Best of the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon

Jason believes we’ll see the NBA hire a female head coach in his 'working lifetime'. Patrick Mahomes middle finger tour rolls on. Plus, a visit from our most trusted MLB Insider Jon Paul Morosi!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Greetings, Welcome inside the Jason Smith Show with my base
friend Mike Harmon. Let's get it on live from the
tire rack dot Com studios here at Fox Sports Radio.
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(00:51):
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Hey Tani isitching tonight. He could be in line potentially
in again. The Dodgers will win. They're winning beating the
Reds four to one right now, however, would be his
first win of the year. I'm looking right now he
has been surpassed. Both he and Kyle Schwarber have been surpassed.

(01:14):
The new leader to win both Cy Young and MVP
is Mets starting pitcher Nolan mclach Now, you're just pushing
out fake news to the people. Hate the people, mister McLain,
Where are my detonate is mister lying? I'm not gonna
believe anything we say the best. I am not.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Problems with some of the truth. Yeah, quote unquote.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
You there wrecking homes and now I'll tell.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
You what yesterday. I mean, he laid that all out.
Now he follows it up with this. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
I'm going all stranger scorched, sir. No, no, dude, come on, man,
best starred ever for a Mets starting pitcher. He goes
eight innings against the Phillies tonight. I'm telling you, man,
I'm stringer from the wire. I want you to get
the spread to work out there that we back up.
That's what's happening right the night. You're stealing seth Rollins
theme song. Yeah, buddy, burn it down, Yeah, buddy, Nolan McLain.

Speaker 5 (02:13):
You know who Jason spending the night with Nolan McLain
is a parabolic microphone.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Hey, come on, we swept the Phillies because of those
parabolic microphones. We got them strategically. Yeah, you know, that's
the thing about the Phillies. Okay, and I've said this
for a long time and all Philadelphia sports really it's
not just the Phillies, but the Eagles as well. Things
could be going as well as it could possibly be
for the Phillies, the Sixers, the Eagles, the Union, whoever

(02:43):
it is. The things could be going is what they got,
joelmb They had the process. Things could be going as
well as possibly could be. Here come the Phi seven
game lead, and but the Phillies are always just one
step away from complete and total disaster. They have one
foot on the banana peel at all times. All Philadelphia
teams have one foot on the banana appeal. They come in

(03:06):
thinking we're gonna close up the NL East, right, seven
games up, that's it. We sweep the Mets at the
ten game League. We're done. We're getting our rotation ready
for October. This is over the Mets sweep and what
happens during the series. Let's see you get one Phillies
player who complains about a microphone and center field that
has to be moved after the game Phillies insiders and
analysts and personality saying the microphone has been there for

(03:29):
seven years, What the hell are we doing blaming their
own players. Tonight, there was a point in the game
the Phillies complained that a couple of Mets players were
too close to the plate when they were in the
on deck circle, and they complaint having them moved back
to the on deck circle, like, this is what the
Phillies are concerned with, and they got swept tonight.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
Get the brooms out, get the brooms out. Well, just
because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
If you're not cheating, you're not trying complain. It becomes
that that small line that you have between paranoia and
you know, hey, are they stealing signs? Because this guy's
there and he's relaying information and just being in your

(04:09):
own head. There there's a fine line there that the
Phillies have crossed.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
That one step away everything with three days ago, everything crossed,
they crossed. Awesome, and now look at them and now
look where they are now. The NL East is up
for grabs. Wow, it's not white up for grads. Game
lead with still six weeks left, to go, and there's
you're gone.

Speaker 6 (04:29):
All right.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
As we look at the schedule going forward for your
New York Metropolitans, You've got a four game set coming
up against the Marlins. Okay, fine, Then we get into September.
Three games set against the Tigers on the road, pause,
three games set against these Reds, who if this score holds,
they'll get swept for.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
The first time. Yeah, yeah, first time. This is Dodgers,
Dodgers and Dodgers.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
On the heels of that Red series is another four
game set with the film.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
That's what that's what we take. First place, that's where
it has to take. First place. That's where it happens.
Right there, that's where it is. Should we see if
we can get odds on what day that happens, the
game where it happens, the game where it happens, the
game where it happens, and.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
You get a home stand against the Rangers, the Padres.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Oh good man, we got Jonah Tong coming up on Friday.
We got mclaim, we got talking about, we got everything.
Then we got everything now Sterns He waited until the
last possibility to bring all the kids up, and now
is Friday. Friday Tong time is Friday.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Tong time is fine if they don't do it?

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Can you really though it's a Taunton. It's a Taunton.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
I'm pretty sure his name is Tong Tong and.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
He's talking about that hot dog looking guys.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
I thought you're talking that, you're talking about the thing
from Empire strikes Back, because it doesn't really end well
for then and Empire strikes Back. It really doesn't.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Everything goes back to Star Wars.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
Jesus it does. Yeah, I tell you, it's it's all good.
It's we are now the new dominant form of the gall.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yes, so you had the tlalola and all those guys,
don't you didn't your timelines get inundated with that about
six weeks ago. Every time he burned around it was
but I thought he said ton to, No, it's that
hot dog horror. I know, I thought you said, but
I thought you said Tonton. I thought that's what it would.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
You say, Tong Tong is a what.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
For that?

Speaker 4 (06:27):
What are you doing?

Speaker 1 (06:29):
I thought he was gonna do a Tonton impression? Is
that what he said? When he strikes somebody out, that's
what he does. You watch man, it's like watching lens
when you when you see something about every job. We're back.
We're back up, man, We're back up. It's awesome.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Which which superhero is he getting the nickname of? We
had thour, we had the Dark Knight.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
What's his name? Uh? Well, clearly TJ the Mets hoping
that Jonah has a whale of a start on Friday.

