The Boston Bullpen Podcast
Your Boston Sports Relief. Gil and Tommy break down everything Boston sports with the takes, the passion, and the honesty of two fans who live and die with these teams. Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins, from the trade deadline to training camp to the playoff race, we cover it all. New episodes every week. Pull up a stool and join the Bullpen.
The Boston Bullpen Podcast
Boutte Traded, the Pats Depth Problem & the Sox Hit 70 Wins
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The Patriots made a move. Gil and Tommy break down the Kayshon Boutte trade to the Texans, what they got back, and whether the return was enough for a guy who led the team in playoff receiving yards last season.
Then the preseason game. The Pats beat the Eagles 24-21, but the depth behind the starters is a real concern. Gil and Tommy dig into what went wrong on defense, the O-line injuries piling up, and what it means heading into the regular season. Plus the guys who stood out.
The Red Sox swept the Giants to hit 70 wins and are firmly in the playoff picture. Roman Anthony is mashing in rehab and moving to Worcester, and the big Yankees series is coming. We look at the stretch run.
We also sit down with Ryan Mulherin from North Shore Dining for our first ever Bullpen Session, talking local food, how he built one of the biggest dining communities on the North Shore, and his sports takes. And Tommy takes over Bites & Bets with a trip to Shaq's Big Chicken.
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🎙️ New episodes every week
Hosted by Gil & Tommy
Your Boston Sports Relief
The Boston Bullpen Podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, or Major League Baseball. All opinions are our own.
Follow The Boston Bullpen Podcast:
📸 Instagram: @bostonbullpenpod
👍 Facebook: @bostonbullpenpod
🎵 TikTok: @bostonbullpenpod
🎙️ New episodes every week
Hosted by Gil & Tommy
Your Boston Sports Relief
The Boston Bullpen Podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, or Major League Baseball. All opinions are our own.
Hey Tommy, the past just traded booty for a special teamer and a seventh rounder. What do we think?
SPEAKER_04All right, he's not a special teamer, but I'm I'm against this. So you know, I did call this. I I would like to take a victory lap and be honored by those that listen to the podcast. And uh my buddy Gilly, you uh we talked about this that I I said he's going to the Texans, and you said, no, they just got two wide receivers, Zay Jones and Sherlin Shepard. No, no, no. It's happening. I'm not happy with the trade. They got they they they got a safety where they have Woodson and Bayard. Like who's who's not gonna play? So uh I I think they they might have grabbed Jalen Reed just to cut him and taken a seventh round pick, not next year, where the draft is good, I guess. But two years from now, no, it's a stupid trade. What are we doing? I I knew he was going there. I wanted to keep him. If you're not gonna get a third round pick, see you later. I would have said, okay, you have it you have an edge, you have a a guard that we need, and maybe a sixth round pick or seventh. No, they got Jalen Reed, who's a sixth rounder last year, who played seven games, who's not very good, but he does play special teams, and a seventh round pick two years from now. Absolutely not. This is not a good trade, but there might be something going on behind the scenes because this trade is so stupid.
SPEAKER_00Only way this trade makes sense is if they were just literally willing to work with booty. That's the only way it makes sense. It makes no sense. You're better off just holding the player. Brabel come out the other day and said that this team isn't very deep. The only position they were deep is wide receiver, and they got rid of one. It just doesn't make any sense. It's the best group you have on the team. I get it. Like you have a glutton of wide receiver threes, basically. They have probably three or four of them. But to just give the guy away, especially to an AFC team that you're gonna be competing with, just makes no sense to me. It gives me Jalen Brown vibes. Obviously, like this is not on the same scale as Jalen Brown, but you just gave the guy away for a seventh round pick, and he is a special teamer. When he was on the field, he had a 118 passer rating against when he was targeted. He's garbage, he can't cover. He's basically a linebacker stuck in a safety's body. He's useless, he's a special teamer, and a seventh round pick. Good luck with that.
SPEAKER_02This is the Boston Bullpen Podcast.
SPEAKER_00Welcome back to the Boston Bullpen Podcast. I'm Gil, he's Tommy. We just had a big trade. Patriots trade Kayshawn Booty to the Texans. Red Sox are rolling a bit. Got a lot to talk about, Tommy. We have a preseason game over the weekend that we should we need to break down. Not a great performance by the Patriots. Like I said, we got a lot to get into, so let's get right into it.
SPEAKER_02The gridiron.
SPEAKER_00All right, Tommy. Let's let's really get into this. They trade Kayshawn Booty for a seventh-round pick and a guy that basically projects as a backup safety and a special teamer. He's played more snaps that in his career in the NFL on special teams than he has on actual defense. The Patriots have two safeties. He was a fourth string safety on the Texans. Well, what are we doing?
SPEAKER_04What do we think of this trade? So I'm not a big fan. So again, I I called it weeks ago that uh two weeks ago when Higgins got hurt, that that booty was on the Texans radar. They they they signed Shepard and Zay Jones, but those guys are peripheral guys, and this, you know, this guy's a staple guy. This guy is.
SPEAKER_00I think they literally did that. I think they literally signed those guys just to get the price down on Booty. Like, oh, you don't want to give us booty? Okay, we'll sign Sterling Shepard and Zay Jones.
unknownYeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Maybe, but but if I'm Ellie Wolf, I look at those guys like that, they they they they're nothing. They don't matter. So signing those guys means nothing to the trade. Like I said, you know, did the Patriots ask for too much, a first or a second? I mean, that's insane. But like, like I said, trade him for a third, and other than that, keep him. So they didn't do that. They traded him for a special teamer. Again, they they have uh they signed uh Kevin Byard and they have Woodson. There's these are two safeties. So you're not getting rid of those guys. Woodson is a younger guy under team control. Byard is is a is an absolute awesome veteran menace back there. Like the guy picks balls off. We talked about him. Great signing. I don't know what they're doing with this. So uh my only concern is why do they do this? Is uh is there an issue with Booty? Because uh a year or two ago, I think it was last year, there was an issue with him, with his mentality, wanting to get signed and all that stuff. And behind the scenes, is there an issue? What's going on with with Schooler? Where is he? Do they need special teams help? Did they sacrifice a fourth ride receiver who is a as a fourth is a stud? As a third, good guy. As a fourth, he's a stud. Let him go. I guess.
SPEAKER_00Nobody has really good the best third wide receiver in the league is probably Greg Jennings in Minnesota.
SPEAKER_04But I but I get it. So like so so nobody really put an offer in for booty. So, you know.
SPEAKER_00He's gonna be the two in Houston.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he might be, but like He's gonna be. Okay, so so if he's if he's a number two, why didn't every I'm gonna swore, every team in the league want him. The only person that that thinks highly of him more than the Texans is you.
SPEAKER_00Like, I don't think that highly of him, dude. I just don't think you give away a guy for a seventh round pick and a special team that can contribute to a team. This guy's gonna get snaps. He's a two. He's not a two. He's a two on the Houston Texans. No, he's not a two. They have no wide receivers, dude. So who's playing then? Who's playing over him in Houston?
SPEAKER_04You know what? Jalen Mobile? You know what? You know what? Xavier Hutchinson? You might be right. You might be right. And that makes me smotter because I called this a week ago, that the Texans were gonna get it. Oh no, they're not gonna get him. They just signed Shepard and Zay Joelt. They don't need him. Oh, now he's the two? What happened, Gil? Why the fuck? He's the two there. They don't have anybody. So what so so what happened after they uh they signed Shepard and Jones? Now, why is he the two? What happened? They don't have anybody. They didn't have anybody then, but you said they signed him. You said they signed him. You said they signed him. They they they signed those guys, and they're not gonna get him. So we got nothing. Now he's at two.
SPEAKER_00I said, for first of all, I said they weren't gonna give up a third round pick, which they didn't. They gave up a seventh round pick and a seventh rock. They got him for free. Literally.
