An experts view

This week, Matt and Pete are joined by Mukund to give his expert view on the draft and the winners and losers of it. Pete has a go at Matts football team as they fail to stay on mission, and celebrates his own teams promotion. We talk a little about baseball, but its going to be a long long season for one of us.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

This is the Mostly Football Show, a uniquely Australian take on the NFL and all things in the world of sport.

SPEAKER_03 0:12

Over to you, Pete. Good morning, good evening, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to episode 26 of the Mostly Football Show. It's back to the OGs with myself and Matt. Matt dialing in from stateside where he's gone to see his beloved cubbies. And we'll hear more about that later. We're also joined by our extra special guest, McKund, who is our college football expert to go through the draft of two weeks ago who he thinks the winners and losers were. Welcome, Jent. How are we today? Doing very well.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

One day closer to the end of the week, so why not? This is a good day. Very good. And welcome back, McKund.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Matt, how is it in the States apart from early?

SPEAKER_05 0:52

Good to see you, McKunt. Yeah, it is early. I'm uh I'm jet-lagged and um very tired, but um extremely excited. It's great to be back in Chicago. Um, it's about to rain, but good news is um the forecast is clear for the game tonight, and that's game two of the series against the Cincinnati Reds. So despite the fact that I'm almost out of gas on the sleep front, I am super pumped and the happiest man on earth.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

Awesome. Well, before we get into the baseball, let's wind the clock back a week and and take it back to the draft. Uh McKund, you may have heard uh uh Matt and I talk about it last week, but from your perspective, who do you think the winners and the losers were from last week's draft?

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Big time losers to fans, because I thought it was a pretty there was no exciting stuff from the draft. There wasn't like a like it was a draft, like everyone got drafted about where you thought they would, except for maybe Tyson, and we can come back to that. But it wasn't an edge-shattering draft. I also think like I think last year's draft, the 2025 draft, was an anomaly because we had a bunch of players who got extra eligibility coming out of COVID 24-25, and so we had a lot more talent, I thought, in 24-25, and this was kind of going back to whatever it was. Um, and so I thought the fans uh lost a little bit in that. You also see fewer players these days coming from the smaller schools just because of NIL and all of those things, and so I think fans of those smaller schools lose as well. But if you think about winners, um certainly uh the Raiders with um picking up uh Mendoza can't complain with that. Um, I actually think they're on to a good thing over there, just given you know, they got Ashton Genty last year, they've got a decent line, they've got, you know, uh obviously Mendoza is a very, very good quarterback, uh, but he has the benefit of starting behind you know an established starter. I think Kirk Cousins. And if I think back to a lot of the great quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, um sat for I think a year or two behind um behind Brett Favre, who himself sat behind someone else for a little bit, uh staying with the Packers. Um Patrick Mahomes sat behind for a year, um, kind of bidded his time at a better part of a season. And so I think Mendoza, like if the Raiders can like not do the Raiders thing, I think they will um do pretty well over the next couple years, and so certainly um a bit of a win. Um I thought the other big um thing that I really liked was staying with quarterbacks Drew Aller to Pittsburgh. Um so Drew Aller coming out of Penn State, um Pennsylvania boy. I think uh Penn State with all the coaching changes and also some of their schemes, probably not best suited to showcase his game. But again, he's also going into a place like Pittsburgh's a great franchise to go into to develop their patient. Um, you know, hopefully he sits behind Aaron Rodgers for a year or so and uses that time to develop. And so I think Drew Aller has actually probably come out pretty well. Um I thought the biggest steal, German McCoy out of Tennessee, uh, went to I forget who he went to, but um very surprised that he dropped so far. Like I think in terms of pure talent, um if you go back two years, because German McCoy barely played last year owing to his injuries, but if you go back two years, you're probably as talented as Caleb Downs in this draft. Um, but I think if you can get him in kind of where you got him, like I think that's an absolute steal for you. And I think um hopefully he stays healthy and has um an amazing career through it. Um very surprisingly, um you know, like the Chiefs always do well in the draft, like you know, it's a well-run organization. They get the people that they want to get and they kind of go with that. Um I thought Philadelphia did pretty well picking a Makai Lemon, and I think they picked up another receiver as well. And so you go again behind every decent line, you got a decent quarterback, and so I think Philadelphia do pretty well. Um the Jets, I think, did okay, and the Cowboys did okay, which is things you don't usually say during a draft, and so like they had specific needs and they kind of sort of did okay. Um, the things that surprised me um, not really sure what Buffalo did. Like, I couldn't name a single player that Buffalo took and how they ended up where they ended up. Um Ty Simpson, interesting one, like he's obviously a good quarterback. I think questions around his size, like I don't think the question is around his ability, I think it's more around his size and what that looks like. Um would I have taken him at 13? Probably not. I think where um the Rams are, I think they probably needed um a receiver or something else in offense, given Matthew is like this is kind of a make it or break it year for Matt Stafford. Like he's not and he's 37-ish, and so he's not got too many seasons after. And so surprised where they got him. Um But Sean McPhere was obviously told to front up the next day and say the right things at the press conference, which he did. Um and so kind of kind of did McCund. Kind of like he didn't say I disagree, let's put it that way. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:06