Speaker 3 (07:00):
By DJ, I mean tongs are a very important kitchen implement.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, people will come to the games with tongs and
they'll just yeah, I think there's none to click them together.
They'll click them together. It's to help.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
But depending how cheap you go, you can get like
ones that are like a dollar or two. They don't
have they're not really refined, so they got sharp edges
at it.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
So now you got weapons, so we'll love. We'll have
more baseball on the way tonight again. Uh Dodgers reads.
It's a four to one lead for the Dodgers right
now on show. Hey, fifty to fifty bobblehead night. Oh
by the.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
Way, second, fifty to fifty bobblehead Night.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
There's gonna be a few more. There'll be three or
four more. We'll get in fifty to fifty.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Promotions so so nice they they liked it.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Thrice Monsei, who works for the Dodgers, brought her uh
uh O Tani bobble head in from work today. I
tried to steal it twice and she and she caught
me both no chance. By the way, Yeah, I tried
to steal it twice.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
I tried once. She's like a ninja. Yeah getting bad.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yeah, yeah, like you need like you need to do
like uh like what did Tom in in a Mission Impossible?
The first one when the one member of the team
put the stuff in the coffee and he takes the
sippy runs in the bathroom, Like that's what you need
to do that. There needs to be some sort of
and then you got to come in like through the
ceiling and put your hands out and like make sure
that no one knows that grab the grab the the
bibble head, and shoot back up through the ceiling. There's

(08:16):
one ending in five minutes over one hundred bucks. What oh,
I thought you made a Mission Impossible movie? Like people
already got him out there, people and everybody got to
take pictures. Everybody gets one tonight. Everybody gets one tonight.
People that are still waiting, everybody gets one. Everybody gets one.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
It was an early game too, because of the MLB rules,
the Players Association rules, UH, collective bargaining, So you had
a five thirty start.

Speaker 4 (08:43):
It was screw the Reds night right.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
A lot of people calling in sick to work. I
gotta go out to the game.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
Sun came out from the Galaxy and threw out a
first pitch.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
Big deal. Now another big story that broke right before
we got him there about an hour a little bit
less than hours before we got on the air. Tonight
is uh. South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley talked
about the possibility that she may have had this past
off season in coaching the Knicks. Remember, she had an
interview with the team. The Knicks obviously went with Mike Brown,

(09:12):
but she said today she had a podcast with Aliah
Boston and Kennis Parker and said if the Knicks offered
her the job, she would have taken it. Quote, I
would have had to do it, not just for me,
for women to break that door open. I would have
had to. It's the Knicks. I'm from Philly. Sorry, sorry
you got swept. I'm from Philly, but it's the freaking

(09:33):
New York Knicks right now. This is this is a
great statement by down Staley because look, in my lifetime,
I mean I can't sit here and tell you in
the next three years, the next five years, But in
my lifetime, and I mean like in a time I
think before you know, I get done and retire and
all kinds of stuff. In my working lifetime, I'll say,
we're gonna have a women's a women's coach in basketball

(09:56):
in one of the big professional sports, right but most
likely in basketball will have it. We've seen it, and
it's about getting close and then having the person to
break through. Like Becky Hammond who was an assistant for
San Antonio for the longest time. And look, I really
wonder if she was brought in and the whole plan
was going to be Pop was gonna coach, and then

(10:16):
eventually he was and Becky Hammon's gonna be the team
for so long that they were just gonna it was
gonna be an easy thing. Yes, now Becky's the coach, okay, great,
Like Becky's got the culture and everything else. Now obviously
things changed, Becky left to go to the WNBA. Pop
had to retire. He's going upstairs. But you saw Becky
Hammond get really close.

Speaker 6 (10:33):
Right.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
You saw Don Staley get an interview with the Knicks,
And there was no reason the Knicks had to interview
Dawn Staley. There was no one clamoring saying, how are
you not in you got to interview with That's just
not happening. They gave her an interview. She's a great coach.
You see your speak, you see your talk. You see
you're being ambassador for the game of basketball when they
won the national title and she spent time right after
the game to salute Caitlin Clark and Iowa Like that

(10:55):
was an unbelievable, classy move to make right. That was
on the floor where you're and this is your chance,
your shining moment. I want to talk about Caitlin and
what's going on here. And that was an incredible moment
for her. You see the players what they say about her.
She was not brought in just say hey, this was Hey,
maybe Dawn Staley breaks through, right, Like how Mike Tomlin
got the job with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He wasn't a

(11:17):
serious candidate when it first come in, but the Rooney
rule interviewing African American candidate, he came in blew the
doors off of the Steelers. Here he is forty five
years later, still coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers. Is sometime before
I'm done, there will be a women's coach, and probably
the NBA, just because they're the closest now, is gonna
be the first team to do it. I don't know

(11:38):
if it's gonna be in a big market like New York,
be a small market, smaller market like Sacramento, but it's
gonna happen. We're gonna see that at some point. We
are getting closer and closer to that with every day.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, curiosity of the crossover, and it takes a certain
mentality and skill set to want to make that leap
as well. Right, you could be a great coach, uh,
but there's a lot more than just the coaching. And
that's what she alluded to, uh in the interview that
she asked a bunch of other questions about, all right,

(12:09):
how does things how do things change around here? Are
you prepared if I'm hired? What change is here?

Speaker 6 (12:15):
Here?

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Here, and here? And that's where you're gonna start getting
the glassed over kind of eyes of Well, we hadn't
considered that that or that that are suddenly going to
be part of the day to day. So curiosity, you know,
talking about being on a staff and eventually moving into
that role. Coaches and waiting, well those are rare because
you got very few organizations that really allow you, uh,

(12:38):
the the long place in an organization anymore, even if
you're having success, we see owners getting patient gms that
want their guys because even if the coach stays, GM
cycles out and eventually, you know, if it gets a
bit stagnant, that that you're gonna move. And in the
case of Becky Hammond and it became a all right,
he's never leading. I mean how many times we see

(13:00):
that in college football? Right with men, it's like, all right,
you're the coach in waiting. All right, I'm tired of waiting.
It's been six years, it's been eight years. You saw
with Beheim. We saw it in college football going down
to Bobby Bowden and a bunch of other guys, where
it was like, is he ever actually gonna leave? Is like,
what's what's my endgame here? Can you give me any assurances?

(13:21):
And you can get a higher pay raise and negotiate
that and that's great, and maybe you're slowly but surely
resting control. But eventually you want the placard under your
name to read head coach. So for Dawn Staley, I
I'd love to see more opportunity and more of the
questions being asked, and I'd love to see some video
from behind the scenes exactly how that part of the

(13:44):
interview process went.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
Well.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
Look, and that's part of it too, is that the NBA.
You talk about the one league that hey, we're gonna
interview coaches outside the box. Right, that's the that's the NBA, right,
Like that's what they do. Like the NBA, you are
looking who could you possibly hire?

Speaker 6 (13:59):
Right?

