September 6, 2020 • 49 mins
On this weekend edition of Straight Outta Vegas with Bernie Fratto, Bernie tells you why Tom Brady is the biggest story of the 2020 NFL Season, Dennis Fithian joins the show to talk about the Big Ten situation and whether or not there will be a season! PLUS, Macken on Sports and NFL Quick Hitters!
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're coming to bed hunt Yep, honey, I'll be right there.
Just gotta turn out the light. Oh oh, some thing's
never change, like your kids always leaving tiny toys on
the floor for you to step on, and Gango saving
folks lots of money on their car in shirts. Sweetie,
(00:23):
I think I left the downstairs light on. Please don't
make me go. Fifteen minutes could save you or more?
What girls in the forest, our imagination and our family bonds.
The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
near you and discover the fourth Dot Org. Brought to
you by the United States for Service and the AD Council.
(00:46):
The NFL Podcast Network is your home for all things football.
Do you love hearing analysis around the league with a
touch of mirth, Or maybe you enjoy breaking down, ex
and nose in the college scouting scene. Do you breathe,
weep and eat fantasy football? Perhaps you love the funny
headlines that emerge each week. What if you want in
(01:06):
depth news coverage with reporters, or what if you want
to know exactly how each team got its name? While
you're in luck, Because the NFL Podcast Network has a
show for everybody. Listen on the I Heart Radio, app
Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to
(01:28):
do out. This is straight out of Vegas with the
Voice of Vegas, your host r J. Baba that me
and he moneaged You are now about to witness the
strength of street knowledge live from the Veggat Strip, the
pregame show America has always wanted with r J Bell out,
Here's Bernie Freddoh old boat, but he caught the old boy.
(02:04):
We got the old boat, but we got the old boy.
We got the old boat, but we caught the old boat.
But we got the old boat. But we got the
old bay. But we got the old boat. But he
got the old boy. But he got the old boat.
(02:24):
But he caught the old boat. But we got the
old boat. But we got the old bat. But we
got the old boat, but we got the old boy.
We got the old boat, we got the old boy,
but we got the old boat. But we got the
(02:44):
old boy. But we got the old boat. But he
caught the old boat. But we got the old boat.
But it caught the old ball. But it's got the
old boat, but he caught the old boy. Well, don't
(03:24):
look now, but we are on uncharted waters sort of tomorrow, Sunday,
September six, it will be the last Sunday without NFL
football until early February. Of course, god willing the creek
don't rise and there are no more unforeseen Murphy's Law events,
natural disasters, or rainhouns. But on that note, welcome back
(03:48):
to another award winning edition of Straight out of Vegas,
the weekend version. I'm Bernie Fratto. We're coming to you
live from the Gecko Fox Sports Radio studios, where fifteen
minutes could save you more on car insurance, so go
to Geco dot com for a free rate quote. Now
there are We're five days from NFL football, so we
(04:08):
are going to tonight continue taking our deep dive into
all things football, and we'll target what I think are
going to be the big storylines this season. Now, there
hasn't been any preseason football and such, but I think
you'll agree with me when I dive into these and
about fifteen minutes, we'll talk Big ten football. Are they
gonna play, not gonna play? If so, when? How where.
(04:32):
We'll be joined by a guest I've known and worked
with since and he has his finger on the pulse
of the Big Ten better than anybody I know. In fact,
he told me the season would be canceled four days
before it actually was. So we'll pick his brand and
get the latest is there is a lot to digest
and people want answers. After Brian Finley's epic update at
(04:54):
the bottom of the hour, will continue with our NFL
quick hitters, and I want to weigh in on Cam
Newton and his new team, Plus Steve Fezik weighs in
with a best bet on America's team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Are they still America's team? By the way? All right?
Of course, we wrap things up with mac An Sports
as we wrap up the show with the thinking Man
segment of the program Sports or Entertainment. But they're more
(05:17):
than that. There are shared experiences such people want to
talk about them. So you've come to the right place.
We've got a lot to talk about tonight. This is
straight out of Vegas, the pregame show you always wanted.
As they say in Ricky Rubio, Minnesota, it's gonna be lit,
all right. Tom Brady for me, is the lead story
in this year's NFL. He's polarizing. They love him, they
(05:40):
hate him. I got a good friend I worked with
for twenty five years, he's on our network. He thinks
Brady sucks. And some guy you may have heard of
named Rob Parker. I love Rob, but his dealon Brady, well,
you know the drill. But but let's let's dip this
in reality. For for two decades, Bill Belichick has put
the New England Patriots as a team ahead of any
(06:02):
single player on the roster. Virtually every veteran who contributed
to the greatest dynasty in modern sports were they've been
shipped out or allowed to leave once they were no
longer useful or willing to contribute at the right price.
And there's plenty of history to back my premise. Mike
Rabel he was traded to the Chiefs, Randy Moss was
(06:23):
shipped to the Vikings. Vince will Fork when he finished
up with the Texans, Adam Vinytari he had a whole
second career with the Colts. I always thought if there
was gonna be one exception to that rule, I figured
it would be Tom Brady. Nobody ever referred to the
Patriots dynasty as Belichick and Vinyitary or Belichick and McDaniels,
(06:44):
or it's always Belichick and Brady. Their equals arguably the
best head coach and quarterback of all time, at least
in terms of resume. There's the two pillars of the
Patriots dynasty, the two centerpieces that everybody counted on before
they came together for their legendary out in New England.
Six championships they won. And then I think you can
(07:05):
give the credit equally in case you missed it, during
Tom Brady's eighteen healthy seasons as a starter, he made
the playoffs seventeen times, won the division seventeen out of eighteen,
and got to nine Super Bowls in eighteen years. Are
you serious in the Super Bowl half the time? That's berserk.
But alas whether or not there was trouble in Paradise,
(07:27):
Brady and Belichick wave goodbye, and the beneficiary was the
Tampa Bay Bucks and Bruce Arians. And I'm gonna tell
you why I love this deal. See in general, anytime
you can add a starting caliber quarterback without needing to
give up any significant draft capital, it's a good move.
Here's the worst case scenario. Brock Oswiler to Houston a
few years ago, and the Texans were able to get
(07:49):
out of it. Well, they used draft capital after one
disastrous season. Now, I get it, it's fair to expect
Brady to be slightly diminished from the guy he was
five years ago or even two years ago. And it's
also impossible to separate how much Brady has declined from
how much that infrastructure around him fell off. See there's
really no data on what a forty three year old
(08:11):
starting quarterback is supposed to look like. A Ridge leg
Brady could drop off. I don't think that's going to happen.
He could also take another step forward and look like
the guy who was good enough to win a super
Bowl just fourteen months ago. See, of all the quarterbacks
available to the Buccaneers, Brady had the highest short term
floor and ceiling. For whatever off field benefits Brady will
(08:34):
offer the Bucks, no free agent signing is going to
move his team closer to the Super Bowl than Brady
with the Bucks. Even if it fails, this team had
a chance to sign the greatest quarterback of all time
and fill an enormous position of need. Let's face it,
they needed a quarterback. Now will things be better for
the Bucks in Well, let's chop it up. Brady is
(08:56):
gonna have better receiving weapons in Tampa Bay that he
had New England and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin when
they covered up a lot of Jamie's mistakes to pass
several seasons. Brady is a better decision maker than Winston
and Evanton Godwin are the tamp of receivers who could
make a quarterback feel comfortable throwing a ball when a
play is breaking down. So Brady also didn't have those
(09:20):
types of guys in New England, even though you could
argue he'll miss Julian Edelman's agility. And oh, by the way,
not for nothing, the Bucks just added Leonard Fournette as well.
So here's the question. Can the Bucks win in Yes,
yes they are. They're capable of winning a Super Bowl
with Brady. Yep, I said it. Everybody laughed at me
two years ago when I said they'd went in with
(09:43):
New England when Brady was forty one. Now, although Tampa
Bay finished twenty nine points allowed last season, they were
still the fifth best defense in football by d v
o A. See Tampa faced the league's toughest slate of
opposing offenses, and they inherited the worst average starting field
position from Winston and was forced to defend one eighty
(10:03):
nine meaningful possessions, which was the most for any team.
By the way, did you know Winston also through seven
pick sixes last year That counts against the scoring defense.
Brady's throwing six pick sixes in ten years, although I
guess you his final pass on the patch uniform was
a pick six to Logan Ryan, But I digress. Winston
(10:24):
had thirty eight turnovers last year, and the average was
on their own thirty nine yardland, putting their defense in
a hell of a compromising position. He also threw six
interceptions on the first possession of the game, and just
for fun, Winston through six interceptions when the Bucks were
leading in the fourth quarter. But by d v o A,
(10:44):
the Bucks were an excellent defense with a blow average
offense and terrible special teams. Their place kicking also took
a big step forward with the addition of Matt Kaye.
But the rookie, he's kind of sucked last year. Hopefully
he'll be better this year. Tampa. Also they struggle to
return kicks are punts effectively. But you've got all these
areas of improvement, okay that I think Bruce arians can
(11:09):
work on, and Brady brings it all together and by
the way they lost. How many times have you talked
about the importance of winning the turnover battle. Well, Tampa
Bay lost the turnover battle last year in fourteen out
of sixteen games and still managed to go seven and nine,
And that the fives the odds. You lose the turnover battle,
you lose of the time. Now, look, Brady's division is
(11:30):
gonna be a lot tougher with Tampa Bay. Last year,
the Bills gave the Pats a couple of scares, but
Dolphins were tanking. The Jets might as well have been.
This year. The Panthers appeared to be in the middle
of sort of a transformational year and the Matt Rule era.
But the Saints were the fourth best team in football
in twenty and I could say they were equal to
the Pats last year. Now they're much better than the
(11:51):
Bucks last year, the Saints, I believe last year. The
question is is Brady enough to make up that difference.
We'll see the Falcons, given their defense two boes there
are a more dangerous threat than the Jets are Dolphins
were a year ago. So Tampa is also going to
get eight games against the NFC North and NFC West,
including a home game against the Super Bowl champs Chiefs.
(12:12):
Now Brady can push the offense into the top ten
and avoid leaving the defense and compromising situations week after
week with all those Winston style takeaways, The Bucks, I believe,
are going to be good enough to overcome any defensive
aggression and yes, make the playoffs. Market They'll make the playoffs.
(12:32):
They're gonna project somewhere in the ten and six range.
I believe, maybe even better. They've got difference makers all
over the field. If I'm wrong, I'll be here in December.