His face said he disagreed, his his words said he didn't.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yeah, so if you read the transcript, he did not disagree. Um let's go with that, that's the official word. Um, but other than that, like I think beyond that, like there weren't too many draft stories per se. And also things like this was uh in the trenches kind of draft right, I think. Eight or nine first-round picks were linemen of some sort, and so um nature of the game, but also like not the flashiest and kind of most well-known of players, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:34

So it was very defensive-led um draft, I think, this year.

SPEAKER_05 6:40

McCund's a team that you didn't mention was the Houston Texans. What are your thoughts on their draft?

SPEAKER_02 6:45

I think so similar with German McCoy. I think Caden McDonald was a steal for the lot of people like early draft thought Caden McDonald would end up being um a day one pick. He didn't yet kind of go and kind of went somewhere in the middle of round two, I think.

SPEAKER_05 7:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Yeah, and so, or maybe top of round two. Um, but I think it's a good ad, right? Like, you know, you've already got Will Anderson there, um, you've got Daniel Hunter there as well on the line. Um, and D'Amico Ryan's is a really good kind of defensive coach, right? And so I think the Texans did okay. Um, like it's a feel-good story, I get it, but I think they did okay. They didn't shoot themselves in the foot, they didn't wow anyone, but I thought they did okay.

SPEAKER_05 7:31

And it was interesting you picked Jamot McCoy. I think I mentioned him as my potential steal of the draft last week um out of Tennessee. So he went to the Raiders at pick 101. Um talk to us about Ty Simpson. So we touched on it and we talked, joked about um Sean McVeigh's press conference. But I think Pete and I kicked back and forth the fact that it wasn't just um the fact that they drafted a quarterback, but it was they did it this year in a very thin quarterback class and they traded up um you know 20 spots, 20 or so spots, I think, almost to to take him. So what you know what what's your perception of a thinking there from the ramps?

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Um like you go back to let's go back to Kirk Cousins, right? So Kirk Cousins was taken in the same draft by the same team that took Robert Griffin, I think was a top ten pick, right? And then when the Washington commanders took him, right? Um and the comment from the from the coach at that time was you know, you're always kind of like one hit away or like one play away from getting injured, right? And so in Matthew Safe is 37 and you know, like it is literally like one injury away, right? And so uh I get why you would take a quarterback, but I was surprised that they traded up and reached that far because I think there were plenty of quarterbacks available even in the second round. Um, and so that was a surprising bit. Like I I actually think Ty Simpson might actually prove me wrong, uh like prove a lot of people wrong in the sense that he doesn't have prototypical size, but his fundamentals are actually pretty good. Um he reads the game well. Um and so again with the premise of I'm like I said, I'm a big fan of people kind of sitting out of your learning the game and getting into it. And so Tyson said my like there is upside there. I just don't know whether it's upside from a top 15 pick.

SPEAKER_03 9:39

Uh yeah, I I I kind of agree with that. It's gonna be interesting because obviously Stafford is not a guy who ever likes to sit down. No. Even in nothing games, he still likes to get out there and do something.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

And so But I think that is why he's uh But I think that's why he's on his gonna f like he had a great season last year, and I wouldn't put it past him to have another one, but you also have to be realistic that he is 37 and like he's not gonna recover from an injury the same way like a Bryce Young or someone else might, who were in their early 20s, right? And so is sad fact of life.

SPEAKER_05 10:12

You've got a Bears fan and a Packers fan um here. What what were your reads on the drafts that the Bears and the Packers had?

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Like this is like a clean draft, and so this is really well so I would love to say this was a draft where like some teams absolutely killed it and some teams absolutely blew it, but like other than Buffalo screwing things up, like I'm not really sure anyone like absolutely stood out or absolutely messed up, and I think the same for the Bears as well, right? Um and uh and the Packers as well, and so middle of the road kind of thing. Like I think everyone got what they wanted to get, but um not much more beyond that.

SPEAKER_05 10:47

And what what was what was your you know, wh why are you saying the things you are about the Bills in terms of their the Athletic had them ranked the 22nd uh ranked 22nd in terms of who had the best and the worst draft? The Bears at 19, the Packers at 26 in actual fact. So the Bills took TJ Parker and Edge Russia in round two, we picked 35, and then a corner, Davison Ig Bonison, uh, round two pick number 62. So you know what's annoying you about the Bills draft?