Speaker 1 (13:59):
Look at look at the look at the way searches go.
Look at the way the nick search went this offseason,
calling all these other teams for permission. All these other
teams are saying no. Like the NBA is like that,
I might be the only guy. It's a more out.
It's such an outside the box situation where hey, are
we gonna hire another retread that we may win may
or can we make a bold move and Dawn Staley

(14:19):
and see if it works? Like that, that's gonna be
something that happens in the NBA. Yeah, Like the Lakers,
bold move, bold strategy. Let's see if it pays. That's
exit outbouta Fresca exit swollen dump. I mean, great, great
story tonight Don Staley again. Check out the podcast on
that is it time for a new job and it's
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(14:41):
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NFL news. We have players that stars that may or
may not be playing this season. Hold on, we have
stars that are suspended that may not be playing for
a while. Hold on on. What does this mean for

(15:01):
the Super Bowl contending teams? That's next right here, Jason, Mike,
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(15:44):
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Speaker 2 (16:00):
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 App.

Speaker 7 (16:11):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 8 (16:16):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
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of course the iHeartRadio App.

Speaker 7 (16:23):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich?

Speaker 8 (16:25):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
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Speaker 7 (16:29):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
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time to discuss.

Speaker 8 (16:38):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
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Speaker 1 (16:41):
I mean that says something, right. So check us out.

Speaker 7 (16:44):
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Speaker 1 (16:48):
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Speaker 8 (16:49):
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Speaker 1 (17:05):
That's Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio, The Jason Smith
Show with my best friend Mike Harmon. You got it.
Now's the perfect time to start on your next success.
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(17:25):
That's UMGC dot Edu. So as we get closer now
to the beginning of the NFL season, closing in on
a week out, we have a big suspension, we have
a big injury. What's the impact. We're now getting that
every day and now we're done. Teams are having their

(17:45):
last practice before they start their weeks, getting ready for
their opponents in week one, Like now the tunnel vision begins,
and now it's all about week one and beyond week
one and beyond winning time.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
Maybe let's go. We're finally through a lot of the
roster shuffling. People are ordering their custom jerseys because their
favorite guy, you know, made their team, didn't get traded,
except for that one guy that's still hanging out in
the battles. But we'll get to him in due time.
But but all of that to say, I mean, it
was a fun day of activity and and and transactions.

(18:16):
So that's good. Every day inching ever closer to that
kickoff with the Cowboys, and you're eagle.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Get ready, get ready maybe or maybe not Micah party now.
And here's the thing here, we may not have any
Micah Parsons news on the show today. This may be
a Micah Parsons free day. On Fox Sports.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
I almost wanted to go and try to get through
the four hours without even saying.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
Possible if you just brought him up.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
But I'm saying that there may not be any but
but there's no news. Really, there's no news. I'm telling
telling you there's no news is not news. But you're
bringing them up. I'm bringing them up.

Speaker 4 (18:53):
It's worthy because we don't talk about nothing's here.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
There's no but there may be talked about the Mets
last segment talking that's the hottest team in baseball, everything
about it. We're all dumber for having done it. Uh So, okay, Instead, Frostburg,
we're talking about the Chiefs. How's that is that good?
Is that good for you?

Speaker 5 (19:11):
As that wide receiver? There is missing six games? I'm cool,
so big news. Of course, the NFL let them off easy.
It should have been the whole season.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
I'm not I thought it was a threezyn three year ben.
I honestly thought for Rashie Rice that the suspension came
out today. We knew this was coming for violating the
NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. H He has accepted a six
game suspension and he will bop on the starting that
at the beginning of the season, eligible to return Week

(19:43):
seven ahead of their game against the Raiders. Raiders can't
catch a brick.

Speaker 6 (19:46):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
There had been a disciplinary hearing scheduled for September thirtieth,
but this is what Rashie Rice is taking in July.
I remember he was sentenced to thirty days in jail
in five years probation for his role in that multi
car crash in Dallas. They left a lot of people
hurt during the twenty twenty four offseason. Now, honestly, I'm surprised.
I thought it was going to be four games. I
thought that's what it would wind up being, and they're
gonna the NFLPA would try to whittle it down, but

(20:10):
it's going to be six games. Started the Seasonmber, we
thought it was going to be into October as well,
like so this is a lot.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
Wasn't going to have his hearing and discussion points till
the end of the month. So that created a great
deal of consternation because you'd add other other suspensions announced
when we go back to Jordan Addison and others, but
different parts of the rule book at play.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
So he's not going to appeal, meaning this is now set.
He's serving a six game suspension. He comes back before
week seven, and I'll be honest with you, it doesn't matter. Right,
this is not gonna change their offenses production this season.
I've told you this is the passion, this is well.
The refs is still there. I mean, the refs want

(20:54):
to be invited to the Kelsey and Teler Swift wedding, right,
so you know they're gonna happen. Just wait, I mean
you can't crush that. They're already practicing calling late hits.
They're on late hits on defense. They're making sure okay,
where are the defensive ends? Where making sure? How do
we call late hits? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (21:09):
I mean I say they're better as ushers and efficients
that way, right, So, I mean they're making sure you
get to your proper spot and location in the seeding chart.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
But you know it all works. The Patrick Mahomes middle
Finger Tour is going to play well this season, whether
Rashie Rice is playing Week one or not. This is
a wide receiver room that finally we've talked about. This
is the healthiest that it has been right now. Obviously
Rice is out the first six weeks, but you knew
he was gonna he was gonna miss some time. But
this is this is Worthy. Xavier Worthy had a really

(21:41):
good rookie year last year, second year in the league,
Hollywood Brown healthy, you got Forton, Juju Smith Schuster, still
Travis Kelcey and what likely is going to be his
last year in the NFL going all to the wall
for my final year before come on, dude, the guy.
The guy showed that, hey, maybe I have one more year.
Maybe I have one more Hey, now I could be
the goat at my position. You saw what happened to Tom.

(22:04):
Are you gonna force me off this field? No, you're
not gonna try to force me off this The dude
doesn't have time. The dog does time to play football
with everything going I know, with his podcast and his marriage,
and he doesn't have time. This is it. This is
last time he even say he said last year, I
can't go out like this the year he had, I
can't go out like that.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
You will, which was overall a pretty good year for
a tight end, just not a tight end named Travis Kelcey.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
But you know, we talked about, you know, Pete Futech,
who's gonna join us Friday night to preview football. We
talked about his thoughts on the University of Texas. Right,
big Texas Ohio State game coming this week, and he
said last week, i am stock up on arch Manning,
but I'm stocked down on Texas because Texas schedule is
really difficult. They stub their toe, can easily lose Week
one and on and on. That's how I feel about

(22:47):
the Chiefs this year. I'm stock up on Mahomes all
the way up, but I'm stocked down on the Chiefs.
The division is younger, it's more athletic, the teams are better.
It's gonna be a fight just for them to get
a wild card this year. Right that the dynasty in
we talked about in Kansas City, you are seeing the
ending embers of it now. But this offensive production you're
gonna see. Mahomes has been waiting. It's been two years