Let's remember this show on September five. Now, let's juxtapose
this with Brady's former team, the New England Patriots and
their newly named starter Cam Newton, because that's another big
(12:57):
story heading into this coming season, which starts in five days.
Al Right, So Cam Newton's edition does make the paths
better than they were last June with presumed starting quarterback
Jared stid Im. Yeah right, he's got the same number
of starts as I do, and but he's throwing four
more passes. But are there really better than last season
(13:19):
when they won an eleventh straight title with Tom Brady?
And now here's my two cents on Cam Newton. Okay,
I like him. I like him in Auburn. I think
he's a winner. He took a moribund franchise to the
Super Bowl in four years, and he was the MVP
of the league back and back in I also think
Cam took an unfair wrap for his childlike Super Bowl
(13:39):
press conference act. What went unreported is that he went
out of his way to find Peyton Manning and shake
his hand after the game. Cam has also been incredibly
philanthropic in his community, often visits hospitals. He spends time
with disadvantaged children. But but set aside your feelings and
let's talk objective truths. Since losing in Super Bowl fifty
(14:02):
and looking bad doing it, Cam's fifteen and fifteen is
a starter in his career. He's three and four in
the playoffs and own one of the Super Bowl. I'm
my man Rob Parker, who I love dearly. I mentioned
him earlier. He tweeted that the Pats coot now have
a strong arm quarterback. Really do they? In the last
three and a half seasons, Cam was throwing a whopping
seven touchdown passes of more than twenty yards. Now, I
(14:24):
still think new England goes at best eight and eight. Yep,
I said it with that, you're in your pipe and
smoke it. But I do think they'll be fun to watch.
I think it would be terrific off Cam Newton got
from the playoffs. But I'm not interested in Cam telling
us in Instagram videos. In other words, Cam, don't tell me,
show me you won the job. Final thought on the Pats.
(14:45):
After scaring off against the softest NFL strength that schedule
each of the last two years. Based on an opponents
projected season win total for the upcoming season, New England
will have a come up in this year. They will
face the most difficult string of schedule based on the
opponent's overall win lost record last season, which is just
(15:06):
around point winning percentage. That's tough duty. We'll see how
they do. I say they go eight and eight. I
see the Buccaneers go ten and six. Coming up? Will
the Big Ten play football this year? And if they
do win, and what will it look like? We need answers.
(15:28):
Even the sports books want answers because without Ohio staying
on the board, things look different. So we'll have a
guest here coming up that I think you're going to
really enjoy and I have a lot of history with
this gentleman. We're coming to you live from the get
CAO Fox Sports Radio Studios for fifteen minutes. Can save
you fift or more on car insurance, so visit guy
Good dot com for a free rate quote. I'm Bernie Fratto.
(15:53):
We are coming to you alive from the Getico Fox
Sports Radio Studios. This is the pregame show you always wanted,
so don't go away. You're listening to straight out of Vegas.
Look to your children's eyes to see the true magic
of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You
look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face
of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They
(16:15):
see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that
could lead to adventure, and they see you. They're fearless. Guide.
Is this fascinating world? Find a forest near you and
start exploring and discover the forest dot Org brought to
you by the United States Forest Service and the AD Council.
The NFL podcast Network is your home for all things football.
(16:38):
Do you love hearing analysis around the league with a
touch of mirth, or maybe you enjoy breaking down X
and os in the college scouting scene. Did you breathe, sleep,
and eat fantasy football? Perhaps you love the funny headlines
that emerge each week. What if you want in depth
news coverage with reporters, or what if you want to
know exactly how each team got its name? While you're
(17:03):
in luck, because the NFL Podcast Network has a show
for everybody. Our best network, because the NFL is best talent,
bringing you right into the action each week. There's always
room to add more football into your podcast rotation, and
our vast group of shows will surely keep you up
to date with everything you need to know surrounding the
National Football League. Listen on the I Heart Radio app,
(17:24):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everybody,
I'm Rachel Banetta and I have my very own podcast
called Benched with Banetta. You get make I'm just here
so I won't get fine. You may know me from
Game Debut or Game Day Morning on NFL Network basically
any shows with the word game in it. Odds are
(17:47):
you'll find me there every week. I'm gonna be talking
about all the things I find fascinating about the NFL,
like breaking down games, questioning Tom Brady genetic makeup. It's
gonna be great. I'm also doing think that it's never
been done before. I'm opening my DM DM s now open.
(18:11):
We want to hear from you, fans of the NFL.
And when I woke up this morning, I was feeling
pretty dangerous. Did you commit a misdemeanor crime when you
were twelve and need to tell somebody about it? Please,
for the love of Roger Goodell, do not tell me
I can be held accountable. Listen every Tuesday and join
me on the bench. Subscribe now and listen to the
Bench with Bonetta podcast on the I Heart Radio app,
(18:33):
on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. All right,
that this time, let's welcome in a gentleman I've known
and work with since. He spent fourteen years at CBS
Radio in Detroit. In fact, we did Lions Detroit Lions
printing post game shows together, and of course both covered
Michigan in the Big Tenant. He still does, and he
(18:55):
makes his residence just a couple of football fields away
from the Big House in ann Arbor. Let's say hello
to Dennis fifty and Dennis, how are you, buddy? Pretty good?
Bernie what's going on. It's good to have you on
and uh, let's start. Let's let's dive right into this,
because today would have been Michigan's opening game, but instead
(19:16):
I understand they had a little protest outside the stadium
led by one gym Hardball. What can you tell us
about that, Well, it's the last discs effort as far
as being able to play for the national title. That's
the way the Big Ten is looking at it, because
if they can't get the okay to play this weekend,
(19:36):
can't get back out into the practice field, they're not
gonna be able to play games in October, and then
they're gonna have to look to some different models. And
so this is really it. So the Michigan players decided
to make their their last stand here lobbying for a reversal,
a prompt reversal. So they were outside the stadium instead
(19:59):
of being out in Washington trying to look for an
eleventh hour reversal. Here a lot of confusion, a lot
of a lot of chaos. But now they're they're just
trying to get their voice heard here in The confusing
part has been last week here in the state of Michigan,
we actually did get a reversal with high school football,
(20:20):
which was postponed. And of course we see across the
country and there's uh, there's plenty of teams playing college football.
And then we really know that when you see the
A C C. You start looking at the calendar. Next
week you're gonna have Clemson, You're gonna have Notre Dame,
You're gonna have Florida State playing them. Of course three
weeks when the SEC hits. Uh, it's really gonna be
(20:42):
tough if you know the Big ten. Of course, Michigan
standing there on the sideline looking at all those other
teams play, they'll have to be looking for their their
other models if they just can't get the go ahead. Uh.
I would say that when we've talked about a lot
of last ditched or or or drop dead dates, it's
already past that. But I can't see them not getting something,
(21:06):
you know, past this Monday, past Labor Day, and then
being able to put together something here in October where
they could compete with the other jeems for the title.
So you've had your finger on the pulse for decades there,
and uh I remember Lloyd Carr used to love you.
The bottom line is this. You you were inside the
belly of the beast, and you told me four days
(21:26):
before it was actually canceled that it was going to happen.
So I'm gonna put your feet to the fire again.
You hear dates like October ten or Thanksgiving or God
forbid in the spring. Of those three potential scenarios, which
has the greatest possibility, or maybe none of them have
the greatest possibility, break those down for me. Oh, I
(21:47):
think the most probable plan that's going to happen is
it's either going to be the Thanksgiving day plan or
the the January plan. I mean, those are very viable.
The one that um, the Big Ten wants and at
college football fans want, which would be close to normal
(22:09):
as possible, would be the one that is on life
support and has always had very little chance of happening.
And that's the one where they get a reversal and
the Big Ten presidents and chancellors have some emergency meeting
and they come out of this Labor Day weekend with
this shocking reversal. Now, I think the uh, the reason
(22:30):
that one's not going to happen is that these uh,
these presidents, they have already spoken and while everybody else
is beating the drum. They have their interests elsewhere. They
are acting like, uh, they can't even hear anybody in
the protests. So the part about going to UM Thanksgiving,
(22:52):
it's the ways off here they would be able to
pair themselves with the the Packed twelve. It's not ideal,
but there are some advantages to that one too. But
the being able to start in November or January, of course,
gives you all that more time to look back and
you can actually see how these other conferences get on
(23:14):
and in the success they have of course the NFL
as well in the rapid testing and everything else there.
So they'll have a chance and they would then play
their Big Ten games and then at the end play
the Pack twelve in the rows ball, which is not
playing for the college Football Championship, but it's UM you know,
(23:34):
a good second prize. I guess yeah. Talking with Dennis
fifty in twenty seven years in the Detroit radio market
fourteen at CBS Radio, Dennis Um, you brought up a
good point when we were talking about ten days ago,
having to do with the fact that one of the
challenges the Big Ten has is a conference because they're
geographically spread around the country, and even if they were
(23:57):
to return, there could be some schools opt out, so
it might not be the full fourteen team speak about that, Yeah,
well you know what, I know that was reported. I
would really find that. Like I'm shocked every day at
the events here in college football, So you know, I
can't ever say that it wouldn't happen for sure, but
(24:18):
seeing the big tent, if somehow they would get a
reversal and then some of their teams would opt out,
would be the most surprising of all results. Now, you
go from the shores of New Jersey all the way
over when you start going west to Nebraska and Minnesota.
That's a huge footprint that we're talking about, and just
(24:39):
thinking about getting six additional votes and have them reverse
when they're all dug in here. Like I just looked
from a Michigan standpoint here that their president and it's
the surprising part about all of this, Bernie, Like, I
look like Michigan's president has pretty much put himself in
(24:59):
the ball and it's the most amazing part. Like his
name is Mark Schlissel, and he's a immunologist, and that's
what this is all about. This is what he studied
his entire life at at Princeton, at Johns Hopkins, and
he has voted against UH playing football here in the fall.
(25:21):
And it's like, UH, the Michigan president and the other
presidents and chancellors have put themselves with their self imposed
gag order. And that's the disappointing part because these guys,
especially Slissal, this is him, this is his baby. Explain it.
You know, we have seen others come out and be
(25:41):
able to uh to to talk about this. You know,
at first Dr Fauci came out and people were receptive
to what he was saying. But I'll tell you what
if I was this is crazy to say. If I
was the president and this was what I had studied
and had my my life's work in was being in,
(26:03):
you know, studying viruses, I would be out there with
every day in any outlet that wanted to talk with me.