SPEAKER_04They did. They did. They did. They did. I wouldn't have given him up. I would I don't like Jane La Reed. I don't like a seventh round pick two years from now. So what I don't know, what's happening is what's going on behind the scenes. Is there an issue? Did he say, Mike, get me out of here? I'm not gonna, I'm not if I'm the fourth, I'm not, I'm not happy. And again, he's proven himself when he's not playing to not be the best guy in the locker room. Happened last year. He won the extension, didn't get it. So he might have said, listen to me, or was Aiden saying, listen to me, get me out of here. I don't want to be here. Because if it's gonna be Brown, Dobbs, and then you have, again, any mix of Pop Douglas because Dobbs gets hurt, Mac Collins and Williams, then so again, the guy had 545 or so yards last year. He had 140 something in one game. I get it. He's not like this guy. He people think he's Grant. He's not the Grant Williams of the Patriots.
SPEAKER_00Okay, leading receiver in the playoffs.
SPEAKER_04Fine. Leading receiver on a bunch of receivers outside of Stefan Diggs, who's 100,000 years old and didn't didn't have a team who suck. He's the leading guy of everyone's game.
SPEAKER_00Leading receiver on a Super Bowl team. He was trading away from nothing.
SPEAKER_04Not a problem. They were a real Super Bowl team because they got their ass kicked and it wasn't even close. He did nothing, okay? He had 540-something yards during the regular season, 140 in one game. After they had 300 yards in 16 games, okay, you know, the the most police. The most polished piece of shit is still a piece of shit, okay? He's not great. He is overrated. He is the Grant Williams of the Celtics. And what has Grant Williams done? The guy that should be a starter. What's he done since he left? Nothing. Do I like the trade? No. I wanted to keep him. They gave him away for another reason I don't know about. Is he worth Jaden Reed in a seventh? Absolutely not. Keep him and run it back. But why couldn't they do that? Why was keeping him on the team such an issue? That I don't know. I have no idea what they're doing. But I trusted Mike Vrabel that he's not going to give away somebody for nothing. So what was happening behind the scenes, I don't know. But this guy has a history of not being happy with his playing time. So I don't know what's happening, but the trade sucks.
SPEAKER_00I think these teams are giving way too much power to these players. Like, yeah, I know, like, you're acting like I think Kaishawn Booty is like the greatest player in the world, and that's not it at all. You just literally gave away a good NFL wide receiver for nothing. Zero. Zilch, nada, a guy that plays special teams and a seventh rounder who probably won't even make the team two years from now. It makes no sense.
SPEAKER_04All right, so so hear me out. So again, I'm not Mike Vrabel. So AJ Brown's your one, Dobbs is your two, okay? Maybe Mac Hawk, maybe Mack Holland's year three. It's not gonna be, I told you, it's not gonna be booty. Told you that. They're gonna rotate the three. Fine. But Pop Douglas is there if Dobbs gets popped and he's out with a concussion. And then Kyle Williams is gonna be your four. But like, what if they say we're not gonna bring booty back? We're trying to build. Again, last year they said we're two or three years out from contending. They they had this miraculous season. Okay, that's that's great. But they're gonna bear us in the Super Bowl. Everyone knows who they are after that. It was kind of a joke season. 14 and 3, like I said, if they go 10 and 7 this year, 11 and 6, that's a better team than the 14 and 3. There was a fake 14 and 3. Okay, so they're not gonna bring booty back. So now they're saying, you know what? We're three years out. We're only in year two. We got Brown, we got Dobbs, we got Hollins. Now we have Matt now, we have Kyle Williams. Let's see what he has. Let's try to develop like we tried to do a couple years ago. They got rid of booty. If you have booty, it's gonna be an issue. He's not gonna play. He he could be a cancer in the locker room, maybe not, but he had an issue last year with his contract. If they think there's gonna be an issue, see you later. It is what it is. He only had 500-something yards last year. You're not giving away a first team all-pro. Like, we're talking about a guy that caught 30-something balls or 40 balls and 500 yards. 14 uh 145 of those yards in one game. We're not talking about anything super special. He's just better than a second than a sixth-round pick should be. Okay, I get it. But that's it. If he's going to be a problem and there must have been some other issue, then he's gotta go. But for that, honestly, I would have sat him. See you later. I don't like the trade at all, but I understand probably why they did it.
SPEAKER_00I still don't like it. So you get rid of the guy that you draft and develop to draft and develop, Kyle Williams, who you're probably not gonna sign because that seems like a trend with the Patriots. So let's draft these guys, let's develop them, and let's not give them the contract. And then let's trade them for shit. Like that's that's the Patriot way now. Like that's what they're doing. They're not giving Gonzalez a contract, they didn't give him a contract, which I don't think they should have gave Booty a contract. You should have just wrote it out. Just let him let him sit on the bench, let him be your fourth wide receiver, your third. Well, they drafted and developed him, didn't they? Yeah. And then they didn't sign it, they did nothing with him. They got nothing.
SPEAKER_04They got less than what they actually drafted him for. So so they drafted and developed a sixth-round pick. Would you give him $18 million for the next four years? No, that's not what I said.
SPEAKER_00Well, you said you got rid of a guy you drafted and developed. Yeah, that's what they keep doing. They're not signing Gonzo. They didn't sign him. So what's the point of drafting people if you're not gonna draft them, develop them, and sign them? Okay.
SPEAKER_04You want to direct draft, develop, and sign.
SPEAKER_00Or or what?
SPEAKER_04What's the alternative? You drafted, develop booty. Would you sign him for $18 million next year for four years?
SPEAKER_00No, I wouldn't. The point is, dude, is they're just they're drafting people, they're developing them, and then they're giving them away for free. That I understand. At least use the guy for his last year. It would have been more useful, literally, with 500 yards and 30 catches on this team than a special teamer and a seventh rounder.
SPEAKER_04Don't disagree with you. I don't disagree with you.
SPEAKER_00That's my argument, dude. I'm not a K Sean Booty fan. Like, I don't think he's gonna be in the Hall of Fame. That's insane. My point is, dude, is they gave him away for nothing where you'd have more value on the Patriots with 400 yards, 30 catches, and three touchdowns. I get it.
SPEAKER_04You know what I mean? I agree with you. But you're saying draft, develop, and sign. You drafted him, you developed him into a really good player, but you're not gonna sign him. I wouldn't sign him either. Draft, develop, and sign. Well, we can't sign him. Then write it out. Then write out the contract. Yes, yes. I would rather have him on this team and tell him, see you later. Goodbye after this year. I'm all set.
SPEAKER_00Which makes no sense to me.
SPEAKER_04What are we gonna get with Jalen Reed, who might not even make the God DM team? Which is insane. And a seventh round pick two years ago. Again, this is a Jalen Brown salary dump. This is this is the problem. Again, you can have a salary cap. You have to have owners that are willing to reduce their profit margin to win. We don't have that. It's not going to happen. He was only going to make $1.4 million this year. Right. But the owners, okay, the owners just sold off like nine percent. Bob Kraft sold off like 9% of the stake. It was like $500 million or something for private equity to own this team. They've got all that cash infusion. They got the World Cup. You have to have an owner who says, we understand the cap is a joke. We will let our profits go down to win. And we don't have that anymore. We have a guy that saved the team from going to Connecticut, Hartford, you know, Hartford, Connecticut, and then St. Louis. And then it was great. And then they then they hit gold with Tom Brady. But they haven't done what's best. The team has valued over 6.0 billion dollars. Okay, they get all that cash and they don't, they don't want to win. They want to play to the cap, and that's it. And until that changes, until they say we'll reduce our profit margins, nothing's gonna change and it doesn't matter. Bob Kraft, dude. Honest to God, like honest to God, like great guy. He saved the team. It's awesome. But you know what? That guy's kind of a f moron, okay? When it comes to when it comes to the fifth. Great business guy, but you know what? Him. I'm all set with him. All his nonsense and whatever. He's just a business guy. He wouldn't, he, he drove the greatest quarterback out of here. He chose Bill Belichick, who's proven to be another idiot, okay? And down there, I don't know what's going on. Mike Loboty's out. His son is MIA. He's a mess. Like, he's just a complete fing idiot now. I don't know what happened to him, but Bob Kraft has a say in this. And it's going to get worse when what they call lucky sperm, Jonathan, okay? He was swimming around in there and now he was born. That's who he is. This is gonna be a complete show. This is not gonna change until these people want are able to accept, make making less money. Hey, can he can he can he make, I don't know, a million dollars less this year? You're worth over six and a half billion, and then we can we can get a good team. No, they're not gonna do that. It's not gonna happen. This ownership sucks. Okay, let me ask you. It's not the same as it was 20 years ago.
