Sports Live! With Steve and Justin
Sports Talk Live! With Steve and Justin! NFL Offseason Analysis: Team Moves and Super Bowl Predictions. A Recording of our live Youtube Sports show every Monday Night 5pm EST.
Sports Live! With Steve and Justin
NFL Week 7 - Giants Collapse, MLB and F1 Max's Winning Weekend
Summary
In this episode, the hosts discuss the latest happenings in the NFL, highlighting surprising performances, the importance of quarterback support, and the dynamics of coaching relationships. They delve into the struggles of teams like the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, while also praising the resurgence of the Kansas City Chiefs and the unexpected success of the New England Patriots. The conversation touches on the significance of team management decisions and the impact of rivalries in the league. In this conversation, the hosts delve into the recent performance of a football team, analyzing coaching decisions and the impact of accountability on team dynamics. They discuss the role of the general manager in shaping the team's talent and performance, emphasizing the importance of fan advocacy in communicating with ownership. The conversation also touches on upcoming games, the excitement of the MLB playoffs, and insights into Formula 1 strategies and team dynamics, highlighting the complexities of sports management and the influence of media engagement.
Chapters
00:00 NFL Week Recap: Surprises and Performances
05:39 Coaching Relationships: Key to Team Success
11:15 Kansas City Chiefs: Back in Form
14:15 New York Jets: A Season in Turmoil
17:08 New England Patriots: Unexpected Success
20:16 Tennessee Titans: Coaching Changes and Challenges
23:04 Philadelphia Eagles: Finding Their Identity
25:49 Dallas Cowboys: Jekyll and Hyde Performance
28:50 Indianapolis Colts: Surprising Success
32:36 Injuries and Team Dynamics
37:33 Coaching Decisions and Accountability
44:05 Game Management and Strategy
50:03 Quarterback Development and Future Prospects
55:34 Fan Advocacy and Team Management
01:01:21 Cultural Reflections in Sports
01:02:01 Blue Jays vs. Seattle: A Playoff Showdown
01:02:56 Baseball's Future: Changes on the Horizon
01:03:29 The Dodgers' Contract Controversy
01:05:09 Revenue Sharing in Major League Baseball
01:06:04 F1: The United States Grand Prix Experience
01:07:02 McLaren's Rise and Challenges
01:08:03 The Competitive Landscape of F1
01:10:05 The Economics of F1 Teams
01:11:35 F1's Popularity Surge: Netflix's Impact
01:12:41 The Future of F1: New Teams and Drivers
01:15:32 The Engine Dynamics in F1
01:16:32 The Young Guns of F1
01:18:22 Qualifying Strategies in F1
01:20:13 Closing Thoughts and Future Games
It looks like we're live, so hello everyone, and hello, Justin. Good evening, Steve. It is another week in the NFL, and every week I've when I write out the title of the episode, I said, I want to put another crazy week in the NFL. So old is new again, new is old, people that don't have uh careers anymore are the top of their game. I don't know what to say. So the first game, we want to start getting right into the NFL unless there's something else we want to talk about, but I mean the Bengals and the Steelers. So after everybody was sure that there were no really great teams out there and that the Steelers were probably at the top of the heap, they get beat by another over 40 quarterback, Flacco.
SPEAKER_02:Joe Flacco.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, listen, the guy was great in his day, but he's he's been like at three different teams recently, and he hasn't gone anywhere. But guess what?
SPEAKER_02:He's playing for something now in that division, that's for sure. I mean, Cincinnati pulled the trigger on that trade to get him in there to keep them relevant. And I know it was a short week, but you know, Flacco's not afraid to sling it. And it showed Thursday night, and they went toe-to-toe, back and forth, up and down the field they went, and Flacco got the better of them.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Although Rodgers did throw four touchdown passes. I mean, it's not like he didn't have a good game himself.
SPEAKER_00:No, they went at it together. Flacco just gave him a run for their money, which was totally shocking.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I don't think anybody expected Flacco to play that well, but uh, it just goes to show you what a veteran can do in a short period of time with little preparation when he's got the confidence to stand in the pocket and just sling it and has talented wide receivers to get the ball to.
SPEAKER_00:I think that's exactly it. I think when we when we talk about the NFL, and we say this all the time about young quarterbacks, that they really just don't have any team. And for some reason, owners and management think we'll get a great quarterback and we'll have a great team, except they forget all the parts. And we talk about this every week. And I think we keep need to keep talking about it every week because it's strangely enough, none of these owners are listening. None of these owners are doing what it takes to to make a a good team. And it it's it's really interesting because listen, we both agreed in the beginning of the season that we thought Cincinnati was into their day. And um I I am I don't want to say shocked, but I am um say hello to everybody who's watching. I am shocked that there are teams I am not shocked, but that a team out there could be so good and then go so bad. The quarterback is definitely the important part, and Flacco played very well, but without that supporting cast, you're nowhere in the NFL.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, there's there's a few factors, right? You've got to have a supporting cast, you've got to have an offensive line that can keep you upright and mobile. And then, you know, your relationship with your offensive coordinator and your head coach are paramount, and there has to be a clear directive there. You know, people always said Tom Brady and Bill Belichick never really got along, and they kind of hate each other, and they have this love-hate relationship and they're frenemies or whatever. But it was a clear-cut, defined thing between them, and the team understood that. And Brady could go do his thing, and he was an energetic guy, kept the offense alive. Obviously, they had some talent around him, and their offensive line kept them upright. And his, you know, his best years are with his with probably McDaniel as his offensive coordinator. They were on the same page. So those relationships with the coaches are very important, especially with the with the quarterback. If you look at some of the teams we have now, especially the two New York teams, like night and day, Dayball seems to have a pretty good relationship with Jackson Dart. And Dart brings an incredible amount of energy and has revitalized this offense, the fan base, you know. And it's night and day when you watch him enter the game and he's in the huddle versus what you see from the Jets, which is just complete abysmal disarray. There seems to be no relationship whatsoever between the quarterback uh and the head coach. Um and you know, Justin Fields has really never had a coach and a and an offensive coordinator have a relationship with for more than you know one season, really. Um and now it's you know his his growth seems to be completely stunted. He's not he's not finding open receivers, he's not reading the defense, he's not commanding the offense. I still think that that's coaching.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Because the defense under Steve Wilkes is playing lights out for the most part. He's really working his tail off because there are really just a couple of some of the players on that defense are just barely warm bodies. I know they have some talent up front, but they're, you know, on paper, the Jets are not a great defense, and they're keeping their team in games with the abysmal play of the quarterback and the offense and all the injuries that they've had on offense. Um it'll be interesting to see where they go from here because this weekend was kind of it looked like it would be, you know, another stepping stone for the Giants. I mean, their offense played pretty well.