Not that I wanted to get my face on TV
or my voice on the radio or in print. I
would just wanted to tell everybody my feelings in my
opinion on exactly where I was at and see if
(26:24):
I could put it in layman's terms. Because one thing,
we know half the country things this way, half the
country things the other. And it's the same thing on
the universities, it's the same thing. From the States. It's
it's everywhere there. And instead of getting out there and
explaining themselves, they are are hiding and just letting their
(26:44):
statements from weeks ago stand there. And the one thing
we know, things are changing and there's new information every day.
Very disappointing from the Big Ten all the way back
to early August when they released this schedule that everybody
knew was a sham when they saw it. So that
is just continue you this has been an example of
what not to do. They've not picked the plan, they've
not come out and said anything about what the next
(27:07):
step is. They made their call, they didn't know if
they voted or not. They've they've put out statements instead
of getting out there and answering any questions. And now
they continue to be quiet while they've got their coaches
and players out there twisting in the wind and pleading
for answers and another revote, and they can't even give
them that, which is UH. You know, it's tough to
(27:29):
take from UH. From a player and UH coach standpoint,
I would say one thing about all of that, though,
on the other side, is that these presidents and chancellors
they might end up being right. And we know that
college football has started a little bit here. Bernie Butt,
I think these these uh, I think they're just sitting
back and saying, you just wait, you know, these others
(27:50):
are gonna join us on the sideline, and we're gonna
end up looking good. There's gonna be a lot of
people that are telling us that, you know what they sorry,
you know, all along, we just uh, you know, we
were aunty because they were on the football field. I
think that they're just sitting there confidence and nobody wants
to root against the other teams not being able to play.
(28:11):
But I still think that they're just sitting there thinking
that they're all going to join them on the sideline
eventually here over the next week to three weeks, Dennis,
I wish we had more time. I appreciate you coming on.
Let's keep the full lines open, and I would just
say this, keep your finger on the pulse. Let's have
you back on when we have more definitive news. Okay, yeah,
we'll just hold your breath, you know, in another half
(28:33):
hour hour, if we get any news, will we make
sure to call it in sounds good Dennis, thanks so much,
really appreciate you staying up late tonight. No problem. That's
Dennis fifty in twenty seven years in the Detroit airways,
including fourteen at CBS Radio. He and I have done
a lot of work together, including Detroit Lions pre code
postgame shows coming up, Physics, best bet for next week,
(28:56):
well more of a season best bet prop and I
want to return to some nfl CI quick hitters as
we are just five days away from the National Football League.
But first, well, let's go to the man. Well his
epic updates come with a guarantee, and you're guaranteed not
to break ben Rustbus, Bite the Dust, Chip Cracker Peel.
(29:16):
That's Brian Finley with the latest. Oh my goodness, Bernie.
That is your token intro. The Nuggets take a commanding
first quarter lead and weather the Clippers one ten, one
oh one to tie their second round series at one.
Denver head coach Mike Malone applodding the way his team
pestred Kawai Leonard, who shot four of seventeen from the floor.
(29:36):
Jeremy Grant's deepense on Kauai was spectacular, but the four
guys behind it were given the necessary help. I thought
Gary Harris a deepense on Paula George was terrific, but
the help behind that was what we need and what
we didn't have. In Game one, the Raptors burrow out
of an O two whole, tying the Eastern Conference semifinal
series with the Celtics at two games. Following a one
(29:57):
hundred nine three victory, Ron Too made ten more three pointers.
Boston's Jalen Brown scored fourteen points on eighteen shots. He
pricked nine threes. The Islanders zoom into the Eastern Conference
Finals after taking down the Flyers for nothing in Game seven.
ESPN is reporting past rush for Jadavion Clowney, who has
(30:18):
long been on the free agent market, will join forces
with the Tennessee Titans. In baseball, the Dodgers puke up
three runs in the ninth as the Rockies shock l
A five to the Oakland Athletics torture the Padres eight four.
Oakland now leads the a L West by three and
a half games. The Astros are second in that division.
(30:39):
They dropped both in their doubleheader to the Angels. The
Miami Marlins submerged the Ale East, leading Tampa Bay Rays
seven to three, and finally, Thoroughbred Authentic wins the Kentucky Derby.
The horse Bernie could not be tracked down for comment,
but the racehorse was so excited afterwards the colt plowed
(31:00):
over a couple of fans in the winner circle. How
about that for a way to celebrate. Back to Bernie Fratto,
the kingpin of sports betting in Vegas. This man runs things.
The horses a horse of course of court, never mind, thanks,
Brian appreciated it as always all right. Our man Steve
Physic weighs in with a bet that you want to
(31:21):
pay close attention to having to do with the team. Well,
they're returning a prolific offense and a potential top ten defense.
Was that translate to in season wins? Will tell you?
Let's give it a listen. Oftentimes, when you're betting on
a team, you want to look at their opponents and division.
Ideally you want to not like their opponents. Dallas is
(31:41):
favored to win the division. Now they're minus one thirty
and a big part of it is that Philly absolutely
has gotten bad news. Lost two linemen so cluster injuries
As we mentioned on the line wide receivers, two of
the three starting wide receivers aren't gonna be ready to
go in September. Once hasn't practiced all week, so who
knows what's going on with his health. And I certainly
don't like the New York Giants. I don't like the
(32:03):
Washington football team. So other reasons that point me to
Dallas over ten wins as a bat and think about that,
because that's what you call deductive reasoning. UH, these teams
don't exist in a vacuum, so it's reasonable to believe
that the number of wins the team can accumulate is
at least part and partial to UH their competition and
(32:26):
their schedule. And if the rest of the division and
Philly is a mash unit in Washington's clearly rebuilding, right
And you don't really know what you get with the
New York Giants. That can only bold well, since Dallas
plays a full six games against their division, so this
is pretty good in these season profits. Take a look
at that. Dallas certainly has the personnel to win ten games.
(32:49):
They've got difference makers all over the field, maybe even
eleven or twelve games. We'll see they still got to
do it all right, Let's take a look at some
other NFL quick hitters as I like to refer to.
How about Cam's old team. You know, the Carolina Panthers.
They've lost their last eight games of the season, uh in,
by an average of almost seventeen points a game. So
(33:11):
if they do anything similar to that this season, they'll
be labeled as tanking for Trevor Lawrence, that is, who
is supposed to be the next number one pick in
NFL draft. And I know a lot of folks feel
that Jacksonville will earn that honor. The new coach of
the Panthers, Matt Rule, realizes he's gonna really be heavily
relying on a rookie class to build this team from
(33:33):
the ground up. He did it at Baylor and Temple,
He built teams from ground zero. But this is the
National Football League, and the Panthers became the first team
since the a f L NFL merger to use all
seven draft picks on defense, including the retirement of seven
time Pro Bowl linebacker. Look quickly, who uh who lost
(33:54):
forty from last year's squad. So I'll tell you they've
they've got their work cut out for him. How about
the Buffalo Bills. I bet you didn't know this. It's
not often you find that an NFL team will win
ten games in a season despite averaging less than twenty
points per game. Well, the Bills did exactly just that.
They were the seventh team to do it in this millennium.
(34:17):
That doesn't necessarily bode well, But I know some folks
that like Buffalo. In that division with the Jets, Miami
and of course the aforementioned New England Patriots, somehow the
Pittsburgh Steelers have really flown under the radar, and this
is exactly why you want to pay attention to them
this year. Head coach Mike Tomblin has never had a
(34:38):
losing season and the only time he's gone back to
back excuse me, this is only the second time he's
gone back to mac seasons without making the playoffs. The
last time it occurred in his troops went ten and
six before losing in the divisional round of the playoffs.
So f y I. After feeling to make the playoffs
the previous season, Tomlins teams are forty one and twenty
(35:02):
seven straight up, including sixteen and three straight up and
against the spread. Among against other foes coming off consecutive
back to back losing season, So keep an eye on that.
More Pittsburgh, how do we bury this lead the return
a future Hall of Fame Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. That
(35:24):
is going to be tantamount to extending, you know, head
coach Mike tomlins thirteen years streak of never having had
a losing season in the NFL and Big Ben he
did lead the NFL and passing yards inen with over
five thousand yards. So with Ben behind the helm, Pittsburgh
is going to face the second weakest strength of schedule
(35:46):
based on an opponent's regular season win loss record last
season point four forty seven to be exact. They'll face
teams who had accumulative record last year of one seventeen
and one thirty. These are important numbers to consider or
when you look at Pittsburgh win season total and the
fact that they are live to win that division. I
know everybody has already crowned Baltimore and they're putting him
(36:09):
in the super Bowl. But don't go to sleep on
the Steelers. Usually when they are under the radar is
when they are their most dangerous. And by the way,
I wish Dak Prescott nothing but success. I'd really like
to see him have success with Dallas. What do I
mean by that? Get to the playoffs, win one or
two playoff games, or even get to the super Bowl.
It's a good story, but don't dismiss the chance. As
(36:31):
a former Cincinnati quarterback, Andy Dalton the all time franchise
leader in completions and passing touchdowns for the Cincinnati Bengals,
he could still end up taking more snaps than pundits predict.
Andy Dalton has started a playoff game each of his
first four seasons in the NFL. The only quarterbacks to
do that since ninety were Autogram, Joe Flackle and Russell Wilson.
(36:56):
So the redheaded Rifle. He is looking forward to working
with my McCarthy. McCarthy likes guys with experience, just saying
and speaking of other quarterbacks. It was announced today if
you're Alliance fan, this may bode well for you. The Bears,
who open up at Detroit and they're currently catching three.
They announced that Mitch Trubisky will start Week one. He's
(37:20):
averaging a robust two yards passing yards per game, and
it's forty one NFL starts. There's a word for that brutal,
and he's got a he's got a terrible QB rating
of eighty five. So we'll see what Trubisky can do.