SPEAKER_00Hold on, let me ask you this. Are you worried about Drake May when he comes up for a deal?
SPEAKER_04No.
SPEAKER_00Because I'm I am.
SPEAKER_04No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. No, what's gonna happen what's gonna happen is this team is gonna be a nine, uh gonna be a nine, uh, you know, a nine and eight team or or an eight-nine team or a ten and seven team, and they're gonna sign him. Is he gonna get $70 million? No. But why can't they play the game like everyone else does? They play the guaranteed contract game. It's a shit show. Okay, yeah, well, yeah, uh we're gonna make uh Gonzo, the highest paid guy, five years, $100 and something million dollars, but what was the guaranteed money? Should they give it him a with a spoon gut? Absolutely not, okay? But I think they're not gonna sign him. No, they're not going to. No, so so they're not gonna sign him. You drafted a guy in the first round. You know, you you've had locked down cornerbacks. Every time you won a Super Bowl, okay, you've had Tyloff, you've had Darrell Reeves, you've had even Malcolm Butler, who was really, really good. I don't know what happened in that Super Bowl, but you you've had lockdown, Stefan Gilmore, like in general, whether you won or not, yes. Gilmore, you had other guys. Asante Samuel. You had lockdown guys. If Gonzo's not here, who's your lockdown guy? Calton Davis on his I'm trying to watch my language, on his jet skis? Because he got his $20 million a year and he doesn't give a shit about OTAs and all that stuff? No, you don't. You have these other guys that you that you're drafting. They have the drafted well. You got Joan, Joan Johnson, whatever his name is, the guy they drafted in the first on the high uh 31, 32, 33 in the second round. That guy's doing nothing. He's coaching somewhere now. They've drafted terribly. They can't keep people here. They don't sign them. This is a major show. If they could just draft well, sign those guys to decent contracts and then go in free agent hunting, which they're good at, this team would be unbeatable. But they can't figure it out. And that comes from the ownership.
SPEAKER_00And then even when they draft guys now, they they develop them and then they let them go for a special teamer and a seventh rounder.
SPEAKER_04My only issue is what's going on with Schooler? Like, again, special teams isn't great, but like it's a big part. Nothing's been said about him. So, but do you keep Jalen Reed as a special teamer? I like what are we doing here? You know, are they gonna cut buyer?
SPEAKER_00No, they're not gonna cut buyer. How many safeties do you need? Not that many. Like, there's a problem. Like, so you add a little depth safety. No, yeah, but you add a little, you add a little depth to safety. If that kid has to play safety, I'm terrified. Yeah, but Liz Peppers. Kid Peppers, what are we doing? I know.
SPEAKER_04Like, what are we doing here? I know. My God, it's it it's it's nauseating. And I think Rayleigh's getting frustrated. He's gonna make comments. Again, that that guy, you know, for that guy to make a bunch of comments about, you know, you know, our depth is terrible. Okay, Mike, I get it. You know, you're kind of in the hot seat, but you know what? I like it because he said, you know what? I've done what I've done. I don't give a shit. I'm gonna speak out. And he goes, our depth is not good. And it's not. We'll get into it. That last game was an abomination. I I turned the Red Sox on like four times just to watch the them play the Giants.
SPEAKER_00Let's get into the preseason game. And before we do that, actually, like I want to talk about that quote from Mike Vrabel. Like, I kind of took that as a shot to management. Like, we don't have very like he straight up just said, like, we don't have a very deep team. Like, I I kind of think that's a shot.
SPEAKER_04I mean, I get it, but you know, if he's involved in drafting, he's involved in signing these guys. So, you know, he can't take the credit and then not take the criticism. You don't think he had a he had a say in who they brought in a free agency? All these stiffs.
SPEAKER_01100% he did.
SPEAKER_04Of course he did. So okay.
SPEAKER_00Look at the team. Look at the team. It's right. All former Titans. Bayard, Landry, there's more. Like, yeah, I mean, but those are starters.
SPEAKER_04You know, Landry, Landry, who knows when he's coming back? Again, injury history. But but he was involved with signing all these guys. So if he wants to say we're not deep, say, hey, Mike, you know what? Maybe you suck at evaluating lower level NFL talent. Okay.
SPEAKER_00And honestly, not for nothing. Vrabel's a good coach, don't get me wrong. But before he made it to the Super Bowl last year here, and like we've talked about, they kind of lucked into it. Right. They ain't really done much. Well, let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_04Was Bill Belichick a good coach? Greatest coach of all time, arguably. Was he was he good at drafting overall? No. So is Mike Vrabel, does he suck at evaluating secondary talent on the team? He might, because the guys they brought in this year, like it's it's so bad.
SPEAKER_00I think I honestly think it's just like uh it's a compounding effect. Like they had so many bad drafts with Belichick when Vrabel took over the team after Mayo and all that, like the whole team was junk basically, outside of a few players. You know what I mean? So like that's gonna take time to build, but man, they're hurting on defense. Let's let's get into the preseason game because it ties right into this. Like, yeah, they started basically all second stringers, both of them. And I mean, it was a noticeable difference on offense and defense, who was controlling that game with all the backups in. And it was the Eagles. They ran all over us, they were getting right in there. DeVito had no time. I don't know how you evaluate that guy when he's got a guy in his face right. You know what I mean? Like it's impossible.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so so I'll talk about the kid Hudson on the offensive line. Two two penalties in the first drive. Like, again, these are guys that we're already thin on the offensive line, okay? But then Marcus Bryant had an ankle injury. We got a problem. But here's what I think about DeVito. I think DeVito is what he is. He's never been an accurate passer, he he scrambled. For a 36-yard run, which is great. Another run or two, but like he had Kyle Williams open on that first drive, and he was late. He's always late. He was late. It should have been a pick six. Kyle Williams isn't the best receiver to come back on a ball. He doesn't understand that yet. He's got to figure that out. He has to be able to come back on a ball. But DeVito was late. It was awful. So you have that, um, and then like five or six other passes. He was like two feet, three feet over the receiver's hands. That can't happen. Well, when Morton came in, a little different. Again, playing against probably third stringers, different game. Okay, you have a backup quarterback, and his uh his only job is to get you through some issue if Drake May goes down. If Drake May goes down, I want Morton right now than DeVito. Okay, everyone says DeVito, Tommy Cotlet's like he has a good marketing, his agent markets him, but whatever. The kid sucks. He's not very good, okay? So if you need somebody to sustain a driver two or a half, if Drake May is in concussion protocol or he hurts himself because he can't figure out how to run and and protect himself, I'd rather have Morton. I'm sorry. The kid, you know what you get with DeVito. You saw it the other night. The accuracy isn't there. I think the kid sucks, okay? He's a he's he's a he's a two slash three. He's not he's not a two, okay? He's somewhere in the middle. Is he better? Is he better than the past a lot?
SPEAKER_00No, he definitely is. Did you see him the other night for Detroit? Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_04Right, but but but what we're talking about. Like, i is a dry fot better than a wet fart? Like, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Like, but we're talking about backup quarterbacks.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he's a dry fart.
