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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
From Olympic Ice To NFL Turmoil And Baseball Uncertainty
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Two overtime golds for Team USA set the tone—precision passing, fearless goaltending, and big-moment composure that makes you remember why sports hook us. From that high, we dive straight into the hard questions the industry keeps dodging: what happens when the scoreboard says “win,” but the business model pushes fans, players, and cities to the brink?
We open with USA women’s and men’s hockey sealing gold in dramatic fashion, spotlighting goaltenders who changed outcomes and a not-quite-standard Olympic ice sheet that subtly shifted pace and spacing. Then the mood turns as we reflect on the tragic death of Rondale Moore at 25. We don’t speculate—we ask for better: proactive mental health outreach, easier access to counseling, and honest conversations about injuries, contracts, and identity when the uniform comes off. Caring for people has to be more than a PR line.
From there, we put on the GM hat. Is a top-tier edge rusher a smarter cornerstone than a second-tier QB? We break down why the Jets might be better served taking the best football player at two, exploring trade-down scenarios, bridge quarterbacks, and the difference between drafting for headlines and drafting for January. Then it’s over to baseball’s uneasy spring: swollen contracts, $130 spring seats, shaky RSN math, and whispers of a long labor standoff. We challenge the logic of letting core talent walk while hoping new money fixes a culture problem. Projections are nice; bullpens and divisions are mean.
Stadium politics pull the curtain back. PSLs, $75 parking, public money for eight to nine home dates—what’s the civic ROI? The Bears flirting with a cross-border move shows how fast tradition gets traded for tax certainty. The NFL hums on scarcity and revenue sharing, the NBA gambles fan goodwill on load management, and baseball risks another long walk back if it tests patience again. Through it all, hockey keeps modeling a stubborn, blue-collar compact with fans: effort, accountability, and identity that doesn’t melt under the lights.
If you’re here for honest sports talk without the fluff—big wins, tough losses, real stakes—hit follow, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us which part of the modern sports machine you’d fix first.
USA Double Gold: Instant Reactions
SPEAKER_01Hello, everyone. Olympic Gold USA hockey. Men, women, all win gold in overtime tonight on Sports Talk with Steven Justin.
SPEAKER_02Hello, Justin. Good afternoon, Your Honor.
SPEAKER_01How's everything?
SPEAKER_02Oh, everything's great. I'm I'm just about all shoveled out.
SPEAKER_01This is the Blizzard Extraordinaire. We all have our USA in honor of our unbelievable gold medal winning group, the many, many things. The women's hockey, I kept saying the whole time I'm watching the hockey and with a whole group of people. And I kept saying, How come the Rangers can't do that? How come the Rangers did that? And if you saw the overtime win shot, which I don't know if you saw the women, the overtime winning shot, it was like bam, bam, passed thing, took it on, perfect. It was like, come on, man. Why can't the Rangers do that?
SPEAKER_02Well, that's a whole nother story, but credit to the women and their fight, because I thought from the beginning they were they looked like they were more than ready to play. They came out and in the first, I think, seven minutes, they looked exhausted. It looked like they had shot their load. And I texted Mike, they look tired. And I think that they had, you know, nerves and butterflies and all the emotion and pressure on them because they do have a good squad. And I think they expected to win because they did have uh a fairly good tournament. Um, you know, that emotion catches up with you, and you come out firing all cylinders, and all of a sudden you got nothing left in the tank, and you're not even, you know, halfway through the first period. And they fought hard, and uh, you know, they they had an incredible victory, you know, right up until the end. They pushed to overtime and all credit in the world because they really fought hard. The whole team played right I watched that game live. I did not see the men's game live because uh I was still sleeping. I was sleeping it off Sunday morning.
Goaltending Masterclass And Olympic Ice
SPEAKER_01The men's were the same thing. I mean, they won it overtime. Bam, bam, pass, hit, boom. It was great. I mean, they were just just on the money.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the the uh I did catch the replay, and they, you know, they looked like they were just you know standard operating procedures, just fighting back and forth the whole game, and um they left nothing in the tank. And even on that goal, you know, Canada comes down essentially with their best player. He takes his best shot, and this is after Kelly Buck made that incredible save. I mean, that was just that was a video game save.
SPEAKER_01That should be mentioned. I thought uh I thought Canada men's and women and new and New York and United States men's and women goalies just played incredibly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they did. They didn't have to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01I mean, some of those saves, I was like, get out of here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're you're looking at at it like, man, how did he make you because you're looking at like it looks like it's a wide open goal, and they're not gonna they can't miss. And the goalies are standing on their heads. I mean, you get some incredible hockey in the Olympics, and I know there was a problem with the ice. The ice is typically bigger, Olympic ice is typically longer and a little wider than NHL ice. And that just makes for better play, in my opinion. I love watching Olympic hockey. I think the game just has a better flow to it, but you could tell that, or they they had mentioned that the dimensions were not normal for Olympic hockey. I think it was shortened. So it was kind of an odd-shaped ice, if you will, for lack of the city.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but it wasn't us, it was it was it was the Italians that did it. So they can't blame us, you know. We didn't we didn't cook the books. We would have if we if we had an opportunity, but we didn't. So overall, men, women, Norway, teen gold, twelve silver, eleven bronze for 41 medals. Nice job. United States comes in second in Winter Olympics. Come on. 12 gold, 12 silver, nine bronze for 33.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, incredible showcase for American athletes.
SPEAKER_01You know, I I don't know who's doing the math here. What is it? Six, two and six, nine and two. Six and two is eight. I guess it's right. I guess it's right. I'm checking the televisions. I'm checking, yeah, 33 medals overall. Netherlands came in third with 20. Italy came in fourth uh with 30, but most of theirs were bronze, 10 gold, 14 bronze. So they were they had a lot of bronze. Germany with 20. They were the host.
SPEAKER_02I'm glad they finished in in the in the medal count like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And Belgium had one bronze, Bulgaria, two bronze, Georgia, one silver, Estonia one silver, Denmark one Latava. Latavia? Latavia had two medals. Latvia. Finland six. New one of those. New Zealand three. Kazakhstan had a gold. I wonder what it was in. Let's look. Kazakhstan, figure skating.
SPEAKER_02Kazakhstan finished in the gold?
SPEAKER_01Kazakhs. Figure skating? Figure skating? Figure skating. Men's singles. I gotta see this.
SPEAKER_02For them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Came out in a in a little came out as a poll in a parent suit. Wow. That's quite impressive.
Medal Table Rundown And Broadcast Notes
SPEAKER_02NBC did a really good job covering all the sports, considering that they were hours ahead of us. So bringing bringing those sports here live was a little tough because of the timing. But I thought they did a really good job. You know, the Super Bowl kind of led into that with because NBC hosted the Super Bowl. And I know Tarico got on a plane right after the Super Bowl ended to go out there because he was basically the host for NBC for the uh Olympics. But their coverage was pretty incredible between the streaming um and the uh Olympic channel, or Peacock, I guess, was where you could get most of it. And some of the sports, some of the, you know, they have a good way of making the lesser sports look good. I mean, they made the curling interesting, they have all these incredible graphics that they use. People that were coming to the bar were interested in watching more th more so than I've noticed in years past. Um although I think the Winter Olympics does get more viewership from a bar standpoint than the Summer Olympics. Um unless unless it's basketball, you know. Which I know they were mentioning having basketball in the winter instead of summer, which I think makes way more sense, but that's just my opinion. Hockey's just so incredible, absolutely incredible. Maybe they maybe they make the court bigger, like they do with with the ice. Maybe they make the basketball court bigger, make it a little tougher on these guys.