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Like um they've come close a couple of times, right? Like um, especially with Josh Allen and Josh doing all the things that he does. Um, I thought what the Bills should have really picked up on was probably something on offense. Um, maybe another receiver to or a tight end to kind of give them a little bit more flexibility. Um or ideally, maybe uh a running back to kind of help split the road a load a little bit more. Um, because you get the sense that they've come close a couple times but just struggle to get over the last little bit, right? And so really struggling to understand why they did not go for a few more offensive weapons.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

Yeah, that's a really good point, McKund, actually, because I mean obviously they they've traded well and and bought weapons in for uh Josh Allen, but they don't feel like they've drafted for Josh Allen. Uh no, they haven't.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

No. Um and given their needs on offense, I d like you can always argue both sides, but I don't know why they've traded out of the first round. Like it's a like I don't know what I don't think they got that much by trading out of um the first round, right? I think they came out with I want to say like seven defensive picks um out of the draft. Um well they actually what they needed was some support around Josh Allen, right?

SPEAKER_05 12:51

The flip side argument there is they, you know, they also needed some pass rush help. Probably could have picked Parker at 26, but traded back and still picked him up at 35 and added picks. So I think you know, when you've got needs in multiple places, and we talked about this, Peter, with the Bears last week. You know, it is difficult. You're always going to feel as though you're favoring one route when you possibly should or could have taken the other one. But um, yeah, it'd be interesting to see how the bells go this year. I still do agree that they're they're missing some weapons for Josh, but um DJ Moore should you know should make a difference there.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

So look if I were so I think the thing that annoys me a lot on this one is and so fine, like I take your point about you need to pass rush. I think they picked up a defensive tackle in one of the later rounds as well, and so why not? But they trade but they traded three times in the first round, right? And so you've traded yourself three times out of the first round, and I'm not sure what you've ended up with. Um yeah, and so this is what I was just quite surprised. So because Allen's still on his first contract, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:05

So exactly, and I'll stand by my coming into his money here, right? Yeah, I'll stand by my big shout that Josh Tra Josh Allen will ask for a trade this season. Um you you mentioned you mentioned the the uh quarterback going to Pittsburgh. Um how do you think you'll fare if they don't sign Aaron Rodgers?

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Any rookie like starting in the NFL is usually not good. They're very like um some make it, right? Like, you know, Peyton Manning did okay, but there's one Peyton Manning. Bryce Young did okay, um, but do not have a great season. Like Drew Aller has got good fundamentals, right? Like I think um he's got the buildings, but the size, um, decent pocket presence. And so I think he will do okay. Like I think Pittsburgh's also one of those franchises that is a bit more patient and forgiving. And so of all the places you could land, that's not probably not a bad place to land. Um and the fact that he's a Pennsylvania guy, went to Penn State and all of the other stuff behind it, he'll get a lot of um he'll get a lot of kudos from the fans and the coaching stuff, right? So I think um the worst places to land as a new quarterback. I do think Aaron Rodgers will come back for like Aaron Rodgers will be stretched off a feet of kicking and screaming, right? Like, let's be honest.

SPEAKER_03 15:21

Yeah, but will he be at Pittsburgh? That's that's the big question. I know that uh you know everything is pointing in that direction. But uh where are we now? We're in in May, and usually he's committed somewhere by now. Uh he can only drag it out so much longer before Pittsburgh have to start thinking about what's the move if he doesn't turn up.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Yeah, sure. And uh Pittsburgh did this last week, right? Where they put um what's it undrafted free agent tag on him, which essentially affords them a couple of compensatory picks. Yeah, there's a great article in The Athletic explaining all of this. Like um you need a PhD to manage the NFL draft, but essentially they put a tag on him which if he goes away now, um they get a couple of compensatory picks in addition to whatever else they would have been eligible for next year.

unknown 16:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 16:10

And I can't see too many of the landing spots, Pete. I think everybody else is pretty much set fair, right? Where where who do you think might come in for him if he you know if he um wasn't gonna sign for Pittsburgh? I I don't think there are too many teams that would A go for a 40-something year old quarterback and B aren't already, you know, set fair for the for the season ahead.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Atlanta. They've done this before.

unknown 16:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 16:41

Atlanta lots of quarterback controls me, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:45

Well, yeah. More than Cleveland.

SPEAKER_05 16:48

Well, that's right. And I think Cleveland, I mean Cleveland, if you you know, read the draft uh sort of wrap-ups, McKund uh rated universally quite highly. Um the Athletic had them at number one. They you know they took Spencer Faino, so they you you would imagine that's a you know franchise tackle. Then they went and and probably did what you were you were looking for Buffalo to do. They they took Casey Conception and Denzel Boss Boston with their second and third picks, one in round one, one in round two, and then picked up a safety. I think I mentioned last week in many mock drafts had been uh you know linked with the Bears at pick number 25, but he fell to them at 58 in the second round. So yeah, the the Browns, whilst they may have a quarterback controversy, seem to have done very well. Um, you know, plug in some gaps with some high-end talent in other areas of need.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

If I'm the Browns like or anyone else, I would wait for next year's draft, right? Like next year's draft, I think we'll have much better quarterback talent.

