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NFL Final Week, College FB Talk with Matt Bernstein!

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Chaos can be thrilling, but it also exposes the cracks—and college football is feeling both. We open the new year with Matt Bernstein from Believe in Badgers to pull apart the College Football Playoff’s best and worst instincts: the NIL market that turned player movement into a high‑stakes auction, conferences that no longer anchor identity, and a seeding system that sometimes rewards résumés over real strength. We ask the hard question: do fans want the best teams or the best stories, and can the sport deliver both without losing its soul?

Matt brings a player’s perspective on what truly separates contenders: elite talent plus a hardened culture that survives portal raids and media pressure. Together we map out practical fixes—scrap conference title penalties, add wildcard play‑ins for true outsiders, and require meaningful conference schedules to earn a berth. We talk candidly about Notre Dame’s independence, why JMU‑style Cinderellas deserve a path without automatic promotion, and how the committee sets rankings to keep options open down the stretch. The throughline is simple: excitement skyrockets when access feels fair and the rules are clear.

From there, we pivot to the NFL’s wild finish: fourth‑down gambles, hot seats, and how front‑office alignment determines whether a quarterback blossoms or gets buried. We break down playoff matchups, seeding quirks, and the streaming shift that has fans grumbling during win‑or‑go‑home weekends. A late detour into Formula 1 shows the same lesson playing out on a different stage—governance matters, culture compounds, and talent needs structure to shine.

If you care about how championships are really built—on and off the field—you’ll find plenty to argue with and even more to chew on. Follow the show, share this episode with a friend who loves college football hot takes, and drop a review to tell us how you’d fix the playoff.

Welcome, Guest Intro, CFP Focus;

SPEAKER_00

Hello, everyone, and Happy New Year. Welcome back to Sports Live with Steve and Justin. Hello, Justin.

SPEAKER_03

Hello, Steve.

SPEAKER_00

Happy New Year to you. And we have a very, very special guest with us today. So, Matt Bernstein, how are you? I'm good. I'm good, guys. Thanks for having me. Thanks. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for coming on. Justin, you wanna you want to start? Let's so he's not here the whole time. Let's start with him, right?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, let's get right into it. So, Matt, thanks for joining us. For those viewing, you can find Matt at the Believe in Badgers podcast. Yes, sir. And it's on YouTube, right? It's on YouTube. Um Believe in B-L-E-A-V.

NIL Money And Transfer Portal Shock;

SPEAKER_02

Yes. It's the platform that they're the platform they have. It's a it's weird because it sounds like Believe and you you'd spell it like that, but it's not spelled that way.

SPEAKER_03

So Matt was kind enough to join us today to start off the new year. It's awesome. We're gonna discuss the college football playoff. So I'll kick it off by putting on my C-A-N-E-S Canes hat. Because of course we all know they took care of the Buckeyes, which I'm pretty sure Matt will tell you that we always drew for Big Ten teams, but probably not the Buckeyes. Like if they lose, we're it's not really sad about it.

SPEAKER_02

I'm more of a I don't care if Michigan never wins a game for the rest of everyone's life. Ohio State, I'm all right with, you know, it's interesting. I know we're gonna jump into it, but I'm excited for Miami. I mean, I wanted a three out of fours to be the Big Ten, but you know, like the landscape of college football, it almost doesn't matter what what conference you're in anymore. I mean, it sadly, like, too much has to change for that kind of to matter anymore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It's amazing how they they took a great thing and destroyed it.

SPEAKER_02

You know, I I I'm I'm on the side of players should get paid, but there's when they implemented it with no rules, yeah, then it went bananas. They completely took the lid off it. You know, I uh guys are getting paid not hundreds of I thought it was gonna be like people get paid 20, 50 grand. You're getting paid hundreds, millions to play. Right. I would have been rich. Now I'm I'm you know, I'm I'm not rich at all, except in life, I'm very happy. But you know, people are bouncing from school to school to school. I think the college playoffs is the only thing kind of tethering guys to teens anymore because you see so many people opt out of bowl games. So I love the college football playoff schematic. I think there are things wrong with it. Like JMU and Tulane getting in doesn't make sense. What's the point of being 11 and 12? Like I can understand Notre Dame's gripe, except, you know, man up and play a bowl game. Like it's so great to do. Who votes not to? Yeah. So I so I have some things wrong, but I'll let you guys I'll punt back to you guys.

Who Belongs In A 12‑Team Playoff;

SPEAKER_00

Well, what I find interesting is no matter how hard they tried to control the outcome, they got the as usual in life, what you you know, be careful what you wish for, because you get the opposite all the time. And here they're getting maybe something the powers that be didn't like, but the fans are digging it. I mean, unless you're, you know, a Buckeyes fan or something like that. I mean, unless you are, I mean, to have Indiana look like the team they look like, you want to say to yourself, what is going on in the world? How do they do that? I mean, that's how much you can't rig your team. You can't do anything because at the end of the day, anybody wins. I mean, it kind of reminds me of baseball a little bit. There's salaries and salaries, and they go up and up and up, and everybody's paying, getting these guys, the best guys. At the end of the day, some team comes out of nowhere playing well and they win. So I don't know. It's it's just the way I look at it. I don't know if it's the right way. I don't know if it's certainly this isn't the final version of what the playoffs are gonna look like, right? I mean, you know there's gonna be changes, and we gotta figure out what we're doing with conferences. There's gotta be something. And you know what? And I was telling Justin he actually met my friend whose daughter goes to Notre Dame, and her mother and her were ranting raving um how they were treated badly. I mean, listen, I don't care what you want to say ever happened to Notre Dame, they are never treated badly. All right, they have an individual contract with television, they make a fortune of money, they don't have to spit with split with anyone, and that's their choice. And okay, that's your choice, but it has ramifications. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You agree?

SPEAKER_02

I totally agree. When I was at Wisconsin, I wanted Notre Dame to be in the Big Ten. It makes sense. They're in the Midwest. Selfishly, I wanted to play at Notre Dame. I thought it was so cool. We would have played this team with all this, you know, um, culture behind it, all this history. So I'm all for them joining, but they're not stupid. They see, oh, we keep all this money that what NBC or ABC or whoever wants to pay. Why would they jump? Now, they would jump because they can't be conference champions of anything and they can get bumped. That's the downside, and that seems to be what happened. But what do they end? 11 or 12? Like it to me, why be 11? Why have that if if you have JMU's 20-something is playing in the college champ in the college football playoffs? That needs to change too. You didn't have the top best teams, you had conference champions. Some conferences don't always need to be like, I'm wearing my Edgemont shirt. You think Edgemont's gonna play in conference A? They're not gonna do that. It's nuts. We're we're uh B now. We're not playing double, we're not playing big schools. So I it just that needs to change. I think you're Steve to what you were saying before. The the landscape is it's it's open, it's the open Wild West. And any team can get anybody, and all you need to do is pay some players. And and look, Signetti put together a really nice culture, brought the JMU guys he wanted, and he's a winner now. And he's done one of the most massive turnarounds I've ever seen in my life. And if he can, they never had a Heisman. If he can win, it'll be one of the best turnarounds, unless the Jets can do it next year, that I've ever seen in sports. I mean, that's never gonna happen, but it's it's beautiful what he's done with that team. But I just feel bad about the landscape. But college football playoffs is exciting, it's fun, and it was definitely needed because you just had teams. You know, you guys remember 10 years ago, we had two teams just randomly picked who are the top two. And what would that have been this year? It would have been Ohio State, Indiana. It actually would have been a pretty Georgia, Indiana after the conference championship. But the Big Ten didn't play a conference championship.