SPEAKER_01Maybe they put a target on the back, or maybe they, you know, make it a little tougher. I don't know. I I I let's not if I start talking about basketball, I'm gonna start losing my mind against.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think basketball's in the summer because they didn't want to pull the college kids from the tournament. You know, they're they're at least their conference tournaments. Maybe I'm off base, but I do think it was more watchable from my standpoint when it was not professionals playing in the Olympics in the Olympics. Like I like being the underdog, I like seeing the talent being showcased and see what they have and see if they're coachable, and there's something to be said for that when they're not professionals out there.
SPEAKER_01So they stopped the hockey season so they can go play the Olympics. Why can't they start the basketball games to go play the basketball? Yeah, and then this way, and then and then this way I could they could take all that crap about resting and shove it up, you know, where. Exactly. And and and they could take a break if they if they need this break so bad, they don't have to play in the Olympics.
SPEAKER_02I think there's more pride from countries, not the United States, when it comes to international play from the athletes. I think that might play a part in it. But uh money talks, as they say.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. I don't know what it does anymore. I think. I really don't. I mean, these guys are getting more money than God already. What do they want? More? You want more than$50 million a year to play basketball? I mean, how much more than Sam? Really? I mean, what are they eating? And then, you know. I mean, come on, listen. Football is one thing. Football, you risk your life every time you go out there. And if anybody thinks you don't, then they don't know anything about football. Agreed. Fo football, I mean, you never know when you're gonna do something. Basketball, yes. Can you have a uh uh uh an uh career-ending injury? Absolutely. But in football, you can have a life-changing injury.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Let me see a basketball player take a stick to the teeth and lose his two front teeth and stay in the game and score the winning basket the way Nick Team USA.
SPEAKER_01So I'm I'm guessing everybody saw everybody saw those pictures of him with the flag around him with blood dripping out of his mouth and teeth hanging out. And you know what? Nothing made him happier.
SPEAKER_02That was incredible. Jack used, I mean, he took one right to the chops. Did he even come off? I think he went off the ice just to get a new stick or something. He comes back out, bloody missing teeth. You know, Anthony Davis gets a peaky fracture and you know, he's crying and he's out for the season.
SPEAKER_01You know what, you know what, you know what they call that in hockey? Motivation. It's just a different animal altogether, man. Absolutely. Hockey players, I don't care who you are, it's like blood. It's like no matter what team you're playing for, it's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02I think if I lost my two front teeth, I'd still find a way to eat. That's about it.
Pro Pride, Paychecks, And Olympic Eligibility
SPEAKER_01I remember when we were kids in high school, I hate to tell this story, and we had a uh the kicker that could kick 45 yard field goals who used to get impressive in high school. Who used to get stoned in the woods during practice, but nobody said anything to him because he can kick 45 yard field goals, all right? Nobody else could. So you know what he did in attracted field? He was the pole vaulter. Wow. Now, how many people could you talk into doing that, right? So one day I I'd like to say to the area, to the I'd like to say to the uh story that he was stoned because I do believe he was, but I really don't remember for sure. So the practice in pole vaulting, it was raining, so we're inside. And I don't want to give you any non-truth. I was not on the track and field team. All right. There was no ability in my man. I was, I when I was in football or wrestling or baseball, I was the slowest guy in the entire team. All right. And you could be sure that I prayed every day that I wasn't the last kid that I had to run extra laps. All right. There was one guy who was slower. One guy. And I had to really kill myself to make sure he was. But we're in practicing in the in uh track and field. I think I was there just sitting in the stands because they were inside and I didn't want to go home or whatever. And he goes to pole vault and he's thon and he and he he knees himself in the mouth and knocks his two front teeth out. So he was the same thing. He was laughing, he has no front teeth. He's crazy. Anyway, sorry I did I digressed. But on a somber note, talking about the effects of football on people, the NFL wide receiver Ron Rondall Moore died over the weekend at the age of 25. It's a sad story. It's a sad story, and I don't know that much about it other than that police uh said Moore is died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was found dead in his garage in the property of his hometown in New Albany, um, Indiana. Police chief said that the death remains under investigation uh because, you know, it just doesn't make sense that a 25-year-old either kills himself, especially with so much to live for, and he's a good player. You know, the Vikings issues a statement that they spoke into the family and full support from the Vikings, not that anybody believes that. And communication or player and coaches, and you have to wonder, you know, you know, he had he had injured himself in 2024, where he dislocated his right knee and never ended up playing for the Atlanta Falcons when he played.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02And then they traded.
SPEAKER_01Right. And then and then you say to yourself, here are these players, they worked their whole life to get through the NFL and they make it to the NFL, and they have this bullshit injury that happens to them where they dislocate their knee, or or it happens now. In football, that happens every day. Every day a team loses a player. Right? Every time they play, there's some kind of thing that goes on. And it really I don't know. I don't know what the NFL thinks. I mean, they they introduced there's a lot of rule changes coming, you know that? Another set of rule changes. I don't know if you read them. Um I glanced at them, I didn't really look for them, but I'll I'll I'll spend some time with them.
SPEAKER_02I saved it for another time. Uh because I'm still not processed, finished processing the last set of rule changes.
SPEAKER_01Or that we got threatened by the NFL, that if we ever played that again, they were gonna, you know, there was gonna be retribution.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we can't repeat things you say. Is that what it is? If you say something, this is the rule. We can't repeat you telling us what the rule is? I mean, right. I'm still beyond beyond that.
SPEAKER_02Somewhere in between do as I say, not as I do, or something like that.
Toughness, Hockey Culture, And Comparisons
SPEAKER_01Isn't part of promotion to to uh and you want to promote the league, is that you want us talking about what you do and say? I don't really get it. Oh, let's let's mom, let's I mean could I have regurgitated what they said? Yes. But to me it didn't make sense, so it I didn't want to say it where it didn't make sense because then you would think it was me. Right. Let them explain it. Uh uh the kicky part I still don't get. I know there's a strategy to it. Uh we are not playing shuffleboard or curling or any of that other stuff. By the way, I don't know if you saw the video that was on Facebook and YouTube of Donald Trump doing curling. Did you see that?
SPEAKER_02I've seen so many. Was it for real or was it AI?
SPEAKER_01Oh, it was total total AI.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I've seen I've seen a couple of them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it and it's the funniest thing because he he messes it up, he makes a mistake, and so he gets the silver medal. And the woman from Venezuela, who's in charge of Venezuela now, gets the gold medal. Then, and then he knocks her over and takes the medal and stands on the number one spot. And while he's standing on the spot, the crowd, which is all Snoop Dogg and his friends, are all screaming, Trump, Trump! It's hysterical. I mean, you couldn't make it up. I mean, it's it's it's almost true in a way. It's great. But anyway, am I gonna have to edit that out because they're gonna say I'm making a political comment or whatever? Please.