SPEAKER_00:All right, so let's go. We talked about, you know, there's more we could say about about you know the Bengals and the uh, I mean, listen, they have Chase. Chase is just and and Chase incredible. I mean, they just left him open all game long for whatever reasons. So that was one of the amazing games. Then the next is is no surprise, is that the Browns destroy the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins forget about it. They're in who knows what zone. Part of me says, and probably everyone today, the Monday after the game yesterday, was out there saying, how is it that these guys haven't fired their coach yet? But I think the owner realizes that they have to put somebody else in there. He can't just fire the coach. And I also think the owner's got to the point where he's saying, you know, it's not just the coach, it's all the coaches. And maybe the coach is in the GM. So if you're gonna make a move, you gotta make the right move, right? You can't make a whole bunch of stupid moves. So there is a move probably coming out there, but now he's probably figuring, let's just blow this whole thing until we get a good draft pick and we'll replace him at the end because you're not coming back and getting in anything.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they're they're I think the owner really likes the head coach and wants him to succeed, and he's probably gonna give him every opportunity to turn things around. I think what's hampering Miami's offense is Tua. It seems like Tua's just not on the same page with his receivers. I know they lost Tyree Hill. I thought that would actually help Tua because it seemed like they had a rift and there was a lot of forced maneuvering, it seemed, to get him the ball rather than just let the offense compete organically and let Tua find his rhythm. And that's a problem for any quarterback, any offense, when you're forced to try and find somebody on the field. Remember years ago they talked about the Randy ratio in Minnesota, and it it just you saw on the field how terrible a product it was until they switched away from that kind of thinking and got a new head coach. So I, you know, I just think it's Tua not playing well, and it's probably a time for change in Miami.
SPEAKER_00:But but Tua never seemed to get along with the coach, even when they were playing well, they seemed to be disjointed in some way. And I'm not talking about this year, I'm talking about prior years. And it always seems like that team is never on the same page, and they're constantly complaining about each other, and no one knows what does anything about it.
SPEAKER_02:A lot of disarray there.
SPEAKER_00:So another game that is, you know, when I say old is new again, the Chiefs and the Raiders.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So the Chiefs uh seem to be, you know, Mahomes look totally on stride again, back into their old selves. Yes, are they getting calls? They are getting calls. There's no question about that. They definitely are, but the Raiders didn't score any points. And in most sports, if you don't score any points, you don't win the game.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, the Chiefs seem to be clicking and they got, you know, a Rashi Rice back. Which is a big deal. Yeah, it's a big deal which is never around because you're on the field. Because that opens up, you know, it opens up space on the field for their offense for other other their other playmakers. So that makes them even more dangerous than they were. They've got their rookie running back who they've been increasing targets and carries, trying to get that running game going between the three of them now, Kareem Hunt and Pacheco and and Smith. So they're and they started 3-0, and they're still able to find ways to get more people involved in the offense and still win games, which is incredible. I mean, you talk every week about teams looking like they're not prepared. The Chiefs are prepared. And when you consider the limited amount of practice time that the coaches have to instill a playbook for the week or a package for the week, excuse me, the the Chiefs are incredible. Kudos to Andy Reid for getting that done. And Mahomes is a winner. I mean, he's he's gonna play his tail off every week, and you know, people can say whatever they want about him, but the bottom line is you know, he holds people accountable in that offense. The calls and everything else, the referees aside, he still plays great. So the Chiefs are looking like they might be in the driver's seat after starting 0-3 is just incredible.
SPEAKER_03:Well sorry.
SPEAKER_00:Sorry, it's allergy season again for me. Thank you. And this dusty room with a lot of old stuff is not really uh good. But anyway, to get back to the Jets as you brought up before, they lose to the Panthers.
SPEAKER_03:I have no hope.
SPEAKER_02:The Jets are just abysmal, and there's no clear path path for them to move forward at this point, their own seven, and you wonder, you know, is it worth trying to make a trade for a quarterback? Because Fields is not the guy, and I don't I don't think he was really meant to be the guy of the you know, quarterback of the future or face of the franchise. I think they realized they couldn't get that guy this year, so they brought him in to give him a chance, and they have given him every chance, and he's just not getting it done. And, you know, you could say, well, it's the Jets, you know, look at Sam Darnold now, but I I don't I don't think that's what's going on here. Uh he seems to be a lot of things.
SPEAKER_00:I think they're worse, not not the greatest players. Yeah. And you know, then they bring Tyrod Taylor in, you know, basically by default because they have nobody else to put in, and he throws an interception into triple coverage.
SPEAKER_02:Where I mean, like you have two interceptions in the second half. You know, he is what he is. He's a journey veteran, a journeyman backup. That's what he is. It's not to take anything away from him, but that's the role he's gonna play for this team and probably other teams. So, you know, the Jets need to consider right now where do we go from here? You can't keep rolling them out every week. You just can't. But I don't know if there's a trade available, uh, you know, that's that makes sense for them to bring another. You could say, well, Kirk Cousins is out there. Well, you know what everyone said this week.
SPEAKER_00:Why didn't they pick up Flacco?
SPEAKER_02:Well, the Jets, if they went down that road again, they're not gonna go there. No. I think I think the head coach is the one that's kind of stymieing things there after what was revealed about his interview with uh Aaron Rodgers. From a from an organizational standpoint, I know Flacco, excuse me, I know Cousins has got two years left next year and 2027 monster contract. But if you're the Jets and you're you we know you're gonna get a top pick, if not the top pick, and you're taking a quarterback. They can't, I always say trade the pick, but in this case, they need to take a quarterback, but it also doesn't look like there's anybody out there that's worthy of a number one pick. I'm sure somebody will emerge, and I'm sure the Jets will get it wrong. But if the idea is that they're playing now, and I'm not saying they're tanking the season because I don't believe that's true, it looks like they're going to get a quarterback in the draft. So maybe now is or isn't the time to make that move, but I would be shocked if they didn't try and move Tyrod Taylor to somebody like the Falcons and let him serve as the backup to Penix because their style of play is a little more similar than going from Penix to Cousins. So maybe that's the move. Maybe somebody out there wants Fields because you don't want him to be your backup. I don't know what else is out there for them in terms of solidifying that roster or having the cap space for Cousins' contract. Maybe they wait till June and then make a move like that, and then you bring in their, you know, you have a veteran quarterback, stabilize the offense, and let your young, new rookie quarterback grow behind him, and then you go from there.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you know what needs to happen with the New York Jets. The owner's gotta go. Well, no, there's other ways around it. You know what I mean? He just needs to write the checks. We don't need him for anything else.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well, he he needs to hire someone to run the franchise. Somebody, and they're out there. They're out there to run the whole franchise and rehire everybody from the bottom up because the talent evaluation is probably their biggest problem. They never make the right move. When you go through, and and not that they're the only team in the that does that, but other teams at least have some success. The Jets have no success doing it.
SPEAKER_02:For every guy that they get that can play football, they get three warm bodies, and it's not good. And every one of those guys ends up going somewhere else and has success. You can go back to Abram, Jonathan Vilma. You know, there's countless guys that the Jets draft. James Farrier is another one. They they constantly, you know, when they do get a good football player, they never stay here. They always go somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00:Because the Jets have two-dimensional thinking. They only see, you know, they get one good player and they think it's going to change the whole defense. They get one, they're not thinking three-dimensionally. They're not thinking about creating a team and an environment to win football games. They don't have it until they get it, they won't win.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think it's hard to win. It's a little, it's still a little early to and to judge the the new GM because I thought we then we talked about it earlier in the season before the season started when they made those contract extensions for Garrett Wilson and um uh sauce Gardner, that this was a different approach from them. So you hope that that talent remains pays off in the future, um, and you're able to keep your guys in here. So it maybe that's just the first step, and this is really rock bottom, and you're already owned seven, so it's not they're not gonna win 10 games in a row and win the division, go to the playoffs. It's not happening. But you it's it's tough to just keep running the same old thing out there every week for another 11 weeks because it you're gonna. I mean, the stadium was empty on Sunday. There were pictures all over Twitter and Instagram and Facebook. The stadium was virtually empty. The top bowl of the stadium was there was almost nobody there. And, you know, after halftime, there was a scene from the end zone, and you saw the the bottom bowl was you know half full at best. So it's really a dark time right now for the Jets.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And, you know, you don't want to just sacrifice your season and mail it in. And I know their own seven, but it's only week seven. There's another 11 weeks to go. So, you know, I they they're in for a tough, tough haul, and they have to make a decision. Do we do we circle the wagons and hunker down and try and win some football games? Or are we sellers and do we start moving talent? Because I don't think they're bringing in a quarterback. I really I don't know who's out there other than somebody like Kirk Cousins, and that comes with a heavy contract. So, you know, maybe he wins them the Denver game. Maybe he wins them one more game, and instead of 0-7, they're two and five. But they're still a bad football team.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:So they have virtually nothing to play for, and you're gonna lose the locker room at some point.