SPEAKER_03

Right back then.

SPEAKER_02

So you would have had one, two would have been those guys, and that was a good game to watch. So it didn't not work this year, but in other years it would have been a complete debacle. But listen, I'm all for 12 teams. I thought eight would have been perfect. But again, there are some teams that should never be allowed, they shouldn't be allowed to play.

SPEAKER_03

I think it's the decision process trickling down from when we started this with the BCS and the points system, which looking back might have been the best system overall because you just got the two best teams via the eyeball test. Now, with all these teams in, I think the JMUs of the world are kind of like the Boise States from 20 years ago, where you want to root for the dog and you want to believe in Cinderella and you want to see them win against a team like Oklahoma in a big bowl, but that gives credence to the bowl games. The bowl games were important, it was part of the tradition of college football. And Notre Dame's legacy plays a big role, but they're not the same Notre Dame. Yes, I concede that their importance to college football and the history of college football is hugely important to the game itself, but they are not the same football program that they were a hundred years ago. It's just different now. And if they're not gonna join a conference and then turn around and say, well, if we don't get in the playoff, we're not we're not playing in a bowl game. You know what? Take your money and stay home. Play like a play like a billionaire today instead of play like a champion. So how many teams is it gonna take to make everybody happy? And I said it last year. I don't need to see a two or three loss Notre Dame or Michigan or Alabama in the playoff. I just don't. So are we gonna include three loss teams now? Or are they gonna bend over backwards not to include a three-loss team? Look at Alabama and Georgia this year. Regular season Alabama wins, Georgia wins the conference championship. So now you've completely made the conference championship unimportant. So these these games you play, they used to mean everything. And I believe in second chances, yeah, sure. Maybe a team had a quarterback hurt, he he missed a huge game, whatever. That's part of the game. That's part of the landscape of college football. That's all these traditions boil down to at the end of the day. All of that is gone now with the playoff. So something has to happen where, like you said about conferences, Steve, or you know, how they align themselves and who and when they play. Because these things are gonna, you know, they're gonna evolve and they're gonna continue to change, and it's you're never gonna satisfy everybody.

SPEAKER_00

So maybe, you know, I've given a little bit of thought, not a lot of thought, but certainly the conference, you know, championship game or you know, playoff or whatever the heck you call it. I mean, that doesn't make sense anymore, right? Because you have teams that win a win a few games, end up going through, and they're never gonna play in the playoff, right? The conference winner, so to speak. Maybe it's done by maybe it works like football does, is that the conferences are whoever does the best. And maybe you only count winning percentages of conference games, not all the other games that you play. And that you have to play a minimum amount of conference games to qualify for winning your conference. So the person that wins the conference goes on rather than playing a conference game with a team that doesn't really, you know, plays one good game and wins.

Conference Titles, Rankings, And Access;

SPEAKER_02

Uh Justin, before you say anything, I I actually think that there can be again, I do think the conference championship games are not meaningful anymore because one, they shouldn't be counted against you, which they are. And um so my thing is take that game away. This is drastic change, which probably isn't gonna happen, might blow some people's minds. Take that game away and have more teams into the college, just like the NFL. I think college football needs to be like the NFL and have have wild court card games where two teams jam you in two lanes who really shouldn't be going up against number one, play each other to take a spot, have 14 or whatever you want to build it out a little bit more, take away the conference championships, make a structure that can have these Cinderella's potential stories play, but have to get in and have to play each other to get in. Then you are now allowing them to have a chance while you're still letting the 12 possible best teams in, conference championship or not.

SPEAKER_03

Barring an undefeated team, meaning a Cinderella, I don't think anybody outside of Tulane or JMU is going to be upset if they didn't make the playoff. No, because they're gonna get killed. No, it wasn't like they were undefeated and they had a big conference win or a big out-of-conference win against a top-ranked opponent. Conversely, Notre Dame's got Air Force, Army, Navy, who are they playing? They lost to the two best teams they played at the beginning of the year. And then I'm supposed to believe that they got better as the season went along because they didn't play anybody. Uh, it's just it's obnoxious to me. I don't need anything more than the eyeball test to tell me who is and who isn't. So outside of these one loss teams, you want to make a case for some of these two loss teams that maybe they're better than some of the one loss teams?

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

I don't need to see it. I just, like I said before, how many teams are we going to include to make everybody happy? And everybody's never gonna be happy.

SPEAKER_00

Well, they're not happy in basketball. Basketball, everybody, but on the other hand, that's an exciting tournament.

SPEAKER_03

Then yeah, but it's a might be the best NCAA product out there.

SPEAKER_00

But it's a little bit less physically taxing than playing a football game. So we have to admit that. So if we did it that far out, we'd be playing a playoff for the rest of our lives. You know, it would be an uh 18-month sport.

SPEAKER_03

It'd be like the movie basketball season.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And but having said that, I mean, no one cries when uh when a uh a ninth seed blows out a number one seed. You know, it's taken in stride. When Gonzaga was nobody, they're not nobody anymore. But at the time they were nobody, and they would beat a really good team. They'd make it to the final four. To win is a whole nother story for a basketball team because they don't have the people. We know that there's only so many seven-footers that can hit a 30-foot jump shot in the world, right? So the people, the haves and have-nots in basketball are a big deal. You only have five players. But in football, it's it's a different thing. It's really, and and the best quarterback in the world could still have a bad day, and the best offense in the world could still play against a defensive scheme that just has their number, kind of like the Super Bowl last year, when the Eagles totally had a Kansas City's number, and there was nothing they could do. There was nothing they could do. They tried to adjust, it didn't work. That happens in football, you know? Happens in football.

