Best of the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon

Jason and Mike have all the latest on Russell Wilson joining the NY Giants. Jason gives you two "maths" he doesn’t believe. And Andrew Luck should name himself Stanford Head Coach. Plus, a visit from MLB Insider Jon Paul Morosi!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Carmon podcast. Be sure to catch us
live every weeknight from ten pm to two am Eastern
seven to eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
This is the best of The Jason Smith Show with
Mike Harmon on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Hello, Welcome inside, Happy Tuesday, The Jason Smith Show with
my bes friend Mike Harmon, Hippy Kaye live from the
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(00:53):
If only the Knicks could play the Mavericks every night,
we got guys with triple doubles setting records. What an
unbelievable night.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Oh no, it's I mean Elvis saying why can't every
day be like Christmas?

Speaker 4 (01:05):
So here's Christmas Day, March twenty fifth.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
And I'll tell you, Ah, I wish I wish every
day could be the Mavericks, and then in the background
to the singer saying without a D, without a D,
I wish every day could be.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
No defense in that game whatsoever, No, not at all,
no defense. The Knicks shoot nearly sixty percent from the field,
no holding the Mavericks to fifty three point eight percent shoot.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
You know, you know what the Knicks are like. You know,
the Knicks are like honestly, the Knicks are like no, no, no,
the Knicks are like when you see in the you know,
in the in the in the how do I say, what?
What's a movie? I can illustrate this with where when
they show the passage of time and and like, you know,
the main characters are dressed in in seventies garb and
it's you know, bell bottom jeans and plaid shirts, butterfly collars,

(01:58):
you know, all the all the big you know, the
big stylings the seventies, right, polyester suits and dance shoes
and everything. And then there's a time lapse and in
the eighties and they're wearing you know, neon sweatsuits as
they go jogging and they have the the you know,
power ties is their way, like it's like you you
were just this person in the seventies and now look
who you are and that you completely changed who you are. Like,

(02:19):
that's the Knicks. Hey, we have guys that make big
clutch baskets and we play great defensively and this is
our identity. And now you hit fast forward on the button.
From like a year and a half ago, now it's oh,
we just put up. We just put five guys out there,
and our guys go on and score as many points
as weekend. We didn't play defense anymore. Yeah, that was
the whole mark of our head coach. But yeah, we're
changing with the times now, man, from the seventies to

(02:39):
the eighties.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
That's what we do.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
I have a two word way to get us into
that transition of adopting and adapting to styles.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Hey, Barbie, oh your Knicks defense, Barbie. Okay, who are you?
Oh your Knicks offense, Barbie. Look this is Barbie. Is
is much taller and can put the ball in the hoop.
Look at that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a it's
a two man game with Barbie and Ken. Right here.
One is dressed like Karl Anthony Towns. One dressed like Brunson. Oh,
you know that's how it goes.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
Sure, and then you say, beach Off, Oh wait, what
do you do beach No, what do you do?

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Beach It's my Joe. Now, we have a lot of
NBA to get to, we get to Jimmy Butler's return
to Miami. But hey, all right, I want to say
this first of all. I want to say this first
of all. I feel like the parent who needs to
start a conversation by saying, this is the last time
this is gonna happen. Okay, this last time this is

(03:32):
gonna happen. This is the last year that we're gonna
talk about Russell Wilson. This is it. This is it,
And after this year, that's it. I get it. And
one more year. I understand now that he signed with
the Giants and is likely going to be there started,
but after this year, that's it. I got no more
Russell Wilson in me. I'll suck it up for the
rest of this year, off season into next year, but
then at this time that's done. Done with. I'm done

(03:54):
with the Russell Wilson. I'm done. I'd rather talk Aaron
Rodgers one that I'd rather talk Russell Wilson. I'm not
crazy about talking to Aaron Rodgers either, but this is it.
Like again, I understand, and I'm gonna give you a
great effort this year and Russell Wilson, big big storylines
with the Giants. Oh yeah, sure, yeah, but this is
it because I'm done with Russell Wilson after this. I've done.
I've had it. I've had it with my I've had

(04:15):
it with my fill to the brim of Russell Wilson.
I'm done. I'm done after this year. I thought he
was done. I thought there's no way anybody's gonna sign him.
Who's gonna sign him? Why would the Giants sign him?
They picked third, they drafted Jamis Winston. They're probably gonna tank,
or they're gonna take a quarterback in the second round. Nope,
we're gonna take Russell Wilson because the Giants really, I
forgot about their propensity the last couple of years to

(04:36):
not really knowing what the hell they're doing. That's my fault.
That's my fault that I forgot. Oh, this isn't my
older brother's Giant. I don't have an older brother. This
isn't my uncle's Giants. Where the giants always do the
right thing family or no, no, no, they're run like
an absolute bunch of lunatics is running around making decisions
and rubber stamping stuff. So I forgot. So that's on me.
I thought Russell Wilson was done, he was never gonna

(04:57):
get anywhere ever again, why would anybody sign up? Why
are you doing it? Look, at the end of the
year he came off of all the giants went out
and got Jameis Winston. That's the no, no, no, We're
gonna go get Jameis Winston and we're gonna still go
get Russell Wilson, which is like getting the same guy twice,
except with the one guy you get more touchdowns and
more interceptions, and the other guy you get less touchdowns
and less interceptions. Like what like, I forgot the giants

(05:19):
Really they just don't know what they're doing right now.
And I you know what, I completely forgot. I forgot
about that. Why are they tanking? Are they trying to win?
Are they trying to save jobs? Is Joe Shane trying
to save his job? Is Brian Dable trying to save
his job? Yes they are, Well, we're going to go,
but this doesn't go with what we're the vision of
the organization is, doesn't matter. This is the vision now
like that, Juck. Clearly they have no they are absolutely rudderless.
But that's on me. But again, this is the last year.

(05:41):
It's a last year. I want to talk. I want
to be done with Russell Wilson after this year.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Are they secretly filming another offseason Hard Knocks? Because you
brought back Tommy Cutlets, right, guy number one, you bring
in Jameis Winston, and now you add Russell Wilson. I
think the best thing I seen on it thus far,
Jason is Frostburg sent it to me and I saw
it pop up in my timeline a couple times. Here's

(06:06):
the picture of Danny McBride and Adam Devine from The
Righteous Gemstones. That's what the locker room's gonna sound like.
When Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston get to talking. We're
gonna have ourselves some crazy ass speeches trying to encourage
us to go out there and do great things. But
the Dabels Shane thing, we talked about it a while
ago when it was the Wilson v. Rogers side of

(06:27):
things of all, right, are they desperate just to put
something reasonable on the field, to get another chance, a
stay of execution, to keep their jobs while developing a
new quarterback. This again goes to the well, why the
hell's Jameis Winston there? I mean, he's a good copy
at this point. He used to not be, but now

(06:49):
he's fun. He's fun Jamis Winston that we can get
behind and do some vignettes, as evidenced by his work
with the larger Fox company comes super Bowl time. But
why is he there if three days later you come
back and go over the top with Russell?