(23:09):
of being a game manager. He's not like he's thirty seven,
thirty eight years old. Where I have to move to
that part of my career. It just had to be
a point where, hey, my weapons are healthy again, right,
and I can still get out there, I can still
spray the ball over the field. I can't just throw anybody,
you know, for a couple of years, the Chiefs thought, yeah,
we don't need Tyreek Hill, we don't need these guys.
We can just throw anybody out there, and Mahomes are

(23:30):
gonna be great. No. I think we saw when Tyreek
Hill left. Hey, Mahomes still struggled. The team was still good.
Team won a Super Bowl with Mahomes being a game manager.
So okay, But as far as this year, now, hey,
the weapons are there, but the other teams are better.
I don't know. The Chiefs have gotten so much better.
They'll score a ton of points, but they're gonna be
one of those teams where, hey, don't get an aerial

(23:51):
dog fight with them. Right, that's gonna be the thing
for the Chiefs. But this year for Mahomes with all
his players, with the weapons out there, finally what he
thought Hollywood Brown is what they thought he was gonna
be when they first signed him. Zave you worthy a
second year in the offense. Now you're bringing Juju Smith
Schuster back to a team where he's familiar with the system.
Thornton's had some big play so far in the preseason. Right,
Kelsey a tight end, You you have what you need

(24:12):
on that team. And now this is the best weapons
room that the Chiefs have had in three years. Patrick
Mahomes is back to being Patrick Holmes. The middle Finger
tour continues for Mahomes this year. Yeah, what's gonna be
interesting to watch as this develops. Right, you've got continuity
in an offensive line. You return virtually your entire starting line. Great,
always a good starting point because there's plenty of teams

(24:33):
we'll be talking about leading up to kick off a
week from tomorrow. That that's the biggest area of concern, Right,
can you address this?

Speaker 3 (24:42):
How does that front five coalesce?

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Well?

Speaker 3 (24:45):
For Patrick Mahomes. We watched last year Rashie Rice missed
a good chunk of the year. It didn't matter, right,
next man up and we watch worthy the second half
of the year. Started to get in Hollywood Brown if
he's healthy, which has been the big knock the last
couple of years. Right, he great flashes, great depth receiver
and a guy that can take it to the house. Well,
we got to keep him on the field. So training room,

(25:06):
it's all on you, Juju Thornton. You brought up all
of those guys. You got Noah Gray there the tight
end and waiting who will have his share of catches
in between the twenties. Now it's a matter of what
you find in the painted grass. The key with the
chiefstall of it is two teams in the AFC West,
by the odds makers and by all eye tests, are
catching up.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
In short order.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Talk about the Chargers and the expectation of that next
leap forward. Justin Herbert, whatever some of the metrics say
about fourth quarters and whatever else, he's a guy that
he is now becoming your quarterback's favorite quarterback. Now he's
got to show it with Jim Harbaugh at the helm.
And then you look at what's going on in Denver.
A team that is getting a lot of noise, a

(25:51):
lot of love. Bo Nicks was a guy finished what
twelfth or back end top ten in terms of yardage
a year ago, and they're only better better running back
room defense, which is top three and by any anybody's
evaluation coming in. And then you got the Raiders who
are gonna be just good enough to piss you off
over the course of the year. Right, they'll steal the

(26:12):
game or two, or test you deep into fourth quarters
that maybe you see some residual effects in a game
off a short week. Whatever else, but but all of
that to say, fifty two percent to win the division
off the current odds, you're still looking at an over
under win total into the double digits. For Patrick Mahomes, Yeah,
I think there's a lot of noise because remember it

(26:34):
started getting really loud about that he's nowhere near Brady.
Now it's back. He's just a guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
you turn you add all of those things that are
going on. Travis Kelsey had to hear it and he
wore it, and he's dating and and now I was
engaged with Taylor Swift. So I don't know how much
that truly affected him mentally in the offseason. I mean,

(26:55):
you're in love, man, that'll cloud a lot of things.
Make you feel like you've been drinking Jack and Hoke
all morning. Yeah yeah, and beautiful girls, but you know,
all of those things to say, you got the division
coming at you and the AFC's uh, there's they're not
slouches throughout that conference. So it'll be a tougher road,
but uh, probably the best supporting cast he's had in

(27:16):
three years. And eventually Rashie Rice will get back on
the field. Meanwhile, big injury news in Houston now suddenly
the Texans don't know when Joe Mixon is going to
play this season. You know, obviously a big deal.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
You know, the other the other day that the story was, hey,
he's gonna miss the first four games, right when teams
had to get down to their roster's gonna miss the
first four games of the year. Okay, we're seeing the
running game in the hands now, Nick Chubb, is there
still a gunbal Wally is there? Okay? Fine? Uh, you
know they drafted a guy in the fourth round two, Okay,
we are. But now today it was we're hoping to
get him back. They they couldn't say when he's going

(27:53):
to come back to play this season. And again I'll
say what I said a couple of minutes ago. Doesn't matter.
Texans bounce back offensively and it and it doesn't matter
because they are so defensive line and defensive back driven.
You look at any of the analysis of their defense,
and their defensive line and defensive backfield are in the
top three of anybody's list. This is a huge bounce

(28:17):
back year for Houston. And offensively, yes, CJ. Stroud's terrific quarterback.
They have depth offensively, even though they're trying to overcome injuries. Look,
Tank Della's out for the year, but they brought in
a couple of receivers and they look, Nico Collins is fantastic.
It's not a great division. I distinctly expect at the
end of the season the Texans to have home field

(28:38):
advantage in the playoffs, simply because their division is the
path of least resistance to winning and having the best record.
AFC West, they're gonna They're gonna all gonna cannibalize themselves, right,
same thing in the in the AFC North with the
Steelers in the Bengals, I mean, not the Browns and
the Ravens.