SPEAKER_00:At some point?
SPEAKER_02:Probably lost already.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So I mean, and not and not for saying anything. Um not for saying anything. I'm just making sure we're still online here. The the the Panthers defense is damn good.
SPEAKER_02:Well, see, I think my high school defense will look good against the Jets.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, they're good against the run. They're probably rated, I think last week, number one against the Rum. So, I mean, listen, the Jets stink. There's no other way to say about it. And it's not even worth going over it every week, I think, to a certain extent. So let's move on to the next game. Next game, we have the another team we talked about next week that have really come to the run. That's the Patriots and the Titans. First place New England Patriots. The first Page New England Patriots. And let me tell you something. If that doesn't motivate the Jets to do better, I don't know what will.
SPEAKER_02:Quick turnaround. I mean, I don't think anybody expected that from them. I know it's only week seven, but they beat the Bills and they won five games, right? There's they're five and two. I mean, they're coming along, and every week their quarterback gets a little better and he shows a little more progress, and he shows that he could make it and the defense. Their defense came alive a little bit. Yeah, they're gonna that defense is gonna get better as they go. They've got the right coach for that defense for sure. I mean, maybe they were a little sluggish in the beginning, but they came out and uh they're figuring it out, and they've got a good coaching staff to help them do that.
SPEAKER_00:Right. I don't know what to say about Cam Ward. I mean I don't know what to say.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. It's I mean, I know they fired the coach. They seem to be in it in a bad way, but I'm starting to wonder about the franchise, it's the organization itself, right? Because they fired Vrabel, and he's having success. Tremendous success, really, in New England so far. And I know Callahan, I you know, I never really thought Callahan would be a good head coach, but uh around the league, he's very well liked, he's very well respected. Where do you go from there if if you're Tennessee? I really don't know, you know, what do you who are you bringing in to coach this team? Doug Peterson? I mean, I, you know, you're turning it over internally, but you need a new head coach for next year already. It's only week seven. So unless there was something internal, they thought he was stunting the quarterback's growth, or they didn't have a good relationship, or they weren't getting along, whatever the case may be, you've got a young quarterback with tremendous talent, and it seems like he's sputtering at best. And there's some talent on that team to get the ball to. Yeah, I know their run game isn't stout, but it just seems they're they're headed in the wrong direction.
SPEAKER_00:So the next team I shake my head out, even though they won is the Eagles and Vikings. I mean, the Eagles did seem like they had it a little bit together. They played better. But you gotta keep saying to yourself, give the ball to Saquon Barkley.
SPEAKER_02:What do you have, uh, 16 touches again this week? Something like that?
SPEAKER_00:Um, how is it the guy not having 20 touches every game?
SPEAKER_02:Seems wholly inexcusable to me that he doesn't. Although I, you know, I mean, I liked his statements after the game. This isn't John Madden football. This isn't a video game. We do whatever it takes to win. That's the right attitude. He's very What do you expect to say?
SPEAKER_00:They need to give me the ball. That's not Saquon.
SPEAKER_02:But we know that's who he is. He's selfless.
SPEAKER_00:It's 18, 18 touches for 44 yards.
SPEAKER_02:18 touches, yeah. So, I mean, I think what we're seeing is that the the biggest loss, maybe for them, was their center losing Kelsey, because I'm assuming he made that offensive unit go. So maybe there's a little issue there, not taking away anything from the new center, just that that's a big change when you lose somebody like that. So maybe that plays a part in in the offensive uh struggle. I think they're gonna figure it out, though. Uh they're still a very well-coached team. You know they're gonna be prepared every week. You think they're gonna come in this week after the Giants game. This that's gonna be a battle. Um they owe the Giants one now. So they've got something to play for, and they've they've they've got something to you know rally around and and come together on because they need to put their foot down for the division. Because Dallas is is is coming coming on strong. Dak is playing well. I still don't believe in Dallas. Their defense is still atrocious. But Philly has to, you know, Philly has to put their foot down and make a statement. They have to find they have to find their identity. And right now, it seems like they're just getting by because they have talent. And I think, you know, the tush-push thing is a distraction, you know, too much focus on that stuff. They have to find an identity. Clearly, they're a better team when Carter is in on defense. He made a great play this week. But when he's off the field, as we saw, he was injured. He got thrown out that, you know, they can't, they they seemingly can't stop anybody's run when he's not on the field.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_02:I've never seen, you know, I've seen where, you know, you lose a player interior defensive lineman. Okay. But but Philly's got bodies. That's what they do, right? They rotate those guys in and out, and they have depth at that position. So I think they'll figure it out. I think they're gonna be fine. They just have to well, I mean, once they get clicking on offense, who's gonna stop them? You know, they've got too much talent for anybody to to be able to roll out there and really stop them. It's kind of almost a mirror image of Kansas City.
SPEAKER_03:Offensively.
SPEAKER_00:Another team that seems to be the mystifying is the Cowboys. Cowboys beat the Redskins, you know, at 44-22. Dak looks better than I've ever seen. I've never been a Dak fan. Uh, not that he's not a good quarterback. I just never really cared for the I never seemed to like the Dallas quarterbacks. I haven't liked anybody since I was. You never liked Dak. You know, I never think Dallas fans like Dak. I never was a Romo fan, but you know, other quarterbacks I was that Dallas had, but just not them. And and Dak never was. And the offense is playing on all cylinders. And you have to say to yourself, I'm sure uh in the dark at night, the owner says to himself, imagine if I didn't let my ego get in the way of getting rid of my best defensive player. Because if I didn't, I'd have a hell of a team right now that I may be able to take to the Super Bowl because he he makes that defense makes that defense, yes, makes that defense better. And you makes any defense better. So, I mean, it's a little bit of a mystery.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Dallas is a very kind of a Jekyll and hype team, I guess. If there's blood in the water, Dallas is gonna beat you. But one thing I've noticed about Dallas is they don't like getting punched in the mouth.
SPEAKER_00:And that is true.
SPEAKER_02:If you come out swinging, you can put Dallas in a hole. And I know Dak is playing well, but you know, the Redskins are are are kind of an example of, you know, they lost last week to Chicago. Last year, that game, that Chicago game, vaulted them forward. Now it seems like, and we talked about that last week, that it was an important game for both those teams. Washington seems like maybe they've regressed a little bit, or maybe the league has just caught up to them. Plus, that's a division game with Dallas, so anything had happened. But Dallas will take, if you're, if, if you have something to exploit and you let Dallas exploit it, they will murder you. But if you stand up to them and punch them in the mouth, you have a very good shot at beating them because they're not built for that. So I still think Philly is gonna win that division. Dallas is gonna is gonna, you know, pending their schedule, you know, uh, could still make the playoffs for sure if Dak is gonna continue playing that way.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I I think uh I think that's true. I think that is certainly, you know, you got Like they could have won the Packers game.
