect it. It's hard not to go against them. Excuse me, it's hard to go against them. That's what I was trying to say. The Rams have that we're dangerous kind of vibe. You know what I mean? Like, oh, I got Puka, I got Devante, I got this, I got that. Try and stop me. I get why people like the points. But you know what I trust more? I trust Seattle at home. I trust that defense. I trust that crowd. They've looked like a team that knows exactly who they are all year. They don't need everything to be perfect. In January, that's what matters. I also like the over here. I am buying it down to 42.5. The number feels a little light to me, and these two teams go back and forth. Look, one short field, one broken tackle, one special teams missed assignment. The math changes fast. So the official pick for the Rams Seattle is Seattle money line and over 42.5. Now. Now the fun one, right? And I'm gonna say it the right way. This is fun. This is not rent. This is not, I'm chasing, let me get it back. This is not, this is definitely gonna hit. Let me throw everything on it. This is you just making the day a little more electric. I got two from the first game, two from the second game. Okay. First one, Hunter Henry anytime touchdown, and Bronco's first half team total under nine and a half. I know it sounds like a mouthful, but Hunter Henry has been Drake May's go-to guy, and Stefan Diggs is probably gonna be blanketed by Patrick Sertan. So I love a Hunter Henry touchdown, and Broncos first half team total under nine and a half. The game's gonna go so fast for Stedham. There's just, he hasn't played in two years. The first half, there's no way that they put up 10 points. Maybe a field goal or two, maybe even three field goals to make it nine. But under nine and a half, I love that for Broncos. Now, second game, JSN, Jackson Smith, and Jigba, 70 plus yards receiving, and then Kenneth Walker over two and a half receptions. Charbonnet is out, and they like to do some swing passes. So if Charbonnet's out, the only other guy there is Kenneth Walker. Him to have two catches, three catches, I think that's totally doable. For that parlay, that's 986 plus 986, which is almost 10 to 1. Look, if it hits, we're celebrating. If it doesn't, well, we're not spiraling and betting Latvian ping pong at 2 a.m. anyway. You know, I mean, I've thrown$25 on worse things.$25 here will get you$250. So anyway, that's it. That's championship Sunday. Those are the plays. If the script breaks, you find out who you are, and I'm planning on putting my money behind the teams I trust to stay themselves more when things get weird. We got Diamond Talk coming up next, and boy, boy, oh boy, do we have some things to discuss? Keep it right here. Some baseball. We've been living in football chaos for months, and now MLB finally decides to wake up and start acting like itself again. Got money flying, fans melting down, front offices doing chess moves, and everybody pretending that they're calm while their group chats are on fire talking smack to each other. So let's kick it off in Queens because first and foremost, I need Met fans to stop doing the thing where we treat the past like it's still negotiable. The calls, the comments, the Stearns is ruining the team, the Cohen got the casino, and now he doesn't care. The you got rid of our guy Pete, and this is the garbage that you brought in. Stop. Seriously, stop. It's like re-watching the Sopranos and being mad that Tony didn't open a bakery in the last season. The show ended. It's over. Move on. Find a new show. I loved Pete. I loved Pete too. I got his jersey on right now as I'm recording this. I love the whole core. Nemo, McNeil, Diaz, the whole heart attack but fun era. They had their chance. They gave us moments. They didn't finish the job. One NLCS isn't what that whole stretch was supposed to be. So it got broken up. That's sports. It's brutal, but it's normal. It is what it is. And the important thing to remember here, this isn't the Sandy Alderson brainchild anymore. This is David Stern's boy genius' team built in him his image. And his image is simple. Give me runners in scoring position, then give me guys behind them who could put the ball in play. Not three true outcomes, not launch angle or die, not praying for a three-run homer every night. Pressure, contact, traffic, make the other team actually field the ball. Now look what they did. You miss on Kyle Tucker, fine. But maybe it was for the better. It happens. The Dodgers are the final boss in free agency. The Mets didn't just sit there and sulk, though. They pivoted into Bobachette, and that's a real bat. A bat that fits exactly what Stearns is trying to do. Put the ball in play. Move runners. Stop treating every at bat like the home run derby. And I don't even care that he has to learn third base. People keep