You've got fulls waiting in the wings. I don't really
know what they're waiting for. They already know what Trubisky
(37:40):
can do, and they're paying full twenty million dollars. By
the way, one thing about Dallas, they're one of the
few teams that will have fans week one to start
the season. I don't know how many they're going to
allow in Texas, but they're talking about as many as
fifty percent. I don't know. We'll see. We're gonna watch
this because there's an inconsistency in the NFL policies in
terms of who will have fans, who won't have fans,
(38:02):
and is that going to create advantages or disadvantages some
of the things we'll get to find out. I'm really
looking forward to Thursday night as the Kansas City Chiefs
begin defense of their title and they host DeShawn Watson
and the Houston Texans, and I can't believe they're laying
ten points. I'm not saying I'm involved in that game yet,
but that's a lot weak one, and that's a lot
(38:23):
when you've got a dynamic force like the Shawn Watson
who Dabble Sweeney called Michael Jordan's and you know what,
I kind of agree with dambl Sweeney coming up. You
know him? You love Nick Candley without him. We've got
a special addition tonight of MacKinnon Sports, so you don't
want to miss it. I'm Bernie Fratto. We're comingy Alive
(38:45):
from the Gecko Fox Sports Radio Studios. This is the
pregame show you always wanted to. Don't go away. You're
listening to Straight out of Vegas, one of the best
in the business, Bernie Fratto. What grows in the forest trees?
Sure no one else grows in the forest. Our imagination,
(39:06):
our sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too,
because when we disconnect from this and connect with this,
we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than
you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring.
I Discover the Forest dot Org, brought to you by
the United States Forest Service and the ad Council. Adoption
(39:30):
of teams from foster Care is a topic not enough
people know about, and we're here to change that. I'm
April Dinuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented
by adopt Us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling, real
life adoption stories told by the families that lived them,
with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org,
slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption presented by adopt
(39:53):
Us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department
of Health, that Human Services Administration for Children and Families,
and the ad Council. I'm John Gonzalez, the host of
Sports Illustrated Weekly. Sports Illustrated has delivered the best storytelling
in sports for seventy years, first in the pages of
the magazine, then on SI dot com, and now that
(40:14):
tradition continues on a new podcast. Each week, we'll dive
deep into the best stories from around the sports world.
We'll ask the questions that we're all wondering and push
for the answers we all want. Everything from investigating the
Super Bowl's impact on l A to examining white booing
is as big a part of the fan experience as cheering.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is here to bring you the entertaining
(40:36):
tales you can't get anywhere else. The kinds of stories
that make you smile and laugh, clap and cry, marvel,
think and fall in love with sports all over again.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is available every Wednesday on the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe now. Bernie Frattole coming to you live from the
(41:05):
get go Fox Sports Radio Students. We are back on
Straight out of Vegas, the pregame show you always wanted.
Before I go any further, I want to thank my
broadcast team back in Los Angeles. That would be Brian Finley,
Chris Perfett, and in for Eric Roberts Tonight Bowl Benson,
who is also the co host of the Swing Ship
(41:27):
podcasts along with Ryan Burschinger. Voted number one by Tommy White.
Sue google it all right, Mackenzie, here he is. You
know what we love McKinley with Ottomans Macking on Sports
we pick it up and we left off. Bubble basketball
continues to confound me. I just want to see a
quick thing about the Clippers game today, which I think
was deceiving because the Clippers were nine or thirty two
(41:48):
from behind the ark and that was really the only
difference in the game they had the outrebounded uh Deniver
fifty two to forty forty eight points in the paint.
They just couldn't shoot from behind the arc and Denver could.
And you know we're finding nowhere in plane travel no
home court advantage. You've got to manufacture your own momentum.
You've got a manufacture your own excitement and night tonight,
(42:09):
you don't know how that goes. I had someone tweet
at me about how Toronto's got all the momentum. Now
no they no, no, no, no, okay, the series is
tattooed too. I'm sticking with Boston. We'll see if I'm
right or wrong. I don't know how you say anybody's
got momentum when you're playing inside a bubble. And by
the way, they've all done a phenomenal job and the
games have been very competitive. But let's face the mackenzie,
(42:30):
this is a little different scenario as it continues to develop.
Momentum is the next day's starting picture, right, That's what
they say in baseball. In other words, it's imaginary. It's
how good are you going to be? The next game?
And Bernie, I think you can search far and wide
you will not find someone with better verbiage than FSR
is very own Brian Finley, and he said it best.
(42:50):
The dug gets weathered the Clippers. The Clippers were down
twenty one early and they ended up losing by nine.
They by a pretty good last three quarters. They didn't
win the game. That happens Gary Harris. Throughing a couple
of dag or threes, they got to it, I think
three or five, and they just look. No one said that,
no one said they were gonna sweep. You know. I
covered those Pistons teams that went back to bit. I
(43:11):
saw the Lakers. It was an intern. You don't win
every game. You don't have your a game every night, Right,
You're just something. Some days you drive well, you don't
put well, you get the difference. But still being as
it may, and this is why we do macin on sports,
you managed to find an edge that people really need
to pay attention to because these numbers are starting to
become very daunting. Right. I was down at the beginning
(43:31):
of the day with a big Celtics play. I gave
out on Twitter. Oops, you know, can't win them all,
like we just said. I had to get my money
back though, so I went to the sports book and
I said, give me the second half Nuggets Clippers under,
and I was very confident and it came through again.
In fact, since the boycotts a couple of weeks ago,
there's been eighteen NBA games obviously eighteen second half seventeen
(43:54):
have had lower scoring than expected, by almost ten points
per game. Bernie, and why is this happening? Well, playoffs
scoring in general is lower. That didn't really happen for
the first week of the playoffs. It's starting to happen now.
But usually there's about a two points difference between first
half and second half scoring. That's consistent in the last
ten years in the playoffs, last ten years in the
regular season, that's generally what you expect. We're seeing a
(44:17):
gap of eleven points between the first half scoring and
the second half scoring. First half's nine and nine over
under the last eighteen again, second halfs seventeen and one
to the under. Burie, help me out here. I have
a couple of possible explanations. But what do you think
about that? Well, I was about to ask you, is
there a causal effectors? There's just a streak here. What's
(44:37):
happening is it's just a situation where the markets haven't
adjusted the lines properly to make accounts for this. What
do you what do you believe is the you know,
what are the factors you would consider in in surmising
that this is what's happening. If I hadn't watched the
games and I just looked at the stats, I might think, well,
seventeen out of eighteen, streaks will come, you know, just
randomly every so often. But if you look at these games,
(44:59):
if you look at the game today with the Celtics
and Raptors Game four, or the Nuggets and Clippers game,
to the first halfs and second halfs look like completely
different affairs. It looks like there's two different teams out there,
and I think there's a few different things going on. Okay,
Doc Rivers had a you know, im passion speech today
saying we're a defensive team. We didn't play it that
the way the first half. We play that way, that's
our identity. We're gonna do it the second half. So
(45:20):
coaching adjustments, you can say, hey, this guy's hot, we're
gonna put two on here. You can make these plays
and that's why we generally see second halfs lower scoring
is coaches and teams make adjustments to stop the other
team's best weapons. But ten points, Bernie, that difference of
two points is exacerbated by five x. Why, Well, I
think fatigue is a very different animal in the bubble.
For one, the backdrops are all the same, so you're
(45:41):
gonna have that hot shooting to begin with in the game,
but that goes away when teams get locked in later
in the game. You know exactly, you've seen these teams
probably four or five times by now in the bubble.
You can make adjustments and they and they can put
the clamps down. And I don't have to know every
reason why this is happening to make money off it,
like I did, actually think there are fen s legs.
What happens when fatigue sets in defense? Waynes, I've seen
(46:04):
some very aggressive, very active, active hands, bodies flying all
over the place, great defensive plays. This this past week
we've seen. We saw James Harden went the block shot.
We we don't need to we don't need to name
them all, do a rod call. But what I'm seeing
is great energy on defense. There is no airplane fatigue.
(46:25):
No one's having to travel and frankly they're not intimidated.
No one's intimidating by going into someone else's building. You
play a game, do you go back, You take a shower,
you go to the cafeteria, you have the tune of surprise,
you go play some video games, you go to bed,
you know, wash Wentz repeat, and they're getting plenty of rest.
And I think these guys are playing their butts off.
That's very interesting because most people that you know knee jerk.
(46:48):
Even what I just said, oh, lower scoring, but they're
probably losing their legs in the second half. But as
you say, it's a lot easier to play offense than defense.
So maybe it's the lack of fatigue that we're used
to seeing in these playoffs that's allowed them to get
up for the second up. That makes a lot of sense. Bernie,
all right, I want to real quickly because a lot
of people ask me about the Lakers Houston tomorrow. I'm
not going to be involved in this game, but I
must tell you that I was again, I was very
(47:11):
taken aback by the aggressive, effective, tenacious defense led by
p J. Tucker that Houston played. They held the Lakers
to ninety seven points. The Lakers average one thirteen per
game in the season and one seventeen per game against Portland's.
If that continues tomorrow night, the Lakers could have an issue.
The other thing is, I do think the Lakers really
(47:33):
underestimated Houston speed well since they traded Clint Capella. The
Rockets have played the Lakers three times. None of them
have been close, Bernie, They've blown them out every single time,
And obviously three games isn't enough to say that there's
a lot the Rockets are gonna win the series. But
I don't think with the way that these teams play,
I don't think the prices are right right now. I
think the Rockets maybe have a chance to win the series.
(47:55):
The market says they have a thirty chance to win
the series. I'm not buying. Give me the Rockets really. Okay, well,
I think it really comes down to what happens tomorrow.
But continue to watch these totals and continue to watch
to see if the markets adjust, Mackenzie, because frankly, if
the numbers stay the same, it's pretty hard to jump
(48:17):
off this trend. It's all right, that's gonna do it.
For this week's edition Straight out of Vegas. Thanks so
much for Dennis fifty and to come on up next,
the man from Nashville. He brings it strong. It's my man,
Jason Martin to keep it right locked right here on
Fox Sports Radio. You coming to bed Hunt, Yep, honey,
(48:40):
I'll be right there. I just gotta turn out the light.
Oh oh, some thing's never change, like your kids always
leaving tiny toys on the floor for you to step
on and Gango saving folks lots of money on their
car and shirts. Sweetie, I think I left the downstairs
(49:02):
light on. Please don't make me go. Fifteen minutes could
save you or more. Look for your children's eyes and
you will discover the true magic of a forest. Find
a forest near you and start exploring it. Discover the
forest dot Org. Brought to you by the United States
Forest Service and the ad Council. Adoption of teams from
(49:24):
foster care is a topic not enough people know about,
and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinuity, host
of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt us Kids.
Each episode brings you compelling, real life adoption stories told
by the families that lived them, with commentary from experts.
Visit adopt us Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribe
to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt us Kids, brought to
(49:47):
you by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, and the ad Council
You're coming to bed hunt Yep, honey, I'll be right there.