SPEAKER_02Regarding Rondell Moore, I'm sure like the NFL always does is they're they never let anything happen that they can't promote the brand in some way. So, and then just like every other time some something tragic happens, they have some sort of, you know, statement and then knee-jerk reaction. And for his sake and his family's sake, I hope that they're able to allow this to play out, to find out exactly what happened so that there can be some sort of peace and they can move forward, you know, the family can move forward, how they want to move forward to heal from this. As far as the players are concerned, I'm sure they're gonna rally around one another. And, you know, this has got to be an incredibly tough thing for not only guys in the NFL, but his college teammates and his friends. You know, I've often wondered why the NFL, and I'm not blaming the NFL, but there's only so much you can do as a teammate and a friend to to check on somebody to see how they're doing. And, you know, sometimes people fall through the cracks. I hate to say it, I don't mean it that way, but you lose track of people, you lose track of friends because life just kind of gets in the way. And with all the money that the NFL makes, with with everything that they have at their fingertips, I hope that going forward they can find a way to check in on these players, make sure that they're okay, even if it's offering them counseling to some degree. Maybe they I you can't make it mandatory. I don't want to say it should be mandatory, but you know, just checking in on them, it's not enough to be evaluated as a rookie and then sent off to some city you didn't grow up in and get paid all this money to play this sport. Um, kind of be under your own. I mean, I know that they're grown men, but they need to be tended to. They people need to check in with them.
SPEAKER_01I don't know where that's so it looks like he went he went to Purdue and one of the coaches there is now the coach at Louisville. He's the head coach at Louisville, Jeff Brahm, and he said he called him the ultimate competitor who wouldn't back down from a challenge. He was drafted, think about how young he was drafted. He's only 25 now. He played his first three years in Louisville in um I'm sorry, I just lost my train of thought here for a minute. He played his through first three years, first three years in the NFL at Arizona, where he he was a he was a receiver and a return specialist. He was drafted at second round. And then in 24, what he got with the Fal Falcons at the first at the first preseason game he dislocated his knee. Yeah. So, you know, uh that has to be has to be devastating.
Rondale Moore Tragedy And Player Support
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean that these this is what these guys do professionally, and it's how they make a living. And you know, I know they get paid a lot of money to do it regardless, but even still, it's it's it can crush you. And we're, you know, we're we're talking out of turn a little bit. I mean, we're assuming it's it's it's a mental health issue, but we don't know the facts yet, right? And I I don't know what makes it easier when someone goes this way. Uh but it could be something else, maybe pressure, outside pressure, family pressure, who knows. But there have been other instances where guys have been in trouble and don't necessarily see a way out. Right. And I think the NFL, you know, could do a better job maybe of, you know, making themselves available in some degree to all of these players for whatever it is that they have going on. I know they have personal lives and there's only so far you can go. I don't expect them to police everybody, but just be available in some way so that they can come to the team or come to the league and say, I have a problem, whether it's a mental health issue or a personal issue, whatever it is, because there is, in my opinion, enough money there for the NFL to help these guys, to see them through that and let them understand that you don't have to be on the field to be important. If what you have going on off the field is more important or is weighing on you for whatever reason, and coming to practice isn't just an outlet or an escape, it's it's heavier than that, then take a break. They'll they'll they should be compensated, but taken care of so that they don't have to struggle.
SPEAKER_01I would guess he probably heard or assumed that the Vikings were gonna release him because he was injured again.
SPEAKER_02Which unfortunately is the nature of the business, right? I mean, that part, if if that's the issue, you know, you can help a guy through that. You can walk a guy through that. It's not the end of the world. And they can prepare players for things like that. You hope, anyway. Maybe that falls on his agent. I don't know. I'm I'm speculating, but you hate to see it. It's tragic. And I just hope that the NFL is willing to do something that's not just for show. They actually create a program that reaches out or is out there for these guys to access if they're in if they're I'm just looking at the you know, everybody's talking about draft, draft this, draft that.
SPEAKER_01You know, Mendoza's going first. I don't care what anybody says. I don't know who has to pick, whatever it is they're taking Mendoza.
SPEAKER_02I can't imagine that he is going to have a you know issue unless he completely falls apart, whether he goes to the combine or not, or has a terrible pro day, he's the guy right now. And it's not to disparage any of these other players, but he's heads above the rest right now with all the intangibles. So unless you find out some weird thing like he's got very small hands or he scored a three on his wonder lick test, whatever, you know.
SPEAKER_01Um then they have number two uh overall, uh Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame running back.
SPEAKER_02You know, I I'm not gonna disparage him because he's a running back. Running backs are look at the pay scale in the NFL. They they've made running backs almost obsolete. And then what did we see in the Super Bowl? Running back that was MVP. So maybe that changes things for running backs going forward in the NFL.
SPEAKER_01It kind of reminds me of of um what's his name, Williams? Running back? Yeah. From where? From Seattle.
SPEAKER_00Walker.
SPEAKER_01Walker. I know it was a W. So you know, here's the breakdown on him. And keep in mind what you saw Walker do. Love his name. Love his dynamic weapon as a runner and a receiver. You get that from Walker 2. On the inside, he runs high and narrow, but he explodes to and through the hole. That's what Walker did the entire time. He will drop a level lower on contact and has a lower leg drive to bounce off defenders. I mean, this sounds familiar, right?
SPEAKER_02Eyeball tests. It's pretty simple.
SPEAKER_01He doesn't always let things develop. That's the one thing that's different. The one thing about Walker. He let the world develop.
SPEAKER_02He completed his own blocking scheme.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god. But they say German loves more of an old-fashioned type back where he has you know elite speeds, outruns to capture corners, his rare ability to make defenders miss without gearing down. His spin move is electric. That's pretty interesting. I'd love to see that. I never saw him. I mean, I I'm sure I saw him when I saw Notre Game, but I don't remember it.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's a red flag. If you saw him and you don't remember it, he's not that memorable, is he? I'm not knocking him. I mean not. I would take the contrary.
SPEAKER_01They may not have been paying attention to Notre Dame.
SPEAKER_02It's low hanging fruit for me. He didn't win a Heisman trophy. They lost two games. What else do you want me to? You know, they played a lower level of competition and they look good against bum teams. I, you know, I'm not sold on them as a running back going number two overall. That's not happening. But if a team wants to take them with the first pick, they better have everything else in place before they take a running back. That's all I'm gonna say.
SPEAKER_01So to me, I would take if I wasn't taking uh I don't care who I am, what team, the quarterback's gone, right? You're gonna wait for the other one, but you're not drafting them in the beginning because the other quarterbacks aren't like like Mendoza is. The next three are my more my guys, I would say. Everybody can use them. David Bailey from Texas Tech. He's an explosive edge runner who is unbelievable. He eats ground. They say he eats ground in a hairy. He has a dip and rip move before flattening quickly with a passer. I mean, come on. And then somebody we spoke about already, and that was Arvell, Arvell Reese from Ohio, and Sonny Styles, the linebacker from Ohio, senior, and then you have that guy Ruben Bain Jr. from Miami. He's a great edge player, great rusher. And then you go back to Ohio State, Carnell Tate, wide receiver. I mean, he they have such a good team, Ohio State. So many great players. And then you have Caleb Downs, that's safety that they say is going to end up with the Giants. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02If you have the number two pick in this draft, number three pick in this draft, and you can get a premier defensive pass rusher, you take them. The drop. I agree.