Speaker 4 (07:06):
That's the quarterback competition you want?

Speaker 3 (07:07):
Seem like, I just watch Russell Wilson get after it
with Justin Field.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
My statement of two and a half minutes ago with
the Giants, what are they doing? What are they do?
Why would you go? I get if you passed on
on Jameis Winston and went and got Russell wilsoners he thought, Okay,
he's the guy for this year. We're gonna draft a
guy in the second round because we're not gonna get
a quarterback like That's That's what the Giants realize now,
is that they're not getting a quarterback at three and
that's that's a big thing to come off of today

(07:34):
that not many people are talking about. They would not
be doing this if they thought they would get either
Shador Sanders or cam Ward at three. Obviously that's not happening.
You're not gonna take Jackson Dart at three because other
teams can jump up and take Jackson Dart. The Giants
can't do it three years after taking doing it with
Daniel Jones and seeing how that went, so they know
they're not getting a quarterback, so they know their next

(07:54):
guy is a more developmental guy a second round, and
I'm sure they'll come back early in the second round
with any one of those guys out there, right McCord,
and we keep saying the same things, but that's who's
gonna be there. You know, Jackson Dart will probably get
up into the first round at some point, but guys
like Kyle McCord will be there very maybe in the
second round. Quinn viewers will be there, Jalen Milroe probably
will be there. So I'm sure they're going to do that.

(08:15):
Or you can even trade back into the back end
of the first round from early in the second if
you want to get your quarterback. So I'm sure that's
going to happen, but they're not gonna go get Russell
Wilson unless they know, Okay, we're gonna be left out
of that mix at three. So now our quarterback room
is gonna be Wilson and Winston and whoever we take
in the second round. So that's a big window to

(08:37):
tell you about what the Giants think and what's going
on up ahead of them with Tennessee and Cleveland. But
it still comes back to what are you doing? Jay?
Jameis wins has got to be saying, hey, hey, wait,
what are you talking about? I thought I was coming
into start. Hey, I'm okay with being replaced by some
dude that's coming into the league. That's just you know,
he's a rookie and he's not getting paid. You gotta
see him. I'm okay with that. I've been around the block,

(08:59):
but you signed it and now you're gonna go Russell Wilson. Wait,
what the hell? What the hell is going on here?
Like you got with Wilson and Tommy DeVito. I really
the Giants, It's just they've gone from a team where
you look up and say, wow, I really respect the
way they do business. And how they do it. And
then you get older and you realize, oh, they're just
as screwed up as anybody else. Like what you know,

(09:20):
it's getting older and you think, like you're your older
uncle that you idolize. Boy, he's really smart and he
really knows what he's talking about. Boy, everything he says
is the smartest thing in the world. And then you
get older you go, oh, he was just full of crap.
I just I just didn't realize it. But now I
realize it, Like that's what I realized about the Giants
all this. Well, you know what the Giants had going
for them for a long time. They had a quarterback.
They had Eli forever and that's and that's what it

(09:42):
covered it. Look, quarterback covers up all your ills and sit.
When did the Giants? When did their backsliding start? When
did they get that exposes this franchise? When they let
Eli Manning with they decided Eli Manning was done and
it look Eli was getting near the end and they've
not been able to replace him, and look at the
mess they are in.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Well, but it's the same thing we talk about with
the Steelers. It's the same thing. Right, you have many
years where it covers up the ill. Hell, we'll take
the swing at Belichick while we're here. Let's hit him
with an or that we're rowing down that rowing down
this river. Because once Tom Brady was gone, things looked
a little odd and out of sort's there now he's
doing exercises on the beach.

Speaker 4 (10:21):
Good on them.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
But all of those franchises, which are stal warts old
old style of running things, stability at quarterback allowed you
to take chances elsewhere and you could miss. So long
as that guy was stable, you were still going to
be a playoff team because you had so many other
organizations that couldn't get out of their own way for years. Now,

(10:43):
what is interesting is this does set up the Jamis
versus Russell Wilson.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
Now we're a small team.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
We're a small team, but there's potential for aggressive expansion.
And then they fight to the death of one of
them gets cut because they're not on the hook for
a lot of guaranteed money. How about that?

Speaker 4 (11:01):
And then you pair them up.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
Now, for the longest time, the Giants were co favorites
to have the number one pick. Right now they are
the favorites to draft Travis Hunter.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Well, that's the thing that's gonna be there. See, this
is why the Giants sometimes just fall into it, right,
Because the Giants do that, their consolation prize out of
this will be Travis Hunter at three, and he'll be
the big star that New York football need. He'll jump
in as the biggest star in New York obviously coming.

Speaker 4 (11:28):
Off the high four guy.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
No, it's gonna be but he'll come in and now
the Giants, Okay, the Giants will be set up for
whoever comes in next year as GM head coach quarterback.
I think the Giants they'll be well set up for
twenty twenty seven. Man, I'm telling you. I mean, you
come out twenty twenty six and say, boy, I hadn't
come in here and throw them Elak neighbors and Travis Hunter.
Wo Okay. Then Tyrone Tracy is a pretty good running
back and I'm feeling pretty good. He had a pretty

(11:51):
good defensive line. All right, I'm feeling Giants set up
for next year.

Speaker 4 (11:55):
Dude, Dable and Shane.

Speaker 3 (11:57):
Are they able to convince Marats like, look, we'll go
aroun with your kakamamie plan and bringing in Russell Wilson
and Jamis Winston Because I can't believe this is coming
from Shane.

Speaker 4 (12:07):
I want to give him the.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
Benefit of the doubt that this is not coming from Shane,
and table that this is coming from the old man
on top. Here's a familiar face. We need some stability.
You got two teams who are chasing the division. Happily,
the Dallas Cowboys can't get out of their own damn way.
So let's go get a guy we know who's stable,
who shined a little bit. Forget about those final five games,

(12:31):
forget about the fact that Pittsburgh clearly didn't want Russell
Wilson back because Arthur Smith wins a power struggle and
Dan remember they paid eighty five million dollars to get
his ass out of the building. That's the guy you want.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
The Giants Country, let's cry you just got.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
You just had the Jets with Baron Rodgers as the
laughing stock, and no matter how bad you were, Yeah,
you got mocked a little for sa Quon Barkley, but
you still had the Aaron Rodgers thing, which at least
kept you off the back page of the fish Rap
some of the time.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Not anymore, I mean anymore.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
I mean, I don't know, I don't know. I mean, hey,
I'm glad because I'm glad because you know, look, my
team is a dumpster fire and they've been a dumpster fire.
Now it's nice to see that, Hey, the Giants are
coming back to the pack a little bit here.