Just gotta turn out the light. Oh oh, some thing's
never change, like your kids always leaving tiny toys on
the floor for you to step on, and Gango saving
folks lots of money on their car in shirts. Sweetie,
(00:23):
I think I left the downstairs light on. Please don't
make me go. Fifteen minutes could save you or more?
What girls in the forest, our imagination and our family bonds.
The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest
near you and discover the fourth Dot Org. Brought to
you by the United States for Service and the AD Council.
(00:46):
The NFL Podcast Network is your home for all things football.
Do you love hearing analysis around the league with a
touch of mirth, Or maybe you enjoy breaking down, ex
and nose in the college scouting scene. Do you breathe,
weep and eat fantasy football? Perhaps you love the funny
headlines that emerge each week. What if you want in
(01:06):
depth news coverage with reporters, or what if you want
to know exactly how each team got its name? While
you're in luck, Because the NFL Podcast Network has a
show for everybody. Listen on the I Heart Radio, app
Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to
(01:28):
do out. This is straight out of Vegas with the
Voice of Vegas, your host r J. Baba that me
and he moneaged You are now about to witness the
strength of street knowledge live from the Veggat Strip, the
pregame show America has always wanted with r J Bell out,
Here's Bernie Freddoh old boat, but he caught the old boy.
(02:04):
We got the old boat, but we got the old boy.
We got the old boat, but we caught the old boat.
But we got the old boat. But we got the
old bay. But we got the old boat. But he
got the old boy. But he got the old boat.
(02:24):
But he caught the old boat. But we got the
old boat. But we got the old bat. But we
got the old boat, but we got the old boy.
We got the old boat, we got the old boy,
but we got the old boat. But we got the
(02:44):
old boy. But we got the old boat. But he
caught the old boat. But we got the old boat.
But it caught the old ball. But it's got the
old boat, but he caught the old boy. Well, don't
(03:24):
look now, but we are on uncharted waters sort of tomorrow, Sunday,
September six, it will be the last Sunday without NFL
football until early February. Of course, god willing the creek
don't rise and there are no more unforeseen Murphy's Law events,
natural disasters, or rainhouns. But on that note, welcome back
(03:48):
to another award winning edition of Straight out of Vegas,
the weekend version. I'm Bernie Fratto. We're coming to you
live from the Gecko Fox Sports Radio studios, where fifteen
minutes could save you more on car insurance, so go
to Geco dot com for a free rate quote. Now
there are We're five days from NFL football, so we
(04:08):
are going to tonight continue taking our deep dive into
all things football, and we'll target what I think are
going to be the big storylines this season. Now, there
hasn't been any preseason football and such, but I think
you'll agree with me when I dive into these and
about fifteen minutes, we'll talk Big ten football. Are they
gonna play, not gonna play? If so, when? How where.
(04:32):
We'll be joined by a guest I've known and worked
with since and he has his finger on the pulse
of the Big Ten better than anybody I know. In fact,
he told me the season would be canceled four days
before it actually was. So we'll pick his brand and
get the latest is there is a lot to digest
and people want answers. After Brian Finley's epic update at
(04:54):
the bottom of the hour, will continue with our NFL
quick hitters, and I want to weigh in on Cam
Newton and his new team, Plus Steve Fezik weighs in
with a best bet on America's team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Are they still America's team? By the way? All right?
Of course, we wrap things up with mac An Sports
as we wrap up the show with the thinking Man
segment of the program Sports or Entertainment. But they're more
(05:17):
than that. There are shared experiences such people want to
talk about them. So you've come to the right place.
We've got a lot to talk about tonight. This is
straight out of Vegas, the pregame show you always wanted.
As they say in Ricky Rubio, Minnesota, it's gonna be lit,
all right. Tom Brady for me, is the lead story
in this year's NFL. He's polarizing. They love him, they
(05:40):
hate him. I got a good friend I worked with
for twenty five years, he's on our network. He thinks
Brady sucks. And some guy you may have heard of
named Rob Parker. I love Rob, but his dealon Brady, well,
you know the drill. But but let's let's dip this
in reality. For for two decades, Bill Belichick has put
the New England Patriots as a team ahead of any
(06:02):
single player on the roster. Virtually every veteran who contributed
to the greatest dynasty in modern sports were they've been
shipped out or allowed to leave once they were no
longer useful or willing to contribute at the right price.
And there's plenty of history to back my premise. Mike
Rabel he was traded to the Chiefs, Randy Moss was
(06:23):
shipped to the Vikings. Vince will Fork when he finished
up with the Texans, Adam Vinytari he had a whole
second career with the Colts. I always thought if there
was gonna be one exception to that rule, I figured
it would be Tom Brady. Nobody ever referred to the
Patriots dynasty as Belichick and Vinyitary or Belichick and McDaniels,
(06:44):
or it's always Belichick and Brady. Their equals arguably the
best head coach and quarterback of all time, at least
in terms of resume. There's the two pillars of the
Patriots dynasty, the two centerpieces that everybody counted on before
they came together for their legendary out in New England.
Six championships they won. And then I think you can
(07:05):
give the credit equally in case you missed it, during
Tom Brady's eighteen healthy seasons as a starter, he made
the playoffs seventeen times, won the division seventeen out of eighteen,
and got to nine Super Bowls in eighteen years. Are
you serious in the Super Bowl half the time? That's berserk.
But alas whether or not there was trouble in Paradise,
(07:27):
Brady and Belichick wave goodbye, and the beneficiary was the
Tampa Bay Bucks and Bruce Arians. And I'm gonna tell
you why I love this deal. See in general, anytime
you can add a starting caliber quarterback without needing to
give up any significant draft capital, it's a good move.
Here's the worst case scenario. Brock Oswiler to Houston a
few years ago, and the Texans were able to get
(07:49):
out of it. Well, they used draft capital after one
disastrous season. Now, I get it, it's fair to expect
Brady to be slightly diminished from the guy he was
five years ago or even two years ago. And it's
also impossible to separate how much Brady has declined from
how much that infrastructure around him fell off. See there's
really no data on what a forty three year old
(08:11):
starting quarterback is supposed to look like. A Ridge leg
Brady could drop off. I don't think that's going to happen.
He could also take another step forward and look like
the guy who was good enough to win a super
Bowl just fourteen months ago. See, of all the quarterbacks
available to the Buccaneers, Brady had the highest short term
floor and ceiling. For whatever off field benefits Brady will
(08:34):
offer the Bucks, no free agent signing is going to
move his team closer to the Super Bowl than Brady
with the Bucks. Even if it fails, this team had
a chance to sign the greatest quarterback of all time
and fill an enormous position of need. Let's face it,
they needed a quarterback. Now will things be better for
the Bucks in Well, let's chop it up. Brady is
(08:56):
gonna have better receiving weapons in Tampa Bay that he
had New England and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin when
they covered up a lot of Jamie's mistakes to pass
several seasons. Brady is a better decision maker than Winston
and Evanton Godwin are the tamp of receivers who could
make a quarterback feel comfortable throwing a ball when a
play is breaking down. So Brady also didn't have those
(09:20):
types of guys in New England, even though you could
argue he'll miss Julian Edelman's agility. And oh, by the way,
not for nothing, the Bucks just added Leonard Fournette as well.
So here's the question. Can the Bucks win in Yes,
yes they are. They're capable of winning a Super Bowl
with Brady. Yep, I said it. Everybody laughed at me
two years ago when I said they'd went in with
(09:43):
New England when Brady was forty one. Now, although Tampa
Bay finished twenty nine points allowed last season, they were
still the fifth best defense in football by d v
o A. See Tampa faced the league's toughest slate of
opposing offenses, and they inherited the worst average starting field
position from Winston and was forced to defend one eighty
(10:03):
nine meaningful possessions, which was the most for any team.
By the way, did you know Winston also through seven
pick sixes last year That counts against the scoring defense.
Brady's throwing six pick sixes in ten years, although I
guess you his final pass on the patch uniform was
a pick six to Logan Ryan, But I digress. Winston
(10:24):
had thirty eight turnovers last year, and the average was
on their own thirty nine yardland, putting their defense in
a hell of a compromising position. He also threw six
interceptions on the first possession of the game, and just
for fun, Winston through six interceptions when the Bucks were
leading in the fourth quarter. But by d v o A,
(10:44):
the Bucks were an excellent defense with a blow average
offense and terrible special teams. Their place kicking also took
a big step forward with the addition of Matt Kaye.
But the rookie, he's kind of sucked last year. Hopefully
he'll be better this year. Tampa. Also they struggle to
return kicks are punts effectively. But you've got all these
areas of improvement, okay that I think Bruce arians can
(11:09):
work on, and Brady brings it all together and by
the way they lost. How many times have you talked
about the importance of winning the turnover battle. Well, Tampa
Bay lost the turnover battle last year in fourteen out
of sixteen games and still managed to go seven and nine,
And that the fives the odds. You lose the turnover battle,
you lose of the time. Now, look, Brady's division is
(11:30):
gonna be a lot tougher with Tampa Bay. Last year,
the Bills gave the Pats a couple of scares, but
Dolphins were tanking. The Jets might as well have been.
This year. The Panthers appeared to be in the middle
of sort of a transformational year and the Matt Rule era.
But the Saints were the fourth best team in football
in twenty and I could say they were equal to
the Pats last year. Now they're much better than the
(11:51):
Bucks last year, the Saints, I believe last year. The
question is is Brady enough to make up that difference.
We'll see the Falcons, given their defense two boes there
are a more dangerous threat than the Jets are Dolphins
were a year ago. So Tampa is also going to
get eight games against the NFC North and NFC West,
including a home game against the Super Bowl champs Chiefs.
(12:12):
Now Brady can push the offense into the top ten
and avoid leaving the defense and compromising situations week after
week with all those Winston style takeaways, The Bucks, I believe,
are going to be good enough to overcome any defensive
aggression and yes, make the playoffs. Market They'll make the playoffs.
(12:32):
They're gonna project somewhere in the ten and six range.
I believe, maybe even better. They've got difference makers all
over the field. If I'm wrong, I'll be here in December.
Let's remember this show on September five. Now, let's juxtapose
this with Brady's former team, the New England Patriots and
their newly named starter Cam Newton, because that's another big
(12:57):
story heading into this coming season, which starts in five days.
Al Right, So Cam Newton's edition does make the paths
better than they were last June with presumed starting quarterback
Jared stid Im. Yeah right, he's got the same number
of starts as I do, and but he's throwing four
more passes. But are there really better than last season
(13:19):
when they won an eleventh straight title with Tom Brady?