SPEAKER_01You but you have no matter who you pick, and I think this is what NFL teams do not do anymore. I shouldn't say that. The good NFL teams do do it. The bad ones don't.
SPEAKER_02Well, it's like I said, they're forced to fill those skill positions because they don't have anybody.
SPEAKER_01But what they do is they draft these guys and then don't either allow them to develop or they aren't willing to pay them the big bucks when their rookie contract lens out. And if you're not willing to do that, then you better draft somebody else.
Draft Talk: QBs, Edge Rushers, And Value
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And they're they're looking at it from a business standpoint. If we draft this kid, is it going to make more money for us in three years than if we draft this other kid? Are we paying this kid if he's the real deal in three years, or is he not going to be with us because we can't afford it or we don't want it? And then on top of that, they don't really develop these players, and there's sometimes a lot of square pegs and round holes. So, you know, because the Jets have the number two pick and because they need so much help, you could make the argument that trading the pick is the way to go because they need so much more, and there might be a more talented draft last uh next year. But if the kid from Texas Tech or Alvell Reese have a tremendous combine or showcase their talent and the and the videotape doesn't lie, okay, it's that simple. We talked about that with Coach Herman and we talked about, or at least I talked about the Jets and Vernon Golston. You better have somebody that can evaluate talent because if you're picking that high, they better get it right. Because if you take somebody at at that number two spot and they turn out to be a bus, which the Jets have done plenty of times before, it's just SOS. So, you know, they got to get it right. Do I have faith that they can get it right? I'd say I'm 50-50. If they picked a kid from Texas Tech, I'd be leaning higher and say, you made the right pick. You got the best football player available and you move forward. But because one thing I will say about the Jets that works in their favor is their offensive line had a good year. I know that's hard to imagine, but they were healthy all year. They played every game, they didn't miss a snap, and they and that was without Elijah Vera Tucker, who, you know, they might lose him because I don't know that you can justify paying him at this point, and he didn't play, and they did very well without him. That's not a bad problem to have. But they they have to replace what they lost on defense. And I know people are like, wait a minute, they don't have a quarterback, but you're not wasting talent by picking that number two defensive edge rusher and getting a quarterback later. That quarterback's gonna be available, whoever it is, if you want to take your quarterback. Or it's one more year with another free agent, whoever that may be. And maybe they go out and get Jacoby Brissett or Malik from Green Bay or one of these other guys that's available. Kirk Cousins, I know his name was floated out there. It's not a bad option. Um, I know Jet fans don't want to hear that because they're still waiting for their quarterback. But again, square peg round hole. You're not getting Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees in this draft. And I'm not trying to talk bad about any of these other kids coming out, but Mendoza's at the top, and then there's a level between him and everybody else. You know, you got to do the right thing if you're at the top of this draft and not go crazy with a reach because there is talent available. And if you don't think there's talent available, trade the pick. Fleece somebody, get what you can get back.
SPEAKER_01If you really want an offensive tackle and is a good one, I think from Miami, I forget his name. I mean, if you really want that and that's what you think is the most important to you, trade down, get an extra pick, and go after the guy you really need.
SPEAKER_02I mean, yeah, I agree. Listen, though that Miami offensive line, we saw that in the national championship game, they are huge.
SPEAKER_01And don't do what you usually do is take the guy that should be draft tenth and draft him at two and end up paying them more money than you had to. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Again, I think teams would be protected from that if the drafts were in a reverse order, but that's a whole nother we could talk about that another time for sure.
SPEAKER_01So, you know, just to switch gears a little bit. I mean, we talk about football all the time because it's what we enjoy talking about it, and it goes on every day. It's not like it used to be in the offseason, there was nothing, but Matt texted me we'll do next week, so he's not coming on today. Great. I think that's better anyway. So let's start talking about baseball.
SPEAKER_02Baseball's got a big problem.
SPEAKER_01Which is big problem.
SPEAKER_02This season is already awash, it hasn't even gotten started yet. My friends are going down for spring training to see the Mets, and uh I couldn't get off from work to get down there, and I wasn't really interested in paying$130 for a ticket to a spring training game. And the excuse is, well, it's Mets Yankees, and like I I don't want to pay$130 for a regular season game, let alone spring training, after getting on a plane. But, you know, I I don't know how I don't know how this is gonna play out. This season is gonna probably be who knows how it's gonna play out. There's a lot of turnover, a lot of guys in different places. These contracts are out of control. And I'm always the first to say, I don't begrudge a player his money. Get paid whatever you can get paid. But the way baseball has structured these contracts, they put themselves in this hole to create a work stoppage. They knew it was coming, they wanted to make it unbearable for the players. They're prepared, according to Ed Randall and Buck Show Walter, they are prepared to sit out for two years Major League Baseball, which isn't, I mean, that's gonna destroy the sport. Took them years to come back from the strike in '94 to get the attendance back back to where it was before, you know, even that was even through the home run era and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01I I don't I don't get any of that. You know, I I don't get that they want to sit out. If I was them, even if you think you're the richest man in the world at 14 billion or whatever the f hell the uh um Cohen has, um I mean you have four or five billion tied up in I don't know what he paid for the Mets. Was it more than that? Six billion? I forget what it was.
SPEAKER_02It was in billions for sure. Single digit billions, but he paid a lot. Two two points.
SPEAKER_01So you have that tied up in your team and you're about to, you know, have a huge investment in building a casino around there, you really want to let the team flounder?
SPEAKER_02I can't I I what they did is egregious to me. And letting Pete Alonzo walk and then paying somebody else twice as much as you gotta pay Pete, and then using the issue, well, we don't want to pay Pete when he's 36 or 35 and year six, seven, eight. Who cares? You if you're trying to win now, win now. Worry about that later. Because if you win, that all that all goes away. You're forgiven. And given the history of the Mets, Tom Seaver, number, you know, top of the list, and how they're always, you know, Daryl Strawberry, another one, right? Are you not aware of that? That you you have to stop the bleeding, right? You said you we're coming in here, we're gonna win a World Series in five years, and we're gonna spend, and we're gonna do all this stuff, and you have been contrary to that the whole time. And all these people talking, uh, the new sheriff in town, it's like having, you know, we're gonna have George Steinbrenner and spend money now like the Yankees did, and they're gonna see what it's like to be second-class citizens and all that talk and all that nonsense and all this fodder that we had to listen to. What did they get out of it? And where are they going?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, but I'm reading that the the underover for Mets wins total projection is 110.
SPEAKER_02They're winning over under is 110 games? Does that include the postseason? That's incredi uh 10 wins.
SPEAKER_01Based on what? What are they winning? They haven't cracked 90 90 wins since 2020. Let me go see.