Speaker 5 (13:19):
Right.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
It's not like we're elevating. It's like, hey, okay, giants
coming back to the pack here a little bit. Hey.
They can screw things up just as much as anybody
else can. All Right. I like that. I like that
if I feel confident in that. I really, again, I
don't get the Giants. I really I don't get this
is this is one of those quintessential teams that doesn't
know what they want to do. Do they want to contend?
Do they want to punt on next season? And you
have an owner with one strategy and you have a

(13:41):
GM and head coach with another strategy, and it just
doesn't make sense. It's a this is like the Giants
are being knit together, like it's some like the some
some big Frankenstein so together from parts of other teams,
Like we're gonna put in Russell Wilson here, but we're
gonna go draft Travis Hunter. We're gonna, like I don't
know what they're I don't know what their aim is.
I don't know what they're trying to do. I know

(14:02):
what the message they're trying to send us. It's yeah,
we're gonna try to win, but you didn't really get
great quarterbacks. Yeah, but we got okay ones. Okay, but
you're gonna get a young one.

Speaker 4 (14:11):
Yeah. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Okay, great, good talk, great, I feel great. Yeah, giants,
awesome giants my favorite.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
In the last two minutes, as you stumbled into a
great greeting card for the holidays, you're as screwed up
as ions. Merry Christmas, Love Jason.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
I remember those days, and I used to idolize the giants.
I was young and stupid.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Uh.

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(14:54):
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Speaker 2 (15:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten ti pm Eastern,
seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
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(16:28):
So we got into the Russell Wilson signing by the
Giants a few minutes ago. Why it doesn't make any sense. Yeah,
we'll get to the other big one from today coming
up in a second. But this is you know, once
in a while there's a story that comes out that
I say, then there's no way the math works right.
There's no way that math works right. There's just no way.
You know what one has been lately, and it's been

(16:49):
a big one in my house because my wife just
saw this thing on Facebook where you know, the reels
and different things that come in and she goes, is
this right? And I said what and She said, you
know the number of people that have played major League
baseball since it started in the eighteen hundred. She goes,
it's like over, it's like twenty two twenty three. I said,
I said, yeah, I go, but I don't believe that.

(17:10):
She goes, what do you mean. I go, there's no way.
That's right. There's there's no way. There's no way. Only
twenty early twenty some odd thousand people have played major
League baseball. She goes, why, I go, I think about
it like this, and I said, how many people do
you think make their major league debut every year? Thirty
teams in Major League Baseball. She goes, I don't know.
I said, Okay, I said, I've looked it up. I've
looked it up. About two hundred and fifty people make

(17:31):
their major league debut every year. Okay, so it's two
hundred and fifty people plus everybody else has played in
the game already. If you just take two hundred and
fifty people a year, right and go back. Let's say, okay,
let's say two hundred and fifty. Just go back to
two thousand, with two hundred and fifty people making their
MLB debut this year. Because that's not many, right, that's
you know, thirty teams, two hundred and fifty people. It's

(17:52):
not that many. You're talking about a little less than
ten people a year, right, which happens you have injuries
and people come up and rosters expanded to all this stuff.
And I said, you go back to two thousand, right,
So you're talking about every four years, that's a thousand people.
So now you want to go back to two thousand.
You're and so just in the last twenty five years
you're talking about that's five thousand people that has made

(18:13):
their debut. So one quarter of the people who have
ever played in Major League Baseball made their debut in
the last twenty five years. There's no way. The math
doesn't work. Math, the math doesn't work. And we argued
about this. He goes, yeah, but how many? I go, No,
I get it, but you're going back to the eighteen hundreds.
I mean, how long to get to one thousand and
then two thousand and thrill. I understand, but there's no

(18:34):
there's no way the math work. There's no way. It's
only there have to be like like like just reams
and of papers of people that they're missing over the course, like,
there's no way. Just you know, less than twenty five
thousand people have played Major League Baseball in history, and.

Speaker 4 (18:49):
I think there's there's fewer than twenty one thousand.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, there's no way. There's there's no way.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
Twenty thousand, seven ninety one, including two hundred and fifty
five debuts lash.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, yeah, And you go back and it's about two
hundred and fifty couldn't.

Speaker 4 (19:04):
At one point one dollar trading card made off of that?

Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, well you got Paul Skins. Paul Skins counts for everybody.
But you go back and you go back to even
twenty twenty, when there was no minor league season, rogerd
there were still two hundred some odd players made their
MLB debut there, Like, there's no way that math works.
There's just no way that math works. I'm I'm telling
you we're missing a lot. Like in Mister three thousand,
when all of a sudden, you know, Bernie Mack had

(19:28):
the three thousand hits, and the guy goes back, goes, oh,
I found that you got credit for three hits twice
in a double header, and you know, so you need
those three hits. Like that's what I feel like I
could go back and find go there's no way only
twenty one twenty two thousand people have played Major League Baseball.
There's no way and really no way.

Speaker 4 (19:44):
Two things. One, I don't buy that number either.

Speaker 3 (19:47):
I don't exactly intend to spend a lot of my
time pouring through records to figure that out.

Speaker 5 (19:54):
No.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
I think twenty thousand guys was a strikeouts the Mets
had last time. That's how many games Jacob ram has
missed the last four years. That's what that show?

Speaker 4 (20:02):
Uh so that? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (20:04):
The other is Bernie mac show is the next time
my binging once I'm done with my sip of wits rewatching.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
Ah, very all, you're going back and watching NYPD Blue
now nice? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're watching the first season
with that back when uh, David Caruso was going to
be a big star. I'm only gonna do one season
n YPD Blue.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
Everybody, he kiss It Death was a great movie.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
He did so many hit he did so many awful
he did Kissing Death, he did Jade Right, He did
so many bad movies. He was marked for. Death was better. Mike.
You know what, here's the thing. You could give me
the plots of all the different steven Sagall movies, and
unless it was under siege, I couldn't. I couldn't get
to crack your arm into one thousand pieces right now.