And now here's my two cents on Cam Newton. Okay,
I like him. I like him in Auburn. I think
he's a winner. He took a moribund franchise to the
Super Bowl in four years, and he was the MVP
of the league back and back in I also think
Cam took an unfair wrap for his childlike Super Bowl
(13:39):
press conference act. What went unreported is that he went
out of his way to find Peyton Manning and shake
his hand after the game. Cam has also been incredibly
philanthropic in his community, often visits hospitals. He spends time
with disadvantaged children. But but set aside your feelings and
let's talk objective truths. Since losing in Super Bowl fifty
(14:02):
and looking bad doing it, Cam's fifteen and fifteen is
a starter in his career. He's three and four in
the playoffs and own one of the Super Bowl. I'm
my man Rob Parker, who I love dearly. I mentioned
him earlier. He tweeted that the Pats coot now have
a strong arm quarterback. Really do they? In the last
three and a half seasons, Cam was throwing a whopping
seven touchdown passes of more than twenty yards. Now, I
(14:24):
still think new England goes at best eight and eight. Yep,
I said it with that, you're in your pipe and
smoke it. But I do think they'll be fun to watch.
I think it would be terrific off Cam Newton got
from the playoffs. But I'm not interested in Cam telling
us in Instagram videos. In other words, Cam, don't tell me,
show me you won the job. Final thought on the Pats.
(14:45):
After scaring off against the softest NFL strength that schedule
each of the last two years. Based on an opponents
projected season win total for the upcoming season, New England
will have a come up in this year. They will
face the most difficult string of schedule based on the
opponent's overall win lost record last season, which is just
(15:06):
around point winning percentage. That's tough duty. We'll see how
they do. I say they go eight and eight. I
see the Buccaneers go ten and six. Coming up? Will
the Big Ten play football this year? And if they
do win, and what will it look like? We need answers.
(15:28):
Even the sports books want answers because without Ohio staying
on the board, things look different. So we'll have a
guest here coming up that I think you're going to
really enjoy and I have a lot of history with
this gentleman. We're coming to you live from the get
CAO Fox Sports Radio Studios for fifteen minutes. Can save
you fift or more on car insurance, so visit guy
Good dot com for a free rate quote. I'm Bernie Fratto.
(15:53):
We are coming to you alive from the Getico Fox
Sports Radio Studios. This is the pregame show you always wanted,
so don't go away. You're listening to straight out of Vegas.
Look to your children's eyes to see the true magic
of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You
look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face
of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They
(16:15):
see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that
could lead to adventure, and they see you. They're fearless. Guide.
Is this fascinating world? Find a forest near you and
start exploring and discover the forest dot Org brought to
you by the United States Forest Service and the AD Council.
The NFL podcast Network is your home for all things football.
(16:38):
Do you love hearing analysis around the league with a
touch of mirth, or maybe you enjoy breaking down X
and os in the college scouting scene. Did you breathe, sleep,
and eat fantasy football? Perhaps you love the funny headlines
that emerge each week. What if you want in depth
news coverage with reporters, or what if you want to
know exactly how each team got its name? While you're
(17:03):
in luck, because the NFL Podcast Network has a show
for everybody. Our best network, because the NFL is best talent,
bringing you right into the action each week. There's always
room to add more football into your podcast rotation, and
our vast group of shows will surely keep you up
to date with everything you need to know surrounding the
National Football League. Listen on the I Heart Radio app,
(17:24):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everybody,
I'm Rachel Banetta and I have my very own podcast
called Benched with Banetta. You get make I'm just here
so I won't get fine. You may know me from
Game Debut or Game Day Morning on NFL Network basically
any shows with the word game in it. Odds are
(17:47):
you'll find me there every week. I'm gonna be talking
about all the things I find fascinating about the NFL,
like breaking down games, questioning Tom Brady genetic makeup. It's
gonna be great. I'm also doing think that it's never
been done before. I'm opening my DM DM s now open.
(18:11):
We want to hear from you, fans of the NFL.
And when I woke up this morning, I was feeling
pretty dangerous. Did you commit a misdemeanor crime when you
were twelve and need to tell somebody about it? Please,
for the love of Roger Goodell, do not tell me
I can be held accountable. Listen every Tuesday and join
me on the bench. Subscribe now and listen to the
Bench with Bonetta podcast on the I Heart Radio app,
(18:33):
on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. All right,
that this time, let's welcome in a gentleman I've known
and work with since. He spent fourteen years at CBS
Radio in Detroit. In fact, we did Lions Detroit Lions
printing post game shows together, and of course both covered
Michigan in the Big Tenant. He still does, and he
(18:55):
makes his residence just a couple of football fields away
from the Big House in ann Arbor. Let's say hello
to Dennis fifty and Dennis, how are you, buddy? Pretty good?
Bernie what's going on. It's good to have you on
and uh, let's start. Let's let's dive right into this,
because today would have been Michigan's opening game, but instead
(19:16):
I understand they had a little protest outside the stadium
led by one gym Hardball. What can you tell us
about that, Well, it's the last discs effort as far
as being able to play for the national title. That's
the way the Big Ten is looking at it, because
if they can't get the okay to play this weekend,
(19:36):
can't get back out into the practice field, they're not
gonna be able to play games in October, and then
they're gonna have to look to some different models. And
so this is really it. So the Michigan players decided
to make their their last stand here lobbying for a reversal,
a prompt reversal. So they were outside the stadium instead
(19:59):
of being out in Washington trying to look for an
eleventh hour reversal. Here a lot of confusion, a lot
of a lot of chaos. But now they're they're just
trying to get their voice heard here in The confusing
part has been last week here in the state of Michigan,
we actually did get a reversal with high school football,
(20:20):
which was postponed. And of course we see across the
country and there's uh, there's plenty of teams playing college football.
And then we really know that when you see the
A C C. You start looking at the calendar. Next
week you're gonna have Clemson, You're gonna have Notre Dame,
You're gonna have Florida State playing them. Of course three
weeks when the SEC hits. Uh, it's really gonna be
(20:42):
tough if you know the Big ten. Of course, Michigan
standing there on the sideline looking at all those other
teams play, they'll have to be looking for their their
other models if they just can't get the go ahead. Uh.
I would say that when we've talked about a lot
of last ditched or or or drop dead dates, it's
already past that. But I can't see them not getting something,
(21:06):
you know, past this Monday, past Labor Day, and then
being able to put together something here in October where
they could compete with the other jeems for the title.
So you've had your finger on the pulse for decades there,
and uh I remember Lloyd Carr used to love you.
The bottom line is this. You you were inside the
belly of the beast, and you told me four days
(21:26):
before it was actually canceled that it was going to happen.
So I'm gonna put your feet to the fire again.
You hear dates like October ten or Thanksgiving or God
forbid in the spring. Of those three potential scenarios, which
has the greatest possibility, or maybe none of them have
the greatest possibility, break those down for me. Oh, I
(21:47):
think the most probable plan that's going to happen is
it's either going to be the Thanksgiving day plan or
the the January plan. I mean, those are very viable.
The one that um, the Big Ten wants and at
college football fans want, which would be close to normal
(22:09):
as possible, would be the one that is on life
support and has always had very little chance of happening.
And that's the one where they get a reversal and
the Big Ten presidents and chancellors have some emergency meeting
and they come out of this Labor Day weekend with
this shocking reversal. Now, I think the uh, the reason
(22:30):
that one's not going to happen is that these uh,
these presidents, they have already spoken and while everybody else
is beating the drum. They have their interests elsewhere. They
are acting like, uh, they can't even hear anybody in
the protests. So the part about going to UM Thanksgiving,
(22:52):
it's the ways off here they would be able to
pair themselves with the the Packed twelve. It's not ideal,
but there are some advantages to that one too. But
the being able to start in November or January, of course,
gives you all that more time to look back and
you can actually see how these other conferences get on
(23:14):
and in the success they have of course the NFL
as well in the rapid testing and everything else there.
So they'll have a chance and they would then play
their Big Ten games and then at the end play
the Pack twelve in the rows ball, which is not
playing for the college Football Championship, but it's UM you know,
(23:34):
a good second prize. I guess yeah. Talking with Dennis
fifty in twenty seven years in the Detroit radio market
fourteen at CBS Radio, Dennis Um, you brought up a
good point when we were talking about ten days ago,
having to do with the fact that one of the
challenges the Big Ten has is a conference because they're
geographically spread around the country, and even if they were
(23:57):
to return, there could be some schools opt out, so
it might not be the full fourteen team speak about that, Yeah,
well you know what, I know that was reported. I
would really find that. Like I'm shocked every day at
the events here in college football, So you know, I
can't ever say that it wouldn't happen for sure, but
(24:18):
seeing the big tent, if somehow they would get a
reversal and then some of their teams would opt out,
would be the most surprising of all results. Now, you
go from the shores of New Jersey all the way
over when you start going west to Nebraska and Minnesota.
That's a huge footprint that we're talking about, and just
(24:39):
thinking about getting six additional votes and have them reverse
when they're all dug in here. Like I just looked
from a Michigan standpoint here that their president and it's
the surprising part about all of this, Bernie, Like, I
look like Michigan's president has pretty much put himself in
(24:59):
the ball and it's the most amazing part. Like his
name is Mark Schlissel, and he's a immunologist, and that's
what this is all about. This is what he studied
his entire life at at Princeton, at Johns Hopkins, and
he has voted against UH playing football here in the fall.
(25:21):
And it's like, UH, the Michigan president and the other
presidents and chancellors have put themselves with their self imposed
gag order. And that's the disappointing part because these guys,
especially Slissal, this is him, this is his baby. Explain it.
You know, we have seen others come out and be
(25:41):
able to uh to to talk about this. You know,
at first Dr Fauci came out and people were receptive
to what he was saying. But I'll tell you what
if I was this is crazy to say. If I
was the president and this was what I had studied
and had my my life's work in was being in,
(26:03):
you know, studying viruses, I would be out there with
every day in any outlet that wanted to talk with me.
Not that I wanted to get my face on TV
or my voice on the radio or in print. I
would just wanted to tell everybody my feelings in my
opinion on exactly where I was at and see if
(26:24):
I could put it in layman's terms. Because one thing,
we know half the country things this way, half the
country things the other. And it's the same thing on
the universities, it's the same thing. From the States. It's
it's everywhere there. And instead of getting out there and
explaining themselves, they are are hiding and just letting their
(26:44):
statements from weeks ago stand there. And the one thing
we know, things are changing and there's new information every day.