SPEAKER_02:That game ended in a tie. The Packers are still trying to find themselves. I know they won this weekend, but they did not have an impressive victory, in my opinion. And we thought that maybe they would take that next step, and that Micah Parsons going on that defense would make them even more formidable. And they're still just kind of fine, trying to find their way.
SPEAKER_00:So, yeah, so you know, I'm I'm going the order of the listed here. So the next next game, the Colts. The Colts and the Chargers. I mean, if somebody's saying this kid ain't for real at this point.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I you know, I think it's funny. It's it's last year it was Sam Darnold and the Vikings. Sam is still having success this year, but this year it's Daniel Jones. What can you say? I mean, he's he threw for 280 yards, I think, this weekend, two touchdowns, and they're rolling on all cylinders. I mean, they can play with anybody, their offense is good, their running game is good, he's playing within himself as a quarterback. They're not putting him in a position to have to be forced to make crazy plays.
SPEAKER_00:Right. I mean, he was 20, 23 for 34, 288, two touchdowns, no interceptions. 288. When Herbert was 32 of 55. Wow. He threw 55 passes. 420 yards. My God. Three TDs, two interceptions, and lost a game.
SPEAKER_02:That's incredible. Absolutely incredible.
SPEAKER_00:If you don't think turnovers make a difference, uh I don't know what to say.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Well, we saw that. I'm sure we'll talk about the Giants. We saw that in the game.
SPEAKER_00:We're gonna get we're gonna get there. I'm saving that for. The coupe de gras here.
SPEAKER_02:Cherry on top. So, I mean, kudos to the to the Colts. I wrote them off at the beginning of the season, and I didn't even think of Daniel Jones. I thought the other guy was going to be the starting quarterback, Anthony uh Richardson. Is it Richard? No, uh, did I get that right? Regardless, I was wrong. I have to e-crawl on that one. The Colts look like world beaters. You have to wonder if you're in the AFC, the Colts are gonna play their way into the number one seed because the next two or three teams are gonna beat each other up.
SPEAKER_03:Correct.
SPEAKER_02:So if the Colts can stay ahead of them by, you know, I think they're ahead of everybody by two games at this point, you know, they just have to keep doing what they're doing and stay focused, and they will get the one seed. That's that's a huge advantage. So kudos to them.
SPEAKER_00:So the 49ers, oh, by the way, something we've talked about, I forgot to mention, just popped into my head, regarding um the Raiders. Uh Max Crosby was injured. And uh that's gotta be a really big blow to them because he's really the leader of that club. There's nobody else there that can lead.
SPEAKER_02:He's not, yeah, he he takes it on the chin every week with the media. He's clearly the leader of their defense, and you know, he's probably the most outspoken raider uh on the team.
SPEAKER_00:So anyway, uh 49ers and Falcons, who knows what's going on with the 49ers? I mean, I don't know what to say. I'll tell you something.
SPEAKER_02:Just on paper, their GM is really good. They draft football players, they lost their best player on defense. I think everybody's ready to write them off this weekend, and they found a way to win the game. And they're playing with I don't even know who the quarterback is anymore. Every week it's somebody new. Birdie's out, Mac Jones is out, this guy's in. So give the 49ers credit because they're they're reeling with injuries. I know their wide receivering core was was beaten up for a while there, and you know, their running back situation wasn't great, and they're finding, but they just they know how to draft football players, and their coaching staff is very good, and you have to give them credit because they are all on the same page. And I know that McCaffrey is, you know, virtually unstoppable. He's their whole offense, essentially. Um, but he was out, he's back, he seems healthy. So hope, you know, what you're gonna get out of him. Can you win that division? Can you beat Seattle and you know find your way to the top of the division or into a playoff spot? They're they're an incredibly well-coached, tough football team. And it shows it it the difference between a team like them and like the Jets, they draft football players. Their roster is complete from top to bottom, and everybody on that roster can play football. And it shows every week, whether they're in every game, they rarely get blown out ever. They're in every game, they're a man down on defense, and they still come and play and win.
SPEAKER_00:Come on. Think about their ability to draft players. Their last pick was Purdy, right? All right, so let's let's just let's just leave it at that.
SPEAKER_02:All you need to know. That's all you need to know. All you need to know. Incredible, incredible football organization. I mean, they were in the 80s, and it's just more of the same stuff. You know, it's it's they really have it on on their the they have the right personnel. And their owner, whether it was Debartolo back then or who is it now? I forgot. Who the hell knows? Still uh part of the D Bartolo family, but they're just an incredible organization. They they really are. I mean, they're they're relevant, they're they're seemingly always relevant, and they draft incredible football players.
SPEAKER_00:So it's time. The Broncos and the Giants. Boy. So let's not yeah, right? Let's not forget that when Dra Bull, when the coach says, I'm gonna put in our rookie quarterback, and the owner and the GM said, Hey, it wasn't our idea, it was his idea. He's basically, we wouldn't have said that was okay. Yeah. You have to say to yourself, what is wrong with these people? Do they not want him to succeed? Are they looking for somebody to blame? They don't say which is the right thing to say. Listen, and we've talked about this before, it's the coach's decision, and we're gonna support him. Right. Which in the same breath is saying he's gonna live and die by this decision. He makes bad decisions, we're gonna fire him, right? But it's your decision. All these things should not be made. I mean, what ruins sports is managing by committee, whether it's baseball, whether it's football. Making managerial decisions by committee destroys everything because you can't make everybody happy. It's one thing to go to the GM and the owner and say, listen, there's wrong things doing. What do you think? What's your feedback? Well, I wouldn't be that much favored for it, but it's your decision. If that's what we want to do, I'm gonna support it. What's wrong with that? And yes, you're saying if you don't make good decisions, you're not gonna keep the job. Duh. Who keeps their job when they make bad decisions? Well the owner. Yeah, the owner's he's in it. So I have two things that I two things, and they're more than two. Now that I just was nice to the coach, I'm gonna kill him. I was waiting to see which way you were gonna go. So I don't know which one's more important because they both suck and I think they both turn the game. And I have to laugh because when I was a kid, my friend whose grandfather went to like prep school with Willington Mara and had had Giants tickets from, you know, the polo grounds kind of thing. So he had we so his family had tickets, I want to say they were on a 30 or 40 yard line, like 10 rows up, from you know, back in the Birth of Christ days. And and the whole family split it up. Everybody fought, which games you got, and I would get to go a couple of times. So we spent a lot of times at Giant Stadium as a kid. Not kid, but you know, 18 to he spent when he was younger, but I want to say 18 to 20s, certainly was there in 86, certainly there was there. I went to every playoff game in the 90s year. And and I think in 86 too, we went to every game, and and I had spoken to him in a while, and I texted him. I said, Are you you know, unbelievable because they were up 19 points, all this stuff was going on. And he called me and he said, and he, and he said, uh the real no, he texted me back and said, Boy, they're really fun to watch. And at that moment, the NFL football god said, Oh yeah, should have should have kept your mouth shut. And I swear to God, at that moment, the entire entire thing switched up. He blamed me for saying, Do you believe this? And I blame him for saying they're fun to watch. But whatever um whatever they say, like in Silver Lighting's playbook, the Juju was shot. Everything turns bad. But the two big things I would really say that bother me the most is first of all, the kicker. So they bring in this guy from Ireland under the International Players Program, which means he doesn't take a roster spot. Right. And he goes to the practice team and he's able to be brought up three times during the year without taking a roster spot. Now, in theory, that sounds smart, except the guy can't kick. So to me, if he can't kick, it doesn't matter. Just me. He's from Ireland. I'm not picking on the Irish today.