SPEAKER_02

I'll tell you this. I think, um, Steve, to your point, I do think, first off, basketball is very exciting. You put a five guys on the court, one dude could be on fire from three-point land, and they beat a number one. So it could happen. What I love about football is that is you can have a wide receiver running back on fire, but you need the other 10 dudes to be doing their jobs. What I love about football is you got the big heavies up front. It's not just the same kind of body type. You got big dudes, you got small dudes, you got kickers. Some of the kickers look like they should be accountants sitting in Wall Street. It's it's what makes football special. I'm not a proponent of extending the season because it's it's extremely taxing, but it is to me the most fun. And I I think the college football playoffs is special. And I think at JMU team, listen, it's so cool that they were able to get in, but but there needs to be a little bit more structure. And I know Justin, you're hating on Notre Dame, which is fine because I also agree with you. But as an 11 seed or a 12 seed, you don't get in because you didn't win the conference, and Notre Dame's not the only one. I don't remember who 12 is. They didn't get in either. So what's the point of the structure of seeding teams? Yeah, it does, it's just it's all lunacy. I think there are ways to do this. Guys, there's we're I wouldn't say I'm a genius, and I think us three could come up with a better scheme for how the college football playoffs should be played. And they have to have people who can do it.

SPEAKER_03

It's just they're doing what's best to make them the most money.

SPEAKER_02

That's what they're what they're figuring out. And it's a money grab, and and college football has become the biggest money grab all over. I could, we can go into that for days. I think they just need to align with the NFL and say, we need to make it exist. You are now professional athletes at college, and that's it. And structure it exactly the same as the NFL does it.

SPEAKER_00

Well, they're never gonna do this, they're never gonna say it's they're professional athletes.

SPEAKER_03

Just not Matt, before we cut you loose, and thank you again for joining us. As a former player, having played in a different system, but looking at this system, what do you think separates playoff teams from teams that just fall just short of getting in?

Culture vs Talent: What Separates Contenders;

SPEAKER_02

Man, that's a great question. I mean, talent, you gotta have the best guys, but you also have the best team chemistry. And you see a lot, like, look at Indiana. They are playing outrageously well together. They've got some good talent. They've got some. They're great. Mendoza is probably one of the best quarterbacks we've seen in a very long time. 6'5, they don't make human beings like that as quarterbacks. But the team is playing so well together. They have this culture, right? You know, what's his name? It's a brash guy, Signetti. But he is that's a guy you want to play for. You want to go in there and play for a dude is like, Google me, I'll show you what's up. Like, you can read it yourself. To me, that's special, right? Ohio State's always been that way, right? Miami, not, because they almost got the death penalty about 25 years ago. But, you know, if you look at Ohio State, they get the best players. They might not be there for more than two years, and they're win every year, right? Oregon's doing the same with Dan Blank and on his name. Lenahan? No, that's like one of my friends from college. Whatever. So he's the the culture is still being built by these teams. You've seen a lot of other teams who don't have culture, who are either trying to pay, look at um Texas AM like got killed by they paid every person on their team a million bucks and it blew up at all. So I still think you need to have the culture, you have to have the structure, you have to have the right coaching staff. But the college landscape to me is I like the kids getting paid. I just think it's so sad. It's just so how do you buy a jersey? Like, who whose jersey you're gonna buy? They're gonna be gone next year. You can't it's like I think LeBron James, this is a conspiracy theory, and I have to go, started this with going to be a super team and then going back to his team. And then everyone started doing it. And now in college, someone's like, Oh, I know there's a running back at Wisconsin who's gonna get who wants$700,000.$700,000? That takes me 10 years to make that. Now, guess what? Wisconsin says, No. What does he do? Transfer port. Jump ship. So, like, that's the world we live in. I think it's sad. Again, I wish they would change it or had some kind of guardrails up prior, but this is where we're at.

SPEAKER_00

But you know the answer to that is the answer to that is well, why should the NCAA make all the money?

SPEAKER_02

I don't think they should. First of all, I think the NCAA is worthless. And now today they are completely worthless. What do they do now? There's no rules. Why are you coming up with rules? There aren't I couldn't accept a ride in the snow if I was freezing to death by a uh a booster when I was playing. This is 20 years ago. Now I can get a free car.

SPEAKER_01

That's right.

SPEAKER_02

I can get a free tank. Like if someone wanted to give me a tank, I can do there's it's literally doesn't make sense in this world.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you so much. Anytime you appreciate it. Happy New Year. Cart bunch. Anytime you want to come back. Thanks, Matt.

Guardrails, NCAA Relevance, And Player Pay;

SPEAKER_03

Come on. More in the future for sure, especially for college football talk. You know, I think with the college football, you know, this comes down to, you know, does the college football playoff reward the right teams? Are they rewarding the teams that deserve to be there by putting them in, or are they rewarding teams that have a good resume and are not necessarily good teams? You know, that's subjective, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

Is Georgia a good team? Of course Georgia's a good team. Is Alabama a good team? Of course Alabama's a good team. They played each other twice. You know. Is JMU a good team? They won 10, 12 games, whatever it was. They lost what? One, two games. They won their conference. Okay, they're a good team. But did they deserve to be in the college playoff? Again, it's subjective. And like I said prior to all of this, I don't need to see them. I just want to see the two teams that we know, looking on at from the eyeball test, Indiana and Georgia. I realized that didn't play out that way, and we got Miami and Ole Miss and Oregon. Again, that's fine. That's the way the playoff shakes out. But imagine being Indiana now. You have now played three conference championship games to get to the final. You had to beat Ohio State, or sorry, you had to beat Oregon. You had to beat Ohio State in the in the conference championship, and you're playing Oregon again. So what you know, there's like I said, about second chances is one thing, but you know, it just it's changed the landscape and you know how the playoff affects, like he was just saying, about the offseason, right? Like if a kid wants something and he doesn't get it, he's gonna jump ship. And yeah, we didn't even touch the portal, right? Because Indiana has already reloaded via the portal. And what if that kid that he's talking about is on Indiana right now and he says, you know what? I want a million dollars, I want 500,000, I want a car parked in my mom's driveway, I want a new house, whatever it is. And they tell him no, the portal's open. What if he decides, you know what? They're gonna take me at Miami and pay me, or they're gonna take me at Texas and pay me. And he decides, I'm not gonna play this week because I might get hurt and lose all that. So they have to figure this out. The timing of it, where these things fall, because this is it really is the wild west in terms of the college football landscape. And I don't begrudge anybody their money. Go get your money. The majority of these kids, when they leave school, if they even have a degree, when they get it, don't make it in the NFL. They're not gonna get a huge payday unless they are able to create a business for themselves or start a business. They they better have their education behind them. But by all means, go get begrudge anybody their money. So good for them that they're getting their money.

SPEAKER_00

But you know what, you know what's gonna happen? And I'm I'm absolutely sure what's gonna happen. They're gonna make these guys are gonna make a lot of money, and then they're gonna do nothing. And then what's gonna happen is they're gonna get hammered for tax evasion and all this tax stuff, all these tax evasions, they're gonna owe hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they pissed all the money away, and they don't have a dime, and it's gonna be all over the news, and then we're gonna re-question what everybody's getting again.

SPEAKER_03

I I would hope that because how many times have we seen that kind of scenario where people come into money and lose their money for whatever reason, whether it's tax evasion or just spending or whatever? And there has to be some sort of responsibility factor, especially from these colleges.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, colleges, or even these colleges do.