(20:45):
I couldn't anybody see Richie under siege. I get because
it was it was on a ship, he was a nave,
he was a cook. I'm just a lowly cook, right,
and Tommy Lee Jones is the bad guy. Welcome to
the revolution. Sorry spoiler alert.

Speaker 4 (20:56):
Jones took the paycheck.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
Yeah, so there's no way I believe I remember the
quest now. The thing was Pam Red on Facebook that
the smallest and she's what's the smallest stadium in Major
League Baseball? I go, well, it's the trop but not
this year. They're not playing there. No, no, just what's
the small I said, the troup. She goes, how many
people as it hold? And I said, like between thirty
five and forty thousand, not a lot. She goes, because
I just saw this thing here that says if you

(21:18):
took every single person it's ever played Major League Baseball
in the entire time it's been going on since the
eighteen hundreds, it wouldn't fill up the smallest stadium in
the majors. And I was like, okay, yeah, and that's
we had the whole conversation. I don't believe the math.
I don't believe the math.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
Well, now you go to Steinbrenner Field where a young
plucky Mike armand once get a bunch of television remotes
in front of.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
The twenty one thousand might be the overall attendance for
the Rays this year. That's Steinbrenner Field.

Speaker 4 (21:47):
Is it that big? That's a park with spring training.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Who draws more fans the A's or the Rays this year?
Who doesn't? Who doesn't?

Speaker 4 (21:56):
Who is more giveaways? So right, so that's the.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
First that's the first bit of math that I'm sorry,
I just I won't Well, that was ours of two
thousand and twenty one. They were closing in on twenty
thousand MLB plighter and they had the big they they
supposedly had the twenty They supposedly look at me, they
had the twenty thousand, and now they're up around twenty
one thousand. It make doesn't make sense you've had five thousand.
What doesn't make sense? Players play for like a decade. No,

(22:23):
but you have five You have five thousand people around
at least making their debut in the last twenty five years.
That the math doesn't math. The math does not math.
If that's the that doesn't math, I'm sorry. I just
haven't you have a quarter on the Sorry, Mets players
don't last more than a season, no, are you, kid?
We bring up, we're holding our up end of the bar.
Are into the bargain up. We bring up all kinds

(22:44):
of guys. Every year we find out so many guys
at stink and we would just cycle right. I mean,
now we're good, but for years, Hey we stink. Let's
just keep cycling through.

Speaker 3 (22:52):
Now you have the greatest quadruple A player in baseball. Y, Yeah,
Brett Bady is your great Fruit League mv hec haus
An ops like one and a half.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
But the other bit that I don't believe. The other
math I don't believe. And I know this has come
out the last couple of days. I understand it. I understand,
I don't believe it. The highest NCAA tournament ratings since
nineteen ninety three, And I'm sorry the math that there's
no way, there's no way. This is the first round,

(23:23):
the highest rated of the NCAA tournament since nineteen ninety three,
especially in an era when there's so many different ways
to measure how you watch games. And I'm sorry, I'm
not gonna believe that that all of a sudden last
year when nobody watched and all that, when when we
saw the boy the women's tournament is outshining the men's
and all, I mean, all of a sudden this year,

(23:44):
with the only star being Cooper Flag, everybody is flocking
back to the TV sets for the first time since
North Carolina beat Michigan because because Chris Weber called time out.
I mean, really, that's that's really what we're saying. It's
the highest rated first round since nineteen nine three. I
get it. I understand the stuff that's reported. I don't
believe the math.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
I believe I think the math has changed because I
think they they're now counting the bars, restaurants, multi person
viewing experiences, the sellouts at COSM, and all of those
things that are included in the ratings. Were once upon
a time we knew they were existed, but they they

(24:24):
were just pushed off to the side, right that it
was just the people that had the little meter readers
at their houses. So I think that's where the fuzzy
math comes.

Speaker 4 (24:33):
In, how you know?

Speaker 1 (24:33):
And gas meter? Okay, yeah, I'm also going to read
the metrics of what you've been watching on the tournament. Yeah,
go ahead, round the.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
Back is around the back. Give us your journal, Give
us your journal. What did you watch? What does this
say scrambled channel? What were you trying to watch here? Sir?

Speaker 3 (24:48):
We appreciate your honesty, but what the hell was scrambled
that you were trying to watch?

Speaker 1 (24:55):
I don't I don't buy this. The NCAA Tournament has
become and really, n say basketball has become a one
month sport, right, It's become a one month sport. Now
I understand that, And then you know they they still
do a great job of owning the month. And really
the month begins with the conference tournament weeks and bubble
teams trying to get in selection Sunday, and then hey, no,

(25:15):
it's a one month sport. College basketball used to be
a lot bigger. It used to be a sport you
paid more attention to in November and December and January.
There were big, big showdowns. In January you watch number
one versus number two. That stuff is gone, and I
find it hard to believe that suddenly, hey, everybody is
watching now because there's less mid majors in and because

(25:38):
you know you have teams getting in that that are
just more traditional power five teams. No, I don't think
everybody because the SEC put fourteen teams and something every
television are all watchings. No, I don't buy it. I
don't buy I mean, I don't doubt that ratings are
up because you do have you do get more people
are interested when the bigger teams are playing. And I
get that. But all of a sudden, you're the highest

(25:59):
rated since Night ninety three, Marial. You're going back thirty
three years to find that now, I'm just not gonna believe.
That's two things. I won't believe the maths on twenty
one thousand people in Major League Baseball, highest ratings in
so far. In the endstrum not gonna believe it now.

Speaker 3 (26:14):
Also, to bring in our friends over at the lot
with the Simpsons. Remember you know Homer, with all his faults,
always had one thing he can come back to.

Speaker 4 (26:25):
March on. You have a gambling problem.

Speaker 3 (26:30):
According to the American Gaming Association, Americans, we're going to
legally wager an estimated three point one billion dollars on
March madness. See the professionals that make their bet after
reading you know, all the metrics, going through all the analytics,
and then they may or may not sit down to
watch a minute or two of the game. Otherwise they're
looking for what the next angle is, or they're eating

(26:52):
a nice juicy steak. For everybody else that has five
to ten dollars on a game, guess what. They sit
there and they live and die for those two hours
and television ratings, damn it, you killed by parlay. That's
how you get them back to the conclude to the
screen smith, and how you get those ads sales rising?

Speaker 4 (27:13):
Now lambling.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Look if you don't vice, if you want to tell
you about how many people who gamble are actually watching
the games, I don't watch the games, Billy, I'll save
you a seat now. I don't watch the game.