SPEAKER_02:I I think what matters even more is who's taking the roster spot. Who did you who did you elevate into the 53-man roster that you had to have this guy kick field goals?
SPEAKER_00:I'd love to have the answer to that question. I think I know who it is. So here it is. So in yesterday's game, he misses two extra points. One, they don't make a kick because they don't know he can kick it. They don't think he can kick, so they go for two and they miss it. Right.
SPEAKER_02:So that's on a terrible play call.
SPEAKER_00:A terrible, terri, horrible play call. So that's three points. So give them the benefit of the doubt for the fourth point. That's three points. They lose by one. But they wouldn't have lost, they would have won by more because they would have had to go for a touchdown because a field goal wouldn't have done it if they had those three points. Right. But anyway, I to put a kid who you know doesn't have it in that situation is wrong. And it's wrong on the coach. It's not the kid's fault that he can't kick or couldn't kick in a pressure situation or had ever been in that kind of pressure situation. It's the coach's fault. The player wasn't prepared, and maybe he didn't have the ability, but we don't know the answer to that question. He certainly failed. So that's your thing. The other is, and I don't know what the score was at the time, the long pass that the defense was is a word, if you're a real Giant fan and you remember the Giants from the 70s and 80s, the kiss of death, pre-event defense. If you really remember how many games that they were leading that they lost with no time left because of pre-event defense, what do you do? You just over. So this team has been successful rushing all game. They had their number, all right? And Sean Payton is a brilliant coach. You give him an inch, he's gonna drive a tractor trailer through it. Yep.
unknown:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And enjoys doing it. And has done it his whole career. And Knicks is not a bad quarterback. His possibilities of being a really good quarterback. And that team is on the up and up, moving up. You know, I was impressed that they were beating them, to be honest, what they have. What happens? He rushes three men. Three men. You watch the replay, there are two. You saw it live. Right, I saw it live too, but I watched the replay again? Twice, actually. So what do you see? You know what you see when in an NFL game, you see a bunch of rushers, the quarterback, you know, one of the big rushers break loose, and then the quarterback's moving around in the pocket. That's not what happened here. There were two linemen who didn't know what to do because they had no assignments. They were just looking around for somebody to block, and there wasn't anybody. And the quarterback's saying, Hey, I have all the time in the world. Come on, go out. Go down to the garbage can, make a right. Go, go, go to the corner, the next block. You know, like playing street ball. So that they have all the time in the world. He lets the one fly because he could throw. Sure. And they commit a long pass.
SPEAKER_02:They got 15 yards more than they needed. It was like second and or third and 19 or whatever it was.
SPEAKER_00:And it changed everything. And that is coaching. I think it's clock management. It's bizarre. It's not bad. It's bizarre. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's so we've already seen that from Dable, right? Like I know we talked about Dable previously, stated I think he's a good coach. I know you felt differently. But now there's so much to unpack here. First things first. You let up 33 points in the fourth quarter of a football game. Someone's got to get fired. I last night I tweeted I would have left the whole effing coaching staff on the tarmac in Denver because that's inexcusable. Having slept on it.
SPEAKER_00:You know, that's a great visual to see that picture with the plane pulling out all of their own.
SPEAKER_02:I would have had Doug Peterson on the phone in the air, meet me in New York. You're the new head coach. I would have called Jim Herman. You're my new defensive coordinator. And I'll I'll get Brian Connolly to come run the offense because they could have done a better job from their couch than what they did on the field in Denver. Horrible. That's number one. Today I woke up a little forgiving, thinking, all right, someone still has to get fired. The defensive coordinator's got to go. How does he survive that? He can't. You can't survive that. That's egregious. It's not like you, all right, you were you're up 19-0, and they can't they had three long drives, and at the end of the game, they scored a third touchdown and beat you 21-19. It was a thriller. You know, the defense did everything they could, but they just, you know, Denver was better. That's not what happened here. You you blew the game.
SPEAKER_00:You blew it. But by the way, forget about that. You also blew the game, and then your rookie quarterback goes out there and takes the damn game back and puts you up by two points.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that was my next, that was where I was gonna go next.
SPEAKER_00:I apologize.
SPEAKER_02:No, that's okay. That's what makes this even tougher when it comes to whether or not in my thought process, am I firing Dable or am I not firing Dable? Because as we talked about at the beginning, the quarterback coach relationship is vital to the success of the offense. That's his guy. And because Shane and the owner threw basically threw them to the wolf and said, no, that's his decision. That's his guy. So to his credit, and I don't know who called the play, but when it happened, I was like, I went like this. Oh my God. Tiki Barber talked about it today on his show. The Giants had Denver on the ropes. They had called two timeouts. All they had to do was run the football. And what did they do? They called a crossing play to the to the tight end. Best, your best player's got to have the ball in his hands. If you're not running Scatabow, throw it to Scatterbow. Because who else is on their offense is better than him right now?
SPEAKER_00:You need to be running.
SPEAKER_02:Or you do what the what Denver did, line him up in trips and bootleg the quarterback, which I don't I know we talk, we don't want him running. We don't want to get him hurt. But run the football. You want to win the game.
SPEAKER_00:You got to win the game.
SPEAKER_02:That's it. The game's, and that was like five minutes. You know, Denver calls their last timeout. You're getting three and four yards a carry with Scatterboard. Just ram it down their throats. Go win the game. That's that was the time. I'm screaming.
SPEAKER_00:I'm screaming. I forgot about this point. You're right. I'm screaming at the television. They can't hold on. They can't stop the clock. You understand? They can't stop the clock. You have the ball. If you don't throw a pass and somebody goes down, if you take a knee, you're gonna gain 30 seconds minimum.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. That's exactly right. So to Daniel, uh Dan Jesus, to Jackson Dart's credit, he throws the pick. Denver, three or four plays later, is in the end zone. They score. Okay. He comes out, shakes it off like nothing happened, marches right down the field, and sticks it in the end zone. That's a quarterback. That's what you want. That's what you want to see from your quarterback, your franchise, the face of the franchise. So he did his job. He shook it off. It was the coach's fault for calling that stupid play to begin with and putting him in that position. He shook it off, came down the field, scored a touchdown, and put his team ahead. And essentially, you know, they should have won the game at that point, right? There was only 38 seconds, whatever it was, left. So I credit Jackson Dart. It's incredible. I don't, I'm not taking it away from Dable because you know he deserves credit too for that. Because he went right back out there with his guy and let him march down the field. So holding that aside, what are you doing? The game's over. You got to play defense. You're the head coach. So today or tomorrow at the podium, whenever it's going to be, he's got to come out and say, I blew it. I screwed up. This is on me. He's got to protect his players. If he doesn't do that, fire him. Because I'm now no longer an apologist for Dable. I'm not on the same page anymore. I'm on your page. He's got to go. And if you don't fire him right now, and I don't know who's out there, and I'm not going to even speculate, right? But then you're stuck with him. And I do mean stuck with him because, like you said before about the clock management and the play calling and the decision making, he was making those bum calls when Daniel Jones was the quarterback. So what's going to happen for the next 11 weeks? What's going to happen next year and the year after that? Is Dart gonna progress with Dable as his coach? That's a valid question at this point. And I know Rock Bottom and the Giants are on that good, and they lost they have no talent on you know, offensive players are hurt, and this we didn't expect them to be this relevant, this good. You know, I get that. But you have to build forward, and that loss I mean, only a jet coach could survive something like that because of the ineptitude of the ownership. So, and I even talked about the kicker thing yet, right? Because I think that's on Shane trying to be cute. And the guy he replaced him with, at least I think it was little Jordan Humphrey, who's six foot four, and the Broncos put Patrick Sertain on him. He didn't catch a pass yesterday. So they completely took this guy. I mean, he's a practice squad player, but he is huge. But he didn't get one pass thrown to him. So if you're not, you made room on the roster for that guy, and he was completely irrelevant. That's the general manager. And I've been saying it since he put his feet up on the desk and called Saquon. That guy's gotta go. He's got to go. He stakes, and he's costing the Giants talent and time, which is a very limited window in this league. And that's gonna crush Dable if he can figure it out. So something has to happen. Tomorrow, if you're the owner, I don't fire the GM. Someone's gotta go. The GM or the defensive coordinator or both. Get them out of here. They're garbage. You can't not do anything after giving up 33 points in the fourth quarter. I mean, who are they? The the 90 Redskins? Come on.