SPEAKER_03

I know they don't care. I I I know they don't. And and when it comes to stuff like that, they go from being kids to adults immediately.

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_03

So I think if if if there's somebody out there, a program that has the willingness to protect their athletes the way they should be, that might be the way to encourage athletes in the portal to come to your school because say, hey, look, we do things the right way. You would expect some a school like Notre Dame to have that kind of you know, structure available to their to their students, right? You might not find that at other schools like Miami, and I'm not trying to dig on them.

SPEAKER_00

I it's just historically speaking.

Post‑Guest: Do Playoffs Reward The Best;

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So, you know, the other part of this too is is the rankings themselves have to come out in late October or November, whatever it is. And these people that rank this committee that ranks these teams, they know what they're doing. They're not stupid people. And I'm not saying that they get the rankings correct, they know how to set up the rankings for the fall. And they did it this year, they did it last year, they do it every year. They know exactly where to place teams to give themselves leverage or hedge that if this team does lose, we can drop them out. If this team loses, we can keep them in.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

They're not stupid people, so and they they know how to use teams like JMU or colleges like JMU to garner interest and position them so that, well, they're getting in. If they lose, we can easily wipe them out. But if they win, somebody else is gonna take the fall. They don't just sit in a room every week and re-redecide what's happening, they they can see it weeks ahead.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Well, I think, you know, I think we could leave it there for now with the college football. That's where it is, and we'll talk about it more after the championship. I think the two games we're looking forward to right now are Oregon and Indiana, which is Friday the 9th at 7:30 p.m., and then before that, Miami and Old Miss, which it's gotta be a good game, right?

SPEAKER_03

I can tell you that for years, I've always loved watching Old Miss play in bowl games, especially in late December, because they don't usually play after that.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

But historically speaking, anyway, I just absolutely love the story right now for Ole Miss having lost their coach. They basically told them, you don't want to be here, you know you can't coach us in the bowl game, get lost, you can't coach us in the in the playoffs, whatever. So, you know, I'm rooting hard for those kids because you know, this is probably the last time that group of kids is gonna play together, and then it'll break up, and some of them probably will transfer to LSU or wherever. So I'm I'm I'm hoping the best for them. Miami, you know, it would be great for the fan base that, especially people like me who hate, you know, the establishment, it would be great for us to see Old Miss play Indiana. Uh, not that Oregon is necessarily an establishment team, but the fact that they're basically owned by Nike. And Nike has all their uniforms and it, you know, that the TV companies, the TV, the outlets, whoever's Television Fox or whoever they want, Oregon and Miami. That's what they want. So I'm I'm against that. So I'm genuinely rooting for Indiana and and Ole Miss on top of it.

SPEAKER_00

Me too. I think that those are my teams, too. Um so we finished the last week of the NFL season. Insanity. Every week insanity this year.

SPEAKER_03

Absolute insanity.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sure the NFL would call it parody. I don't know if I would.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know what to call it. It's it's what a couple things that happened yesterday were bizarre.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, first of all, it went down to the and it never does. It went down to the last game, the last play to decide something.

SPEAKER_03

I I mean, you couldn't ask for more if you built the schedule, if you're the NFL. And it came down to that because, of course, like we've spoken about both of these coaches and their coaching ability and decision making. Tomlin's decision to go for it on fourth down at the end of the first half. I, you know, I'm usually a fan of going for it. It's not hindsight, because I was like, man, he's gonna go for it. I did like the play call, but obviously, when they came to the line, they probably should have been smart enough to get out of that play. If you're gonna go for it, why would you not put it in your future Hall of Famer's hands to get you in the end zone one way or the other? And you could say, well, they probably were expecting that, whatever the case may be. By not taking the points there is what made the ending exciting in the second half. Otherwise, they would have been up and it wouldn't have mattered.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and they missed an extra point and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. But neither of those defenses were very. I mean, you know, TJ Watt, I think, probably had the play of the game where he intercepted uh Lamar Jackson uh to put them in that position. But it was sloppy, it was a little ugly. Again, you got to see, you know, glimpses of Derrick Henry. He didn't get the amount of carries he got the week before, which is I I thought they should have just kept pounding the giving him the football. Lamar Jackson made two incredible plays, but he also, you know, made some incredible blunders. So who knows where that goes? I think neither team is going to fire their head coach, but it could have been part of the decision process for sure, if they're if they're considering it right now. I was joking with Mark last night that when they kicked the field goal and the winner of the New York Giants head coaching position is and I I because either, you know, let's say the guy who loses gets fired. Why wouldn't the Giants hire either one of those coaches?

SPEAKER_00

I know. Well, it's funny coaches getting fired. I mean, we have, and I was just going through the list unless somebody else before when I finished the list at like four o'clock or three o'clock got fired. I mean, first of all, it started off Callahan from the Titans got fired in October. Diabol Diabolt from Giants got fired in November. Raheem Wa uh Morris gets fired from the Falcons at uh yes last night.

SPEAKER_03

I think he was fired before they even had the breast conference for the postgame.

Committee Strategy And Ranking Optics;

SPEAKER_00

And then and then uh Kevin Slavanski gets fired from the Browns today, which everyone was a little bit shocked since he was coach of the year two years in a row, wasn't he? Last year, the year before, two years ago. Was he coach of the year? Yeah, so and then I I think that he's kind of worn out as welcome in the NFL as Pete Carroll. I mean, he got fired from the Raiders after one year.

SPEAKER_03

I think they I think they got their number one pick, and Tom Brady wants someone in there to have a good relationship with the new they're gonna take Mendoza. I mean, it's that's happening. Tom Brady loves Mendoza.

SPEAKER_00

I forgot about Brady involved in this. So yeah, so you're probably right because Carol's not a well, Carol did a great job with Russell back in the day. So yeah. I don't know. Maybe they have their idea on somebody.

SPEAKER_03

I don't far and away. I think it's Mendoza. I think Tom Brady's already No, but I meant for a coach. Well, that I don't know. That I mean, you would hope they have the right guy in the hopper, but definitely they they're gonna take Mendoza, and they probably felt that Pete Carl wasn't a the right fit if they were gonna go that route. So we'll see. But I think that was probably you know a large percentage of the decision to to let him go. Because they just gave him a a three-year contract last year. So he's still got two years left on his contract. They have to pay him. You know, and in the NFL, money talks.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. And Jonathan Gannon, they don't care about that. Jonathan Gannon, because it doesn't count against the they don't care about the money. They it doesn't go against the salary cap that could kill us. Jonathan Gannon gets fired from the Cardos.

SPEAKER_03

So Well, now you have the answer to your question, why that team is so bad.

SPEAKER_00

I tell you, they've been bad, whatever. So back to Stavansky, so he's a two-time NFL coach of the year 2020 and 23. Failed to string together consecutive winning seasons. In his six years serving as the Browns head coach, in each of the two years he won the coach of the year, Stavansky led Cleveland to 11 wins and a playoff appearance. And four seasons outside of those years, Bryan's went combined 23-45. What else do you need to know?