Very disappointing from the Big Ten all the way back
to early August when they released this schedule that everybody
knew was a sham when they saw it. So that
is just continue you this has been an example of
what not to do. They've not picked the plan, they've
not come out and said anything about what the next
(27:07):
step is. They made their call, they didn't know if
they voted or not. They've they've put out statements instead
of getting out there and answering any questions. And now
they continue to be quiet while they've got their coaches
and players out there twisting in the wind and pleading
for answers and another revote, and they can't even give
them that, which is UH. You know, it's tough to
(27:29):
take from UH. From a player and UH coach standpoint,
I would say one thing about all of that, though,
on the other side, is that these presidents and chancellors
they might end up being right. And we know that
college football has started a little bit here. Bernie Butt,
I think these these uh, I think they're just sitting
back and saying, you just wait, you know, these others
(27:50):
are gonna join us on the sideline, and we're gonna
end up looking good. There's gonna be a lot of
people that are telling us that, you know what they sorry,
you know, all along, we just uh, you know, we
were aunty because they were on the football field. I
think that they're just sitting there confidence and nobody wants
to root against the other teams not being able to play.
(28:11):
But I still think that they're just sitting there thinking
that they're all going to join them on the sideline
eventually here over the next week to three weeks, Dennis,
I wish we had more time. I appreciate you coming on.
Let's keep the full lines open, and I would just
say this, keep your finger on the pulse. Let's have
you back on when we have more definitive news. Okay, yeah,
we'll just hold your breath, you know, in another half
(28:33):
hour hour, if we get any news, will we make
sure to call it in sounds good Dennis, thanks so much,
really appreciate you staying up late tonight. No problem. That's
Dennis fifty in twenty seven years in the Detroit airways,
including fourteen at CBS Radio. He and I have done
a lot of work together, including Detroit Lions pre code
postgame shows coming up, Physics, best bet for next week,
(28:56):
well more of a season best bet prop and I
want to return to some nfl CI quick hitters as
we are just five days away from the National Football League.
But first, well, let's go to the man. Well his
epic updates come with a guarantee, and you're guaranteed not
to break ben Rustbus, Bite the Dust, Chip Cracker Peel.
(29:16):
That's Brian Finley with the latest. Oh my goodness, Bernie.
That is your token intro. The Nuggets take a commanding
first quarter lead and weather the Clippers one ten, one
oh one to tie their second round series at one.
Denver head coach Mike Malone applodding the way his team
pestred Kawai Leonard, who shot four of seventeen from the floor.
(29:36):
Jeremy Grant's deepense on Kauai was spectacular, but the four
guys behind it were given the necessary help. I thought
Gary Harris a deepense on Paula George was terrific, but
the help behind that was what we need and what
we didn't have. In Game one, the Raptors burrow out
of an O two whole, tying the Eastern Conference semifinal
series with the Celtics at two games. Following a one
(29:57):
hundred nine three victory, Ron Too made ten more three pointers.
Boston's Jalen Brown scored fourteen points on eighteen shots. He
pricked nine threes. The Islanders zoom into the Eastern Conference
Finals after taking down the Flyers for nothing in Game seven.
ESPN is reporting past rush for Jadavion Clowney, who has
(30:18):
long been on the free agent market, will join forces
with the Tennessee Titans. In baseball, the Dodgers puke up
three runs in the ninth as the Rockies shock l
A five to the Oakland Athletics torture the Padres eight four.
Oakland now leads the a L West by three and
a half games. The Astros are second in that division.
(30:39):
They dropped both in their doubleheader to the Angels. The
Miami Marlins submerged the Ale East, leading Tampa Bay Rays
seven to three, and finally, Thoroughbred Authentic wins the Kentucky Derby.
The horse Bernie could not be tracked down for comment,
but the racehorse was so excited afterwards the colt plowed
(31:00):
over a couple of fans in the winner circle. How
about that for a way to celebrate. Back to Bernie Fratto,
the kingpin of sports betting in Vegas. This man runs things.
The horses a horse of course of court, never mind, thanks,
Brian appreciated it as always all right. Our man Steve
Physic weighs in with a bet that you want to
(31:21):
pay close attention to having to do with the team. Well,
they're returning a prolific offense and a potential top ten defense.
Was that translate to in season wins? Will tell you?
Let's give it a listen. Oftentimes, when you're betting on
a team, you want to look at their opponents and division.
Ideally you want to not like their opponents. Dallas is
(31:41):
favored to win the division. Now they're minus one thirty
and a big part of it is that Philly absolutely
has gotten bad news. Lost two linemen so cluster injuries
As we mentioned on the line wide receivers, two of
the three starting wide receivers aren't gonna be ready to
go in September. Once hasn't practiced all week, so who
knows what's going on with his health. And I certainly
don't like the New York Giants. I don't like the
(32:03):
Washington football team. So other reasons that point me to
Dallas over ten wins as a bat and think about that,
because that's what you call deductive reasoning. UH, these teams
don't exist in a vacuum, so it's reasonable to believe
that the number of wins the team can accumulate is
at least part and partial to UH their competition and
(32:26):
their schedule. And if the rest of the division and
Philly is a mash unit in Washington's clearly rebuilding, right
And you don't really know what you get with the
New York Giants. That can only bold well, since Dallas
plays a full six games against their division, so this
is pretty good in these season profits. Take a look
at that. Dallas certainly has the personnel to win ten games.
(32:49):
They've got difference makers all over the field, maybe even
eleven or twelve games. We'll see they still got to
do it all right, Let's take a look at some
other NFL quick hitters as I like to refer to.
How about Cam's old team. You know, the Carolina Panthers.
They've lost their last eight games of the season, uh in,
by an average of almost seventeen points a game. So
(33:11):
if they do anything similar to that this season, they'll
be labeled as tanking for Trevor Lawrence, that is, who
is supposed to be the next number one pick in
NFL draft. And I know a lot of folks feel
that Jacksonville will earn that honor. The new coach of
the Panthers, Matt Rule, realizes he's gonna really be heavily
relying on a rookie class to build this team from
(33:33):
the ground up. He did it at Baylor and Temple,
He built teams from ground zero. But this is the
National Football League, and the Panthers became the first team
since the a f L NFL merger to use all
seven draft picks on defense, including the retirement of seven
time Pro Bowl linebacker. Look quickly, who uh who lost
(33:54):
forty from last year's squad. So I'll tell you they've
they've got their work cut out for him. How about
the Buffalo Bills. I bet you didn't know this. It's
not often you find that an NFL team will win
ten games in a season despite averaging less than twenty
points per game. Well, the Bills did exactly just that.
They were the seventh team to do it in this millennium.
(34:17):
That doesn't necessarily bode well, But I know some folks
that like Buffalo. In that division with the Jets, Miami
and of course the aforementioned New England Patriots, somehow the
Pittsburgh Steelers have really flown under the radar, and this
is exactly why you want to pay attention to them
this year. Head coach Mike Tomblin has never had a
(34:38):
losing season and the only time he's gone back to
back excuse me, this is only the second time he's
gone back to mac seasons without making the playoffs. The
last time it occurred in his troops went ten and
six before losing in the divisional round of the playoffs.
So f y I. After feeling to make the playoffs
the previous season, Tomlins teams are forty one and twenty
(35:02):
seven straight up, including sixteen and three straight up and
against the spread. Among against other foes coming off consecutive
back to back losing season, So keep an eye on that.
More Pittsburgh, how do we bury this lead the return
a future Hall of Fame Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. That
(35:24):
is going to be tantamount to extending, you know, head
coach Mike tomlins thirteen years streak of never having had
a losing season in the NFL and Big Ben he
did lead the NFL and passing yards inen with over
five thousand yards. So with Ben behind the helm, Pittsburgh
is going to face the second weakest strength of schedule
(35:46):
based on an opponent's regular season win loss record last
season point four forty seven to be exact. They'll face
teams who had accumulative record last year of one seventeen
and one thirty. These are important numbers to consider or
when you look at Pittsburgh win season total and the
fact that they are live to win that division. I
know everybody has already crowned Baltimore and they're putting him
(36:09):
in the super Bowl. But don't go to sleep on
the Steelers. Usually when they are under the radar is
when they are their most dangerous. And by the way,
I wish Dak Prescott nothing but success. I'd really like
to see him have success with Dallas. What do I
mean by that? Get to the playoffs, win one or
two playoff games, or even get to the super Bowl.
It's a good story, but don't dismiss the chance. As
(36:31):
a former Cincinnati quarterback, Andy Dalton the all time franchise
leader in completions and passing touchdowns for the Cincinnati Bengals,
he could still end up taking more snaps than pundits predict.
Andy Dalton has started a playoff game each of his
first four seasons in the NFL. The only quarterbacks to
do that since ninety were Autogram, Joe Flackle and Russell Wilson.
(36:56):
So the redheaded Rifle. He is looking forward to working
with my McCarthy. McCarthy likes guys with experience, just saying
and speaking of other quarterbacks. It was announced today if
you're Alliance fan, this may bode well for you. The Bears,
who open up at Detroit and they're currently catching three.
They announced that Mitch Trubisky will start Week one. He's
(37:20):
averaging a robust two yards passing yards per game, and
it's forty one NFL starts. There's a word for that brutal,
and he's got a he's got a terrible QB rating
of eighty five. So we'll see what Trubisky can do.
You've got fulls waiting in the wings. I don't really
know what they're waiting for. They already know what Trubisky
(37:40):
can do, and they're paying full twenty million dollars. By
the way, one thing about Dallas, they're one of the
few teams that will have fans week one to start
the season. I don't know how many they're going to
allow in Texas, but they're talking about as many as
fifty percent. I don't know. We'll see. We're gonna watch
this because there's an inconsistency in the NFL policies in
terms of who will have fans, who won't have fans,
(38:02):
and is that going to create advantages or disadvantages some
of the things we'll get to find out. I'm really
looking forward to Thursday night as the Kansas City Chiefs
begin defense of their title and they host DeShawn Watson
and the Houston Texans, and I can't believe they're laying
ten points. I'm not saying I'm involved in that game yet,
but that's a lot weak one, and that's a lot
(38:23):
when you've got a dynamic force like the Shawn Watson
who Dabble Sweeney called Michael Jordan's and you know what,
I kind of agree with dambl Sweeney coming up. You
know him? You love Nick Candley without him. We've got
a special addition tonight of MacKinnon Sports, so you don't
want to miss it. I'm Bernie Fratto. We're comingy Alive
(38:45):
from the Gecko Fox Sports Radio Studios. This is the
pregame show you always wanted to. Don't go away. You're
listening to Straight out of Vegas, one of the best
in the business, Bernie Fratto. What grows in the forest trees?