SPEAKER_00:I don't know what to say. I agree with you 100%. You got a great, you got a you got a potentially good team that are looking to be led and you're not leaning them.
SPEAKER_02:And the defense was playing very well all game, and then you went into this ridiculous pre-vent. I don't know what the I mean, who knows? Who knows? They just got absolutely dismantled as a coaching staff in the fourth quarter. And someone has to answer for that. So uh Dable's got to come out and take it on the chin, regardless, because he is the head coach. But the some I mean, I I don't know, you know, usually it's the coach, I guess, that makes the decision.
SPEAKER_00:You don't know how many times I say to myself, you know, I'm gonna reach out to the public relations set and see if I can get somebody from the Giants to come on our stupid podcast. And, you know, we don't have a lot of people. I mean, by the way, we just this week went past 500 subscriptions. So I thank everybody for that. Yeah, thank you. I mean, if you think we've been doing this for maybe 10 weeks, that's 50 a week, so which is uh I think pretty good. We've had thousands of downloads, so I I thank everybody for that. And likes and comments, but they probably wouldn't give us the time of day, but you wanna I mean you wanna shake these people. You don't I don't understand so caring about their job. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:It's like going to a hospital and the, you know, because I and I I'm saying this from experience. I learned, unfortunately, what the patient advocate was uh when my father was in the hospital.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Someone said to me, Have you spoken to the patient advocate? And I said, What's that? And they're like, the patient advocate is there to relay your concerns to the hospital staff. My father fell, broke his hip, it was a disaster. And we were scrambling to for answers and trying to find out how that could how that happened. And my it was my aunt who had been through it a million times with my grandmother and my aunt said you have to talk to the patient advocate. So the fan base is the family. And there is no advocate for the fan base to ownership, which is the hospital in this case, right?
SPEAKER_00:No, the media is the only advocate.
SPEAKER_02:Well, the media, but the media is it work, it plays both sides, right? They're trying to sell newspapers, they're trying to sell sound bites and tweets and all that other stuff. There's no the only the only real advocates are are like you know, I don't want to say podcasters, but fans that have podcasts like us that we we are trying to advocate for the fan base. We're not vested, I don't have season tickets. I I can't fathom how anybody would pay a PSL to watch a jet game. But they do. So it it's it's hard to get through to the team's personnel, their their promo people, whatever, because they probably have thousands of people calling and telling them all kinds of nasty rotten things. And you know, you can't make like you said before, you can't make everybody happy. They they have to take that in stride. But the fans deserve answers for sure, because that was complete ineptitude. And you could say, well, it was a one-time thing. It was only the one no, it's it's really not a one-time thing because it happens in spots in games during the course of the season. And when you see it over and over again, where the same mistakes are being made, that's gonna catch up. If you don't fix that, then you gotta go.
SPEAKER_00:It's funny when I used to do commercial monitoring of companies. My boss used to say, Well, you've done a good job. They've gone from corrupt to incompetent. But that was your job to make them not corrupt. The only trouble is to hire anybody who's not corrupt. You need they're all incompetent. So needless to say, I think we can leave it with that. We have to at least mention the game that's tonight that I think is a big game, and that's Tampa Bay, uh, Detroit, 7 o'clock. I mean, that should be a barn burner, so to speak.
SPEAKER_02:Tampa Bay's got some injuries. I know the wide receiver's gonna try and play. Uh, we'll see what happens. Obviously, Baker's gonna keep it exciting right up until the last minute.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_02:But, you know, this is another one of those the Lions, the Lions are in in the position where they're the team that has to put their foot down.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And they have to establish that they're the big dog. They have to come out swinging, they have to punch Tampa Bay in the mouth, and if they get an edge, step on the neck and keep it there. Because if you if you let Tampa Bay stick around and it's only a two-score game in the fourth quarter, Baker's gonna find a way. He just it's who he is. It's in his DNA. The Lions are seemingly healthy. They've got you know their offense clicking on all cylinders, their defense is coming along for all intents and purposes, should win the game tonight, but I don't think anybody's counting out Tampa Bay.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So um if we want to look at, I don't know if you want to look at next week, you want to talk about you want to look at next week's schedule at all? I don't I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:I did want to mention RAP Ace Freely.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my god.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Another one I thought would live live forever.
SPEAKER_00:So my cousin was a huge KISS fan, and he dragged me to see them at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Jersey City, which was an old Negro Leagues baseball stadium for the Jersey City Giants or Black Giants or whatever they were called. And we were Yankees or one of those. Wow. I'm one of the old Negro Leagues players. And as you can maybe guess, that stadium was dilapidated in the 40s and 30s when they played. In the 70s or 80s, beginning of the 80s, I think it was the late 70s, it was in really bad shape. He used to sit out in a field, which you hope it wasn't mud, and they played, they'd come out and play two songs and go back. But I saw them very close up, and and uh it was the only time I saw him. I wasn't a big Kiss guy, but I always thought that he was a talented guy, Ace Freely. The warm-up band that day was Jesus band, which was around the Bloodshot era and long before they became the darlings of MTV, and they were still playing blues. So that was a great warm-up band.
SPEAKER_02:But I never saw KISS play, but I did meet Ace Freely at the candlelight. Um, and he was a cool guy. I mean, I just said hello and shook his hand, how you doing? And he got accosted walking out by one of my regulars who's good friend, was good friends with Dom. Rest in peace. Um, he had a picture of Ace in his wallet, and he went right up to me. He says, Ace Freely, I'm a huge fan. Please, I gotta he pull his wallet out, and poor Ace is standing there, and he's he looks like he's seven feet tall. He's just a tall dude, and he's waiting for his ride, and he's like, Okay, man. And he he shows him the picture of his wallet. He's like, Oh, thank you very much. I'm such a big fan, but he was so cool about it. So he didn't freak out, he didn't yell at him or anything. He just was like, you know, shook his hand and said thanks very much and went on his way. And I saw him at the light maybe two or three times over the years, way back. And uh, he just was always kind of a quiet, cool dude and never bothered anybody. So that's that's that's my memory of Ace Freely.
SPEAKER_00:Well, the the thing is to wear makeup for a living when you don't have your makeup on, not as many people recognize you.