SPEAKER_00And and I'd like to see the kid Morton play more. Like, I I seeing him at the end of a game, like, I'm not judging that. He's playing against guys that aren't gonna be in the NFL next week. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04Like But he's just as good as DeVito. I've seen DeVito. Yeah, I'm good. They're gonna keep three guys. They're gonna keep May, DeVito, and Morton, okay? Morton might be the putter. Yeah, so he might be the putter. But they're gonna keep Morton because DeVito is just so he's the guy, you know, you know what he is? So he's like a he's like a weaker version of Brian Hoyer. And I'm not gonna go into this, but that nonsense with him on the sideline all game long, that was pissing me off. Him talking, whatever. Just shut up. Nobody cares. God, the preseason NFL should go away. You have all these people talking that are never there, in-game stuff, Brian Hoyer talking about all this stuff. Again, that's a guy that fleeced the Colts or the Texans, whoever paid him big money. Congratulations. You're another Trevor story. But like, I'm over this. Uh, I just let's play football. Tommy DeVito, Tommy Cotlets of the North End, getting his chicken cotlets with his agent from Salem with his stupid hat, his glasses and his teeth and his fucking chains. Like, I'm all set. Like, let's get back to football and not all the ambiance outside of that. Because I don't give a sh who the backup quarterback is, who his agent is, and what they do in their personal time. Because to them, it doesn't matter that team.
SPEAKER_00They don't they matter zero, nothing. It's the backup quarterback. If we have the backup quarterback quarterback playing for a long period of time, like we're screwed anyway. I hope in the third game they play the kid Morton the whole game. Yeah. Let's see what let's see what that kid has.
SPEAKER_04If Drake May gets hurt, I don't give a shit if Tommy Cotlitz is out there. Oh, he's got he knows where they get the best, yeah, best food, whatever. Who cares? This team goes three and fourte without Drake May, with Tommy Cotlett's in there. Another idiot. Like, let's focus on people that matter, not the marketing and the peripheral. Because who gives a shit? I don't care.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Let's talk about the defense a little bit, because I like I'm worried, man. Like we were talking about it on the last episode. Like, if a couple of guys get hurt or one guy gets hurt, like, pass rush for this team, like, they might be in trouble. You have no Harold Landry, Draymond Jones hasn't done anything. Like, and that the rookie, like the the rookie looks lost out there. If he can't bull rush, yeah, Yakis.
SPEAKER_04The only time Yakis hit the quarterback was a roughing the passer penalty. Yeah. Again, he gets again, again, this is the guy that thought he was a first-round talent, okay? He held out, he wanted all this money. He listened to another idiot agent, okay, and now he's not ready. He is not prepared. He is not a starting defensive end. He's a second-round pick. You can't miss on that. But if they missed on his injury, that's on them. That's on Wolf, and that's on Vrabel. If they missed on him, who was hurt.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And I honestly, I think at this point, after watching him, so like the next morning, I watched the all 22, like the coach's film. Dude, he like he has no move. Like, if he can't bull rush you, he has nothing else. Nothing. He's trying to bull rush every single play. Like, that kid's not even close. He's a situational pass rusher at best right now. Yeah. So like they have literally no pass rush whatsoever. Nothing. And then so what are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_04You're gonna blitz? You're gonna blitz all game long? That that that's gonna that's a recipe for disaster. You again, Harrow Landry, like I said, Harry if Harold Landry's out, that's one guy. If any of those other guys are out, you're done. This team wins six games. If you have Landry out, Spillane out, Carlton Davis, you don't have Gonzo, you have any of these other guys that you know, Barmore, any of these, like if Landry, who knows? So one more guy, you're gonna win six games. That's just how it is. Because their defense can't do it. The only guys I like, I I I like the kid, uh, is it Vildore, uh, the the cornerback? The corner, yeah. I like him.
SPEAKER_00The corners are the corners are decent. Like they have a strong group.
SPEAKER_04I'm not a big fan. Like, I Dial is Dial's like the next guy, but uh I like Vildore and I like Prunty. I don't really like Dial. I think though, but again, we're talking the you know, the the the backups, the fourth and fifth cornerbacks. Like, what are we doing?
SPEAKER_00You know, well, they might they might be important because Christian Gonzalez still isn't playing. If if we have no pass rush and no coverage, they're screwed up. Look at the linebackers.
SPEAKER_04The kid Mooma, right? The kid Mooma the other day, everyone's touting him back up, right? Play action pass. He moves to the right about eight feet, and I'm like, I'm not even a football guy. Like, where's he going? And then there's an outlet pass to the right side. The guy gets like 26 yards, and it was Mooma's guy. Like he just overcommitted. Like these guys, you know, they had their their starting 11 are okay, but their next 11, they're like they're acting like mid-level college guys. Like they're not good. They couldn't. They can't tackle anything. They can't tackle shit. And the only thing is, the only reason that that that I can maybe understand this booty trade is their their their backups, that their two safeties after their two are terrible. So I guess you bring them in, maybe as a depth piece, because he might help you more than booty. I I guess I don't know. But like it watching that defense, it was I'm gonna watch Thursday like I'm gonna probably throw it in my mouth. Like it was just awful. Just shut it down. Yeah, they don't have any backup linebacker help or edge help. It's awful. You know what? Why could what they're 25th in cash spending this year? Why couldn't they bring back Tonga? Why? They're 25th in cash spending, they don't spend the money. I don't care about how much they have to spend in these, they're 25th in cash spending. Bring back Tonga. Why wasn't Chase on brought back? You brought in Draymond Jones. What was wrong with Chase On? They thought they were up trading. Yeah, because they think they find a uh a veteran who's cheaper or whatever. Tonga and Chaseon would would would revitalize this defense, but we don't have them, do we?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And you just traded depth for for dirt, basically. Like I just it would have made a lot more sense to me if they traded him for a linebacker, an edge guy, extra lineman, like literally any other position besides safety. The only thing I can think of is when this kid was coming out of college, the the thing about him was he's versatile, he's good at stopping the run. So maybe you use those you use him in kind of like a hybrid role as like a linebacker slash DB, and he's moving up, something like that. Like, that's the only thing I could think of that makes any sense. Because otherwise, like makes no sense. It didn't help the defensive depth whatsoever. Adding another safety that can't play safety isn't helping this team.
SPEAKER_04You you couldn't pay Tyrus Conger three years, seven million a year. That's what he got. 21 million over three years from the Chiefs, not all guaranteed. You couldn't give that to that guy.
SPEAKER_00Probably 13 guaranteed or something.
SPEAKER_04Who who was like the best run stopper, probably in the AFC East? Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00And that was probably that was his that was his strength for the Patriots last year with stopping the run.
SPEAKER_04And now I feel like he's he's as good as Milton Williams and as Ed Oliver. Oliver Williams Tonga. They're all the same on run stopping. What's the problem? Three years, 21 million. You you spent 25th in cash spending. What are you being so goddamn cheap for? Yeah. Figure it out. Like, I'm so sick of this is gonna go on and on and on and on and on and on and on until they don't win, don't win, don't win. They waste Drake May, and then they're gonna draft another guy, and we're back to the Sullivans and all those idiots that own this team in the 90s. Yeah, this is ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It just is it really is because like like you said, dude, the last thing I want on earth is for them to waste Drake May. And it's gonna happen. I don't think anybody's doing what Tom Brady did and taking deals their entire career. I don't think never gonna happen.