Speaker 3 (27:22):
No, no, no, but that's what I mean, Like professionals don't.
But the other folks that are betting five ten to
the you know masses to get to that three point
one billion. Yeah, but damn right there.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
Going people have been doing it. People people do. There's
no way the NCATE Tournament hasn't been the biggest event
of the month in the last forty years. I mean, yeah,
it's a big ebou what you're telling me, But this
year it's the highest. This year with no star power
outside of Cooper flag and Rick Patino's white suit, that's
all you had coming home, is no star power. This

(27:52):
year is the highest again since ninety If you told me, hey,
the highest in the last ten years. Okay, but you're
going back to the salad days of the NACA term
where buzzer beaters and everybody was calling in sick to
try to find a way to watch teams of what. Yeah,
I mean, really, doctors, I feel bad for the doctors
have to perform via sectomies on the first two days
of the tournament. I really I find it hardly the

(28:13):
highest since nineteen ninety three.

Speaker 4 (28:14):
I really do.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
If you wanted to say totality that, you know, then
I would kind of get it, because you're you've added
two nights of games, right, You've added two nights of games.
You spread things out more. I mean, look the two
the second two days of the tournament. Now they've spread
out so you can watch more basketball over the course
of Saturday and Sunday, games don't overlap nearly as much

(28:37):
as they used to. They start them later, they end
them later. So yeah, in totality, because there's more minutes,
because there's more games, there's more games you're able to watch.
But the highest rated crut No, I'm not gonna buy.
I'm not gonna buy that. This suddenly captures everybody's attention
unlike anything else. Start to tie again, maths don't math
I'm never gonna believe it.

Speaker 4 (28:56):
Yeah, I still think it comes down to the measurement tools.

Speaker 3 (28:58):
And you know what, it's it's very fortunate thing for
us that tonight we have in the at the news
desk a man who has been called no he knows
and he follows television.

Speaker 4 (29:09):
Ratings for big sporting events.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
Our guy Steve being here is probably the best because
not only is he a bulldog when it comes to
his research numbers and stats for days, this is right
in his wheelhouse.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
No, I really, I don't. I don't get it. I don't.
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna believe it. No, I'm not.
I'm not. It's fuzzy math X exit out about a
Fresca exit swollen dome. The Jason Smiths or with the
Mike Cartman live from the tirec dot Com studios. He
is chomping at the bit to get in on this
because I think he has numbers that he wants to
throw by us. Now again, if the numbers support my argument,
listen to Steve. He's really smart. If they don't, they

(29:44):
can just be maths. You don't believe he's got that,
and he's got what's trending right now in the wide
world of sports. With the TV ratings.

Speaker 6 (29:50):
Even the claim is just since the current TV format
was established in twenty eleven for March Madness, you can't
go back to forty years now.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
They're going back to I'm looking at all the articles
since nineteen ninety think about all the people we brought
in because of making them truly aware of true TV.

Speaker 6 (30:08):
And you're also correct on the whole out of fume,
out of home viewing thing is they started to account
for that, but not in all the major markets in
twenty twenty, and it wasn't until this past year that
all the major markets were accounted for in the Nielsen estimates. So,
for example, when Zion and Duke were getting huge ratings

(30:28):
and I had a six million audience for their first
round game. Theoretically, that's a smaller audience than Arkansas's upset
last week. We know that's not the case because they
didn't account for out of home viewing when Zion was
playing for Duke.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
That's the answer, Steve Desager told you an answer. I
knew he would. I knew he'd have it. I knew.
That's why I said I knew he'd have it.

Speaker 6 (30:53):
By the way, CBS is reporting that Xavier's athletic director.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
GBS the reporting they'd been sold an unrelated story. After
having the highest ratings in thirty three years, CBS has
been sold to Amazon, acquiring all the shows on True TV.

Speaker 6 (31:10):
Xavier's ad flew to New Mexico today to offer a
job to Lobo's head coach, Richard Patino, and tonight they're
saying Patino has accepted. As for the NBA news, well,
the Grizzlies are winning without John Moran, missing a fifth
straight game with a sore hamstring. Under five minutes to go,
Grizzlies lead at Utah ninety to seventy six. Looks like

(31:30):
the Jazz record will fall to sixteen and fifty seven.
Miami held Jimmy Butler to eleven points. Is that he
beat the Warriors one twelve eighty six. Steph Curry with
the pelvic contusion was still out. Houston was up twenty
to start the fourth quarter and held on to beat
Atlanta one twenty one, one fourteen, Detroit and Orlando with victories.

(31:51):
And then there's the New York Knicks, who let's just say,
had a little bit of offense in this game tonight.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
All we do is get triple double Steve. That's all
we do.

Speaker 4 (32:00):
Josh Hart.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
It was his thirty ninth triple double of the year.

Speaker 6 (32:04):
In fact, this was the first time in NBA history
that all in the same game, same team in regulation
had two players with a triple double and another score
at least thirty five points. Thirty five for o Gananobi
triple double for Josh Hart. Hang the Banner Steve triple
double for Karl Anthony Towns. Yeah, it's kind of like
that Taylor Swift sellout thing. Any think Banner, Jason Tatum

(32:29):
and the Celtics doubtful for Wednesday after last night's sprained ankle.
Nikola Jokich of Denver with a bad ankle, doubtful for Wednesday,
could miss a sixth straight game. Damian Lillard of Milwaukee
out in definitely with a blood clot in his calf.
Jannis Antennacumbo questionable against Denver with a sprain foot. The
New York Giants are giving quarterback Russell Wilson a one
year deal. The Patriots are signing wide receiver Stefan Diggs.

(32:52):
Stanford fired football coach Troy Taylor after constant behavior problems
toward coworkers. Multiple employees had filed complaints. Change was made
by Stanford's new general manager, Andrew Luck.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
Back to you, Captain Andrew Luck. Dear mother, I need
to make a big change. We have not been attacking
the front the way we should have in the last
couple of fortnights.

Speaker 6 (33:15):
After that pregnant pause, I thought the big change was
I'm shaving.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
Thank you, Steve. If you're ready to lose weight, get
the expert help a PhD weight loss No injections or prescriptions,
fast weight loss results. They work for me and Mike,
they'll work for you. Call and schedule a consul today.
Visit myphdweight looss dot com. That's my phdweightloss dot com.
Well coming up next, a football story. We can all
get behind one hundred percent. What is it that's next

(33:45):
Jason and Mike Fox? Is it the Jets sucking? Well,
that's common knowledge. This is something different.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with My best
friend Mike Harmon. Be sure to check out the Fox
Sports Radio YouTube channel. Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube.
You'll see a whole bunch of video highlights, smart shows.
Be sure to subscribe so you never miss our very
best Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. So maybe you
saw this story today and this is one I think

(34:21):
we can again. We can all get behind, right, we
can all get behind this. Andrew Luck newly minted general
manager CEO of Stanford Football, where he was a star
before going to the NFL and starring before retiring early
fired head coach Troy Taylor earlier today. Now, Taylor had

(34:42):
some difficulty behavioral difficulties, also didn't win a lot of
games the last two years. So Andrew Luck fires Troy
Taylor and and and in my best captain Andrew Luck.