SPEAKER_02I'm taking the under on that.
SPEAKER_01I can't perceive because I've got to. That's not an embarrassing understanding. I'm betting it right now. Hold on.
SPEAKER_02110? That can't be right.
SPEAKER_01I'm reading SI.
SPEAKER_02By the way, Steve Cohen paid 2.4 billion for the Mets in 2020.
SPEAKER_01Okay. You looked it up, or somebody told you?
SPEAKER_02I looked it up.
SPEAKER_01Major League Baseball. I can't even believe it. I'm on DraftKings. I'm looking at it right now. Major League Baseball. Home run, hits, strikeouts, wins. Diamondbacks, Athletics, Braves, Baltimore, Cubs, White Sox, Reds. Maybe that's nine and a half, 90 and a half. Maybe I'm reading it wrong. 90 and a half, and it's win. Maybe it's 90 and a half. Hold on. That makes more sense. I'd still take the under. I don't think they're gonna win 90 games. You think they're gonna win 90 games?
SPEAKER_02I think they'll underperform. They lost their closer. They lost Pete Alonzo. They lost the first base coach that essentially everybody said accounted for 20% of their offense with his uh stolen base theory. I I don't I don't see it. I'm sorry. I just don't see it. I mean, unless they're starting the pitches, they're gonna go out there and throw 980 shutouts.
SPEAKER_01I read it wrong. It's 90 and a half games.
SPEAKER_02I'll still take the under. I'm not very confident in display now.
SPEAKER_01Do I think they could win 90 games? Yes. Do I think they could win 91? I really don't. So I would take the under in a minute. So the Mets are are the Yankees are the same, 90 and a half.
SPEAKER_02The entire division got better. How many wins did the Yankees have last year? It was in the 90s.
SPEAKER_01Back to the Mets for a minute. You're dealing with, you know, you got the Phillies and the Braves in the East, right?
SPEAKER_02They're not going away.
SPEAKER_01They're not going away.
SPEAKER_02And the Marlins always seemingly play play tough. At least, you know, they don't they don't quit the Marlins. I mean, I know they're not a very good franchise historically.
SPEAKER_01What do you think? Let's go through this. Under and over is 75. Under and over, 88 and a half.
SPEAKER_02The Braves?
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02I mean, they're incredibly talented. I know they had a, you know, I think I would take you over and I would consider it for sure.
SPEAKER_01Cubs, White Sox, Reds, Guardians, whatever team that is. Tigers.
SPEAKER_02It's Pittsburgh. I'm interested to know what Pittsburgh is.
SPEAKER_01It's funny. I was just Los Angeles. Los Angeles regular season. No. No, it's the Angels. You think I should learn to read by this point in my life?
SPEAKER_02Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Dodgers 102.5 under over.
SPEAKER_02102 and a half. I mean, they're loaded.
SPEAKER_01I would take the over. They are loaded.
SPEAKER_02And two and a half. I mean, that's a lot. How many games are the Padres?
SPEAKER_01It's not going to make what there are. If everybody else is going to be the under, you gotta figure the Dodgers are going to be the over, right?
SPEAKER_02The 102 and a half is gonna come down to whether or not Edwin Diaz is Edwin Diaz. And to quote our favorite New York sports franchise, uh New York Sports radio host, if Edwin Diaz is Edwin Diaz, he's Alexander the Great. Who said that? I'm paraphrasing, of course, but so you know, Edwin Diaz, a lot of people, it's funny. He came to the Mets, he's supposed to be this lights out closer. And I just, you know, Mets fans were never happy with him, at least not the first year. He got better. He was the premier closer in baseball. I I tend to think that guys that can do that continue to do that. And I think being in Los Angeles with that team takes even less, there's less pressure on him, right? Because they're so loaded. You might not have to pitch, but one inning, you know, they're gonna score runs unless he has a complete breakdown. I would say that even though it's a hundred and two is a lot of wins compared to the rest of the division. Yeah, I would consider 102 and taking the over for sure.
SPEAKER_01Um it's 102 and a half, by the way.
SPEAKER_02It's a lot, that's a lot of wins. What did they have last year?
SPEAKER_01A lot. What the hell?
SPEAKER_02I mean, obviously they must have been in the 90 win range.
SPEAKER_01I think they had more than a NFL. Here it is.
SPEAKER_02I'm looking for the NL West.
SPEAKER_01I have it right here. Dodgers 93.
SPEAKER_02They had 93 wins last year and they're predicted for 102 this year?
SPEAKER_01That's because everybody else got worse. Did the Padres get incredibly worse? Well, let's see what the Padres uh I would rethink that.
SPEAKER_02I would consider the under at this point. But that's because Otani's healthy, he's pitching this year, and they got Ewan Diaz.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02But still, another 10 wins is a lot. That's a lot, man.
SPEAKER_01So we have some new visitors, first time watchers tonight. Hello, Alex. Thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to the show.
MLB Outlook, Contracts, And Strike Fears
SPEAKER_01Uh what the heck was I looking up again?
SPEAKER_02Padres wins.
SPEAKER_01Oh, Padres, what what the thing was. Yep. Where is that?
SPEAKER_02They had 90 wins last year.
SPEAKER_01How many is it?
SPEAKER_02What happened to them? The Giants had 81 wins. Diamondbacks were two games under 500. The Colorado Rockies won 43 games last year. That's incredibly bad.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Look how much money they made and how much. Can you find that? Look how much money they made and how much they got from the from the league. I bet it was tens of millions of dollars they put in their pocket. What was that?
SPEAKER_02It's just such a bad format. It's just such a bad format. I would imagine that you might see. I mean, I I I know this goes against my body.
SPEAKER_01I'm looking at Padres, right? What it is, what they're predicting?
SPEAKER_02Well, they had 90 wins last year. If the Dodgers are at 102 and a half, then the Padres gotta be at 80 something. 85, 86.
SPEAKER_01Wow, Nationals are at 65 under Roper. What the heck are the Padres? Reds, Sox, Cubs, Sox again, Orioles, Braves.
SPEAKER_02I can't help but wonder if baseball is going to contract for a couple of teams. I thought about that the other night. That if this is about money, how could you sustain where you're at? The product is already bad in most, you know, some instances anyway. But there's bad players on every team.
SPEAKER_01I think it's more likely they let them move rather than contract. Under over 95, 85 and a half.
SPEAKER_02Speaking of moving, how about the Bears?
SPEAKER_01Come on. How do you move the Bears? Soldier Field? Why don't you move Green Bay to Wisconsin or move Green Bay to North Dakota?
SPEAKER_02North Dakota, right. What are we doing here? This is this is unbelievable. This is a I mean, I understand I'm a dinosaur and a traditionalist and all that, but you know, and things change and in the grand scheme of things, football's only been around for a hundred years, so it's a blip on the radar. But I just, you know, I I don't I don't understand how people aren't looking at this and seeing it for what it is and why this is happening. And I won't get political, but that plays a part. It's a tr it's a crime. It's a crime that a major city in this country is losing a major sports franchise in the in the in the country. Here it is. Here it is.