SPEAKER_04All over gonna happen again. Never gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00Never gonna happen again. So like they need they need to figure it out. Either get better at drafting and like I don't know. If they even if they get better at drafting, are they gonna sign the guys? Are we just gonna have guys for three years and then let them go? You know, I think right right. It's kind of it's it's kind of nuts. It's kind of nuts. Let's uh let's move on to the offensive line real quick because Marcus Bryant goes down, what, like the second play of the game. He was playing right tackle, Lomo's playing left. Another guy, better than Yakis so far. Because I honestly, like, what Lomo. No, definitely not. Watch the coach's film, dude. Like Yakis was a mess. A mess. You know, uh honestly, go ahead. I you know what I'm just I like. Listen, I'm just telling you, like, I watched the coach's film. Yeah, Lomu gets pushed around a bit, but Yakis looks like he doesn't even belong right now. And like it's early. He had a late, he had a late start to camp. Lomu looks like he at least belongs in the league.
SPEAKER_04I mean, yeah, yeah, Yakis is so right now Yakis is an F and Lomu is a D minus. Lomu is getting pushed back. Like, again, now he is your backup lineman for everything. Right tackle, left tackle, left guard, right guard. He's the guy.
SPEAKER_00Which is a lot to put on a rookie.
SPEAKER_04Right, but he's getting pushed back. He it's crazy. A guy comes up, he just runs him right back. He's not ready to play in the NFL. He's a D minus, and Yakis is an F. It's like, well, which piece of sh smells worse? I don't know. I guess Lomo, but like this is what's happening. So he's terrible right now, but Yakis is Yakis is acting like like an undrafted free agent. That's who he looks like. But Lomo scares me because I was high on him, but he is just getting run over and he's not facing top-tier guys. He's facing two or three second and third string, and he's just getting pushed back, and that's a that's a problem. The guy that's having a decent camp, and that's your guy, not my guy, is Will Campbell. He looks okay. Like he looks okay, and I think God, thank God. He has to. I'm not a Will Campbell fan, but he's looking okay. He's looking okay, but the interior offensive line has issues. Brown's out. Uh clearly Marcus Bryan is out. He plays tackle and guard. If they haven't cut that kid, Howard, uh no, what's his name? Uh the kid with the two penalties and the how not Howard.
SPEAKER_00Uh Woodson. No, whatever.
SPEAKER_04Doesn't matter. Not going to be here anymore. Yeah. That guy, i uh Hudson. If they haven't cut that, if they haven't cut him yet, I don't know what's going on. That that guy is awful. But like, what do you got back? So though they just signed a guy the other day. They have Vera Tucker, who is injury prone. But if he can stay healthy, he could be an all-pro.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But but you know, but you know, i i you know, if I play the lottery tomorrow, I could be a millionaire. Like that's kind of where it's at.
SPEAKER_00I think they gotta be like, we're about to see a million guys get cut over the next couple weeks. So hopefully they can they can pick up some depth somewhere and and and turn it out.
SPEAKER_04That's not gonna happen. So guys on the line don't get cut. That's not gonna happen. Nobody gets cut in the line. It doesn't happen. Very, very, very rarely. I I think I I think you could find, I think you might be able to find an edge guy. The Cowboys have a couple guys. They have probably three guys fighting for two spots. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00At least get a situational pass rusher because right now I don't even know if Yakis is that.
SPEAKER_04He's not.
SPEAKER_00You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04He's not.
SPEAKER_00I just don't. I it might be we might be a full year away from seeing Yakis actually contribute to this team.
SPEAKER_02Socks talk.
SPEAKER_00All right, Tommy, let's talk some Red Sox. They bounce back. Third team in the AL to hit 70 wins. They're hitting the ball again. Roman Anthony's moving on to Worcester. It sounds like Trevor Storey and Kanafalefa are gonna be in Boston soon. Yep, I don't want to hear it.
SPEAKER_04They're here tomorrow. They're in Boston tomorrow for medical evaluations. Honestly, like I I hope I hope they fail. Or I hope they uh I hope that the doctors there just love the Red Sox and fail them. But those guys are coming up. Uh Trevor Story's hitting 190 in Worcester. Okay, I'm all set. Like I said, I'm out on him. He's just not good for this team. He's making a lot of money. I don't care what he's making. It doesn't matter to me. He's not a good defensive, not a good defensive guy. He can't hit a fastball. He's gonna strike out if he has three at bats a game before he strikes out two or three. He's not great with running and scoring position. He's just not he's just not a good player. And he's just not a he's just not a you want that guy on this team with the culture he is. I'm all set. Like, see you later. Like, is he Raphael Devers? No. Is he Marcelo Meyer? Kind of. He's not he's not as bad as Devers is, but he's just like Meyer. He's just gonna be a malcontent and and he he just gives off like an aura of loser and suck. Honestly, what does he bring to the table? Loser and suck. That's what he brings. He brings poor defense, way a paycheck that is way outside of his pay grade, and he brings loser and suck attitude. So what do you want that guy for? Overpaid, can't field, can't hit a fastball, loser suck attitude.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04What are we doing?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04We got rid of that guy. Got rid of that guy in Raphael Devers. What are we bringing this idiot back for? I'm all set with him. He's here for another year. Like, I'm done. You know, he was decent in Colorado, I guess. Like, he just sucks. And he's just not a good person. And he just, he's just, he's an albatross. He's got to go. Like, he's going to bring this team down. And when he does, hey, Boston Bullpen podcast, Tommy O, angry Tommy, called it first. He sucks. He's going to kill this team.
SPEAKER_00The better news. Roman Anthony looks like he's moving up. He's going to go to Worcester. They were talking about bringing him to the big club, but it sounds like they're going to move him to Worcester for a little bit. Sounds like he'll probably, he'll probably rejoin the team for the Yankees series August 28th, I think it is. Yeah, so that so that's Friday. Yep. He hasn't been he hasn't been bad. Three for 11 with the Homer, double, few RBIs down in Portland. I think it's good for him to go to Worcester for a little bit, see a little bit better pitching, get a little bit more comfortable. Don't rush the kid back. The kid was having trouble to begin the year. Now he's rehabbing. Like, in my opinion, just don't rush the kid back. Let him get more at bats. Let him come up. The team's fine. They're playing right now in Miami. We're obviously recording this the night before. They're tied up. They're back to winning. They're hitting the ball. Give this kid a few more days in the minors. Let him get some more at bats. Let him get more comfortable. Then bring him back up. Like, they don't need to rush this kid. You know? That's how I feel about it.
SPEAKER_04I agree. I don't necessarily agree that better pitching is in triple A. I think those are guys that are that are just like major league fill-ins that, you know, retread better.
SPEAKER_00Better than double A, no?
SPEAKER_04No, I don't necessarily think that because you know, you know, you have a guy like Kate Anderson, who's a top pitching prospect in baseball, just got caught up by the Mariner's pitching double A. Triple A is guys like Weissert, you know, all these other guys that are just like major league retreads. They're kind of fill-in starters. They're really nothing good. You know, their ERAs are three or three, four, five in triple A. They go up to the major leagues, they throw a couple innings. I really think the best, the best pitching in base in minor league baseball is a double A. And I can't even tell you how much how highly I believe in double A over AAA. Again, AAA is guys that are on their way out or just trying to get one last thing, but AA guys are just the studs. So bringing him up to AAA is a little different. You know, he's gonna see a little a little different pitching. He might see uh some more major leagues pitching, I guess, guys that have been in the league going instead of going against guys that haven't been there. Maybe that, again, I'm not a major league baseball player, so maybe that helps him. But the better pitching is in double A. Um, but again, you in AAA, you see guys that have been in the big leagues, up and down, up and down, up and down. Look at the Worcester Red Sox, they're up and down, up and down all the time. Um, you know, he's facing guys like Weissert, Gimboa, who's been up and down, all these other guys. But uh, I really think him getting there is just another progression. But the pitching, I don't think at that level matters.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Just getting him more at bats. I guess it doesn't really matter where he is. I think just getting him more at bats before he comes up is a good thing, you know. You obviously you know more about minor league baseball than I do. I mean, I don't think it's not even close.