SPEAKER_02:I wouldn't have known it was him unless they told me. I had no I just saw this dude in the leather jacket. He fit in with everybody else that came into place at that time.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I met the other who's the other guy with the tongue, the tall, he's 400 feet tall too.
SPEAKER_02:Gene Simmons?
SPEAKER_00:Gene Simmons? Yeah, I met Gene Simmons in the lobby at the Plaza Hotel in New York. He was like in a bathrobe. And he's like 500 to tall. So then I said hello, I shook his hand, he was kind, and he got on the elevator and went up to his room. But he's walking around the Plaza Hotel in slippers in a bathroom. 500 feet tall, towering over everybody. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, sorry. I'm glad you mentioned that.
SPEAKER_02:A lot of our regulars look like kids without the makeup, so I always make that joke. But to meet somebody like that is pretty cool. Just too bad he's gone. Rest in peace.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So you want to talk about Major League Baseball a minute, or yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, you got an interesting matchup tonight. I mean, it's a game seven, right? Two two best words in all sports game seven. So you've got Bieber and um oh man, who's P.
SPEAKER_03:I forgot the guy's name already. Um and I had it here too, and I and I blew it. I'm I'm letting you flounder.
SPEAKER_02:Anyway, the Seattle pitchers got a seven ERA, and Bieber has some experience pitching in in these playoffs, and he's got a lifetime three two five ERA. So I would imagine, and the Blue Jays are home, and they play much better at home than they do on the road. So I would imagine that the Blue Jays are are are gonna find a way to win this tonight. Their bats have come alive. And uh although I don't think Seattle is overmatched, so you know we'll see. It's gonna be interesting. I think it'll be a dog fight, and the home team will probably win because they have the last set bat. That's the way I look at it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we'll see how it goes.
SPEAKER_02:Um I would like to see you know, if if the Blue Jays win, I can be happy for Dom Mattingley. He gets to go to a World Series.
SPEAKER_00:That's true. Yeah, there's gonna be a lot of changes in baseball next year.
SPEAKER_02:Well, the series the Dodgers apparently is gonna dictate some of that because I I I just you know, the Otani thing, I'm so tired of him. You know, he's great, hands down. There's nothing you could say about it, right? Tremendous ball player. The Dodgers got away with murder with that contract. They deferred the whole contract. He gets paid two million dollars a year for the for the length of this contract. And then all that other money is deferred, right? How is that even remotely possible, legal, whatever? It completely violates the spirit of the salary, luxury tax, cap, whatever you want to call it. So, you know.
SPEAKER_00:But isn't that gonna catch up with them sooner or later? Or are they deferring it like Bobby Manager?
SPEAKER_02:After they want another Bonilla.
SPEAKER_00:Are they gonna be a Bobby Mania thing where they're paying it off for the rest of their life?
SPEAKER_02:A Bonilla type situation, you know, which why don't why don't they all do that? I mean, I'd you know, I would think that the commissioner would have had more of a backbone at that point, knowing you were dealing with a degenerate gambler and not allow something. I mean, they were already loaded, but it allowed them to go get more people. You know, bottom line, if the Yankees had done that, if the Yankees had deferred, say, Soto, right, and then brought in three or more guys, like a Freddie Freeman and the way the Dodgers did, there would be civil unrest in the streets of New York. There would be absolute chaos everywhere they went if the Yankees were allowed to do that. But the Dodgers do it, seemingly nobody pairs.
SPEAKER_00:I would just say about Major League Baseballs and salaries that somewhere along the line somebody's gonna have to realize that these lesser teams, lesser because they're not in the bigger markets, that they need some way that they can keep up with the bigger parks because it doesn't win you games, but it you know, if you look at who's left, you say to yourself, they're always a larger market team. Yeah. But you know, something the NFL realized long time ago. Long time ago with the revenue sharing. Revenue sharing. So that's really needs to come down, and they need to get their hands around it. They have to figure it out.
SPEAKER_02:They have to figure it out.
SPEAKER_00:They have to figure it out. So we'll leave it with there with that. Um the one other thing I just want to talk about F1 for a minute. Yeah. So F F Run was the uh United States Grand Prix this weekend in Austin, Texas. To see a whole bunch of foreigners wearing, by foreigners I mean people that live in other countries, wearing cowboy hats is very interesting to see, you know, to see people from the Leatherlands wearing cowboy hats and trying to figure out what that's all about. No one ever did, and no one ever does, but it was a great race, but it's interesting. Matt, Max Verstappen, who is in four in third place for the the world championship, has these opportunities to catch up. Whatever happened with the McLaren race cars and McLaren all beginning, it's like they were using cars that someone else built, like they were cheating on us, which they were not, but they had developed something that wasn't illegal that must have helped them and made their cars better. Their cars were in tune to their drivers. They were winning their races. Uh Norris and um Piastri were winning one and two, one and two, and all of a sudden, you were talking about all of a sudden, right after the constructors championship was that the team had won the most points, and they and they the team won, not the drivers. Everything kind of went downhill. And there's this huge competition where they crashed into each other. So some weeks and more towards the end of the year, there's a sprint, which is at like a half an hour race. It's like 10 um 10 laps. And it lasts like a half an hour. Um Wow. That's and then another one that's the main race is 50. I don't know if it's 10 or 20, but it's like it may be 19. Um, and then there's the regular 56 lap race on Sunday. So you get eight driver points for Saturday, the short one, and you get, I think, 25 or whatever for the big race. So on the sprint, the two McLaren cars crash together and knock each other out.
SPEAKER_02:That's inconceivable. Incredibly huge egos to crash those cars. Those are cars are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
SPEAKER_00:So the interesting, so the McLaren team is not one of so the two big teams are obviously Ferrari and Mercedes, right? So there are$500 million teams that spend$500 million during a year to run their team, if you can imagine. The lesser teams spend$150 to maybe two and a quarter,$200. They have hundreds of people where Ferrari has a thousand people that work to put this race on.
SPEAKER_02:It's incredible.
SPEAKER_00:And they travel all over the world. You know, the drivers make$50 million. I mean, there's all this stuff. So the big two teams are always it's always with Shady Ferrari, Ferrari, not this, then McLaren comes out of nowhere. Red Bull, who with Max Verstappen is on, I mean, they're just tearing it up. I mean, they're in first place, they're tearing it up. No, well, no. The Max is in fourth place, but now he picked up a bunch of points. So there's only five or six, I don't know, races left. So he's within striking distance of the top. Right. I mean So the points are cumulative every week. Right. So, but a guy like either one of the McLaren guys was, you know, all they have to do is finish in the top three. They get points. It's gonna be impossible at one point, number wise, to catch up. But when you crash together and you get knocked out of the race, nobody gets any points. So, you know, this has gone on Oscar came in fourth or fifth this year.
SPEAKER_02:So what do they have to answer to for the car wreck?