SPEAKER_01Here it is. Last week the governor, I can't pronounce his name to save his lines like P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R. Fritzker sent state representatives to meet with the Bears, and the goal was simple to continue to negotiate a term of public financing and tax that would make the Bears feel comfortable enough to invest$2 billion into a brand new indoor stadium in Arlington Heights. The meeting lasted three hours and mostly agreed on a bill. Less than 24 hours after the meeting, Indiana lawmakers unanimously approved an amendment 24 to zero. It's probably the last time they've ever agreed 100% on something that would clear the way to Bears to build a new stadium across state lines in Harmon, Indiana.
SPEAKER_02So this is incredible.
SPEAKER_01So they go and make a deal for our.
SPEAKER_02This is a big deal, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I then 24 hours after that, they say the governor was blindsided. The Bears had discussed exploring stadium options in Indiana, but everyone left the prior day's meeting believing they were going to finalize the term sheet over the next few days for the Bears to release a statement that they're committed to seeing an Indiana Day's deal go through.
SPEAKER_02I don't believe for one second that the governor was blindsided. That I don't believe. Whether or not they had a deal, I'm willing to believe that. We live in a state where both our football team, well, two of our three football teams play in another state, and we're still we still call them the New York Jets and Giants, even though they play in a swamp in Jersey. Right. But this is the tri-state area. So if you're from this area, you you kind of get it. You understand it. It does make sense. Maybe because we grew up that way or after the fact, we're just conditioned to think that way, but it's it's a lesser deal for them to play there than it is for the Bears to leave Chicago. I'm sorry. I that's just the way I I feel about it.
SPEAKER_01Well, the Giants and Jeffs left New York.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I agree. And they needed they did need a place to play. And I know politics plays a heavy role here and the money and everything else. In the Meadowlands is a dump. It's a dump. It is I it the the the Cleveland Stadium that I I sent you the the tweet about, the building of that new stadium and this Chicago stadium, which looks like it's going to be every bit as good as that one if they build it, it's it puts even things that came before the new Meadowlands, like Gillette Stadium, that's a decent stadium. And if you look at the way they retrofit Wrigley Field and the way they retrofit Fenway Park to keep those stadiums in those cities and not have to tear them down and build new parks or move somewhere else, why can't they do that here? Why can't they do didn't and didn't they just here's here's the other here's the other argument.
SPEAKER_01Some people say it's not a big deal. The San Francisco 49ers don't play in San Francisco, which is true, right? The Dallas Cowboys don't play in Dallas anymore. The New York Giants and Jets don't play in New York anymore. And if we want to talk distance, the Bears Stadium that would be in Hammond, Indiana, would actually be closer to Soldier Field.
SPEAKER_02The Hammond Bears sounds like a minor league baseball team.
SPEAKER_01Well, you could say, you know, you could say the Karlstadt Giants.
Mets, Yankees, And Win Totals Reality Check
SPEAKER_02If you told me that the surrounding area in Chicago, where Soldier Field is, that it was the stadium was an eyesore. The stadium was preventing jobs, you know, uh was not in or in some way it was detrimental to the to the local uh neighborhoods or whatever. Then I would be willing to say, okay, it's if it's that much of a problem, then they need to move. I get it. But let's be honest, all these teams that moved out of those cities, they didn't change the name of the city, they kept the name of the city. So it's like poltergeists, you know, they they moved the headstones, but they didn't move the bodies. Well, they're only doing that because they they get they're making money off.
SPEAKER_01And look how that ended up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, right. They're making money off San Francisco, which is a if anybody's gonna move- I know why they moved out of San Francisco, but they kept the name because why? Santa Clara doesn't sell, Arlington doesn't sell, they need the name. So, you know, say whatever you want. They could play anywhere, just like, you know, the Jets and Giants play in the Meadowlands.
SPEAKER_01The question I I wonder.
SPEAKER_02But look at the look at the Delmont, right? They just built this new arena out there. They said they couldn't be done. The Jets can't play there. They did it, even though they're not going there. Money talks, like I said before, and BS walks, and there's just no, it's always about money, and it's not it's not ever about upholding tradition. It's just about how can we make more money? How much more money do they need to make?
SPEAKER_01Is that is that a real question?
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean it's as long as fans keep going to the games, they're gonna do whatever they want. They want more, you know.
SPEAKER_01It's just more. That's all you want, right? You'll want more. Everybody wants more, and that's the way it works. So, I mean, I don't know what fans think. You know, fans may be looking forward to a new stadium, but it's it's it's it in New York when you got thrilled, you were getting a new stadium, the stadium was a dump, and my friend was$30,000 a seat, and he had four seats. It's just it was like, huh?
SPEAKER_02Violates my my being, especially the Jets. Who are they to charge of PSL? And people paid it. People paid to go watch that disaster.
SPEAKER_01And uh and I mean, I really just don't understand PSL. It's such a slap in the face. I mean, we have two teams first of all, the back then the NFL was giving you$500,000. We're talking about the NFL again. They were getting f we'll talk about baseball next week. I don't know what to say. Sorry. Sorry, whatever it is, the team's all.
SPEAKER_02Next week we won't talk about football at all. How about that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's we'll be talking about the combine. So I don't know when the combine is, but it can't be that far away.
SPEAKER_02Dom said professional sports is a business, not a game. Everything is business. I get it.
SPEAKER_01Words of wisdom. I don't I don't know what to say. Ask Dom, Dom, text them what you think. You like the camera here better. It got dark, so I don't have the light from outside anymore. But I have a million million lights. Anyway, I don't know what to say. I mean, so when New York team Whoever they are. Giants and Jets built their stadium. They were giving the NFL was giving$500 million to anybody that built the stadium. The stadiums cost a billion. So you had to get$500 million, they were giving you$500 million, right? So they had two teams, so they wanted a billion. I don't I don't think they got it. I think they got some of it, but not all of it.
SPEAKER_02Let me ask you this. How much do you think the gambling plays a part in all of this and the decision making? Not that they influence it, but it's got to play a role to some degree. It has to. If baseball goes on strike for two years, that doesn't hurts the gambling entities.
SPEAKER_01This is oh yeah, it does. So this is what In a big way. Don't just bet on something else.
SPEAKER_02But the gambling, they're in bed together, right? Like they can't possibly want this.
SPEAKER_01I would have to agree with you. I don't know what they're gonna do. But let's just wait a minute, but can't go back and forth here. You drive me crazy.
SPEAKER_02So so Dom said you look good, clear, and I look fuzzy. That's because I didn't shave, Dom.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but when we redo it, when I tell Dom when I edit it, you'll have I'll have your good feed. It's the live feed that's always fuzzy for you. Because just so everybody knows, our s my software that I use, it downloads to the cloud or uploads to the cloud and does an individual one of whoever on my computer and his computer, and then uploads them to the cloud. And then all those are compared, and then the computer, if I use AI to look at it, picks the best part and mixes it all together. And I do nothing. But then I go through it word by word by word and edit it. So uh which is my favorite thing to do after doing this for an hour and a half. Anyway, the so I mean people build stadiums today because they want the flash. They want the flash because they want to get a Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they want to host. They want to host because they're but they can't win one.