Speaker 5 (34:56):
Oh before.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
In the background because look here, here's the thing is
that I feel like, you know, hey, here's here's captain
Luck mother. Things are not going well from the front.
I do not know how much more stamina and togetherness
we have here before people fall apart. We've lost a
lot in the last two years. Continue to lose Andrew

(35:20):
Luck name yourself. Stanford head coach who says no, oh,
let's go, says.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
Right now, right, it's great to have him back in
as a GM right, getting back and being part of
his alma mater. I don't see how anybody could have
foreseen today. Hey, it's transfer portal. Let's complain about all
of that on the basketball side. Oh, by the way, Milhouse,
you're out.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
Name it, you stay. But the rest of you, I mean, really,
I mean I get that. Look, does he have experience?

Speaker 5 (35:52):
No? Is he?

Speaker 1 (35:53):
Was he a great college quarterback?

Speaker 4 (35:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (35:56):
Was he a great NFL quarterback?

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (35:59):
Do you need to have experience to be the head
coach of a team?

Speaker 6 (36:02):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (36:03):
Not really. I think we've seen that, We've seen you.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
Especially if the type of head coach that he needs
to be, he would be a jolt of energy to
the program. They would approve him right away. Look, the
prodigal son comes back, not to you, and he could
be the GM and head coach. Right, do both jobs, right,
GM ed coach? What I do the Bill Belichick of
of Stanford football, because you don't need to come in
and say, Okay, I've made my bones doing X, Y

(36:29):
and Z. First, I was a defensive back coach here
for a couple of years, and then it was a
defensive line coach, and it was a defensive coordinator, and
then it was defensive line slash assistant head coach. And
now I get a big You don't need to do that.

Speaker 4 (36:41):
Now.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
This is an era of college football where it's about
mastering the nil, mastering the portal, and getting talent. You
hire the guys, hire the guys with great offensive and
defensive acumen. Suddenly Stanford be a sought after position. You
people would want to go there to be Andrew lux
OC and DC because hey, I go there and do well,
guess what, Hey, I'll get a gig someplace. I'll get

(37:02):
a gig someplace and be a head coach. It would
be a destination. And Andrew Luck, who is a smart guy,
would just have to be able to know this is
the kind of head coach, I need to be right.
You look at and I keep going back to it
because it was a different thing. Is look at Fran
Brown at Syracuse Goys, a defensive backs coach. He was
a number one recruiter in the country the last two
to two years. So what did Syracuse say, Hey, this

(37:25):
is the nil era transfer portalle era, come here and coach.
What did he do? He flipped people from Alabama and
Georgia and Texas A and M and Kyle mccoran from
Ohio State and Syracuse goes ten and three with a
bowl game. We're in the top twenty for the first
time in like twenty years. All of a sudden, Framera,
get me the next Fran Brown. That's who everybody is
looking for.

Speaker 5 (37:43):
Now.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
Did Fran Brown come in with some kind of crazy
offensive system, No, some kind of great defensive system. Is
he a great game day head coach?

Speaker 4 (37:50):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (37:50):
I know there's some things he could have done better,
but it doesn't matter because he came in and he
loaded up the team, and the coaches coach and the
players play. And that's a new era. Head coach. Now
for the nil and transfer portal era, it's about getting
the talent in here and trusting your coaches to do well.
And Andrew Luck would be that guy come in. Yes,
I'm not gonna step on your toes, your system. I'm

(38:12):
a big picture guy. I'm gonna get the players in.
I'm gonna tell you what I see because clearly I
have a football acumen that might be just as good,
if not a little bit greater than yours. But still,
this is my job as a head coach, and you
know where I'm coming in. He's gonna have that cache.
I really I'll be the I'll name myself at No,
it's not an Andrew Luck move to name himself. He's
got to get somebody to nominate him. But I would

(38:32):
call somebod who says, hey, dude, leak it that I
should be the next head coach at Stanford. Andrew Luck
being the next head coach at Stanford shard absolutely happy
it should happen tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
Well, you're trying to inject life into a program of
twenty eighteen. Ain't rolling through that door again. Before things
went south on David Shaw his final couple of years,
you have the COVID period and now you have a
three to nine introduction to the ACC. You're looking to
create a spark, create a new identity. So take Andrew Luck.

(39:01):
I like him as GM if nothing else. You got
a young guy with a He's got some ideas right,
knows how to play this game and has been around
it recently enough. I know it's been a couple of
years now since that surprise retirement in the middle of
that preseason game, but still around and young enough to
where he's got a lot of contacts that are either

(39:22):
still in the league or just getting out. So building
a staff that can relate to current players is going
to be as easy for him as it can be
for anybody else. And I think you're kind of going
from a carte blanche proch You know, you and I
have talked about it a lot. You know, as this
era developed, how it made no sense that Syracuse and

(39:45):
Stanford and Northwestern and some of these schools didn't activate
their immensely robust and successful alumni basis to start creating
a first mover advantage in the NIL world. Well, guess what,
as you noted there with fran Brown, who, by the way,
the thing he wants to do with Dion Sanders is

(40:05):
just absolutely brilliant in terms of the spring game thing
that they can get it approved, but all it.

Speaker 1 (40:12):
Has and what did I tell you last week? This
is going to be a topic that takes off. And
what's the story today? Oklahoma Oklahoma State, Hey, let's play.
Let's play a spring game against each other?

Speaker 5 (40:21):
Right?