SPEAKER_03 17:56

Um Yeah, and I think that's what the athletics is is saying, right? They've drafted smartly this year, and if uh Deshaun Watson or Shadur Sanders doesn't stand out as a starter for them, they've got a ready-made solution in in their in all the deals they've done to pick one up next year.

SPEAKER_05 18:13

Unfortunately, Kerry's not with us again today, but the the the Cowboys did okay, McKund. Um Athletic had them ranked fourth best draft overall. Uh they picked Caleb Downs uh safety at pick 11, Malachi Lawrence and Edge Rush were their second uh first round pick at 23. So yeah, it's good to see the Cowboys drafting well for a change.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Yeah. Um and they also got um the cornerback out of Florida is um Yeah, Devin Moore, round four, round four at pick one as well. Um and so I think like so the thing that surprised me, like, and so going back to like the it wasn't a draft with many surprises, three teams that per any stuff things up the Jets, the Browns, and the Cowboys actually did okay. That's like interesting.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Outstanding and final question around here to hear that as well. Sorry, yeah, it's probably a good idea that Kerry's not here to hear us praising the the the Cowboys for doing something good, especially in the draft.

SPEAKER_05 19:14

Um McKund, you mentioned uh um a player who I'm gonna be keeping an eye on, um Sonny Styles. Um he's sort of slipped to I think pick eleven or something like that, went to the commanders. Just had a top ten. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Good value for the commanders at 11.

unknown 19:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:32

Amazing value. Yeah, he slipped to pick seven, so uh yeah.

unknown 19:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Good value. Yeah, like top ten pick, it's hard to argue that it was whether you're getting that much more in value, but I think he's incredibly talented. Both him and Caleb Downs are probably two of the most talented athletes in this um in this draft, and so I think they all do really well.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

We we should probably ask um as well, uh McKund, as you are not uh uh uh NFL fan, more of a college football fan, uh and from Texas. So how did Texas do? Texas did it amazingly, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Amazingly. I'll tell you why. Um but six players drafted, which is less than we had in the last two years. But n one of them went to the Bears, to your Bears. I think uh Maddie Mohanad went to the Bears and I think the fourth round, I want to say. Um, three went to Miami. Um, but none of them, like literally none, none of the Texas players went to either the Browns, the Raiders, or the Cowboys, and for that I'm truly happy. Like those are organizations where talent goes to die, and I'm really happy that they didn't end up there.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Yeah, you're also happy because less players were drafted, that means Texas is strong for next year still. Um do those those who go undrafted don't get to come back, right? At some point you've got to graduate.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Yeah, and so I think I think this year's team was a little bit less developed, is the honest answer. And so I think that's part of it. And then some of the people I think chose to transfer out, which is I think also telling that you know they felt they had one more money year. Uh because the calculus is very different now, right? Like if you're if your choice is um if you're going in you know day one, day two, by all means suddenly go to the draft. But if you're likely end of day through, day two, early day three, then there's a good chance you can make a lot of money just staying in college for another year and trying to kind of uh round things out. Um I just didn't think we had that great a team last year from an NFL perspective, right? Like it was a good college team, but I don't think it was that good in NFL team. And the year before that, to be fair, like we had a couple of fifth year seniors, and so there was kind of a longer than average tenure on the draft before that. But don't worry, Arch Manning, first pick next year. You heard it first.

SPEAKER_05 21:50

Yeah, it is. I mean, and I was gonna say, it is coming. Yeah, he's just going first.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

See, the the story for the offseason was gonna be the Raiders are gonna tank their season, so that. Sean McVeigh gets fired, Steve Sarkeesian goes um and joins the Raiders and drafts Archman, but now they've gone and screwed everything by drafting Tys Hibson.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

Yeah, well, yeah, it's uh uh for for me, uh the the team I'm most interested in beyond the Packers um next year will be the Raiders because I think their draft approach and obviously Max Crosby now staying, um it's quite intriguing that they're looking to be a lot more competitive than they were the year before.

SPEAKER_05 22:32

Yeah, I think the Raiders have had a great offseason, good on them. I think they've drafted well. I think the cousins move is uh is a very savvy one. Max is coming back. I'm not expecting to see the Rangers in the basement next season.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

And I think Genty will do better this season than he did last season. I think with old skill positions, you do better kind of a year in, right? Just learning the game on the team.

SPEAKER_05 22:54

So and as you say, if McCoy can return to the player he was in his um junior year, that is one heck of a footballer at you know a three-digit pick in the draft. So um fingers crossed for him is our Tennessee. That that's my college football team. So really keen to see um Jamod McCoy um have a good pro career if he, you know, if he can avoid the injury um curse.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

Very good. So so Matt, uh you can drop into Tennessee's your your team, but you can't drop it in without an origin story as to why.