clutching their pearls, like, oh, he's never played there before. Okay. He's a shortstop. He can transition to third. He'll be fine. It's January. Teach him. Let him work. The bigger point is that the lineup makes more sense now. Lindor, Soto, and Bichette as your one, two, three. Yeah. That's a top-tier lineup. That's a top-tier one, two, three across the board. Then you go and trade for Elise Robert Jr. And that's your upside swing. That's the move that tells you that they're not just collecting solid guys. They want impact, they want athleticism, they want a guy who can change the game with one swing or one play in the field. You now have an elite center fielder when last year we were watching Tyrone Taylor and Jose Siri not know how to play center field. And yes, of course there's risk. There's always risk. But that's not that's how you win. I mean, you don't win by building the safest roster imaginable. You win by getting guys that are willing to lay it out there for you. And with Robert, I mean, it's it's really easy to point at his injuries and this, that, and the other, but you know what else is really easy to say? Yeah, I'm oh, my back hurts when for the last four years I've been on a team that's won 40 games. You know, something tells me being around Soto, being around Lindore, being around Simeon, he's gonna, you know, have a little more will to play through an injury or play through a sore back when they're chasing 90 wins, not just trying to wait till the end of the season playing in the south side of Chicago where it's cold as hell till June, and we only have 20 wins on June 20th. And then you got the big one, the big one for me, Peralta. That's the grown-up part, and I've been calling for that and telling everybody that too. The next move is going to be pitching. Look, it's fun to stack bats, but you don't get to October with just vibes and hoping you hit the ball. You get there with starting pitching, and Freddie Peralta gives you the stability that you've been looking for, it gives you a real arm that you can take the ball. And calm things down when the season starts getting a little noisy and the New York media starts getting a little pushy. And yes, it costs prospects. That's what it costs. Everybody wants the Mets to trade for pitching and also keep every shiny toy in the system. That's not how it works. A fair trade is a team, is a trade where both teams lose. You either want to win now or you want to just admire your farm system on a spreadsheet and say, oh, look what we did, look what we have. Pick one. Also, not to mention, the Mets farm system is still stacked. So when I hear people say this is garbage, I don't even know what you're watching. This is a front office with a plan. And the plan is finally coherent. It might not be perfect, but it's coherent. It has an identity. These Mets are going to look completely different than how they did last year. And I'm kind of looking forward to it. If it crashes and burns, so be it. Then it's David Stern's head on the pike. But I don't have any problems with any of the moves that he's made so far. I get it. Now, Yankees fans, welcome to the other side of the emotional spectrum. Where you guys treat patients like it's a personality trait. The funniest thing is, too, all week I put that poll out about Bellinger, and it was like, oh, seven years is too much. And the people voted, don't budge. Seven years is ridiculous. That side won the vote heavily. Well, later in that day that I put the poll out, the Yankees were like, cool, okay, here's five years for Ballinger. It's like the market heard the poll and compromised, right? I get it. I do. The Yankees have done this dance where they wait, they wait, they wait, and then they strike when the number matches their brain. Okay, good on Cashman, fine. Sometimes that's smart. Sometimes, though, it's just you watching the party through the window and telling yourself, yeah, I didn't want to go anyway. So the real Yankees question is simple. Did you guys actually get better or did you just stay the same and try to dress it up as progress? Because the rest of the league is not sitting still. The Mets aren't, Dodgers aren't, Red Sox aren't, Baltimore Orioles aren't. You know, you made a move, and you're probably done. And the team was good last year, but are they good enough to compete now? Are you good enough to win the division? Whatever. Speaking of the Dodgers, Kyle Tucker, of course, of course. I touched on it a little bit last week, but I it's just like if there is a star player available, the Dodgers just appear behind you like a horror movie. And then you hear the quotes about how, oh, it was easy because they're going for a 3P and it's a destination spot. I I get it, man, but that's that's a cop out. Just say what it is. You couldn't handle the New York