SPEAKER_01But how but how much is a Super Bowl worth? How much is an NFL? So think about it.
SPEAKER_02It's gotta be worth close to a billion dollars.
SPEAKER_01Well, they play the 17 team 17 games now or 16, 17, right? Or are we at 18?
SPEAKER_02It's not just about football though, right?
SPEAKER_01Because the built for S bet one minute at a time. So b back to what I said. Is it 18 games or 17 games now? 17. All right. He's guessing. Can't you tell what he guessing? 17. So 17 games. So you have eight home games, sometimes nine, right? Plus the preseason games. Plus the one preseason game. They don't do two anymore, do they?
SPEAKER_02I think they play three instead of four now.
SPEAKER_01Or is it two? Two. So think about how much revenue that is. See how many days? The whole year. I don't know how people get the taxpayers to agree. Out of the whole year, we're gonna give you five hundred million dollars.
SPEAKER_02They get the the people in charge of the ones that make the deal.
Stadium Economics, PSLs, And Fan Costs
SPEAKER_01We're gonna give you$500 million, and you're gonna give us eight home games a year. Yeah. Oh, oh, oh, that's worth it. We're gonna give you a few. I mean, that's really what it is. So so that's part of it. But they also rent it and thing, and the concessions are worth money, and the parking. I mean, where else could you spend$75 on parking? And, you know, you don't even pay that well, I shouldn't say that, you do, in the city at the the plazas, probably a hundred bucks the first hour. But it doesn't, you know, it doesn't really end. It just keeps so far, it keeps getting worse and worse and worse, and the price go up and up and up. And to me, if you really want to know what I think the holy grail is of professional sports, I think it's kind of a rollerball scenario. I think they should create virtual, you know, the Apple makes this killer virtual headset and basketball, they could do it with no problem. They should have those virtual cameras where the game is surrounding you virtually, and you're able to log on and pay for a season of games that you could watch like you're sitting on the sideline, and those things should be available like that. I think basketball more than anything else. Yes. Can you watch it on television? Yes. Is it free for now? Yes. But I really believe that that's where we're headed. So do you need that fancy stadium for all that? I don't know. But I mean, why would you build in New York? Why would you spend a billion dollars on that stadium? Why would you build a stadium that's like, you know, it's a concrete coffin.
SPEAKER_02It's just a concrete.
SPEAKER_01It's a concrete place that you just go buy hot dogs and hamburgers like every other dump you used to have. Why would you build a a place like that without a roof on it? Think about how much money you would have made doing concerts if you had a roof.
SPEAKER_02It's incredible. I mean, it's really incredible what they got away with. Somebody would do an E60 or a 30 for 30 on the Meadowlands and we'll we'll understand one day exactly where the money went, but it's no different than the probably the courthouse or White Plains.
SPEAKER_01Well It probably well, the courthouse and White Plains was the mob. I did an investigation for that, but that's another story.
SPEAKER_02I mean, that was supposed to be a seven-story building.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I was on the anti-corruption committee that investigated some of those things, but I don't know. I don't know, but that's that's not the only thing. You know, you're you're you there are so many problems in professional sports. And the reason we talk about the NFL, because the NFL is easy to say, but these are the problems in all professional sports right now. I mean, basketball's a little different because their problems, first of all, the commissioner's horrible, no offense, but you're horrible. The he has no control of the players anymore. You know, whatever you want to say about David Stern.
SPEAKER_02I think they want it that way.
SPEAKER_01It's hard to believe or not. I think they just want the players to rule everything until it until it crumbles. I mean, and you know what? I I think a lot of this comes back on King James. I think he's taken advantage of everything since since it started that that disaster of and not this has nothing to do with his ability. It has to do how he looks at playing basketball, that he is better than anyone else, and he has no respect for the game, to the point is that, you know, he mandates his son is there, you know? And now he has another son that's going to come out, and supposedly this one's a lot better than the one he has. But anyway, I mean, when does it all when did when does it all end with these with these players and controlling things? I mean, the NBA is is a whole different animal, how it, how it works. They really control everything.
Bears’ Potential Move And Politics
SPEAKER_02There's an end an end to it. I I just don't think anybody has any integrity anymore. And there aren't people with the business acumen of Wellington Mara or the integrity of a Wellington Mara left in the in professional sports. He's not the only one, but he he's at the top of my mind. And for for it to have gone on as long as it has, and for the different sports not to look at one another and ac accept what the models are, not that they're all because every season is different, right? You have 16 games, 17 games in the football season, you have 162 games in baseball, what do you have? 90 plus games in basketball, whatever it is, uh hundred games, whatever. Forty forty-eight home games, I think it is. Yeah. So you know, but the models should be fairly consistent, you would think. Because, you know, they all play in the same cities. So for the most part. But I'm not sure that there's an end to it. I don't know that they want an end to it. If the owners in baseball are have stated not publicly but behind closed doors, or at least, you know, to the professional sports writers and sports prognosticators that they're willing to sit out for two years, they wouldn't put that information out there if A, they weren't prepared for it or B, they knew that they had major leverage on the back end because they've already had a model to look at from their own league. They quit in August of 94 and it took until the mid-2000s for the baseball attendance to come back to where it was before that. You know, money and ticket prices might have something to do with that as well. And I'm sure that you know they made up for that in other areas, and maybe that's you know, obviously they made money off the gambling and these PSLs and every other thing they contrived to just suck the money out of the people that are willing to go to these games. But it's funny. I remember as a kid listening to people talk about athletes' contracts and how that they these athletes got paid too much money and they ruined the game and free agency this and they all probably that's probably what I sound like now the way I talk about it. But I don't see how someone can pay a PSL, pay$2,000 for a ticket to sit in the front row and then complain about the player making$40 something million dollars a year. Well, he's the best guy, and that's why you paid for that because you want the best talent here. Why do you begrudge the guy his money? He's got to get what he's worth to play here, unless you're overpaying for some stud. That's a different story. But I just remember being an opening day, Judge was in the middle of his contract dispute or negotiation, they hadn't reached the deal yet, and he had one more year left, and they were clamoring in in our section, we had front row tickets from a friend of mine, that they were yelling at him, take the money, you know, you SOB this and how dare you that. And I'm looking at these guys like you're watching an all-time great. If Mickey Mantle walked out of center field right now, you'd be on your knees to have him on this team. I mean, give me a break.
SPEAKER_01I I have to say, I don't begrudge the players the money. We know the owners are making it or else they wouldn't pay it. It's it's that simple. If there's gonna be a big strike, it's because they're gonna try to just get it under control and make more money. They want to grab a larger percentage of what's going. They don't want this going to the players. Or they realize that that the players' agencies have gotten smart enough how to circumvent the rules as they are right now. That's the player with baseball. Football, like I said, they wouldn't get it. Revenue sharing in football, so it's a whole different, they're all making money hand over fist. My thing, my big thing, you know, is about a lot of different things, and certainly this load management that goes on in basketball and that thing. It's a very simple fix to me. That if you think you the players, for whatever reason, cannot keep up, then you have to organize your schedule with a break. You can't have players missing games. It's that simple. You make a pla you make a you make built-in breaks into healthy players need to play because it's like we don't give a shit about the fans. And and I and that can't be. You can't say for a month to take your kid to a basketball game, and when you get there, all the stars are sitting down.