Speaker 6 (28:53):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
The South is there, and the AFC East will be
tougher for the Bills, who will be This is one
of those years where hey, we're sort of playing the
AFC Championship game again during the season. I think that
division is gonna be a little bit tougher than they expect,
And for the Bills, who have been there so many times,
it's hard to keep that focus through the entire regular season,

(29:14):
where hey want to make sure the games are at home.
We're gonna play at home all here. I think it
gonna be a little bit too tough for the Bills
and easier for the Texans to be able to run
rough shot over that division. I expect them to have
home field advantage at the end of the season. That's
funny because I have him missing the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
So there you go. There you go, because I think
the rest of the teams, going with what we just
said about the AFC West, is that the other teams
in the division start to come back at him. You
don't have the depth that wide receiver. The running back
position will be fine. Nick Chubb, Damian Pierce, Woody Marx
is a guy that started flying up Fantasy draft board.
So that's all finn of good. The offensive line still

(29:50):
scares me. They still rank last by a considerable margin
in terms of what they gave last year. That really
created issues for the timing down distance for CJ. Stroud,
and he didn't have his his escape plans last year
with the receivers outside of Nico Collins, and I don't
know that he necessarily has those this year, So tough go.

(30:13):
I expect better from cam Ward Duval rises and actually
we get some competent play on both sides of the
ball there in Jacksonville.

Speaker 6 (30:21):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
And then we both talked about the Colts. Like the Colts, Yeah,
I like Drake. I like the Colts to make one
of those, like I said, to make one of those
hey wild cardish runs right to do that. And like
I said, the other divisions man AFC North and the
AFC Westman, they're gonna beat the crap out of him.
That's why have home field advantage, because your team still stinks.

(30:45):
No matter what's gonna be, We're gonna we're every game
like Rabel's gonna beat everybody up.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
We're gonna run for two hundred and fifty yards. We're
gonna be like the Nebraska off into the nine point
Sure we are, yeah yeah, oh yeah, yeah yeah, We're
gonna scare, oh be terrific again. Draft the kicker, Justin
Fields will run for a thousand yards and throw for
a thousand yards. That's gonna be his season.

Speaker 4 (31:07):
Do you think he's throwing for a thousand yards last season?

Speaker 1 (31:10):
Thousand? Fix it out out of Fresco exit, swalling down
the Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Carbon
home field for the Texans end of the regular season.
Time out to check in with someone who's been called
the show. Hey o Tani of Fox Sports Radio, she's

(31:30):
got her own bobblehead. They give him out of games.

Speaker 9 (31:32):
It's oh, that's a that's a compliment. Thank you do
people line up for me eight hours.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Before we all lined up for you.

Speaker 9 (31:41):
Thank you you.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
What a tall would the would the Moncey Bologos bobblehead be?

Speaker 2 (31:46):
It does size live size.

Speaker 9 (31:50):
I'm one of the few people that you can't make Okay,
sure you know what I'm saying, and you just carry
it with you.

Speaker 3 (31:55):
On Gruden and Eric Dickerson, they were like four feet
high exactly.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
That's like life just a little bit higher. Yeah, yeah,
that's perfect. Yeah yeah.

Speaker 9 (32:08):
Busy day, Yeah no, no, no, of course appreciate it,
but definitely a busy day at the stadium.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
Guys today.

Speaker 9 (32:16):
Happy to be hanging out with you. Right now, we'll
check out what's going on at Dodger Stadium. It's Dodgers
up on the Reds right now, four to one. It's
the top of the seventh inning here. It all started
with a Keke Hernandez two RBI single that put the
Dodgers on the scoreboard.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
And his bobblehead is coming up soon. The bobblehead that
you're gonna get for me. I need two bobbleheads. He's
still minus three.

Speaker 9 (32:36):
He's minus one, he's minus one.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
Yeah, he's We have food coming well, yeah.

Speaker 9 (32:42):
So by the end of food, maybe he'll be an
even back to zero. All right, Rangers guys have twenty
hits and twenty runs scored against the Angels. It's twenty
twenty to three, top.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Of the eighth inning.

Speaker 9 (32:54):
Cubs had tied the game, but now Giants are back
on top. In San Francisco, four to three is the score.
Bottom of the third. A's are shutting out the Tigers
at home three zero, wherever home is bottom of the
second inning.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
Earlier today, what happened?

Speaker 9 (33:05):
The Mets completed a three games sweep of the Phillies,
shutting them out six zero. The Mariners held on against
the Padres four to three, Diamondbacks edged the Brewers three
to two, Astro shut out the Rockies. Yeah, that one
just wrapped up right now for zero. Pirates edge the
Cardinals two to one, Royals all over the White Sox
twelve to one, and the Red Sox top the Orioles
three to two. But earlier in today's day of baseball,

(33:28):
Yage's hit six home runs, including Aaron Judge, who hit
home run number forty one on the season, and they
beat the Nationals eleven to two. When it comes to
the NFL, you guys were just talking about Chiefs wide
receiver Rashi Rice first six games of the season, has
been suspended for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Joke
on Jaguars receiver and quarterback Travis Hunter, who has been
dealing with an upper body injury since mid August. He

(33:49):
didn't play in the final two preseason games.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
He's healthy.

Speaker 9 (33:52):
He's gonna play in their season opener against Carolina. Also,
Travis Hunter and Leanne is.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
The name of his wife, I think parents.

Speaker 9 (34:00):
About two hours ago, they put out a video on YouTube,
three minute video telling in the world that they are
new parents. So they've welcomed a healthy baby boy. Congratulations
to think.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Because Travis Hunter plays offensive defense, they would have had twins.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
You would have thought it would have been better we had.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
A boy and a girl. Yeah, you do them both.
I mean, did you have a boy or girl? No,
we had both because we do both.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
Because we worked that way.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
Every day is a competition covering each other like no, no,
Now it's your turn to.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
Cover exactly and the US Open. Guys.

Speaker 9 (34:28):
Ben Shelton American succeed. He's up right now when his
first two sets and up in the third set three
games to know they're tied ad three games apiece and
this is the second round of the US Open.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
Back to you guys, Thanks a bunch monsee Jason Smith
Mike Harmon live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Now's
the perfect time to start on your next success. Get
your application feed wave when you apply to University of
Maryland Global Campus by September third. Put your goals within
reach an accredited state university. Learn more at UMGC dot edu.
That's UMGC dot edu. Well, coming up next, the play

(34:58):
of the day and an athlete and I put that
in air quotes that I am extremely jealous of and
stand by everything this quote athlete plans to do for
the rest of their life.

Speaker 4 (35:10):
Quote.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
It's next right here, Jason and Mike Fox.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with My best
friend Mike Harmon. Yeah, my new athletic hero coming up
in a minute, But first, the play of the day,
brought to you by ti Iraq. For over forty years,
tire Rack's been helping customers find the right tires for how,
what and where they drive. Shipped fast and free, backed
by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like

(35:47):
mobile tire installation. Tire rack dot Com is the way
tire buying should be. Well, when you start out like
no picture in franchise history has and maybe you are
now the favorite to be this cy young and MVP
in the National League, you get to be the play
of the day.