Sure no one else grows in the forest. Our imagination,
(39:06):
our sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too,
because when we disconnect from this and connect with this,
we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than
you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring.
I Discover the Forest dot Org, brought to you by
the United States Forest Service and the ad Council. Adoption
(39:30):
of teams from foster Care is a topic not enough
people know about, and we're here to change that. I'm
April Dinuity, host of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented
by adopt Us Kids. Each episode brings you compelling, real
life adoption stories told by the families that lived them,
with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org,
slash podcast, or subscribe to Navigating Adoption presented by adopt
(39:53):
Us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department
of Health, that Human Services Administration for Children and Families,
and the ad Council. I'm John Gonzalez, the host of
Sports Illustrated Weekly. Sports Illustrated has delivered the best storytelling
in sports for seventy years, first in the pages of
the magazine, then on SI dot com, and now that
(40:14):
tradition continues on a new podcast. Each week, we'll dive
deep into the best stories from around the sports world.
We'll ask the questions that we're all wondering and push
for the answers we all want. Everything from investigating the
Super Bowl's impact on l A to examining white booing
is as big a part of the fan experience as cheering.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is here to bring you the entertaining
(40:36):
tales you can't get anywhere else. The kinds of stories
that make you smile and laugh, clap and cry, marvel,
think and fall in love with sports all over again.
Sports Illustrated Weekly is available every Wednesday on the I
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Subscribe now. Bernie Frattole coming to you live from the
(41:05):
get go Fox Sports Radio Students. We are back on
Straight out of Vegas, the pregame show you always wanted.
Before I go any further, I want to thank my
broadcast team back in Los Angeles. That would be Brian Finley,
Chris Perfett, and in for Eric Roberts Tonight Bowl Benson,
who is also the co host of the Swing Ship
(41:27):
podcasts along with Ryan Burschinger. Voted number one by Tommy White.
Sue google it all right, Mackenzie, here he is. You
know what we love McKinley with Ottomans Macking on Sports
we pick it up and we left off. Bubble basketball
continues to confound me. I just want to see a
quick thing about the Clippers game today, which I think
was deceiving because the Clippers were nine or thirty two
(41:48):
from behind the ark and that was really the only
difference in the game they had the outrebounded uh Deniver
fifty two to forty forty eight points in the paint.
They just couldn't shoot from behind the arc and Denver could.
And you know we're finding nowhere in plane travel no
home court advantage. You've got to manufacture your own momentum.
You've got a manufacture your own excitement and night tonight,
(42:09):
you don't know how that goes. I had someone tweet
at me about how Toronto's got all the momentum. Now
no they no, no, no, no, okay, the series is
tattooed too. I'm sticking with Boston. We'll see if I'm
right or wrong. I don't know how you say anybody's
got momentum when you're playing inside a bubble. And by
the way, they've all done a phenomenal job and the
games have been very competitive. But let's face the mackenzie,
(42:30):
this is a little different scenario as it continues to develop.
Momentum is the next day's starting picture, right, That's what
they say in baseball. In other words, it's imaginary. It's
how good are you going to be? The next game?
And Bernie, I think you can search far and wide
you will not find someone with better verbiage than FSR
is very own Brian Finley, and he said it best.
(42:50):
The dug gets weathered the Clippers. The Clippers were down
twenty one early and they ended up losing by nine.
They by a pretty good last three quarters. They didn't
win the game. That happens Gary Harris. Throughing a couple
of dag or threes, they got to it, I think
three or five, and they just look. No one said that,
no one said they were gonna sweep. You know. I
covered those Pistons teams that went back to bit. I
(43:11):
saw the Lakers. It was an intern. You don't win
every game. You don't have your a game every night, Right,
You're just something. Some days you drive well, you don't
put well, you get the difference. But still being as
it may, and this is why we do macin on sports,
you managed to find an edge that people really need
to pay attention to because these numbers are starting to
become very daunting. Right. I was down at the beginning
(43:31):
of the day with a big Celtics play. I gave
out on Twitter. Oops, you know, can't win them all,
like we just said. I had to get my money
back though, so I went to the sports book and
I said, give me the second half Nuggets Clippers under,
and I was very confident and it came through again.
In fact, since the boycotts a couple of weeks ago,
there's been eighteen NBA games obviously eighteen second half seventeen
(43:54):
have had lower scoring than expected, by almost ten points
per game. Bernie, and why is this happening? Well, playoffs
scoring in general is lower. That didn't really happen for
the first week of the playoffs. It's starting to happen now.
But usually there's about a two points difference between first
half and second half scoring. That's consistent in the last
ten years in the playoffs, last ten years in the
regular season, that's generally what you expect. We're seeing a
(44:17):
gap of eleven points between the first half scoring and
the second half scoring. First half's nine and nine over
under the last eighteen again, second halfs seventeen and one
to the under. Burie, help me out here. I have
a couple of possible explanations. But what do you think
about that? Well, I was about to ask you, is
there a causal effectors? There's just a streak here. What's
(44:37):
happening is it's just a situation where the markets haven't
adjusted the lines properly to make accounts for this. What
do you what do you believe is the you know,
what are the factors you would consider in in surmising
that this is what's happening. If I hadn't watched the
games and I just looked at the stats, I might think, well,
seventeen out of eighteen, streaks will come, you know, just
randomly every so often. But if you look at these games,
(44:59):
if you look at the game today with the Celtics
and Raptors Game four, or the Nuggets and Clippers game,
to the first halfs and second halfs look like completely
different affairs. It looks like there's two different teams out there,
and I think there's a few different things going on. Okay,
Doc Rivers had a you know, im passion speech today
saying we're a defensive team. We didn't play it that
the way the first half. We play that way, that's
our identity. We're gonna do it the second half. So
(45:20):
coaching adjustments, you can say, hey, this guy's hot, we're
gonna put two on here. You can make these plays
and that's why we generally see second halfs lower scoring
is coaches and teams make adjustments to stop the other
team's best weapons. But ten points, Bernie, that difference of
two points is exacerbated by five x. Why, Well, I
think fatigue is a very different animal in the bubble.
For one, the backdrops are all the same, so you're
(45:41):
gonna have that hot shooting to begin with in the game,
but that goes away when teams get locked in later
in the game. You know exactly, you've seen these teams
probably four or five times by now in the bubble.
You can make adjustments and they and they can put
the clamps down. And I don't have to know every
reason why this is happening to make money off it,
like I did, actually think there are fen s legs.
What happens when fatigue sets in defense? Waynes, I've seen
(46:04):
some very aggressive, very active, active hands, bodies flying all
over the place, great defensive plays. This this past week
we've seen. We saw James Harden went the block shot.
We we don't need to we don't need to name
them all, do a rod call. But what I'm seeing
is great energy on defense. There is no airplane fatigue.
(46:25):
No one's having to travel and frankly they're not intimidated.
No one's intimidating by going into someone else's building. You
play a game, do you go back, You take a shower,
you go to the cafeteria, you have the tune of surprise,
you go play some video games, you go to bed,
you know, wash Wentz repeat, and they're getting plenty of rest.
And I think these guys are playing their butts off.
That's very interesting because most people that you know knee jerk.
(46:48):
Even what I just said, oh, lower scoring, but they're
probably losing their legs in the second half. But as
you say, it's a lot easier to play offense than defense.
So maybe it's the lack of fatigue that we're used
to seeing in these playoffs that's allowed them to get
up for the second up. That makes a lot of sense. Bernie,
all right, I want to real quickly because a lot
of people ask me about the Lakers Houston tomorrow. I'm
not going to be involved in this game, but I
must tell you that I was again, I was very
(47:11):
taken aback by the aggressive, effective, tenacious defense led by
p J. Tucker that Houston played. They held the Lakers
to ninety seven points. The Lakers average one thirteen per
game in the season and one seventeen per game against Portland's.
If that continues tomorrow night, the Lakers could have an issue.
The other thing is, I do think the Lakers really
(47:33):
underestimated Houston speed well since they traded Clint Capella. The
Rockets have played the Lakers three times. None of them
have been close, Bernie, They've blown them out every single time,
And obviously three games isn't enough to say that there's
a lot the Rockets are gonna win the series. But
I don't think with the way that these teams play,
I don't think the prices are right right now. I
think the Rockets maybe have a chance to win the series.
(47:55):
The market says they have a thirty chance to win
the series. I'm not buying. Give me the Rockets really. Okay, well,
I think it really comes down to what happens tomorrow.
But continue to watch these totals and continue to watch
to see if the markets adjust, Mackenzie, because frankly, if
the numbers stay the same, it's pretty hard to jump
(48:17):
off this trend. It's all right, that's gonna do it.
For this week's edition Straight out of Vegas. Thanks so
much for Dennis fifty and to come on up next,
the man from Nashville. He brings it strong. It's my man,
Jason Martin to keep it right locked right here on
Fox Sports Radio. You coming to bed Hunt, Yep, honey,
(48:40):
I'll be right there. I just gotta turn out the light.
Oh oh, some thing's never change, like your kids always
leaving tiny toys on the floor for you to step
on and Gango saving folks lots of money on their
car and shirts. Sweetie, I think I left the downstairs
(49:02):
light on. Please don't make me go. Fifteen minutes could
save you or more. Look for your children's eyes and
you will discover the true magic of a forest. Find
a forest near you and start exploring it. Discover the
forest dot Org. Brought to you by the United States
Forest Service and the ad Council. Adoption of teams from
(49:24):
foster care is a topic not enough people know about,
and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinuity, host
of the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt us Kids.
Each episode brings you compelling, real life adoption stories told
by the families that lived them, with commentary from experts.
Visit adopt us Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribe
to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt us Kids, brought to
(49:47):
you by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, and the ad Council
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
Popular Podcasts
Good Game with Sarah Spain
Good Game is your one-stop shop for the biggest stories in women’s sports. Every day, host Sarah Spain gives you the stories, stakes, stars and stats to keep up with your favorite women’s teams, leagues and athletes. Through thoughtful insight, witty banter, and an all around good time, Sarah and friends break down the latest news, talk about the games you can’t miss, and debate the issues of the day. Don’t miss interviews with the people of the moment, whether they be athletes, coaches, reporters, or celebrity fans.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.