SPEAKER_03

You know, it's it's another one of those guys that they have the coaching resume as a coordinator and young, hot, smart, talent, and all that. And then, you know, Cleveland is not the destination that you want to be in. I just I don't I don't build it that it's the owner. It's it's the owner. Uh, and I I don't know that Stefanski will move on and become a legend or that he will or won't have success, but he he probably deserves another shot. And I'm sure he's gonna get it with it.

SPEAKER_00

He's gonna go to the Giants or the Jets. One of those idiots are gonna hire him.

SPEAKER_03

Well, it depends on the process, right? I mean, he's he's probably in the hopper for Joe Shane. It's an easy choice. But the Jets, the Jets have a head coach, so as far as we know, I don't I don't think anything's changing there.

SPEAKER_00

I don't think anything's changing there.

CFP Semis Preview And Underdogs;

SPEAKER_03

And I will I will put on the black hat and defend Aaron Glenn tonight if you want to go that route. I don't think he needs to. I think any coach that's been in there one year deserves a second year. I I yeah, I believe that too. I I just I listened to some of these talking heads and you know people that are out there, people at the bar, and I they're upset that he let go of Aaron Rodgers. Guy's 42 years old. What is what is the future of your organization with a 40-year-old at quarterback? You don't have a Super Bowl team. You didn't have a Super Bowl team last year, and you didn't have a Super Bowl team the year before that, whether he got hurt or not.

SPEAKER_00

Well, you know, and you had no offensive line. You had no offensive line to support a 40 year if you're gonna have a 40-year-old lack of mobility at this point, which is gonna come to bear next week in the playoff game, when on Monday night they're playing the best front four in all of defenses in in Houston, I mean, he's gonna be running for his life.

SPEAKER_03

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So I'll be surprised if he doesn't get knocked out somewhere along the line.

SPEAKER_03

But you know, the the other part of that with the Jets, you know, people talking about Robert Saylor thinking he is or isn't a good coach, and you look at the success he has in San Francisco. What do the Jets have in any way, shape, or form that resembles what they have in San Francisco?

SPEAKER_00

Unbelievable. Right. Well, first of all, their quarterback is a magic man. Well, he's he does things. Not yesterday. I mean, it's not a consistent magic man, but he is a magic man.

SPEAKER_03

He's able to accomplish some things that you make you shake your head like, wow, how did he do that?

SPEAKER_00

The week before he did it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Sure.

SPEAKER_00

You know, back to the uh Cardinals for a second. I'm reading, I'm reading about Jonathan Gannon, who got fired. Um Gannon and three straight sub-500 seasons in his brief tenure as Arizona's head coach. I guess three years is is not brief in my book, but okay. His most successful campaign was eight and nine in 2024. Wow. He lost 13 games in 23 and 14 in 25. Leaving again his head coach record at 15 and 36. How are you keeping your job? This is the NFL. Yeah, you keep it. Three years? Is the worst mark in the NFL.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know that that fan base is very robust, to be honest with you. They're horrible. You know, it's a retirement state at best. But this this is one of those things, right, where the NFL has to carry organizations like this because of expansion. And along with that comes what they call parody, but to me, it's completely diluted everything.

SPEAKER_00

Mediocrity?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's it's mediocrity at best.

SPEAKER_00

Well, you know what's something else I want to say to you that you want to go back to the Raiders again with Pete Carroll. Let's not forget he had Chip Kelly as his offensive coordinator. That guy's a fraud. I think Chip Kelly is the biggest fake on the face of the earth.

SPEAKER_03

Total fraud. Total fraud. That guy should be coaching a high school team somewhere or Division III College.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, he's had he's he's been in the butt. I'd like to look at, I wish I could look it up right now. What he's done, where he's been. I mean, it's like a joke. Why would you hire that guy?

SPEAKER_03

He rode, he rode his uh his offense from when we were back at Oregon, I guess, his philosophy.

SPEAKER_00

Oregon, Notre Dame, wherever he was.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, enough with that guy. I was so happy he went to Notre Dame and and lost at Notre Dame. That was just tickled me to death. It was a perfect fit. Remember when he was with the Eagles?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, come on. Yeah. I did and did what? So his coaching career. Well, he wasn't a head coach. Where is he? Head coach. He was a Colombian.

SPEAKER_03

And it's even worse when you consider the parody of the NFL that you know his offense should be successful and they should have, you know, players all over the field and scoring all kinds of points.

SPEAKER_00

And it just he's so he went from in 2007, 2008, he was the offensive coordinator. He so he was into Oregon 2009 and 2012.

SPEAKER_03

Is that with Michael Vick?

SPEAKER_00

In Oregon? No, in Philly. Philly? I I want to say it was. And Michael Vick had the craziest couple of games I ever remember. He was when he was first with Philadelphia, he replaced Andy Reed, right? Yep. And then he so Kelly's there 2013, 2015. Then he goes to head coach of 49ers. He's there one year. 2017 he didn't coach. 2018 at 23, he's at UCLA. Then he gets fired from there and he ends up at Ohio State, us as a coordinator and quarterback coach. From there, he gets hired as OC at the Raiders. And who did they lose to when he was at Ohio State? I I don't recall. And then and then um in Northwest, then he now is at Northwestern. So is he at Northwestern? I didn't realize he's at Northwest. 2026, the presentation must no, it must have happened. Must happen now. Or he got hired for the future. Yeah. So because Northwestern can't be paying him with what um what the Raiders are left paying him. So overall college is 81 and 41. Overall NFL is 28 and 35. He's the numbers speak for themselves. Ball games, he's three for three. In tournaments, NFL player, he's 0 for 1.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know. He's not the guy.

SPEAKER_00

He's not any guy. Yeah, he's a lot of nothing. Two-time Pac 10 coach of the year. A P uh 2009, 2010.

SPEAKER_03

And what was the Pac ten? You know, come on.

SPEAKER_00

I know. Uh AP college football coach of the year, 2010. That's when he was with Oregon, right? Yeah. So of course they were a great team. Um Eddie I don't know what that means. Two thousand ten. That's all his accolades are from.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. So good for him. He wrote it for a long time. If he was worth the salt, he would have been coaching in the SEC and winning championships like Nick Saban or even Les Miles or somebody like that, but he didn't.

NFL Week 18 Chaos And Coaching Calls;

SPEAKER_00

So he was at Columbia in his early coaching year, and then he went to Johns Hopkins. Boy, if that doesn't grab your attention.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

I I don't know how that happens. I mean, listen, I've seen it in business where people always get other jobs, and I say to themselves, how is this guy vice president control of operations? He got never loses the office. He has, you know, I I see it all the time. I want to scratch my head, but Chip Kelly is. I agree.

SPEAKER_03

I have no use for it.