Speaker 4 (36:05):
Well, I can't. I can't play it.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
Yeah, I mean if they're gonna lie to America, I
mean he can't endorse that. Sorry.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
Sorry, When when when your team can't get anybody to
pitch into the eighth inning and you not only pitch
into the eighth inning, you finish it, you get to
be the play of the day. Better, It's a dribbler
bought the Van McClain s return Stormers Upstart Nolan Mets

(36:37):
TV on the call. Nolan McClain three and oh first
pitcher in Mets history to do that. He has single
handedly brought the Mets back from the abyss. That was
the last seven weeks he has single handedly done it.

Speaker 3 (36:50):
Just turned twenty four, three great starts. I was showing
you the secondary market on trading cards of him and
the other guy that's coming up at the end of
the week and all of this fun stuff. People spending
thousands because they've got the Mets insigney attached to them.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
But no, look, we love when we get.

Speaker 3 (37:10):
Young hurlers and then we just pray that they stay healthy, right,
particularly you, Yes, you and I have been doing this
show long enough to have watched what was supposed to do.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
Yeah, you're on barrow time. Now let's just say long,
just keep going as long as you can. But I
understand it's gonna end.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
But that's it, right, mean, like Mike McDaniel told us,
And then we're one day closer to death. But here
you got, you know, breathing some life back into the
to the Mets. Now, you still have four games to
catch up division wise, but we got a crowded house
for your fun and exciting wildcard. So yeah, every little
positivity step you can take good for you.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
And here's why I'm even more positive. I haven't my
team lost twelve to one. Yeah, I know, at least
you're not the I mean, the Rangers are winning twenty
to three. I don't think they're actually the Angels though.
I don't think the Angels are actually using a position player.
I think they are hitting off a team.

Speaker 4 (38:00):
Tim Salmon's playing right now.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
Pat, it's coach pitch. My new idol is the now
retired Ralphie the sixth, the Colorado Buffalo's mascot, who was
announced was retiring, the mascot that runs on the field
of games and running on the field for years. But
Ralphie is okay. This is why Ralphie the sixth is

(38:23):
my hero because and I love this. It was reported
the reason he is retired now after running, you know,
on the field for the last four years, is because
of his quote indifference to running. That's why he is retiring.
I choose the u to run the quote. Ralphie would
rather walk in the meadow and sniff the flowers and relax,

(38:44):
which is his right, you sugar, not his dad. So
there is a new Ralphie, Ralphie the sub which will
be taking the field for Colorado. Ralphie is retiring because
he has an indifference to running. This is my hero.
I've told you running is the worst again the Matt
Damon philosophy at the end of air. This is stupid.
Why would anyone do this? Yes, Ralphie is my Why

(39:06):
would Ralphie's like? Why am I running? Why would I
want to run? Running is awful? No, I'm done. I'm gonna.
I'm gonna run around in the meadow and I'm gonna,
you know, find a couple of cows and have some
fun and just you know whatever, gonna run around each
other and just you know, sing the Colorado fight song
and fuck up talk about Cayden Salter taking over a
quarterback for Shador Sanders. We're gonna, yeah, Wenna, have a
great time here in the meadow. Yeah running, I'm not

(39:27):
running any man, Ralphie the sixth indifference to running?

Speaker 4 (39:33):
Be honest? Would you eat Ralphie the sixth?

Speaker 1 (39:35):
No? No, come on, man, No, no.

Speaker 4 (39:38):
I should be honest.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
No, no, it can't.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
Man, He's not It's not gonna be too uh, too
bound with muscle and all of that, because he's not
the athlete. He's just a sedentary buffalo. And you know
what that's be that's saying nice to run really well.
And he's got an indifference from I out and out
hate running. I I don't I have a strong I

(40:01):
wouldn't be Jason Smith in difference right, strong hatred for running.
Never would would like to never run again. That's like,
that's like me running. That's how I feel about it.
Never gonna go running, Not gonna do that. Ralphie the
six has it right, by the way, Ralphie. Ralphie the
sixth is a she. You'll let me do it? Okay,
Ralphie that she's my heir. Here's what they put out

(40:21):
seeubuffs dot com. Okay, University of Colorado's iconic buffalo, nicknamed Embers,
retiring after four years of service as the college football's
greatest pass guy. But the headline was University of Colorado's
beloved buffalo hangs up her halter to spend more time
on her ranch and damn Skippy, you show why do
they not have specificity in the T shirt business?

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Here? That it's Ralphie the sixth.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
Well, I think instead of just run, Ralphie run, I mean,
there should be one that that gives you. Hey, here's
a picture of the sixth or a nickname. So you know,
like which you would celebrate, Well, I think yeah, yeah,
ralf celebrate Ralphie the sixth, and then nick they would
be slow you know something.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
Well that's the one that didn't like to run. Yeah, okay,
that's right, that's right.

Speaker 3 (41:05):
That's it should go in the Wikipedia pack. How many
times do you think they had the sixth? Like, what
do you think they did to realize we had to
get into it, Like did they try to run? Come on?
Come on, and Ralphie is training right, because on that's
where the handlers are.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
Let's gotta get the timing down. Here comes Raffy. Then
the crowd.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
Response right, pumping some crowd noise. See how the buffalo responds.
By the way, to answer your question about the nicknames,
first one Ralph, second one Moonshine, third one tequila, fourth rowdy,
fifth was blackout, sixth was Ember. Okay, now we'll see
when the puff of smoke comes out and they choose
a new buffalo. Well, ralph what the nickname is? But

(41:44):
you all name Ralfie George, Like you're all all the
King George's are all King George, You're all George.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
George Forman's kid could be Exit Exit swollen dumb Hey,
Ralphie the sixth Go gentle into that rooirement, enjoy the
meadow and sniffing and eating flowers and anywhere else that
buffaloes like to do. Coming up next, a bizarre story
out of the NFL.

Speaker 6 (42:09):
This is.

Speaker 2 (42:12):
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 (42:21):
App Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with My
best friend Mike Harmon. Yeah, you can stream the show
in all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty
four to seven in the new and improved iHeartRadio app.
Just search Fox Sports Radio in the app to stream
us live. And one of the newest features in the app,
you can select Fox Sports Radios one of your presets,

(42:42):
just like the presets on a radio dial, so be
sure to preset Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app.
It'll always pop up at the top of your screen,
so lock it in. Ed Rip the Knob Off. We
Rip the knob Off now by bringing in longtime MLB
insider MLB Network with us at Fox Sports Radio on

(43:02):
Twitter at John Morosi, where he will first answer the
question I posed to him in our DMS earlier today
on Twitter. It is blocking John pal Morosi, Noan McLain,
front runner for Cy Young and MVP in the National League.
Your thoughts well, good evening anybody.