SPEAKER_05 23:27

Yeah. I went to um Dyersburg, Tennessee on a school exchange as a 16-year-old. Um the high school team was the Dyersburg Trojans, um, but everybody in Dyersburg, even though it is in West Tennessee, um uh rather than being Van D supporters who were Vandy are uh closer. Um UT is in Knoxville, um everybody was a UT fan. So um I um I spent um two weeks either wearing the black, yellow, and white of the Diasburg Trojans, or the orange and white of the Tennessee Volunteers. So that's my college uh football origin story.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Well, McKin, thanks for that uh expert analysis. We've uh we're all uh a lot more learned now on on the drafters, uh, and it was way more in-depth than uh Matt and I struggling through it last week. So uh really appreciate you coming on board again. And while we've got you, we are going to move over to the UFL. Um you were one of the few people to join at the start. Um and so I can tell you that yourself, uh Matt's and Gordy have uh one-third of an ass cheek sitting on the shirt buying chair. However, as a Columbus Aviators fan, you'll be well aware they are two and four. They did win this past week, and so they are improving. Uh but I don't know. No. I'm not. How many games in a season? It's ten games, uh, so it's ten weeks, and then they split into semifinals and and finals. Gotcha. So six and four. You heard it first. Yeah, we had it here first. I loved it. Well, they have them down as improving. The DC Defenders are current champions, uh, or currently leading at five and one, followed by the Battlehawks at four and two, which is very good news for me. The Orlando Storm are third after trading their quarterback with the Stallions. They lost to the Stallions uh this week because presumably their Stallions quarterback could read all the defensive lines that the Storm were putting up. Um so Max Birmingham Stallions are now sitting fifth at two and four, along with the Louisville Kings, the Columbus Aviators, and the Houston Gamblers. So um, and Kerry's not here. His uh Dallas Renegades are in 3-4. After going 3-0, they are now 3-3. So there is every chance um that one win for all of you guys next week. And uh Kerry's Kerry could be firmly on the shirt buying chair.

SPEAKER_05 26:21

Poor old chap. He needs a little bit of a break. I did say to him a couple of episodes ago that I hope that after a change his Dallas team prevailed, but it looks as though they're going in the same direction. Kerry did kind of predict it. He said it's a long season, you know, all Dallas teams end up tanking. So yeah, maybe he was looking into the crystal ball a bit there.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

Yeah. Uh look, it does seem to be things are evening out a bit. I know we've got four five four teams at two and four, um, two at four and two, one at three and three, and one at five and one. Having watched a couple of highlights again at the weekend, I cannot stress enough whoever does the highlights for ESPN and puts them on YouTube really must be uh at uh at a uh junior job in their organization because the highlights are woefully pulled together. Um but there were a few good plays in there, a few big runs, and it was nice to see the battlehawks come up with a nice small win again. So let's uh let's hope for two more victories, and then that way I definitely won't be buying a Battlehawks shirt until next year. So uh UFL has not has not uh kept us as entertained as I thought it would, other than realizing how blessed we are with college football and the NFL. So let's move on to baseball. Uh I'm not gonna talk too much about the Giants week just yet because it's been very painful this last week. But Matt, you're a Chicago band or in Chicago now. Yes, with with a few games to look ahead to. So uh what's your thoughts on how your cubbies are going and and the week ahead? I think you're watching Cleveland uh uh Cincinnati and the White Sox.

SPEAKER_05 28:10

And the uh Brewers. Um, yeah, super exciting, Pete. I did kind of joke a few episodes ago that I predicted after our slow start that the Cubs would go on a monster run, and they did. They were 1-10 straight, mostly off the back of beat beating up on you know the Mets and the Phillies, who were two teams really struggling. Then they had a little bit of a stumble. Obviously, they played um the Dodgers. Um, but um, yeah, they're on another big winning streak. And I landed late last night. There were some thunderstorms in the area. I think the game may have been delayed because I was quite surprised it was still going on after I arrived at the hotel. Regrettably, I couldn't get the game on um on the MLB app. I was wondering if it was a national broadcast or something, but um yeah, we um we pulled one out of the bag because I was kind of watching uh, you know, the the the pitch um analyzer ball by ball um you know via text, and we were uh we were you know four three down, I think, in heading into the ninth, and then hung a few things up in the wardrobe and looked at it and 5-4 wins. So I did see the highlights this morning. Michael Conforto, I know he's a favorite of yours, Pete. He hit his first ever career walk-off uh winner. So um, yeah, super excited. I think we've got the third best record in baseball now. Um I'm here for it. I've got two weeks of living the dream in um in the in the blue and and the white of the cubbies. So let's go, Cubs.

SPEAKER_02 29:48

So have you been practicing this week, Caroline?