Speaker 1 (40:21):
This is this story.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
This is just going to take off if you're able
to get the pull this off and get the NCAA
on board. Now we're talking about maybe narrowing the gap
even further on some of these first mover advantage you
didn't have from the nil and create some buzz around
your your programs and rise back up because Stanford, once
upon a time was a powerhouse for Shaw and Harball before.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
Him exit out about a Fresca exit swollen Dome. The
Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Carbon. At
the very least we'd get the return of Captain Andrew
Luck damn right, I mean we get that which everybody wins. Hey,
speaking of everybody winning, how about some huge bull predictions
for the baseball season. That's next right here, Jason and
Mike Fox and I mean Bold.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
App Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with my
best friend Mike harmon Gideo. Tractor Supply knows the winning
season takes practice, teamwork, and it can do attitude. Thankfully,
when you have a neighbor like Tractor Supply, teamwork comes easy.
Whether you're caring for pets, chickens or a few acres.
Our team members will help you succeed season after season.
Tractor Supply for Life out here, and be sure to

(41:38):
check out the Tractor Supply Fox Sports Radio Bracket Challenge
at Fox Sports Radio dot com. See how all our
hosts are doing with their picks and who the top
ranked listeners are. I'm at the bottom because I'm stupid
and I took Saint John's the listener with the best
bracket at Fox Sports Radio dot com. I'm gonna win
a twenty five hundred dollars gift card to Tractor Supply.

Speaker 3 (41:57):
Well, he's me quad workout you've ever had Smith holding
up the rest of the field.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yes, I'm like Atlas. I'm just holding up there right. Well,
we are a little less than thirty six hours away
from the MLB season beginning Part two, the real one
where everybody plays, joining us now on the hotline for
all the big storylines MLB Network Insider Extraordinary or Fox
Sports Radio Insider. He's on Twitter at John Morosi. It

(42:23):
is the Pope, John PALMERROSI, what's happening, man? How are you?

Speaker 5 (42:27):
I am outstanding? And while I appreciate my traditional walk
up music here on this opening week, I did smile
that we had some Jimmy Hendrix coming back from break
because my father, who saw a great many amazing rock
and roll shows in Detroit back in the nineteen sixties.
While I have covered the World Series many times, the

(42:49):
one thing that I have not seen that he saw,
and that I am very jealous of him, is that
he saw Jimmy Hendrix play in person and lights his
guitar on fire at the Masonic Theater in Detroit. Kids
do not try that at home, but that is something
my father saw with his own two eyes, Jimmy Hendrix
performing on a flaming guitar in Detroit.

Speaker 4 (43:12):
That happened.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
Well you wait until Jan Soto does that his first
at bat for the Mets. Wait, do you see John Paul.

Speaker 5 (43:18):
Walks out to the plate with a flaming bat. Then
you call me immediately. Remember you call my dad, because
my dad is probably the one person that we could
get on the air that could actually be able to
accurately compare. So, mister Maroussy, what was more impressive? Was
it Jimmy Hendrix with the flaming guitar or Wan Soda
with the flaming bat? Again called GINO. Will give you

(43:40):
a good recommendation on that one.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
All right, we'll give us your recommendation on this. We
talked about this top of the hour, and this is
the first time I can remember ever thinking about taking
the team. If you ever said to me, hey, who
would you take to win the World Series? Team A
or the field, I'll always take the field because so
many things have to happen. But this is the first
because of the dog. This is the best lineup I've
seen in baseball in over thirty years on paper, John

(44:04):
Paul top to bottom lineup, starting pitching, relief pitching. If
I said to you the Dodgers to win the World
Series or the field, and you had to bet on
one of.

Speaker 4 (44:13):
Those, what do you think the field?

Speaker 5 (44:16):
The field? Because the odds I agree with everything you've
said about the quality of the Dodgers, but we have
to remember they were one game away from being knocked
out in four games in the Division Series last year.
So we have to remember that winning the World Series
is very difficult and can be undermined by any number

(44:38):
of pitching situations. And yes, they appear to be the
most prohibitive favorite that we have seen. But I look
at a number of teams in the National League right
now as being legitimate threats. I think there are a
few of them in the National League. East Matt's, Philly's
Braves all I believe are legitimate World Series teams. The

(45:00):
Braves in particular. I know, Jason, I'm sorry that I'm
not saying your Mets right now, but the Braves are
a team that they had so many injuries and adversity
last year and they still made the playoffs. If they
just have a normal amount of adversity, there's still a
really good team with a Kunya, with a healthy Strider.
So I've got the Braves being probably the biggest threat

(45:23):
to the to the Dodgers, But I also look at
teams in the Central I love the way that the
Brewers are built. I think the Cubs have a legitimate chance. Again,
the Dodgers still have the best individual chance of anybody
in the National League. I will grant you that, but
what I'm saying is that number is under fifty percent,

(45:43):
and I will take the field.

Speaker 1 (45:46):
Yeah, And look, you don't need to be beholden to me.
It's when your former college roommate David Stearns called. You
got to say, Hey, just want to let you know
why I didn't pick the Mets. Dave, Hey, lit'ten. Just
want to let you know to understandings, there's a whole
reason behind why. Now you gotta answer to him.

Speaker 4 (46:00):
That's okay, I do, And that.

Speaker 5 (46:02):
May be the end of the Sternsy and the Pope show.
He hold of the audio of me saying that his
team doesn't have the best chance of winning of even
his own division. But they are. And in fairness, the
Mets have had some pitching injury issues that they've had
to deal with here this spring, so's that's all very real,

(46:23):
and even McNeil too. So I think injuries in a
lot of ways have been the story of spring. And
look for the teams that are relatively healthy to be
those that get off the best start.

Speaker 3 (46:36):
Well, as we look at that JP, you know, we
talked about the Mets and injuries, and I'm trying to
calm my friend down since they're on the cover of
all sorts of magazines as the team to be the
upstart upset squad here.

Speaker 4 (46:49):
You know, it's all want so to all the time.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
When we look at the Central it's rare that we
see the Cardinals being predicted to be a back end,
bottom feeding tittas squad when we're talking about Pittsburgh and
Milwaukee rising past them.

Speaker 5 (47:07):
Well, it is interesting, and the Cardinals are a team. Yes,
I believe that Arnato will have a better season this year,
but they are a team that I have not heard
really anybody predicting to be a division winner, and I
think that's honestly appropriate based on where they're pitching. Is
the continued search for what their everyday outfield ought to be.