market. They the Mets threw threw it on the table, offered you 50 million, and then you went and crawled to the Dodgers, and they offered you 60 or whatever it was, but they deferred it all. I don't know. I I understand why players want to go there. I'm not mad at the player for getting their money. I'm just saying, as a fan of literally any other team, it's starting to get exhausting. It's like playing Monopoly with the rich cousin who starts the game owning Boardwalk. Philly's interesting too in this whole thing, too, because they bring Rio Muto back on one hand, that's stability, but on the other hand, it's still a lot of it's it's a lot of mileage, and you're kind of paying for the past, hoping that it holds in the present. And Dumbrowski calling the Bichette loss a gut punch, that's great. That's real as a Met fan. Those guys, those division battles matter, right? So the Mets being able to go in and steal a guy that they thought they had, it makes our lineup so much better and it makes theirs worse. I mean, imagine Bo Bachet between Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. That would have been a problem for the Phillies. And staying in the NLE's the Gore trade, McKenzie Gore got traded, that one bothers me a little bit because that's the trade that I was looking for for the Mets, even if they had to pay a higher division tax. But the Rangers, they go get them from the Nationals. I don't know. The Mets, I guess, chose the Brewers' relationship lane instead with David Stearns. I guess he has a good relationship with Freddie Peralta. I don't know. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but it's worth talking about because it's a real fork of the road. I mean, do you overpay to keep a pitcher away from your division rivals? Or do you trust your own process and just go to try to find the right deal? And one more, one more quick thing, quick Mets thing before I wrap this up, before I get done with baseball. Beltran, Carlos Beltran, our boy, gets into the Hall of Fame. And the only real reason I'm bringing this up is because it's kind of a fun argument. Which hat? Mets or Royals? Royals drafted him, brought him up, got him to who he was, but you could argue he had the better career with the Mets. And, you know, that's not just a hat that you don't go into the Hall of Fame. For the respective team, that's a forever roster spot, right? That's who gets to claim you in the history books. And speaking of Hall of Fame, while we're here, I'll say it once and I'll move on, and I promise. David Wright probably not making it to the Hall of Fame is gonna bother me forever. I don't I don't care. I'm gonna say it. I'm gonna say it. I don't care you broke your elbow. The injuries robbed him. Everybody knows that. But guys like Chase Utley are getting some sizable voting probably in the next couple years, and his numbers are right next to his while he missed 400 games due to injury. So I know the best ability is availability, but if I missed 400 games and my numbers are comparable to somebody that is getting in the Hall of Fame, don't you think I should maybe at least get a little more than 6% of the voting, 8% of the voting, whatever he got? That's the part that stinks. I can go on a diatribe forever about the voters and the baseball writers and this, that, and the other, but I don't know. I I I think the Hall of Fame system needs a rework. But anyway, anyway, that's baseball. The Mets, the Mets are building something new, and the Yankees are trying to be smart, and they are being smart, but I think they need to do a little bit more. Dodgers are just playing on cheat codes using the game shark. And the Phillies are trying to keep the window open, even though it looks like it's closing rapidly. And it's all gonna look genius or stupid in July. That's that's why we love it. Alright, NBA up next. Keep it right here. So the Knicks. Oh boy, the Knicks, the Knicks, the Knicks. Well, I mean, this week was basically the full Knicks experience and fast forward as of late. The high expectations, the bad vibes, the boos, the overreactions, the blow it up crowd. And then the very next night, you're sitting there smiling like nothing happened at all. And it all starts with the Mavs game at the garden. 