SPEAKER_00

And and that's it. That's all I want to say about that. So as far as playoffs, so our playoffs are, I had it all broken down. I think I left it in the other room. But I mean, you have the Monday night game at Pittsburgh, and and everybody's gonna be waiting on that. And then you have Buffalo and uh the Jaguars, right?

SPEAKER_03

Or I have it right in front of me. What am I looking at? Yeah, you've got uh Carolina. Bronco's got the one seed. Yeah. Um I think the most interesting game is the what is it, four three uh the four five game? Who plays who? No, now I'm lost.

SPEAKER_00

Four-five game is and the AFC we're talking about is Houston and um in Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'm taking Houston all day. I'm not even I don't uh I didn't realize that game was on Monday night.

SPEAKER_00

Monday night, eight o'clock.

SPEAKER_03

No kidding. A Monday night playoff game. Did they do that last year? They must have.

SPEAKER_00

Not only that, the Saturday night game is on Amazon.

SPEAKER_03

That's just so obnoxious.

SPEAKER_00

NFL football playoff game on Amazon.

SPEAKER_03

Not available on network television. Come on. What are we doing here? Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know which game is I think it's uh San Francisco, Philadelphia. I don't recall which one's which.

SPEAKER_03

NBC, CBS, ESPN, Fox Fox, Amazon Prime is Bears, Packers. Oh, Bears, Packers.

SPEAKER_00

That's the seven and eight game. But I to me, to me, in a a really interesting game is is Chargers New England. I think it'll be an interesting game. And I also go ahead.

SPEAKER_03

Sorry, finish what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00

I also think uh Rams and Panthers are gonna be an interesting game. San Francisco, who knows? If the the good team shows up and plays some defense, you know, then we give the Eagles for the run for the money. I'll tell you something. I bet you the odds are pretty good on Eagles right now to win the whole thing.

SPEAKER_03

I'll I'll tell you something. The Eagles rested their players yesterday and cost themselves a two seed.

SPEAKER_00

That's correct.

SPEAKER_03

Which means you were okay not having to play who, or did you want to play uh the 49ers? Because for me, that's a little bulletin board material if you're the 49ers. But you know, that comes down to that's gonna come down to which which one of those defenses is gonna break first, I think. And if the 49ers are that defense is one week it's good, one week it's just miserable. I don't know. I I like the 49ers. I thought two weeks ago that way the way after, especially after the Rams lost to the Seahawks, that the 49ers were gonna win a division, and the Seahawks actually put them, you know, put them to bed. So yeah, that's that's a that's gonna be very telly. We'll see what happens there. Because the Eagles could have played the Packers, right? If they win that game yesterday, they play the Packers. The Packers stink. They just stink. I'm sorry. They're not they're beat up. They're love is out, right?

SPEAKER_00

He hurt or is he back?

SPEAKER_03

I think he's he's back. I thought it would oh yeah. Well, I you know what? I don't know. But I I just regardless, I just don't think they're, you know, a team you don't want to play in the playoffs, right? The Bears surging, and uh I'm still gonna go with, you know, I'm gonna go with what I stuck said earlier in the season that I think we'll see the Bears and the Rams in the championship game.

SPEAKER_00

I thought you said what happened to Cincinnati. That's the AFC.

SPEAKER_03

That's the AFC.

SPEAKER_00

We were talking about Cincinnati, remember their first.

SPEAKER_03

How about this? If you're the Bills, what else could you ask for? Cincinnati's out. The Chiefs are out, the Ravens are out, not that they couldn't beat the Ravens, but all these teams with talented quarterbacks, etc., etc. If you're the Bills and you're the sixth seed, Road Dogs are, you know, and they'll probably be favored against the Jaguars, so watch out. But and I like the Jaguars. Quiet. Two seed.

SPEAKER_00

No one's talking about. So let me get a few questions for you. How long is it before the Miami coach gets fired?

SPEAKER_01

He's probably fired this week.

SPEAKER_03

I I don't I can't see them going into another.

SPEAKER_00

And who's gonna be the quarterback and the coach there?

SPEAKER_03

What is their draft position? Because that will factor.

SPEAKER_00

I had it to you. I think I sent it to you.

SPEAKER_03

I know I I had a graphic, but I'll just look it up. I know the Jets sneak snuck up to the two seed. Raiders are won. The Giants dropped. The Giants fans are losing their minds. I love it. I just can't get enough of that. But you know, to see a storied fan base or franchise, storied franchise have their fan base lose their minds over whether or not they should win or not win football games at the end of the season.

SPEAKER_00

Raiders and Jets, and then Cardinals, then Titans, and you know the Giants fans are saying that the Giants won on purpose so they didn't have to worry about a first-round draft pick. A number one draft pick. They won on purpose to get them off the hook. And then uh Browns and Washington and Saints, but that's all I have.

Firings, Fits, And Quarterback Futures;

SPEAKER_03

The Saints are they might be the worst team, and they can it's comical. I'll tell you something. You know, there's so much talk about reordering, restructuring the draft, having a lottery, which I think is the absolute worst thing you could do because we've already seen the lottery does not work and not have a lot of things. You want to have more people saying it's fixed? They can't go there. They just can't go there. I the more I think about it, the more I think my idea was was what was the best route because it protects, I think it just protects everybody. But because the the money at the top is you have to pay more at the top than you do at the bottom. So but the Dolphins are where now? They're 11. They had a 488 strength of schedule and they finished under 500. So I don't see how their coach can survive that. I also don't see how they can keep rolling two out there, V. I know they paid him a lot of money, but No, no, forget him.

SPEAKER_00

They're not gonna roll him out.

SPEAKER_03

They can't. They can't possibly do that.

SPEAKER_00

You know what? Let me tell you exactly what they're gonna do. They're gonna send him for his physical, they're gonna disqualify him, and that'll make sure that they make a claim against their insurance policy against him.

SPEAKER_03

That would be best for everybody, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, it wouldn't be good for him.

SPEAKER_03

Including the including the insurance company, because what happens when he gets his brains knocked out?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, maybe. I mean, I'm sure he doesn't think it's the best for him.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, but he's gotta reconsider that. I mean, he's I just look, I I don't want to knock people. I just don't think he's as good as people say he is or think he was before he got hurt, or whatever.

SPEAKER_00

When you listen to I don't think he was as good at Alabama as people say he was.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I I I don't either. I I that's where I'm at with that. I never I was never a fan, and you know, good for him for what he accomplished in his life, and I know he wants more, but uh if I'm the owner of the Dolphins, coaching the quarterback, it's not even a thought. It's a gone.

SPEAKER_00

He was speed up when he got drafted. They weren't sure he was ever gonna play again.

SPEAKER_03

You know, you had a chance, and I'm not blaming anybody. I'm not blaming him, I'm not blaming the coach, it's just it's not working for me from the eyeball test. You gotta go. I need I need a real quarterback in here. I don't need somebody that runs an RPO or can scramble and move on the run and throw on the run. I need a quarterback, and he's not it for me.