(47:33):
I am a big fan of Mason Wynn. I think
that they have some younger bats like Alec Burlison, who
I think have a chance to make an impact on
the lineup with more consistent work. Nolan Gorman as well.
But part of the reason that they were looking to
trade Arenato this winter is they wanted to have greater
clarity about who they were going to be as an

(47:54):
everyday club, and I don't think they've gotten there yet.
They may not be quite as bad as some of
the dire projections have them being, but they're not, in
my estimation, a playoff contender candidate in really any any scope,
and they've effectively acknowledged as much with some of the
moves that they have made. Very much future focused. So

(48:18):
I think this will be either the Cubs or the
Brewers at the top of the division. I like both teams.
The Pirates, of course, they've got schemes, but some tough
news there on Jones here where he's going to begin
the year on the il. The Reds I like. I
just don't quite think they have as much as the
Brewers of the Cubs do. And the Cubs, you know,
a tough start, obviously facing the Dodgers back to back

(48:41):
losses in Tokyo, but I think once they get settled
in Tucker as a really unique free agent to be
I look for the Cubs to have a very solid year,
and from their perspective, I think they they're probably the
greatest beneficiaries right now of the Cardinals down cycle, John Palmerrose.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
The MLB Network Insider, where it's Jason Smith, Mike Harmon
lot from the tirerach dot Com studios. All right, so
we go to the American League, John Paul, the team
that you think will be facing the Dodgers Slash Brave
slash Mats in the World Series will be who Boston.

Speaker 5 (49:16):
I've got the Red Sox winning the league.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
Well, that lineup.

Speaker 5 (49:19):
I have a really good lineup and a lot of youth,
and and for me, when I make my predictions, not
that they tend to be right all the time, but
but I do my best this time here, I am
most comfortable attaching my my mind to those teams that
have really deep farm systems and that I believe can

(49:41):
add to their group as the season goes along. The
Red Sox have that the Yankees don't, from what I
can tell, at least not on the same level of
the Red Sox. So the Yankees' depth has already been tested.
Of course, Stanton is on the il Cole has gone
for the year. The Mets. I think that there's just

(50:02):
not enough of a reliable group for me in terms
of what could impact that club coming up from Triple
A to feel confident in the Yankees relative to what
Boston has. I actually think Toronto's had a pretty solid
spring and that they are close enough to being a
playoff team. I think Baltimore's had some injuries. The Yankees,

(50:25):
as we mentioned, have had some injuries. The Rays now
with McClanahan being out for a while, that's a big
concern for them. So I think that Boston, with the
minor asterisk of the issue about what exactly Devers's role
is going to be, that has to be a little
bit concerned. But in general, I do like the way

(50:45):
the Red Sox are built, and with Meyer and with
Anthony and some others there in the minor leagues that
they have the ability to I think if they're in
a tight race, that the deadline really puts some open
water between themselves and everybody else.

Speaker 3 (50:58):
Now, I'm not going to waste a lot of bread
on the White Sox plus two fifty to win the
AL Central.

Speaker 5 (51:04):
What would probably say they're underdogs is what I would say,
five hundred to one to win it all.

Speaker 4 (51:09):
Let's go to the AL West.

Speaker 3 (51:10):
Where are you for the ninth straight year, looking at
the favorite team? O boy, to rise up and play
some postseason baseball? Is it all predicated on Julio Rodriguez
once again donning that trident at the end.

Speaker 5 (51:27):
Of every game we have We have some some loyal
listeners of the show who tonight have have tuned in
strictly to hear this portion of our conversation, which is,
Will Morose picked the Mariners again, and and much to
the dismay of my brother in law and Seattle and

(51:47):
all my friends out there, the answer is yes, I'm
picking up.

Speaker 4 (51:51):
Let's go, especially.

Speaker 5 (51:56):
Especially my goodness, now that the Astros have lost some
of their veterans and talent, and the Rangers have had
some injuries before their rotation. If you thought I was
going to abandon the Mariners now now that that actually
seems logical to predict the division.

Speaker 4 (52:12):
They could win the division.

Speaker 5 (52:16):
This is a layoff right now in terms of how
I'm viewing this division. So I think if Julio has
a normal type year for him, which is which would
be an approven over last year. Still love their pitching
with Kirby on the IL, and they just signed cal
Rally to that extension today or they're they're finalizing it.

(52:38):
I think He's a really important player for them over
the long term. So for a lot of reasons, I'm
very confident in my pick, more than ever before, which
again is right now sending the wire services completely just
they're scrambling to put this news out on the wires
there in Seattle. The Morosi has picked the Maritors again,

(52:59):
which have bad news for the local nine.

Speaker 1 (53:02):
All right, so last pick here, John paul I said
this earlier this hour. Agree or disagree if I have
to give you a non Otani pick for NL MVP.
Someone who can combat the Hey, who's better From a
completely different aspect, Paul Skeins can dominate the headlines, can
dominate the storylines. We pay attention to him every fifth

(53:24):
day like we watch Otani. It can be doesn't need
to be well won Sodos having a great year, But
is he as great as Otani From a completely different
perspective schemes versus Otani, He's the guy I can see
winning MVP if he has one of those de Grom
like years, which clearly he can because he's just that good.

Speaker 5 (53:41):
Interesting, I think that they would have the Pirates would
have to be in the in the hunt for a playoff,
Berth for that to become a realistic possibility. I think
the other, the other interesting one would be if if
Tucker in his contract year, vaults the Cubs into a
into a playoff, Berth see him being a legitimate threat.

(54:02):
I could see also a Kunya. That's that's the one
thing we had. You know, Akunya is is an all
around talent in a different way than Otani is. Of course,
he's a two way threat. He can steal bases. We
have not yet seen Otani and Akunya at full strength
in the same league, competing for the same award, and that,

(54:23):
to me is the one variable here. So I there
are players capable of taking Otani's thunder away, and I
would actually put I would I would put Akunya and
Soto and Tucker all ahead of schemes in terms of
the likelihood of someone who's not Otani winning that award.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
All right, now, I forgot one more prediction, because you've
been red hot with this over the first weekend. Michigan
wins both games Michigan Auburn John Paul in the Sweet sixteen.

Speaker 5 (54:52):
Your final score is so Donaldson finds a way to
beat his former team, Michigan wins, but then falls to
the spark in the elite age and tom Izzo, who
was on fire today at his media availability for everything
I've seen. So tom Izzo, my fellow Italian uper from
the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. I'm gonna say the nod goes

(55:14):
to tom Izzo and he gets the Spartans back to
the final four.

Speaker 1 (55:18):
John Paul Morosi must have a dinner in East Lansing.
He wants to attend. He's on Twitter at John Morosi,
that is, at John Morosi MLB Network. John Paul is
always appreciated. Next time we talked to you, we'll have
real live games to break down.

Speaker 5 (55:31):
Have fun, real live games Thursday, Open to day and
also the first day at the NCAA Hockey Tournament. I've
got Michigan State beating Cornell three to one in the opener.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
There ooh Andy Bernard not happy to see Cornell'll go
down there, all right. Take it easy, buddy, we'll talk.

Speaker 4 (55:47):
To PAMA guys.

Speaker 5 (55:48):
Really appreciate buddy.

Speaker 1 (55:49):
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