114.97, Knicks lose, and it never felt that close. That was one of those losses where you're not mad because you missed shots, you got bad calls. You're mad because it looked like you were just late to everything. You had no effort. You were late to loose balls, late on rotations, late getting back in transition. It was the kind of game where the crowd starts booing, and you can't even argue with it because it's like, what are we supposed to clap for? And I know, I know, some people get sensitive about booing like it's disrespectful or whatever. I'm not one of those people. You paid your ticket, you deserve to say whatever you want to say. If you want to call the guard in the Mecca and you want to be treated like a contender, then you're also gonna get judged like one. You don't get the love without the standards. Those boos weren't we hate you. Those boos were wake up, be better, you're better than this. So after the game, the players-only meeting happens. The not dreaded, but something you don't really want to see from your team, but something you do want to see from good leaders on your team, and that is Brunson a thousand percent. So Brunson basically saying, you know, we'll handle it in here in-house, we'll handle it in here. Josh Hart talking like a guy who knows the vibe is slipping. You know, that's a good sign. That's that's what you want to hear. Some accountability, some recognition that we gotta be better. And I'd honestly, I'd rather hear that than the fake PR stuff. The, you know, we go out there every day and da da da. They just pretend that everything's fine and the ship is tilted. No, I don't want that. I want guys panicking. I want not panicking, but I want guys knowing that something is amiss and being willing to go fix whatever's wrong. And it's funny too. That's the mic check poll was interesting this week because it tells you where the fans' heads are at. So Nick's slump, how do we fix it, right? The options were rot it out or shake it up, make a big splash. Players only meeting got 43%, and it's time to make a big splash, got 57%. But what's funny is the way that it changed throughout the day. Early on, like, I don't know, I put it up at 9 a.m., it was probably two o'clock. Pretty much everybody was screaming, make a move, make a big splash, change something. Then literally by like six o'clock, I guess people calmed down a little bit. And it's still finished almost even, but you can literally see the mood swing in real time. And that's the garden, that's New York. You lose one ugly game, and people are ready to trade your entire starting lineup for a bag of basketballs and a second round pick and some salary cap help. And then what happens? Then, of course, the Knicks turn around and they absolutely embarrass the Nets. That's 13 straight now. They beat him 120 to 66. That wasn't a win. That was a public service announcement. That was the that was the kind of score you see in a video game when, you know, your little brother grabs a controller and he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Shaman hits six threes, everybody looks loose, the defense is flying around, and for a night, it feels like the storm passed, like you you weathered it. But here's the part where I'm gonna do the see the forest through the trees thing, because this is a trap. Yes, it's great. Yes, you needed it. Yes, it can jumpstart your energy, your confidence, your your rhythm. All of that matters. Sure. Momentum in the NBA is pivotal, right? But you also have to remember who you played. The Nets right now are basically a G Leag roster with a zip code. They're a mess. They're not trying to win games, they're just trying to survive the season, find a direction, and hope that they don't lose the rigged draft lottery again. So if you're the Knicks and you want to be taken seriously as a title contender, beating them by 50 isn't some miracle. It's it's expected. It's what you're supposed to do. That's what good teams are supposed to do. Beat the bad teams. That's the baseline. The important part is whether you can take that energy and carry it into games that actually test you. Can you defend without fouling? Can you rebound when it's uber physical? Can you execute late without getting stagnant? Can you avoid the games where it feels like you're sleepwalking and just waiting for the talent to save you? Because that's what the booze were about. It wasn't the one loss, it wasn't the stretch of losses, it's the pattern that's been forming. It was people watching a team with real potential play way below its standards and hoping that somebody just snaps them out of it and that they'll figure it out. And on top of it, the whole cat rumor chatter with the big splash talk and he needs to get moved. Look, I don't particularly like cat. I don't think trading for him was the right move. But he's here. And we have to make do with what it is. So all the trade talk, that's just what happens when the expectations of how good we were supposed to be meet the frustration of how we're actually playing. It doesn't mean the Knicks have to panic trade right now. But it does mean that the pressure is real. It means that the building is paying attention, the fans are paying attention. It means you don't you don't get to drift for a month and just expect everyone to be patient and forgiving while you figure it out. This is New York. This is New York, not North