SPEAKER_02The season is too long to begin with, in my opinion. But well I know they're no one here.
SPEAKER_01That's a whole that's a whole nother story. You need you need the games to make money. So, you know, that that's part of what it is.
SPEAKER_02Less than the games and raise the prices. They're gonna pay. I mean, people pay to go see basketball games. Ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01People pay because there's only so many limited, because the stadiums aren't as big, right? So and and the funniest thing is they consistently start building smaller baseball stadiums. And now and now they're they've screwed themselves. They've screwed themselves. I mean, look at what they're building in. Look what happened with the Oakland Athletics or moved to Las Vegas. They went to like uh a band box at Grover Cleveland High School. And and and and and you know, they're they're playing in some, and it was like, oh, we don't care. It was like it, you know, it it reminded me of, you know, you know what I say, these owners all like the emperor's new clothes. They know I don't care. We'll do it. Let's do this. We're gonna do that, and then we're gonna go to Las Vegas in two years. Oh, yeah, but our stadium's only gonna hold 15, 16,000, 17,000 people. Instead of the 40 we had where we were. And then you're gonna say, well, we're not making as much money. We have these smaller stadiums. Because why? Because we built these bigger luxury boxes that we're gonna sell. And you know what the reality is? No one has any idea if baseball's gonna work at Las Vegas. Nobody has any, and so then it's gonna become this. Oh, when no one's coming to the games, we need to get these really big stars and pay them loads of money.
SPEAKER_02They moved them there before they knew they were going on strike. I mean, I mean, they knew it was coming, and they moved a fra whole franchise into a new city, knowing they were going on strike. That just defies logic. I don't get that. I don't get that. I can understand from the other side of it where the owner was like, we're going on strike, I'm leaving, I'm not staying here. I want a new stadium. That I get. But coming out of this, uh the state of the game.
SPEAKER_01The state of the game, all professional sports, yeah, and we're gonna say the same thing we say every week, except hockey. Isn't it strange that we don't have these issues in hockey? Why? Because the players care. So is that what we need to do? Make the players care? They have rivals. Well, you know what else we have? We have general managers in the football and football. In hockey, guess what they did? They played hockey.
SPEAKER_02You go look through for the Rangers, it doesn't work in their favor.
SPEAKER_01Well, and every other team but the Rangers. There's always an exception. They all play, you don't have executives in hockey that haven't played the game. Why? Because hockey's a complex game, and nobody, you know, reality is, nobody really understands how it played, except the people that play it. All right, and none of them have teeth. I don't know why, you know, none of them have teeth. And they wear mouth guards and helmets and masks. And you said to yourself, well, maybe they'll kick their teeth because they used to not even wear anything. Not even a goalie used to play without a face mask.
SPEAKER_02That's incredible to me.
SPEAKER_01And they still lose their teeth with the face masks and and guards. So it's a crazy sport, and I love it so. It's competitive, it has heart, and it is the last dying place where you could see heart and fight in professional sports, unless you go to something amateur-ish. I mean, you don't even have football, you don't have basketball because of the NIL. You're gonna have players. Why should I go to the NFL? I could stay here at college, take a couple classes, date a cheerleader, and get paid a million dollars a year. I mean, who's better than me?
SPEAKER_02I wonder if NIL is the way of the future for some of these pro sports teams. Maybe that's a compromise or something. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Because you know how it is like Explain to me what you mean.
SPEAKER_02You know how, like, if you're if you're, let's say you're Michael Jordan, you have a contract with Nike, right? Right. But the team has a contract with Adidas. You're not allowed to show your Nike gear. They have to tape over it and write the Adidas label. Maybe that stops. Maybe they allow, maybe it's already stopped and I just don't know. But remember, you know, anybody football, same thing. If the team or the league had a contract with Nike, but the player had it had to deal with Adidas, they had to tape a shoe and scribble the logo off or and write the the whatever team contract has or the league contract has.
SPEAKER_01Except for one person, Michael Jordan. He did whatever he wanted. But he always did. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I'm assuming that's how it works in college, but you know, if you have NIL money, it's coming from an entity that you're that you're promoting to a degree.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Unless you're an alumni just paying them money which NIL is name image likeness, which I mean I presume it means you're selling that. You're getting compensated for your NIL.
Gambling, Media Money, And Scheduling
SPEAKER_01I would guess. I know that like women's basketball players and women's more than that, women's volleyball players and, you know, hockey girls field hockey or whatever it is. I mean, you see these volleyball players is uh that pair down in Texas somewhere, they're like twins, they're like drop dead gorgeous, they make a fortune. They've been making millions of dollars forever. And good for them. Um and they do commercials, they do all kinds of things. So I was just looking up something, but I forgot what it was. So it wasn't that important, I guess. So we meandered and complained how w the world is hell of professional sports, but there's enough to talk about that we could talk every week for at least an hour, hour and a half.
SPEAKER_02Works for me.
SPEAKER_01I think I think since since we're really not gonna talk about anything else, we kind of gotta leave it there, I think. Fair enough. All right, everybody. Everything I said we were gonna talk about, we didn't talk about, but we did talk about the NFL again. We appreciate everybody watching. Next week, we're gonna have who's gonna be on?
SPEAKER_02We'll have Matt Bernstein on to talk about, we'll give us some insight on the combine.
SPEAKER_01Great. And we'll be looking for looking for the NFL. And maybe Coach Harmony too.
SPEAKER_02We'll see how that works out.
SPEAKER_01Well, let's save Coach for the next day because we're gonna talk about some baseball, because baseball's gonna be starting. Pitchers and catchers show up February 28th or whatever they do, and we're gonna be moving into the baseball realm since we love basketball so much. And uh, you know, we're coming on to March Madness. So some of that's gonna start, you know, start coming our way too. And we're looking forward to talking about it. Actually, Justin, I and discuss it with you. I think you and I should both do a sheet that we can talk about how bad we were week after week.
SPEAKER_02Fair warning. I I I've been pretty good with those in the past.
SPEAKER_01So have I. So have I, strangely enough. You know what I mean? I used to go there. People used to think I was a mark because I didn't follow it that much, but I could synthesize information pretty quickly.
SPEAKER_02It's although it was easier, it was easier 20 years ago. Now it's a little tougher with these mid-majors.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so there you go. There you have it. All right, thank you everybody for listening. Please like and subscribe. We we we want to get as many subscribers. It's been going up exponentially. We've had, you know, routinely lots of of views and we appreciate it. But this is a growing channel. We're gonna have the more people we bring, the more e the more easier. The the more easier we may learn English, the easier it'll be for us to bring on our guests. And we appreciate we appreciate your support and everyone that's uh given us comments, and especially when you tell us we're wrong, because we usually are. All right. Justin, always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_02Always thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01See you tomorrow. So see you tomorrow. All right, brother.
SPEAKER_02That should be fun.
SPEAKER_01Of course, of course it will. Wait, I gotta play the little media thing. Here we go.