SPEAKER_00

So let's ask about the two by teams. We already said, you know, if with um with Denver, I mean, you're gonna have to go play there now. The air is thin, it's cold, it snows.

SPEAKER_03

It's a rough place to pay. That is not a friendly place to visit in the playoffs. I agree. And now I'll tell you something else about them. They have the third highest uh strength of schedule, I think, in the in the entire playoffs. Really? Um their their strength of schedule was was over 500. Um which I know it's it's it's either 400 or 500, depending on what team you are. Like the um the Patriots have the easiest strength of schedule of all time, right? Theirs was 420 something, 429, I think. Or four last week, I think it was it 490. I don't remember 419, but now it's 429.

SPEAKER_00

But the but they Patriots beat good teams as well as they beat Portugal.

SPEAKER_03

They beat good teams, and the Broncos should have lost to the Jets in the in wherever they played in Europe. Yeah, and they also should have lost to the Giants, and the Giants, as we know, were not good. So Yeah, but I I think that's they're beatable, is what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00

I think their quarterback, I really believe that their quarterback is just coming into himself, and he had good and bad days, and I think against bad teams, he had bad days.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, you're talking about Bo Nicks. Yeah. Yeah, no, I I think he's progressing. I I think if you follow the trajectory, you're looking at somebody who has the coach that he needs to help him succeed in the NFL, like we talked about, taking those steps and progressing and moving forward and getting better every week, and you know, turning the corner from where you're the the quarter, the coach's robot to having autonomy in the offense. I I think he's right at that cusp now. Right.

SPEAKER_00

So we'll see. You know, and I mean and Seattle's no party, right? Seattle's defense seems to be all of a sudden on the ball. Not that they have been playing all year. I think they're playing even better than they were playing. And Darnold, what are you gonna say? If he throws five touchdowns, he'll throw five interceptions, but the defense makes it up.

SPEAKER_03

So how about the fact that he won 14 games for two different teams in back-to-back years? Unbelievable. They can say whatever they want about his playoffs performance last year. It wasn't a fluke that he went 14 and 3 with them, and it's obviously it's not a fluke.

SPEAKER_00

Listen, we saw him come back. Who was it? Who'd he come back against? Uh the Rams. The Rams at what else do you need to say? Unbelievably.

SPEAKER_03

Who do you think is is is seething more? Minnesota fans or Jet fans?

SPEAKER_00

Minnesota fans.

SPEAKER_03

Gotta be.

SPEAKER_00

I got an elevator coming in my apartment today, and a guy was making a delivery and he had a Jets jersey on. I'm like, how's that how's that Jet jersey working out for you? He looked at me, he goes, I was hoping you didn't see it.

SPEAKER_03

You know, the Seahawks, their coach is is got a good pedigree. I mean, you know, he he coached at Georgia. I know he's with the Ravens, he coached at Michigan, of course. Easy guy to root for. Another guy that you don't hear a lot about him, right? Because all the talk is about Sam Darnold. And when the when the Minnesota decided to cut ties, he was right there. It was like, get me a quarterback. That's my guy. And hey, uh, anything can happen. They're gonna be tough to beat. They're gonna be tough to beat. I mean, I was talking all year, you know, about the Rams, and I know the 49ers looked like, you know, when they were healthy anyway, that they were formidable. But the Seahawks won 14 games, they got a home field advantage. You're gonna have to go through Seattle if you want to go to the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_00

I think I think I wouldn't be surprised if you saw a Denver Seattle Super Bowl. I don't think I don't think you'd be surprised at all. I mean, listen, the best quarterbacks in the league are n two of the best quarterbacks in the league are not in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But I don't know how I realize there has to be changes in Baltimore. There's something going on there, whether it's the quarterback, whether it's what.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's kind of a head scratcher.

Seeding, Matchups, And TV Moves;

SPEAKER_00

Mike Tomlin's available, who would go to that town and really build a different viewpoint, maybe he may be available. I don't know if he will be.

SPEAKER_03

Ironically, I think that might be the cure for both teams.

SPEAKER_00

They swapping head coaches.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_03

You know, think about, you know, Harbaugh changing philosophy and still building a winner. I mean, they're they are a good football team. Their defense, you know, was not good all year, and then they they made some changes and they were playing pretty good the last three or four weeks or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_01

And something tells me that Sirianni could win the Super Bowl and get fired. Two Super Bowls in a row and and he gets fired?

SPEAKER_03

I I don't think anybody likes it. That would be unprecedented. I mean, I I I listen. Well, did Jimmy Johnson win two and get fired?

SPEAKER_00

That may be, well, that's different.

SPEAKER_03

He's no Jimmy Johnson, though.

SPEAKER_00

He's no Jimmy Who is? All right, Jimmy Johnson's amazing coach. You know, a national championship and a couple of Super Bowl, that's all I need, right? But anyway, and with a tough owner to work with. And they were friends. They went to college together. Were they roommates or something?

SPEAKER_03

Something weird like that. They knew each other from some I I don't remember.

SPEAKER_00

Anyway, anyway, I think Siriani could go to the Super Bowl, lose, and get fired.

SPEAKER_01

Without a doubt.

SPEAKER_00

I think if there's a guy out there like Harbaugh out there to be hired or Tomlin out there to be hired, they would fire Sirianni so fast their heads would spin. Imagine a coach disagree with a coach of that quality with a team like that.

SPEAKER_03

Well, we said it about Andy Reid last week going back to Philly, if things played out that way.

SPEAKER_00

I think Andy Reed's gonna play one year too many.

SPEAKER_03

Even though I know it'll never happen. The personality of each coach fits the other city, I think, and the fan base better. And the and the roster. I I was watching that game last night, going, man, if these two coaches swapped at halftime, what would the outcome? Would the outcome of this game be any different? Would would, you know, would both teams all of a sudden it it just makes a little sense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But I have to tell you, I think beyond anything else, when it comes to coaches, especially in the NFL, I think sometimes it's just time. That, you know, look at look at Belgique.

SPEAKER_03

It was just time. Well, the Ravens, you know, this year was all about Lamar's health, right? They lost Lamar and then they couldn't win. They couldn't, they they couldn't, they were like stuck in the mud without Lamar. Did you see his back? He couldn't get his wheels under him. Did you see the interview after the game? That was very telling. I couldn't believe he said that. That's a softball. Yes, I want my coach back. That's all you have to say. There's no, I mean, talk about dancing around an answer. All you had to say was, what? Yeah, what kind of question is that? Of course I want my coach back.

SPEAKER_00

So for those who didn't see it, they asked him if Arbor should come back. And he said, I'm not thinking of that. I'm thinking of this loss and what happened. Meanwhile, you can think about it all you want. You lost. You know, you better start thinking about what you're gonna do to stop losing at the end of the season. Yeah. Drop passes. So the question is so funny. The question on first take today, I think it was first take I was listening to, and they were saying, do you put this loss or the last three years of losses at the feet of the quarterback? Or or is there other blame to go around? Coach.