SPEAKER_00:So they're teammates, right? The head right, their teammates. So there's a principal that really runs the team, and then there's a board of all the investors and the principal. The principal was also one of the owners of the club. He just sold some of his, I don't know what percentage, of his team for 3.1 billion dollars. Wow. So, you know, I I don't think he's that unhappy. Well, it's funny. I want to say 10 years ago, eight years ago, seven years ago, there was an uh team run by an Indian businessman who ends up getting arrested and whatever. So another guy comes in and buys the team for$117 million because his son's a race car driver and he wants his son to be the driver for the team. So he buys the team and he puts his kid in to race, which of course didn't work out because it never does, and and whatever. But he just sold percentage of the team for how like 150 million. The t the team now, in just those few years, which is the nature of sports in today's market, is worth like 2.3 billion. And he bought it for 117 million out of the bankruptcy court. Who knows how many years ago? Seven years ago, I want to say. Wow. So F1 is F1 is a life, and Apple, see, we're gonna make it more so it's so F1 really took off because Netflix did a documentary on it. Year every year they do documentary, and I think it's in the tenth year. And it expl they explain the mystery of it all and and racing and how it is, and you can really watch and start to understand more and more. And it really, I think that's the reason, really blew out that it became super popular. So these teams became more and more valuable. So there's an app that's really their own television station called F1, and you watch that, but an ESPN also carried them. But next year, Apple TV bought it. Oh, wow. So you know. So you can watch it on your phone. Right. Well, you can watch it on your phone now on the F1 app, but you gotta pay monthly for that. So it's interesting, it's growing.
SPEAKER_02:All right, so let's cut to the chase. Who's the Italian driver and what position is he in? Does he have a chance to win this thing?
SPEAKER_00:No. But next year. What kind of car is he driving? So next year. The cars are interesting. Because a lot of times, like Renault used to have a team. They're not Renault anymore. I don't know who they are. Usually somebody buys it and changes it. Renault used Renault engines. McLaren was buying Renault engines, and then they I'm sorry. Red Bull was using Renault engines, and then they changed to Honda engines. Because obviously Red Bull doesn't make their own engines, so they're buying seven. So a lot of these a lot of these teams are using other engines of other teams that are competing. Like a lot of people use Mercedes engines. People buy Ferrari engines.
SPEAKER_02:I'm blown away that Red Bull owns a team. So that's Red Bull the energy drink. Hold on.
SPEAKER_00:Hold on. Red Bull owes two teams. They have a Red Bull one and a Red Bull two.
SPEAKER_03:That's incredible.
SPEAKER_00:That's incredible. So they have four drivers. So that like there's the A team, they're not looked that way, but they are looked that way, A and B. So anytime like a driver doesn't make it in A, they take one of their B drivers and bump them up. So they have this in the bullpen F1 drivers. Now they both have other sponsors. Like, I don't know, one has differently other sponsors. But it really is. So next year, Audi wanted in, so they weren't going to let them in. So they bought another, they bought one of the teams and then they're changing it to Audi. Why would you think that's the same thing? Because they wanted in. Who knows? You know, a lot of politics to it. You know, it's anytime you got one of these national European, you know, things controlled, used a lot of politics to it. Cadillac is getting their first team. So first time a long time, America's gonna have a team. American brand. It's Cadillac. And who's the chairman of the board? Is it a Cadillac team? Mario Andretti's. Of Cadillac? I don't know that. He's chairman of the board of the F1 Cadillac team. That's outrageous. Mario Andretti. That's by the way, they're talking about Lewis Hamilton, who used to race for Mercedes for years, won seven World Championships, and now races Ferrari, and they all hate each other, it would seem from my observation. I don't know if that's true, but they really hate each other. And what's interesting about it is there's a lot of shit that goes on. It's just so interesting how how they are to each other.
SPEAKER_02:So and they're physical specimens because they're like the the engine that they're using. Like you said, Red Bull's using a Honda engine. So what is McLaren using, for instance?
SPEAKER_00:I don't remember, but I'm guessing a McLaren engine, but I don't think that's really true.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:So like but these engines are all custom made and whatever. So what was I saying? So Chevy, I mean uh Cadillac, Aston Martin has a team, other people are using Aston Martin engines.
SPEAKER_02:Is it limited to participants? Is that why they wouldn't let uh Audi join their little club, I guess?
SPEAKER_00:No, I I don't think it's just like the NFL. Just because you want to open a franchise doesn't mean you can come and race.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:You know what I mean? You have to wait till we say it's the right time.
SPEAKER_02:Right, okay.
SPEAKER_00:So what and what they tell you is no, you can't, you we're not gonna give you a franchise to start a franchise, but you can buy one and change it. That's what they do.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And then they're I mean, I would imagine traffic.
SPEAKER_00:I'm not these drivers are the best in the world.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:These drivers are the best in the world. Don't kid yourself. The best in the world. Matter of fact, Lewis Hamilton, he was racing for in the middle of winning all those world championships. He went he went and ran indie and won. So, I mean, he's Hamilton's a driver. He's just got a shit car at the moment. I mean, I apologize to Ferrari. I'd love to own one, I'd love to drive one. I'd love to do it. So the matter of fact, I'd like to put one in my own. Yeah, Hamilton, but Hamilton was the best in the world.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm looking at the points now, and I see the two McLaren drivers at the top have over one's got 346 points, and the other's got 332 points. The next closest guy is Verstappen with 306 points. So he's within striking distance of taking them down. Possibly. He's got to win to play. But you know, if he's got to win at least two more races.
SPEAKER_00:He wins. Max Verstappen is one of these guys. You give him the car, he races, you know, as they say, balls to the wall, and and he wins. He is a tough cat. He's a young guy. Look at his age. Look him up. They guys are 19 years old. And you know what's really interesting? It's incredible. They've all been f they've all been racing together since they were racing go-karts when they were 10 years old. So they compete on this national thing of go-karts, families. You know, you think about Olympic events or whatever, racing. They're all racing go-karts. Then they're racing f uh other kinds of cars, and then they go to F F2, F3, F2, and to get to F1. These people, these guys have been racing together since they're 10 years old. Some of them, there were pictures of them all holding trophies up when they were like 10. They were showing them the other day. Meanwhile, they're all on the podium, one, two, and three. It's really an interesting, it's really an interesting thing. And and uh if you have the F1 app, everything's recorded. So like on Friday, I watch the practice. On Saturday, there's the qualify, where they all qualify for what position they're gonna race on the track. And it's and it's interesting because there's three qualifyings, right? So they all go out, the top the 20 go out and race. The top 15, the other the bad the worst five get those positions. The top 15 compete again, and then the worst five of that get those positions. Then finally, P3, I mean a Q3, they compete for the top 10 positions in speed and whoever gets poll and and whatever. So even qualifying's interesting because guys wreck their cars qualifying. Right. And and they piece that's what happened in the sprint. On sprint, the two guys wrecked their cars for McLaren, pieces all over the track, they're able to rebuild that car and erase it on Sunday. Sometimes they rebuilt it in the break between between Q2 and Q3, or Creek 3 and Creek Q2. They have penalty.
SPEAKER_02:They make car parks all over the garage.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, there are some penalties for certain things like changing a transmission to that extent or something like that, but there's a lot of pieces go on. Even the tires are totally strategic. Everybody uses these Pirelli tires. There's like six or seven of them. And each race they pick three that all racers use. And how soft, a medium, and a hard usually. And then they juggle on which they're gonna do, what the temperature is, how fast you go, what the conditions are. I mean, it's really so much strategy to it, it's unbelievable. That's why But anyway, I think we should call it there. Well, let's not go into the games for next week because we've been on for a long time already.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, we had probably our largest crowd of listeners uh this this this week, so I appreciate that. Please like, please subscribe, please send in questions. Let us know what you want to hear or talk about. We'll be glad to do it. If not, we'll see you next week, at which point the Giants will probably have another win. Oh God. I probably shouldn't have said that. Thanks, Justin.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for having me, Steve. Always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_00:Always a pleasure is mine. See you later.
SPEAKER_03:See you later.