Dakota, to quote Donald Greka. Anyway, yeah, look, I enjoyed the Nets beatdown and I laugh at the score. I laughed at my Nick my net friends. I'll take the confidence boost. But from here, what I want to see is I want to see them start stacking it. Start stacking the confidence, start stacking the wins. Because the goal isn't owning Brooklyn. You already do that. You've beaten him 13 straight games. The goal is being the last team standing in June. To be the team, not just raising the NBA Cup trophy, to raise the NBA Finals trophy. You know? Anyway, that's uh that's it for the NBA this week. I promised the listener some hockey talk. So we'll see how that goes. And I'm dying to mix in some early tennis before we close the show out. Last segment, before we get you out of here, keep it right here. Because somebody DM'd me, said they want to hear some more hockey talk, and you know what? I told them I would try to get it in. So here we are. And then we got some tennis because the Australian Open is back, and I'm not gonna pretend that I don't love tennis. You guys might not like it, but I love some me some tennis. So hockey first, quick and painless. The Rangers, well, the Rangers, they put out the letter 2.0. You know, if you follow hockey, you follow the Rangers. You you know, about five, six years ago or so, they put out the letter. So, you know, we're we're gonna be retooling, we're gonna be selling off some guys, it's gonna be ugly, not what you want. Just prepare yourself, whatever, whatever. And then they did that, and it looked like it worked, and they went on a run, except the run wasn't good, and now we're in the same spot again where we're selling off players because it doesn't work. So, guess what happens? They sent out another letter. And the front office is basically telling you it we're we might be retooling and uh you know, yada yada yada. Then the team turns around and wins a game, so everybody's like, okay, see, yeah, we're fine, no big deal, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's the NHL version of mixed signals. And Panarin, uh, Panarin is pretty much all but gone. They pretty much said he's getting traded one way or the other. So it's floating around out there, and I'm not gonna go full conspiracy mode on it, but it's it is definitely worth clocking because when that kind of rumor exists, when there's smoke, there's fire, it now changes how everybody watches every shift, every turnover feels a little bit louder, every great play feels like an audition for another team. That's just kind of the reality where the Rangers are. And then on the devil side, you know, ups and downs, injuries, that always seems to be the devil's problems. But uh Luke Hughes is avoiding surgery. That's a big deal. I mean, he does go on the long-term IR. It's not ideal there, but avoiding the knife is always a win. That's one of those situations where you you just want them healthy when it actually matters, right? You want the guys to come back later in the season and be ready to go. You don't want them rushing it because it's January and you're trying to chase some points here and there for a division. Once the football season winds down a little bit, there will be plenty of room for other sports. But for now, this is kind of what I got for hockey. Eventually I'll be bringing on some guests for some back and forth too, for a bunch of other sports. But uh for now, you get what you get and you don't get to get upset. Hope you like the hockey talk for three minutes here. Now, tennis. Djokovic is the headline, like always. Because at this point, I mean he's basically he's basically playing against history more than he's playing against opponents. I mean, every time he steps on the court now, it's it's another chance to do something that nobody has done, to break another record, to do the unthinkable, you know. Another major would put him at number 25, and he definitely knows it. You know, it's hard to win Wimbledon, it's hard to win the U.S. Open, it's hard to win the French Open. But of the Australian Open early in the season, that's one that he can definitely do. He's in that mode too, where he he's not out there just to survive rounds. He's out there to take ownership of the tournament. He wants it. These early slams, the top guys are supposed to look like they're doing warm-ups with the crowd. And it's that's not disrespect. That's just that's just how it goes. But the real tournament starts when the bracket tightens and everybody's legs get a little bit heavy. And Djokovic's legs have been doing this for 20 plus years now, so I'm sure his legs are pretty heavy, but that mental game is uh always his best ally. As for the women, there was a little moment with Osaka that was uh kind of strange. At the end of the match, that they had a handshake and it was awkward