SPEAKER_04I mean, I I I only know like what I what I study and what what I watch and everything, but like, you know, maybe it's say, hey, Roman, you know what? You could live you could live in the seaport and go to Worcester. You're not in you're not in Portland anymore, okay? We brought you back. We're bringing you back to your house in the seaport. You can drive to Worcester, it's 45 minutes, it's not an hour and a half. You gotta stay, you gotta live in Portland. Now you can live in the seaport. And you can drive back and forth. I think that's more of a courtesy to him to get him more about okay, you're doing fine. Let's get you in Worcester closer to home, where you're more comfortable. And now now you're you know, you you're you're back kind of in not in your neighborhood, but you're you're a lot closer. You're in your you're in your own you're in your own place, not in a hotel. Because he's probably not renting a condo in Worcester, he's driving, it's 45 minutes. Like it it it probably takes him ten minutes longer to get there than it does than it does to get to Fenway.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_04You know, with the traffic. So I I think they're doing that for him as a courtesy, uh, probably because of how he's taken on the last couple of weeks. You know, Trevor Story and honestly, I'd rather have uh kind of file for than Trevor Story.
SPEAKER_02The bullpen session.
SPEAKER_00All right, guys, we've got we got a special segment for you today. We got our first guest, Ryan. He runs North Shore Dining. Huge page, kind of the inspiration behind Bites and Bets. Say hello.
SPEAKER_03Hey, what's up, Gil? What's up, Tommy? How are you guys doing? What's going on, my man? How are you? I love what you guys I love what you guys are doing so far.
SPEAKER_00Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Let's get right into it. I I got a lot of questions for you here. So for the people that don't know, give us kind of the the elevator pitch for North Shore dining. Brilliant.
SPEAKER_03It's a basically it's a Facebook, Instagram platform. It's uh it started with the Facebook group. We have about 83,000 uh members, followers, whatever you want to call them now. And it's basically it's a social media forum that's centered around our restaurants here on the North Shore, the owners, the employees, uh obviously the the patrons that dine there. Um I wanted to create a place where everyone could talk about food, maybe leave like a review. You know, we have certain guidelines, but you know, review the place, talk about what you like, maybe talk about what you didn't like, get recommendations, and also give the um give the owners and the employees kind of a place to network as well. You know, if they have um if the say an owner of a business was changing their hours or adding a something to the menu or opening a new squad. I wanted to give them a forum where they could uh discuss certain things like that. Or if someone was looking for a job, now you have a forum to uh to do that. I wanted to kind of keep things clean so at times the group gets a little bit boring. It's not the most eventful, but that's the way I want it. It's it kind of fits my personality. I'm not I'm not the life of the party type of guy, you know what I mean? I like things to be very neat and orderly and and just everyone get along and and enjoy the group. I want more, I want to get more out of it than I than I like, take away from it.
SPEAKER_00That was actually one of my questions was like, how do you handle the negative reviews? Uh it's a destruction I recall, to be honest with you.
SPEAKER_03It's really, I don't have like a an actual system. There's no perfect formula for that. You know, what I ask is people take the emotion out of the out of the you're writing review, take the emotion out. Now, if you just went somewhere and you want to really rip into the place, I know some people get mad sometimes, but I say, listen, if you're gonna, if you're really that mad, take it to like well, or somewhere else. Or call the restaurant directly or even do it on your own. Because I don't want to create like a toxic atmosphere. You know what I mean? I don't want to swim a place if one person had one bad experience. Right.
SPEAKER_00And that's all I uh it could be a great restaurant, but you just caught them on a bad night and now you're on Facebook and tearing them up.
SPEAKER_03I don't like the idea of a restaurant owner or the employees having to look over their shoulder because one person had a you know, even if it was that bad experience, then I always tell people. Let them know directly. Let cool off a little bit, let them know, and uh resolve it that way. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I love that.
SPEAKER_00So, how long ago did you start it?
SPEAKER_03I started it uh actually I didn't start this group, someone else did. They started actually It's a long story. They started it in spite of this other guy. I don't want to talk about it, but uh I know who it is. I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna mention the guy. But this guy started it, he got bored with it, um gave it to someone else, the other guy didn't really do anything with it. So then in December of 2020, I said, you know what guys, just let me take over. Because at the end of the day, all I really do, all I really do is dine out a lot. Take pictures, I post it, I wrote it, quite a few things about it. So I took it over in December of 2020, and um we've added a few more people since then, a couple more uh moderators, admins. You know that back then we had like 600 people, 600 members, and now we're up to almost six years later, 83,000.
SPEAKER_00That's crazy. So I'm gonna ask you a couple of tough questions now. All right. What's the most overrated restaurant on the North Shore?
SPEAKER_02Overrated.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_00Trying not to get in trouble here.
SPEAKER_03Because, you know, if I say Newbridge in Chelsea, I'm gonna get dragged. I love that place. Come on.
SPEAKER_04I grew up there, I grew up there. That place is great. I didn't say it was bad. I didn't say it was bad. Listen, my mother, my when my mother listens to this, she's gonna be like, where's that guy's number? My mother lives there, buddy. Lives there. All right.
SPEAKER_00So it's funny they were bad. I didn't say they were bad. I wouldn't say they're bad either, but that might be mine too. No, no, no, BS. That might be mine most overrated. And we'd still listen, still go there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it would still go there. I live right down the street. But I see the great steak tips debate that gets asked like once a week to see who has the best steak tips on the North Shore. Champions Public. Yeah. Someone. Well, you've never been to Newbridge. I'm sorry, but they're in two different leagues. Yeah, I agree. It's like Felichek and like Felichek and Parcel.
SPEAKER_04Two Hall of Fame coaches. What I like about the Newbridge is you walk in, it's like walking into 1984. And the prices, you know, I took my family there. I took last time I was there, my mother, my brother, um, me, my daughter. It was expensive, but I get it. Like they got to compete with these other people. You know, it's an older place. They're trying to stay there, trying to just stay above water. I understood the prices were great. The food was pretty good. But I walk in there, it's like, you know, the same people have been working there forever. And I like that nostalgia. That's what I like.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So that's why that place for me, I think is really good. But for other people, it's not. And that's why North Shore Dining is great, because it offers people different perspectives on the same place. I'm on North Shore Dining all the time. If I'm up in Gloucester and I want a pizza, or if I if I'm in Salem and I want seafood, that's how I found out where Deobies was. I was on North Shore Dining, Salem. Uh I did Salem seafood, doobies. Little run-of-the-mill place, the best seafood I've had up there. Place is phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00I used to live right down the street from there. I love doobies.
SPEAKER_04I think I think the best part of North Shore dining, because of all the reviews, is the search power. You type in what city, and then boom, everything comes up, and it's such a great spot when you want to go to the local places and you're not from there, you don't know what what's going on. I can't say enough about that site, Ryan. It's really, to me, it's it just makes my life easier because I like to eat. It's just easier for me.
SPEAKER_03And that's how it all started. I just like to dine out, and you know, I'm I'm an easy-going guy, and I just want to connect with like-minded people. And it's like what you said, if you just plug into the search engine, you can find all these places that you probably never even heard of at all ever. Like, like I just went to El Sabeno, I think it's Dominican food here in Lynn. Never in a million years before I started this food would I ever stop at a place called El Sabeno in Lynn. Turns out the service is incredible. Restaurant was spotless. I mean, it just opened, but the service was in the food, Palo Alo, Palo Ala corno. I don't know. I couldn't even pollo alo, whatever it was, was friggin' and it was like 18 bucks. She hands me the bill, I'm like 18 bucks. You know what I mean? Before this group, I never would have heard, I wouldn't have known it existed.
SPEAKER_04And that, and and that's why, and that's why with your group, even if one person goes and one person goes to a spot, they need to review it because it pops up in the search. Like it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00So we got your most overrated. What's your most underrated restaurant in the North Shore?