SPEAKER_03

Let me ask you this. Why does why does Josh Allen and Steve McDermott get a pass, but Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh don't?

SPEAKER_00

I don't think, I don't think Lamar Jackson gets a pass. I think they said, well, I I think they said he had no control over the kicker. Well, you know what? You know what he had control of? He could have scored more points, so it didn't come down to the kicker kicking the ball. That's what it is. He put himself in a position to possibly fail. He put himself in a position to make it a flip of a coin.

SPEAKER_03

The Steelers' defenders made plays, TJ Watt, whereas the Ravens did not.

SPEAKER_01

When it, you know, in terms of changing the complexion of the game. So don't when do I get to open my gifts? Oh, Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_03

You gift carte blanche.

SPEAKER_00

So Justin bought me Christmas gifts and he told me I had to open them on air. We're gonna do an unboxing. I got them when I got it. And I feel very badly about that, but um.

SPEAKER_03

Don't feel bad. Nothing suits me well.

SPEAKER_00

This is Is this the one you wanted me to open first? I hope it is.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. The other one you'll probably throw across the room.

SPEAKER_01

Oh god.

SPEAKER_03

I figured that would tie into our top ten.

SPEAKER_01

Good thing they didn't repossess my car before I got this. Came pretty close. Here he is. Lewis Hamilton. Back when he was with Mercedes, pop.

SPEAKER_03

I figured that would look nice on your desk, yeah. Right in front of the camera.

Byes, Strength Of Schedule, And QBs;

SPEAKER_01

It will. So he was a class act. You know how much money he made last year?$100 million. God bless him.

SPEAKER_00

So I think that's gonna go right out there when I figure out how to open that box. There's a lot of tabs and this and that. This one you say I'm gonna throw across the room. What is it, a book?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you might. I don't know. You'd probably have to put that one on the shelf behind you somewhere if you have the patience for it.

SPEAKER_00

It's a Lego. It's a Lego Formula One. Boy, you make good choices. You know, you know what the funny it is? I bought this for Orieta's son because he collects Lego. Oh, no kidding. And when I got it, I kept saying, Man, I wish I had bought one for me, too.

SPEAKER_03

That'll look good right up on that shelf over your left shoulder right there.

SPEAKER_00

Oh man, I know there's not enough crap over that on that shelf. There used to be stuff, but I moved it somewhere else. But just like there's a big spot here, you don't see it. I moved that out and refinished it. I might have sent it to you. So either way, thank you so much. You you did you chose wisely, as they say.

SPEAKER_03

Well, enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00

And to be honest, I didn't get any Christmas gifts this year, so these are the only ones I got. Because I always tell people not to buy me anything because, first of all, I'm impossible to buy something for because I don't really like anything.

SPEAKER_03

And I'm just phone was listening. It popped up on my on my feed, and I was like, you know what? I I gotta get that.

SPEAKER_00

The phone was listening. You know, maybe the Giants or the Jets could look at their phones before they hire a coach. I forget what team it was. It may have been Atlanta, Atlanta. They fired the coach. They hired two different search teams, fields, two different search teams to find one for GM and one for the coach. You know, isn't that does that sound bizarre to me?

SPEAKER_03

It is mind-boggling that any pro sports franchise has to hire a third-party company to go out and find them a new head coach. That's why I was dogging the Jets and the fans for saying that they have to fire Aaron Glenn because what are you gonna do? You gonna let the GM pick? Because the GM picked him, right? The G Tannenbaum picked your GM, your GM picked your coach. So what are you gonna do? You're gonna fire both of them, go back to Tannenbaum and his company and ask for another GM and coach?

SPEAKER_01

They just they'll never get it right. You know I I love this, right?

SPEAKER_03

I can see it on your face.

SPEAKER_00

I'm like, and I love the Lego too. Don't think you thought it was it was fun. I love it. I'm gonna take a picture. So yeah, I mean, listen, I think Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest drivers ever in anything. There's no question about it. There are some other, you know, Max V.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I think that's a top ten story from 2025.

Seattle, Denver, And Playoff Paths;

SPEAKER_00

I mean, whatever happened happened, you know, and I I have been I have been watching I have been watching if anybody likes F1 and you're not anyone likes F1 and you're not watching I wish I could remember the name of the thing, but the F1 series on Netflix I mean it's without a doubt the best. They go through every season and certainly the season last season where you had the head of um the head get caught with sexual harassing or whatever it was of one of his employees and ends up getting fired from why am I drawing a blank on the name of the team? Red Bull gets fired, all right? And you say to yourself if you've watched the early seasons of the of the F1 show on Netflix, you saw this guy's life. First of all, he he's gonna buy back in at Alp Alpine and he's gonna have another team and he's gonna run it. But at least that's what the story is out there at the moment. I don't know if it may have already happened. And he was at Red Bull, he gets forced out. If you saw the early shows about him, he has a beautiful smart wife. They live on this estate with horses and things. He has a picture perfect life, and he's screwing around with some, and we don't know if it's sexual harassment in a way of trying to have sex with someone. I don't know what the facts are, and I don't really care to get into those. But or he was just hassling the crap out of a woman for no reason whatsoever. I know it's out there, I don't know what the truth is, but uh these days it's hard to figure that out without, you know, documentation and whatnot. But yeah, it makes you wonder. And I'm somebody, you know, uh I've been a monitor, uh designated monitor for sexual harassment of organizations to to oversee any complaints of sexual harassment and investigated them and issue reports. So I'm very familiar with what goes on in the world, but I have no idea, you know, I don't I didn't look at the detailed facts. You don't like to I don't know, glorify any such acts. But when they asked when they asked all the owners of the other teams, or, you know, whoever the guys that are controlling it, nobody first said anything. And then the owner at McLaren said something um unusual. It was, you know, there's no reason this guy should continue, or something like that. And you listen, this is a small group of people that control these teams. Yeah. What are you talking? 10 people, you know, 20 people at the outside. So it's gonna be a great series, a great year for F1, all new cars. You're gonna start seeing them more and more at the end of the month in January. You know, you're gonna see them trying to practice racing in in February, and I think they they race in March, so I'm totally looking forward to it. And I appreciate thank you so much for your gifts. It were they were very kind and my pleasure. Enjoy. And you and you you bought the right thing, which no one ever does. So I appreciate it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

You bet.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Um are we good? Do you want to go into anything else?

SPEAKER_03

Did you want to run down the top ten uh moments of 2025?

SPEAKER_00

Or I know we talked about that. Why don't we save it for next week?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_00

Only because we did so much on college football already, so yeah. All right, so here we are. Thank you so much. Thank you for bringing in that guest. Any other people you want to bring in? Go I'd love to have it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks so much. Happy New Year to everybody, happy new new year to you, Justin. Thank you. Happy New Year, Steve. All right, and uh we'll see you all soon.

SPEAKER_03

Catch you next one.

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Um