SPEAKER_05 29:51

No, I've been um I have been practicing a number of songs, um McKund, and you'll be delighted. The one that I've been learning the words to is the uh Go Cubs Go by the Steve Goodman anthology. So you will be hearing me sing that at some stage over the next two weeks.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

We will publish it on here. So McKund, we probably didn't ask you last time. Do you have a baseball team?

SPEAKER_02 30:18

Um not really, but if I would have support anyone, it would be the Cubs, because when I used to live in Chicago, I lived in Lincoln Park, which wasn't too far away from where the Cubs were, and so probably been for about 25-30 Cubs games over the years. Um Yeah, and so Cubs probably, but beyond that, not a sport that I follow very closely. You're a man of impassable team.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

Yeah, I I I I can't.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

I was there for the um I was there for most of my first year in Chicago was 2003, which was the year where they had the whole Steve Barton thing. Yeah, and so the city really came alive for that. Yeah. Um, and then some years later, the Chicago White Sox won the whole damn thing. They did. And no one really and no one gave a shit. Um it's really crazy.

SPEAKER_05 31:13

P you might not have seen the documentary on ESPN. Steve Bauman was the guy who the family reached over and and um I'm not sure if he caught it or deflected the fly ball out when the Cubs were in a winning position, and then the curse of the Cubs kicked fully into fet into effect, and we we uh lost and were knocked out. Um I think it was in the championship game, McCund, right? Uh Marlins, maybe? Uh, Marlins.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

Yeah. Yeah. So that's why the fan interference rule was brought in, right?

SPEAKER_05 31:47

Yeah, he he ended up getting death threats and all sorts of stuff, right? He was you um we're we're talking about him, you know, as Australian podcasters, what, 15, 20 years later, McKund. So you know, his name is synonymous with um So I think he ended up like moving to Mars.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

I want to say one of the flyover states, but like I want to say Idaho, but yeah, it could have been Mars. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Um he just dropped out of Chicago basically. So what's going on with your Giants, Pete? Well, disgracefully, uh when zero and six on the road um uh lost uh I mean Philly sacked their manager, right?

SPEAKER_03 32:29

And we should note that that Boston had wholesale changes, their whole coaching staff were marched out the door, um, put on a separate coach home from the players uh last week or or end of last week, um, and they were replaced. Philly also gave their manager the marching orders after their drevel start to the season. So they got the new manager Bowers against the Giants, uh, walked us off twice in one day in a double header, um, but they said we put Don Mattingley in charge, so you you kind of knew they would pick up a bit. Uh and then yeah, then another zero and three loss or zero and three series happened, and so zero and six on the road, just uh just woeful. Uh our big money players are just not performing. Um uh, you know, we've got a rookie manager, uh so he seems to be doing all right, but uh after their loss uh yesterday uh on their flight back, they uh DFA'd a couple of players, bought uh bought up a new catcher outfielder uh called Jesus. So that's that's always gonna help. And uh Bryce Eldridge has again been called up from um the Sacramento Rivercats. He's gonna DH. Uh they played San Diego today. Uh again, rookie pitcher came up, pitched seven innings, ten strikeouts, managed to get through the game and won it won it 3-2, so they've stopped the slump now. The hope is that they can mix and match players uh over the course of the next week to find who their best nine are, because the guys they're paying millions of dollars to right now and all set on no no trade clauses are just not doing it. So it's a really interesting time, obviously not interesting because we keep losing, but just to see what they're willing to throw at these things and whether when we get to July, if we're still seven games behind five hundred, yeah, um whether Busta Posey will be asking these guys to waive their no trade clauses in their contract. So um I I don't get some of the vilif the the the hatred that's that's driven towards some of these guys. We all go through slumps, and everyone goes through a slump, it's just about how you get out of it. I think sometimes it's hard when you see players laughing and joking with the opposition when you're you know seven runs behind to see if their heart's really in the game and we should be trying to to win. So it's been one of the worst weeks supporting the Giants for a very long time. Let's hope kind of the shake up brims into it, and if we win tomorrow, San Diego will be pig sick because that'll be you know, at least four four out of six games would have taken off at the start of the season where everyone's beating us. So um and and really we can't want San Diego to win because we don't want the Dodgers to, right?

SPEAKER_05 35:18

Yeah, the Athletic has the Giants as uh in their weekly power rankings as ranked 30th out of 30th, and below the Mets the Angels and the Rockies. So you're you you're doing it tough at the moment, mate. So it's just a shame that your new player Jesus isn't a closer. Um you know where I'm going with this, right? We could have yeah, we could have been talking about Jesus saves.