Speaker 6 (43:21):
Well, I would say the sample size is a little small,
but it is, it is mighty, it is, it is good.
I think that we're seeing a lot from young Nola McClain.
I'm I'm pretty optimistic about about where the Mets are
right now. I was actually saying about a week ago
that hey, see the Reds, they're playing a little better,

(43:43):
the Mets are listing a little bit, and we might
have a robust battle for that for that final NL
wildcard spot. And now, thanks to the momentum of the McClain,
all of a sudden, as I land here in Philadelphia,
we've got the game here tomorrow, Phillies, Braves. I'd be
a little bit of a nervous feeling here on the
ballpark tomorrow for the Phillies after that's very emphatic sweep

(44:07):
by the New York Mets.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
Well, here's the thing, John Paul, and I will tell
you this is that, and this is this is every
Philadelphia sports team, but specifically the Phillies and the Eagles.
As good as things are for them at any moment
in time, they always have one foot on the banana peel.
Disaster is right around the corner, you know. The Phillies
coming with a seven game lead, they could have ended it.

Speaker 6 (44:28):
But what do they do?

Speaker 1 (44:29):
They're worried about a microphone and center field that all
the Mets batters are too far out of the the
on deck circle. When when when they when they're when
they're batting, and and they wind up getting swept by
the Mets when should have been a hey, we're coming
in here, we're the better team. And now the NLS
is up for grabs, it really is.

Speaker 6 (44:46):
And and listen, four games is certainly a close enough
margin I think for the Mets to make a serious run,
especially that they've gotten their pitching staff a little younger.
Jonah Toong is coming up. McLean's pish really well, Here's
what I'll say. There's a lot of players on this
Phillies team who have been through it before, who have

(45:09):
a lot of big game experience. They still have Schwarber
having an MVP caliber season. Although the bats have gone
a little quiet for them in the last three days.
And here though, is probably the greater concern for the
Philly And this is where I think tomorrow gets really interesting.
Tomorrow should be a game the Phillies win. They've got
Aaron Nola on the mound. He's getting closer to regaining

(45:33):
his form. He is the guy that must now step
into the boy that's left by Zach Wheeler. They're facing
a Braves team that's been out of it for about
two months now against Cal Quantrill, someone that they're lefty
dominant lineup should have a good time with. But if
all of a sudden that game does not go your way,

(45:53):
You've got Chris Sale pitching over the weekend, and really
then it gets a little more nervy, I think for
the Phillies. So you're right on this. This is the
city that, certainly, as you may have heard before, can
get occasionally a little negative about their own teams, and
the Phillies are giving them ample reason to do it

(46:14):
right now and it will see, though I want to
wait to see the other the next couple of days
unfold before I fully sound the panic alarm for the Phillies.
But but we are arriving at that time because the
one thing that could not happen this week if you're
a Phillies person, was to get swept by the Mets.
That's precisely what has happened.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
Now we look at the Mats moving forward, you got
a bunch of playoff worthy teams, including another date with
these Pills in a couple of weeks. But let's stay
with the Phillies for one more second here, Jp, Outside
of parabolic microphones and whatever else is going on in chicanery,
why can they not win at City Field?

Speaker 6 (46:51):
That's a great question, And you're right, the parabolic microphones
are are not the reason here, No, they're not. And
I think one of the reasons why all of a
sudden Phillies fans might be especially concerned is is they
were supposed to have the antidote to two moments like
this when they acquired Johan Duran, and even he could

(47:13):
not find a way to solve the riddle of City Field.
So I don't think it's necessarily anything schematically about the ballpark.
But the Mets are a better team at home, and
and listen, and Jason knows this. It's not exactly breaking
news here, but the Mets have have underperformed their level
a little bit this season.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
They've they've been his eyes just glazed over, JP as
you said that, like you wounded him.

Speaker 6 (47:40):
Can we enter Can we enter this into the Understatement
Hall of Fame for the Jason Smith sew sure? The point,
the point being in, Jason, I'm about to give you
some really robust Mets positivity here, which is this that
the Mets, the Mets are. You have played better and

(48:01):
it might finally be happening at the right time of year.
At the very least, they have alleviated any any feelings
of panic that Jason had about the Mets missing the
playoffs entirely because now you've got a much more robust cushion.
The Reds have not exactly shown themselves to be ready
for prime time against the Dodgers this week, and so

(48:22):
I think for a lot of reasons, the Mets feeling
ever more secure than they are and will be a
playoff team here in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
The greatest baseball insider whoever lived, it's John Paul Morosi,
our guest right now on Fox Sports Radio, Jason.

Speaker 6 (48:35):
And there are many, there are many who are better.
I say this, I am. I am the greatest baseball
insiders scheduled to join the show this hour.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
Okay, sure, very very good.

Speaker 6 (48:48):
Now, probably I'm probably the greatest one to live in
my own house. But I but again, my kids might
have a greater insight than me on a great many issues. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Yeah, you're the best and the second.

Speaker 6 (48:59):
Best, second best doctor. My daughter, my thirds, this will
surprise you. My thirteen year old let me know about
the scoop about Travis and Taylor getting engaged. So that
was a big one yesterday I got that text from her.
Oh I was able to break that story.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
Okay, all right, very Gooch. I know I'm gonna ask
you something much more difficult now, because this is this
is a team where I feel like they just try
to get through every day, and some days are great
and some days are terrible, and some days a great
day is followed by a terrible day. But John Paul
makes sense of what the next five to six weeks
hold for the New York Yankees.

Speaker 6 (49:37):
Wow, boom, Because you're right. If you watch them on
the right day, which today was for example, eleven to
two went over the Nationals, you say to yourself, why
exactly do they sometimes struggle it's almost difficult to figure
it out, and yet they do. And yet they're not

(49:59):
the first place team in the American League Ees. That
distinction belongs to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees were
also pretty good. They scored ten runs on Monday against
the Nationals, so they have shown even with Aaron Judge
in a compromise physical state, with the inability to throw
the baseball, he can still hit and he is still

(50:21):
a threat in the middle of that lineup. I think
one of the other key things that's happened out for
the Yankees is Cody Bellinger's bad as picked up. He
had a big game earlier in the week as well,
so I think they will find a way, certainly to
get to the playoffs. I'm not sure if they'll catch
the Blue Jays, but they are still and they've shown
it this week to be a dangerous team even without Sodo.