SPEAKER_03I want to say Tony's, but you know, I'm here all the time. It's a good it's a good spot. It's a good spot. I wish I saw like more familiar faces, you know, people from the group.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Most underrated. You know what? I'm gonna go with Tony's. I was gonna say, you know, not because it's my favorite, not because I'm sitting here right now. Yeah. You know, I could I could have gone here to the first one.
SPEAKER_00It's your favorite spot for a reason, though, you know?
SPEAKER_03My favorite spot, not because, you know, I'm obviously I'm friends with the owner. I'm friends with a couple of parts, you know. I know the Januaries and all that. But they have everything I want here. You know, every people who are like, oh, uh, where should I go to watch a sports and come to tourness? Tell me somewhere with great wings. Everything's good. There's already nothing bad here. They got what, 18, 19 bears on tap? It's cash only, which is kind of a which is kind of a hang up. Other than that, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, not many places left at a cash only.
SPEAKER_04It's all right. Good for them.
SPEAKER_00Honestly, good for them.
SPEAKER_04What is your favorite Sunday football app at Tony's? Like what would you recommend? If I'm there, if I'm there pregame, what should I eat?
SPEAKER_03The gourmet uh ribs.
SPEAKER_04Okay. For an app?
SPEAKER_03The gourmet ribs. For an app. The gourmet ribs. Really? Okay. They're nice and nice and thick, tremendous flavor. Delicious. The chef here used to be the chef at a place called the Four Winds on um.
SPEAKER_04I know where the Four Winds used to be. Yep.
SPEAKER_03Right outside of Wangoma Square. I don't know what's going on with them. I've heard they're selling, I've heard they're not selling, I've heard the construction's delayed. But the chef there was outstanding, and now he's the chef here, and he brought a lot of what he was doing over there into this kitchen here at the sports club. Okay, and one of those items was the uh gourmet ribs, and it's delicious.
SPEAKER_04Which is a really good spot. It's a really good local spot. And I'm not gonna lie, I haven't been there in probably about seven or eight years, but I'm gonna probably have to meet you there for uh a drink. That's for a Sunday. Yeah, I'll show you. I'll come back for you. I'll go there. I'll go and see you there, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00All right, I got I got two good ones for you. If you can pick one place on the North Shore, say someone someone's never been here before, where would you send them? What restaurant?
SPEAKER_03Nordhaven in Swanska.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Really? I've actually never even heard of that.
SPEAKER_03I've never heard of it. Nordhaven at the end of Humphrey Street in Swanskott.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03What kind of food? Vietnamese Norwegian fusion um site place. Don't go there on a Sunday because they have no TVs. What you cannot watch TV. You cannot watch TV. You have to. I think they might have Wi-Fi, but there's no TVs, you have to talk to the person that you're with. That's a Tuesday night place.
SPEAKER_04Love it. Tuesday.
SPEAKER_03Let's go.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Day night or something. Yeah. He serves the Caesar salad in the outer part of the of the of the lettuce. So he takes the it's like a bowl, he makes a bowl out of lettuce and puts the salad in there. He's got uh what's he have? Duck wings. Most people chicken with duck wings. I love duck. I love duck wings. Like this. He had this roasted lamb. Comes over. It's one of those places. He ordered like five or six things and he brings them over one by one. And he had like roasted, he had these Norwegian, um Norwegian egg rolls, Swedish egg rolls. He had these Norwegian meatballs. He's like telling me like the spices and how he went over to Southeast Asia and they took a class and how he brought it back. He's one of those guys that uses all the uh the local the local farms to get all the stuff. And he does this with this, he does this with that, adds the spices. He's telling me all the stuff. I'm just, and I don't even know what I was eating, but the food was absolutely delicious, and it's the most unique place that I've ever been to. And if someone asked me, you know, a place they never heard of, never been to, something very different, North Haven and Swansky. The food's delicious, and the owners are just a great guy, genuinely good guy. That's awesome. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00All right, so I got a couple of sports questions for you before we wrap up with a couple of last food questions. So if you had one bet on a Boston team to win a championship next, who is it?
SPEAKER_03I gotta be honest, guys. I'm not, I'm a very, very fair-weathered Bruins fan. Let's be honest.
SPEAKER_04Don't worry. Don't worry, it's not them. Don't worry. It's not them.
SPEAKER_03I can't say I know much about them. Yeah, it's not them. It's okay. I I say honestly, I I gotta say it's the Patriots. Boom. We're three to three. I don't think, you know, with especially if if Campbell, especially if Campbell gets his shit together. I didn't I might swear. Yeah, you're fine. If Campbell, if Campbell bounces back from a Patriot Super Bowl, and you know, if May and McDaniel, I think as much as people want to credit Brabel with the success the Patriots had, I think McDaniels is like 1-8 in terms of, you know, I mean, you can just tell with the way the offense ran, the way that Drake May played, you know, his confidence, his throws, his rapport with the receivers. I think McDaniels is just as much uh to be credited as Brabell was. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, honestly, I I want to compile on that a little bit. I mean, look at the offense around Drake May last year, and this guy was runner up to MVP and probably should have won. I think he definitely should have won, you know.
SPEAKER_03He was literally the most valuable player in the league. Yep. I think with AJ Brown, if he can stay healthy, if he buys in, he's gonna have the year that Diggs had last year, and then and then somewhere. I think he's gonna be an ex, you know, I think he's a huge addition. If he buys in, he's gonna be a huge addition. He's gonna be that deep threat to spread the field. So I'd say to answer the question, Patriots. You know, I don't know the Celtics. I don't think they're gonna be as bad as everyone thinks, but I don't see them winning the championship next year, and the Sox, I you know, they still there's still some holes. They're not fundamentally sound. There's there's gonna be some things they make into the playoffs that they might deat themselves. So to answer the question, I'm gonna say the Patriots.
SPEAKER_04Well, listen, you you're either listening to the podcast or talking to us privately, because I'm big on the two tight end set, and Gilly is the biggest Josh McDaniels person I've ever met in my life.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so that's not true, but you love Josh McDaniels. No, no, no. I like Josh McDaniels. He's uh he's I think he's good for Drake May. All right, so my lads, that actually brings me right into my my last question about sports for you. Patriots win total 10.5 over or under.
SPEAKER_03I think they're gonna play better than they did last year, but they are gonna might be a couple of those close games that they don't, you know, that they don't sweep out at the end. I'm gonna say 11 and 6.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yes. I think that's right about what we don't have a lot of.
SPEAKER_0311-6. Maybe a 12 and 5, but I'll take an 11 and 6. You know, there's some games that they maybe could have lost. You know, I look at the Atlanta game last year. They didn't play great. You know, we have to kind of peace themselves. Well, that's that game stands out. So I'm gonna go 11-6. So all but ten and a half.
SPEAKER_00All right.
SPEAKER_01Perfect.
SPEAKER_00All right, so I got two more questions for you. We're gonna go back to food. Best meal you ever had in your life anywhere. What was it and where?
SPEAKER_03Bologna's at the Blue Hawks in Linux.
SPEAKER_04Really? Yeah, no kidding. That's a good spot. I didn't think you'd say the bolognese there, but the bolin, the bolinets, the tringatoni at the Blue Hawks.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03As great as their filet is. Their filet's phenomenal. Delicious. Delicious. But the one meal that sat down and said, Jesus Christ, I gotta get back here more often. Okay. The one that made me want to run to social media and actually like write a detailed review and put like like good emotion into it. And I'm not really like a rah-rah type of guy, but that one like that one stood out as something that was unbelievable. All right, and last question. What's one food hill you'll die on? Champions Pub has the best steak tips in the United States of America. Period. In Canada, Mexico, Japan, Tokyo, uh, Australia, I don't know. Wherever Champions Pub has the best steak tips on God's Reno. Champions Pub, best steak tips.
SPEAKER_01I can't disagree.