SPEAKER_03 35:46

Yes, uh absolutely. Yes. Uh he's a he's basically prospects. Yes, it's it's it's prospects and all of that good stuff. We're in a really good uh position with our prospects, so we've just got to get you know some stuff from the veterans. But uh, you know, positive news that Casey Schmidt's really stepped into his role this year. Um there's one funny moment today because Louis Arrias, although we bought him for his his batting, um he's been playing second base all year, absolutely outstanding. He made three wonderful plays, and of course, one of the reasons they let him go at San Diego is they said he couldn't play second base. Um after his third kind of diving stop would pick up and tossing someone out at first, he looked at the over at the bench and smiled um very widely uh uh at the at the management team as to say, hey, come on, he's batting 307. Um I think he's he's second placed in uh in the top second bases behind your fellow, Nick Horner. So uh yeah, yeah, it was good. It's good to see them smiling and having fun. We've just got to turn some of that into wins. And and God, you know, we're last in home runs, we're last in runs scored, we're last in in batting averages. We've just got to start just getting better, and we can't carry guys who are who aren't um who aren't batting above 200. Get off the get off the highway and into the two hundreds, that's what they're gonna do. So yes, it's been a it's been a very challenging week. And as you've asked me about the Giants, uh Matt, your uh football team, Astor Villa, had one job last week.

SPEAKER_05 37:23

Yeah, they did. They did. And before I share your misery, um we should mention um and wrap up baseball to um Tarek Scoobal had has having or has had surgery, um, and there's no timetable for his return. So the high flying Detroit Tigers are probably in for a little bit of pain uh over the weeks and months ahead. Um, yeah, the villa. Um, oh gosh. I think it's probably the worst performance I have ever seen from them. Um, you know, it the team selection you know was obviously made with the Euro Champions League semi-final on Thursday in mind, but they just didn't show up. And um, as I was mentioning to you chaps ahead of the show, we we waited 88 minutes for an attempt on goal, which is just utterly disgraceful. So um, you know, our seats were amazing. We were in you know, very you know, right at the front of the middle tier. So I was literally 20 yards behind Unay, who you know we all know is one of the most um you know demonstrative vocal and verbal coaches in the league. And he literally stood with his hands in his pockets for 90 minutes. So everybody had the night off, and um, I'll be writing to um to Aston Villa and ask him for a refund.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

Well, uh interestingly, after you didn't show up again against Nottingham Forest, and I understand that was quite a close game, and the focus will be on beating Nottingham Forest this week to make the Europa um or Europa League, whatever it is, uh cup final. But uh you're pretty much cemented now into Champions League for next year anyway. Well thoughts you could put a bit more effort in to make sure Spurs went down.

SPEAKER_05 39:14

Yeah, I think we need three or four points from our final three games, and we've got Burnley away, Liverpool, and Manchester City. So I I'm not sure. You know, it was a gamble by Emory. Um I wasn't very happy with his team selection. He clearly is going all in and on on things for Thursday night, but forests are on fire at the moment, and I did say a couple of weeks ago this is a banana skin potentially for us. Um, I I'm not at all confident the way we're playing, even with the full strength so we're abysmal against Fulham. Um, I'm not you know at all confident that we're gonna get past Forest, but you never know, you know, an early goal, the whole end behind the team. Um, anything's possible. But yeah, risky move from Unai, who I, you know, I I I love dearly. He's you know, in my mind side, the greatest manager we've had. Um and I'm saying that without him having ever having won anything for us, but I wouldn't swap him for anyone. But yeah, that just befuddled me. And and within that, Peter, you know, he made seven changes, but he kept Tielemans and Morgan Rogers, who looks absolutely knackered, um, on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. And they just did doggies back and forward trying to, you know, you know, while Tottenham were in possession, I just could not understand the logic of it. If you're gonna put a you know, a substandard team out, don't play Morgan Rogers, who who appears to me to be the player most in need of a rest of all, and Yuri Tielemans, who you know, I've always said, in my opinion, is he's the man that makes things tick for us. It was just a horror show. So um, yeah, do better next time, Unai. Otherwise, um I'll be uh I'll be saving my money for other exploits. So uh you're still adamant he'll be there next season for you? Yeah, absolutely adamant. This is um McQuin Peter thinks Unai is gonna leave us at the end of the year. Um Man United are gonna appoint Michael Carrick. If they don't, they need their heads looking at. Um, you know, Tottenham have churned through as many managers as they possibly can, but I think you know, they probably found the one now that um, you know, obviously very small sample size, but they won two games out of three. Um, you know, where where would he go? Uh he's he's not going anywhere, Pete. Check yourself, man.

SPEAKER_03 41:47

Well, you know, he's he's got a history of not hanging around, right?

SPEAKER_05 41:51

So Vincent Company's Vincent Company's gonna win the Champions League this year, so I'm not sure why he'd want to move to Manchester City when he's anyway. Yes, we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 42:02

Yeah, I can think of 130 reasons why he shouldn't. Um, but yeah. Uh McKin, that's a really good call. I still believe I uh at the start of the season, the villa were in dreadful form, and I just I just looked at it and thought if they can't qualify for Champions League, Emery's not gonna hang around. Didn't look like they'd do anything in the Europa League, didn't look like they'd they'd make even top ten you know through the first couple of months of the season. So uh that was kind of when I put the bold showed in, but but we'll see. I mean he's he's been looking very indifferent uh Matt for the last few games.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

Um so hey, you never know. My um sorry, look on your head.