(50:44):
They have to hope, and it's going to be a
tall order for Bellinger to hit the way that Soto
did last year in October. I'm not sure that anybody
really can. But they need a little bit more consistency
from the rotation freedes to find a way to have
a stronger finishing kick. But you're right something this week
and you say to yourself, how do they ever struggle?
And there's a there's a bit of a microscope, a

(51:06):
significant one on Anthony Bolpi. You could say that, but
I think actually the way that Aaron bon has managed
this team guys has been really good. I know that
he gets a lot of criticism.

Speaker 2 (51:17):
What else is he going to do?

Speaker 6 (51:18):
Who else is he going to play at certain positions?
He's got the roster he has, and I think he
has done a much better job than a great many
Yankee fans want to give him credit for.

Speaker 3 (51:27):
I loved your visceral reaction to Jason's class JP, because
it sounded like you were gonna do the virtual equivalent
of what FM DJs would do when they wanted to
go have a cigarette, go to the bathroom, or go
get a slice of pizza.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
Heated up?

Speaker 3 (51:46):
Because wow, how long do you have for this answer
kind of thing? Right? Here's an eight.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Minute to go through?

Speaker 2 (51:52):
All right?

Speaker 3 (51:52):
So let me let me go to brass Tacks home
run today for Aaron Judge, has cal Rawley caught eclipsed him?
I know where all a Homer and Army are the
only two categories where they're really on par But has
he caught them? Is their momentum towards a big dumper MVP.

Speaker 6 (52:10):
I think we are in an absolute dead heat right
now between Judge and Raleigh, and now the Mariners picked
up a big win today too. They are a game
and a half back of Houston and certainly on a
pretty comfortable path to the playoffs. Not entirely tour, but
they're in a good position. What I'll say is this,
They're at a dead heat now, and the numbers, the

(52:34):
metrics in a lot of these voters' minds, I think
will begin to favor Raleigh more because with Judge not
playing defense, Raleigh is able to continue to accrue defensive
value points, if you will, at the most important defensive
position on the field. And with one more months, if

(52:58):
Raleigh keeps again maintain painting his offensive production and is
behind the plate almost every day for a team that's
going to the playoffs, it's I think it's hard. It
really is hard. I think from a numerical standpoint to
argue that with the two of them almost equivalent right now,

(53:18):
that that Judge as a d H is substantially more
valuable than Raleigh as a catcher. It's it's so close.
There's no question Judge has them in the average category.
It's they're obviously very close in terms of home runs
in RBI. It's just the defensive component for a team

(53:39):
that leans heavily on him. That this is a team
that without Cal Raleigh would not be would not be
where they're at. And it's also true that, by the way,
the Yankees would not be where they're at without Aaron Judge.
Let's be fair about that. They would they would probably
be behind the Royals and the al wildcard standings if
it weren't for Aaron Judge. So there are no wrong answer.

(54:00):
I want to make that clear that if that if
you are voting for Judge, that it's not like you're
voting against Raleigh, if Raleigh is your second choice. I
do think it's it's clear to my colleagues who are
voting on the Zemp Award, I think we know who
number one or number two are in some order. If
you're voting Judge one Raleigh eight, we got to have
a conversation because maybe you know, like it's batting average,

(54:23):
whatever it is, we got to have a talk. It
is obvious that this is a two person race. Every
americanly give ballot had better have the two of them
one two in some order. And all those are acceptable
choices one and two. And I think it's it's a
it's a dead heat. But again, the ability for Raleigh
to accrue defensive value over the final month could be

(54:45):
the deciding factor.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
All right, So let me jump leagues now. Is something
we talked about earlier in the week. Would you say
the exact same thing you just said for Judge and
Raleigh for Otani and Schwarber.

Speaker 6 (54:57):
So here we go. Obviously, DH DH Schober has this
amazing home run season. But Otani does the thing that
he did tonight, which is he still pitches. And I
know that it's not a statistically significant number of innings.
It's not like he's throwing one hundred and fifty innings
this year, but it's something, and and the Dodgers are

(55:20):
in this very close race with the Padres to where
a start like tonight is incredibly meaningful and indeed, to
use the word valuable to his team. So I think
that with where the Dodgers are now, with how important
Otani has become to their rotation, I lean Otani. It's

(55:40):
close again, there's not a there's no wrong answer either way.
And and let's see, this is one of those one
of those discussions where the standings, I think, on some
level will tell us the tale a little bit too.
If the Padres all of a sudden surge in September
and win the division by three games, and meanwhile the
Phillies win the when the NL is going away and

(56:02):
Shober hit some club record home run total up there
with what Ryan Howard's done in the past, maybe I
have a different answer, but for now I see Otani
being slightly ahead of Shoorber, whereas I see Judge and
Raleigh neck and neck, with Raleigh gaining some momentum.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
All right, last one for you real quick here at JP.
Next week we'll start diving into predictions for the Detroit Lions.
But thirty four and a half point favorites this week
the University of Michigan against New Mexico. Forty nine and
a half is the total.

Speaker 6 (56:34):
What say you, I say New Mexico is able to
get within that number, So I would take New Mexico
and the points. And here's part of the reason why
you got a young man and Bryce Underwood is very,
very first collegian start. I know he's going to be
a star, I know all those things, but that's a
lot of pressure on him right right off the bat,

(56:57):
primetime game, a lot of attention. I think that Michigan
is gonna win, but it's gonna be closer than what
those numbers suggest. So that's what I've got. I've got,
let's say thirty five to fourteen. I'm going thirty five
fourteen Michigan.

Speaker 1 (57:15):
Oh, there we go. The first, there we go Football
pick of the year for John Paul Morosi. High school quarterback? Undefeated?

Speaker 4 (57:23):
Right?

Speaker 1 (57:24):
Is high school quarterback? Your senior?

Speaker 6 (57:25):
Is that? What? It was? Actually quite the opposite I was.
I was how do I say this correctly? I was
undefeated at losing.

Speaker 1 (57:35):
I lost.

Speaker 6 (57:36):
My record of losing was perfect, a perfect zero to nine.

Speaker 4 (57:40):
That's what I was.

Speaker 1 (57:42):
Well, you are undefeated with us. John Paul Morosi on
Twitter at John Morosi. Check him out on MLB Network.
John Paul is always buddy, appreciated, man fun. We'll talk
to you next week.

Speaker 6 (57:51):
You guys are the greatest