SPEAKER_03I've never I've never tried bad steak tips. It's I'll die on that hill. It's it's I know it's an easy one. It's an easy one, but uh, I'll die on that hill.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's gonna be hard to kill you on that hill because that's a pretty good take.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Well, Ryan, we appreciate it. Uh, this is awesome, honestly. It was great to talk to you. Appreciate you. We'll talk to you soon.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely, fellas. Hey, I appreciate what you guys are doing. I love listening to you guys. Keep what you're doing. Anytime you want to have me on, let me know. I'll still I'll uh continue to listen. I'll like, share, follow all the good stuff. We're moving for you guys. I love what you guys do.
SPEAKER_02Bites and bets.
SPEAKER_00All right, Tommy. We finished up our interview with Ryan. We're hot on the trail for food. This week, Bites and Bets was on you. Where'd you go?
SPEAKER_04All right. So, as everyone knows, so chicken sandwiches have become like the rage here. So, Chick-fil-A, they they they have a foundation here, then there's Dave's and there's Raisin Canes and everything. So, everyone is about the chicken batter. So, I went to a place called Baked Chicken in Beverly. Shaq owns it. I heard it on sports radio the day before. He was talking about a location you opened up there. I guess they have a location to rent them. I didn't know that. So, you know what? My daughter was taking the SAT in Danvers. I said, you know what? I got a couple hours. Let me go there. Buddy, place was awesome, okay? If it was good, I'd say it's good. Place was awesome. It was super clean. You walk in, it was super, it was really busy. The girl behind the counter was everyone was efficient, okay? What did I order? I ordered what's called the ultimate. I was hungry. I went there, I'm like, well, I want to get a chicken sandwich and maybe get some like maybe onion rings or mac and cheese on the side. So, whatever. So I ordered the ultimate, which has all that. So it I so it's crispy chicken. They have the the BC, the big chicken sauce on the bottom of the bread, which was phenomenal, okay? They had just enough on it. It was perfect. It had mac and cheese on top of the onion rings. Super fresh. The onion rings, just crispy inside was just, it was, it was just succulent, okay? It's a great word. Succulent from your good. But the mac and cheese on top, it was it was perfect. Like, but the bread, the bread was fresh. So you take the bread, night, and a nice, a nice plush uh head of the bread, the bottom, and you had the mac, you had the onion rings, and and then a ton of chicken. But the chicken was cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside, very tender and flavorful inside. It was awesome. Honest to God, like I I couldn't say more about that place. So I'm sitting there and I'm I see these guys walking around. Like they're cleaning up tables, helping people. Um, the guy looks at me, he goes, Oh, did you enjoy it? I said, No, it was good. He doesn't have a shirt on, a blue, you know, dress shirt, whatever. I said, Oh, it was good. I said, uh, do you work here? He's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. He this guy and I work here, whatever. You know, just seeing how you liked it. I said, Oh, it was really good. I said, I expect it to be like uh other other places that I'm not gonna mention to to hurt them, but like there's so many other chicken places where the chicken's bland or super hot with flavor or just just dry and all these things. I said, I I kind of expect like a fast food experience. I said, this is this is by far the best fast food, I guess, chicken sandwich I've ever had. I said, I uh, you know, um, I'm gonna I'm gonna score into my thing and we talked about it. Turns out these two guys cleaning up tables and talking to people were the two owners, super nice guys. They were just like really cool. So I said, okay, okay, guys, great. Thank you so much. Maybe I'll be back. You know, I I will be, but I told them, maybe I'll be back, but I'll definitely be back there because it's in my daughter's neighborhood. So the score, I wanted to, I really wanted to give them a high score that I thought about it. And I'm like, well, if I give them something like an 8-8 or something like that, it might people might say uh if you give a high score, they don't believe it. Like 8-8, 8-9. Honest to God, I'm telling you right now, this thing was a 9.0163427987. Okay. And I'm I'm confident with that. I was gonna give them like an 8-8 or an 89 so people believe it, but no, that 9.0 yada yada yada yada score is is is is very accurate. If you don't believe me, go there. The sandwich was phenomenal. I got a sandwich and I got the fries, which are great, and uh like a 16-ounce drink with a tip, 20 bucks. It was phenomenal. How do you beat it? So 9.0 yada yada yada yada, great score. Big chicken in Beverly. You can't beat it. The service is great, the place is super clean. Um, the customer service is phenomenal. You know, I don't know if the owners are gonna be there cleaning up tables, but uh, I didn't even tell them who I was. There was another person there like filming social media stuff, and she had like a camera and all this food out and everything. And then uh I said to him, I said, Oh, how you doing? Oh, I work here. I'm like, okay. And I said, I'm I'm just this guy that just takes a picture of food. And he treated me like I was royalty just because I had come from Somerville to Beverly for a chicken sandwich. So these guys were awesome. I I can't say enough about them. I will be back there a hundred times over. It's a great chicken sandwich. It is by far the best fast food chicken sandwich you can have in the area. It beats all the other people, in my opinion. And I think you're crazy if you don't get there. It's uh Big Chicken, which is at 55 Dodge Street, which it runs right off 128 when it narrows down to two lanes. You take the ramp, you're right there off the highway, you're there in about 150 yards. You can't beat it. It's in the Shaw's Plaza. You go in, you take a right, go around the bank, and then uh you're right there. Plenty of parking, super clean. Guys, you you can't beat it. 9.0, yada yada, yada, yada. That's a big score for me, but I I stand by it.
SPEAKER_00That is a big score. I like it. I'm gonna have to try it. Like I said, I'm in Beverly all the time, so I'm definitely gonna try it. Maybe even, maybe even this week. But let's get you a bet. What do we got? I'm excited. Tommy's not really a better, so I'm excited for this.
SPEAKER_04All right, so my bet is Hunter Henry, offensive MVP. I'm only kidding, I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. All right, so no, so all right, so so so my bet, I think, is realistic. It it's kind of a two-way bet. You can't pile away it, obviously, but uh my bet is uh my my the first part of the bet is AJ Brown, eight plus touchdowns at plus one fifteen. Okay. He's had 11, 11 touchdowns twice in his career. He's had eight another year, it's rookie year, I think. Last couple years he had seven with with a quarterback who wasn't very good. That's plus one fifteen. You bet a hundred, you bet 100 bucks, you win 215. But the big bet, which I really like, if you want to be safe, take that. But if you want to just risk a little bit, uh I would go AJ AJ Brown 10 plus touchdowns at plus 275. You bet 100 bucks, you win 375. Again, this guy has done that twice in his career. This is a comeback year for him. He's on a mission. Is he gonna be this good next year? I don't know. But I think this year he's going to be just just all out trying to prove a point. So my my big bet would be uh the the AJ Brown uh 10 plus touchdowns. I think the A plus is pretty much a lock, unless he unless he's a lock. Like I said, yeah, it's a lock. Yeah, it's a lock. I don't want to be easy and take the easy one, but like that's an easy one. But the other one, you know, he had a a thousand and like a little over a thousand yards last year, seven touchdowns. He's gonna get 1,300 yards this year, okay? And he's gonna get can't get three more touchdowns with this quarterback. Honestly, I think he's gonna end up with with with uh 11, 12, 13 touchdowns and 1,300 yards. So that 10 plus, I think, is easy money, a plus 275. If you wait and he gets two touchdowns of week one, those odds are gonna go down. So I think it's a good bet to take right now. Final out.
SPEAKER_00All right, that's gonna do it for Gil and Tommy. This is the Boston Bullpen Podcast. Again, please follow us Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. If you're listening to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, please give us a five-star review. The number one thing that helps push the podcast. So if you like the podcast, please leave us a review. If you're on YouTube, please subscribe, give us a review, keep watching, keep listening. We appreciate all of you. That's the ball game.
SPEAKER_02This is the Boston Bullhead Podcast.