SPEAKER_05 42:51

Um my hot take um doesn't um relate to Manchester City, but the other top team in England, and I watched the um the game against um Atletico with a bunch of my mates that I used to work with in London. Um they're all Arsenal fans, and I did say to them, if Arteta wins nothing this season, is it time for Arsenal to move on? You know, because they do the same thing every year. So um, you know, I wouldn't be at all surprised. Well, I I would be surprised, but uh as if I was an Arsenal fan, I'd be looking at Arteta and saying, are we ever going to win anything with this guy? Definitely not, no.

SPEAKER_03 43:36

Well, rumors are he's uh he's going back to Madrid, which man, that's a terrible appointment if if that's the case. But we'll see, but while we're we're talking about football, Cambridge and I had were promoted. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

Congratulations, mate.

SPEAKER_03 43:52

Yep. Yeah, thanks for on you. A very bleary eyed uh Saturday morning, but yes, um uh a a Stunning 0-0 draw um got us over the line only because uh Salford also had a stunning 0-0 draw and they will be sick as because they had a blatant penalty um not given by the referee, and it was one of those ones you look at and go, how is that not given? And it wasn't, and so two draws sent us up, and I'm very, very happy to be back in League One. I was just hoping to be one league away from Toptenham. McCount, you'd be about to say something. There is not no but even uh uh I was cheered even more and and buoyed even more on the day because Wrexham failed to make the playoffs.

SPEAKER_05 44:41

I knew you were I knew you were gonna say it.

SPEAKER_03 44:43

So I'm just gonna wait for the whinging and moaning about why can't we have eight go up, why can't playoffs go down to ten? All of this stuff will come out. Uh this the fairy tale, right? So in the history, I think so. I think Port Vale were relegated from League One to League Two. Um so Cambridge has just uh vaulted over the over the top back into League One, um, in a fairly strong position as well. Um decent manager, um, decent football director, decent team playing well. Um, but like most teams down in that part of the of the world, that they're all everyone's on a one-year contract, two years maximum. So it'll be interesting to see the team they build next year. But uh yeah, coming back to Wrexham, I'm I'm still waiting for the moaning and the whinging because they can't talk about promotion from wherever they were to wherever they were in consecutive seasons anymore. Um so so there is only one team in the history of uh football who's gone from division four to division one effectively in consecutive seasons.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Who do you think that might be? That's really hard. No idea. No. Swansea came close. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 46:13

Um but the actual answer is Cambridge United. I'm surprised.

SPEAKER_05 46:17

Of course it is, because all of the answers to all of your top quiz questions are um it's actually a ch it's actually a trick question.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

So they they they were promoted from division four to division three. Uh they were then promoted from division three to division two, um, and that was the last year of Division II, uh, where they lost in the playoffs for the Premier League to Leicester City, and after that, division two became Division I. So they weren't. Because they renamed Division II. Division I, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 46:52

You you Pikey U. Absolutely. Um I should um I should mention that the reason we couldn't mention Paul Vale is we have a mutual friend who's a huge Paul Vale fan. Um regrettably it's not Robbie Williams, but shout out to Berjo if you're listening, mate. Um all right, let's move on from Cambridge United and their their non-historical making march up the football leagues.

SPEAKER_03 47:18

Well, uh, very good. Well, some of us have a Cambridge education. Um that's uh that's you know only up to high school level, but it's still a Cambridge education. And on that, Bonshell, I think, gents, we've covered plenty this week. McKinnon, thank you again for your awesome insight. Uh, we will invite you back again as we go into preseasons and watch uh some of the new players that have been drafted playing, um, because the established stars will go out for two or three snaps and then run back into the sheds and keep war. And so it'll be good to have you back then. Um it'd be good for you to nominate uh uh an NFL team, maybe, and we will uh maybe have some kind of NFL fantasy league going next year. Uh, but also we want to see you in your Columbus Aviator shirt uh when when uh when when it finally happens. So again, thank you for joining us. Matt, as ever, enjoy your uh next six days of games. Uh make sure you record lots because uh I'm off to the UK next week. So try and find time to record next week. It's gonna be tough. It may just be Matt singing songs and uh interviewing drunk people in the bleachers at Wrigley Field.

SPEAKER_05 48:33

Couldn't you you you know the words. Hey Chicago, what'd you say? The Cubs are gonna win today. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I'm off tonight. Looking forward to it. Let's get uh game two of this red series in the bag. So uh go cubs go. Awesome. Thanks everybody. See you soon. Ta-da.

SPEAKER_00 48:54

That's a wrap on another episode of the Mostly Football Show. Don't forget to subscribe and review or get in touch at Mostly Football25 at gmail.com. See you next week.