and cold. I don't know, whatever you want to call it. I don't know. I'm not even I'm not trying to make it bigger than it is, but tennis is funny like that, right? It it's It's such a polite sport. No one's allowed to speak in the crowd. You're barely allowed to chant. And then, you know, one little moment like that reminds you that it's still one-on-one mono-e-mano competition. People have pride. People hold grudges. People have bad days. It happens. I guess Osaka's opponent was getting mad that she won a point against her and she was come on. She was cheering herself up while the other girl was serving. Whatever. She took offense to it. It is what it is. That's tennis, babe. I don't know what to tell you. As far as the other stars, you know, they're doing what they're supposed to do right now. Suitec, it looks like Sutec. Pagula is doing her thing. Uh Madison Keys is dangerous. But it's early. So you know, nobody gets a crown for winning the first week match. You can see who's comfortable right now and who's just trying to survive, who's trying to work out the kinks. Is what it is. Looking forward to uh later in the week when this tennis starts winding down. But that's it. Little hockey, a little Aussie open. Just wanted to tap in before we wrap up the show. Sports calendar doesn't stop ever. It just changes outfits, whether it be a skirt or football helmet. All right, let's close this thing out the right way. I appreciate you hanging with me through this one. Seriously, whether you're listening in a car or at work or at the gym or pretending you're just on a walk for 45 minutes so you can get some peace and quiet. I see you out there. Thank you for tapping in with the rice on the mics. Thank you for listening to the show. And I want to circle back to the theme one more time before we get out of here because it wasn't just a cute line for the intro. And this week was really when the script breaks kind of week. Right? Sports is the best reminder that you can do everything right on paper and still get hit with something you didn't plan for. A bad call, a bad bounce, an injury, a slump, a front office decision you hate, one night where the crowd turns on you, one moment where you realize the plan you drew up is gone. The part that matters is what you do next, right? Because plan A, plan A is the stuff you practice. It's the stuff you go over, you master. It's the stuff you think you're gonna do, no problem. Plan B, plan B is who you are when the room gets quiet. And you gotta respond to that. That's the real test. Not when things are smooth. It's when things get uncomfortable. And that's bigger than sports. That's life. Everybody has a version of the season they pictured. The year they pictured, the job, the relationship, the timing working out. And then something happens. And you're standing there looking at an erased whiteboard, like, okay, shit, now what? Well, here's the answer. You don't need to be perfect. You don't need the perfect plan. You just need the next right step. And you don't have to be flawless. You just have to be steady. Do one thing today that your future self will thank you for. Make the call that you've been putting off. Right? Send the text. Go out for the walk. Drink some more water. Start the thing that you've been dreading or thinking about, but putting yourself down on. Just fix the one little part that you've been avoiding. And if you stack that enough times, I promise you, you'll look up and you'll see the momentum that you've built. That's how people win, man. That's how teams win. It's not magic either, it's response. So, if this week felt like the script broke for you in any way, just know you're not alone out there. Okay, you'd be surprised how many people are feeling the exact same thing you are. Take a breath, reset, and take the next step. You're not behind. You're just in the middle of it. You're trying to figure it out. You're trying to figure out your plan B. Listen, if you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor, share it with the one friend who's always talking sports and never knows what they're talking about. I will teach them the way. Leave a rating if you can and a comment. And hit me up on Instagram. It's at Rice on the Radio. I love seeing the mic check votes, the hot takes, the you're wrong DM messages. Keep it coming, man. I want it all. And I told you from day one, I love a good meme. Do not be afraid to send me a good meme. But most importantly, like we always close the show, make sure you spread some good energy. Seriously, it's free. It costs nothing, and it changes everything. Tell someone you love them. Check in on your people. Be the reason somebody's day gets a little brighter. Right? I am Ian Rice. This has been episode 49 of Rice on the Mikes. And I'll catch you same time, same place next week.