Best of the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon

Jason Smith and Mike Harmon are talking the latest from the NFL, the team that should 100% tank for next year, new homes for some NFL running backs, Daniel Jones gets tagged, and more!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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
dot com, or stream us live every night on the
iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Hello, welcome in side.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Happy Tuesday Jason Smith Show with my bes.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Friend Mike Harmon. What's up that Let's go?

Speaker 1 (00:39):
For over forty years, tire Rack's been open. 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 mobile tire installation tire rack
dot com. He is the way tire buying should be. Well,
a big day in the NFL. We got franchise tags.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
We have transition to someone actually used to one of those. Yeah,
I know, right, I thought it was just didnt matter giggles.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
But tonight in basketball we'll get to Kyler Murray, who
now is gonna have a new destination, new team coming
up right now. Big night tonight the throwback game, the
throwback graphics, NBC. They've been looking forward to this for
a few weeks. Now, Hey, the Spurs and the Sixers
is gonna throw back. We're gonna play round Ball Rock.
We're gonna it's gonna look like it did in the

(01:27):
nineties when the NBA was king and we Love Time
and Michael Jordan was on TV all the time and
it was him and Shaq and the showtime Lakers. Tonight's
throwback game, and the graphics look great. Graphics look great,
the round ball Rock, the music looked great. I could
just see when they showed the Spurs and the Sixers,
I could just hear Marv Albert and tonight, David Robinson

(01:48):
and the Spurs, we'll head into Philadelphia to take on
Darryl Dawkins and the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Right now,
there's thirty five seconds left in the third quarter. Yeah,
and the Spurs are leading this game by forty seven points.
Forty seven, forty seven. It is one eleven sixty four

(02:10):
with thirty seconds to go and quarter no stop. Come on,
Nick's already won Throwback Night, A big night. John Starks
Patrick ewing the Knicks beat Muggsy Bogues and the Raptors
one eleven to ninety four.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
Yes, yeah, well at least that game was competitive for
le Yes.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
The next pull away late a big three by Ken
the Animal Banister, the spark Plug. Mike Frattello, what did
you think about the Knicks and pulling away at.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
The end of the night.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
Well, I tell you, Mark, what I thought I saw
in the third quarter was the defensive intensity really came
to bear and the Knicks really exerted their their dominance late.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
It's a pretty good Mike for Tello.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
No, I shrugged my shoulders a little side.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
You actually were hunching down in your seat, like I
gotta be shorter to do.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
I mean, were sent. We saw that graphic that we
was showing up on the internet. Here's Jim Gray, he's
the tallest of them. Doug Collins seated, then little Bob
Costas and then Mike Furtello was actually shorter than him.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
But we're gonna sit in size order, everybody in size order. Okay,
here we go. That's how we're gonna do it.

Speaker 4 (03:17):
But it was fun to see, right and the build up.
Now Michael Jordan is back on TV with regularity. He's
just holding up trophies after winning NASCAR events as opposed
to being part of the NBA. Another NBC, how foolish
are you right now? You paid him literally, what was
it like one hundred million dollars for three minutes?

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Sit down.

Speaker 4 (03:34):
We have no idea what the final like. Somewere sports
is getting up for like an hour on the racetrack
these days for free. And here's the law gets to
talk to him every week.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
And here's more of the two hour interview with Mike
to Rico that is being chopped up over the course
of an entire season. This was taped eight months ago.
But here is Mike to Rico with something relevant with
Michael Jordan. Are they gonna pull it? And Fox has
them on live every ray? Say Michael, how's it going?

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Over, Yeah, it's not fantastic.

Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah, I think you're the brains, like all these great
quotes you're getting about the pit crew and the driver
and everything else. And then they've got an interview that
has to be evergreen little hand blake, he was the
U What was it on the baseball Bunch when Lesora
would put on the have the crystal ball out everything
that's kind of what you might as well have had

(04:24):
Jordan do when he sat down with Jeriko.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Michael, how do you feel about?

Speaker 5 (04:27):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Happy for my pit crew, happy for my driver, happy
for my team. But what I don't think Luca and
jj Reddick are getting along?

Speaker 3 (04:34):
You want to ask me about that?

Speaker 4 (04:35):
Whoa, whoa?

Speaker 3 (04:36):
NBC's gone. Wait, come on, we paid a lot of
money for this. Come on, man, we paid some money.

Speaker 4 (04:41):
That's that's what they should really start doing. Hey, let's
extend this another minute or two. Let's ask you a
couple of NBA questions. And here, Paige, you for it.
You're on for gratis.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Don't forgot halftime an interview Mike Urico did eight months
before the Olympic Games with Michael Jordan.

Speaker 4 (04:57):
They could have at least faked it and made him
have to do a couple of wardrobe switches like he
was Shakra at a concert or something.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Wait, come on, but you know, look to make a
bigger point out of this, and it's great. Look you
see round ball roxy John Tesh pretending to dribble the
basketball when he's when he's you know, conducting round ball rockets. Awesome, Right,
it almost takes this thing away from the fact that
boy and I asked a serious question here, How many more?
How much longer can the NBA go on where every

(05:24):
night ninety percent of the games are decided by ten,
fifteen points or more? How many more nights can we
have that? No, just take a look at tonight. Right,
Spurs are leading by forty nine. The lead is almost
at fifty going to the fourth quarter. Right, the Thunder
lead the Bulls by fifteen with five minutes left. Timberwolves
in the Grizzlies. That's a nine point game with nine

(05:45):
minutes left to go, So that's kind of up in
the air. Hornets beat the Mavericks by twenty seven. Right,
Cavellers beat the Pistons by four. Right, Great Game Magic
beat the Wizards by seventeen. He beat the Nets by
twenty seven. Nicks beat the Raptors by sixteen. I mean,
how much longer can the NBA go on where every
game and this is where you think tanking is gonna
be good. This is where every NBA owner that says, oh,

(06:07):
tanking's great, tanking will work. You have to be able
to take people are gonna tune out of this product, man,
because every single night there's no compelling storylines to talk about.
I mean, tonight in the NBA, we got round Ball Rock,
we have the Throwback Game. Whatever fun we're gonna have
with the Knicks and me doing my Marv Albert, which
I mean it is really, really bad. Yeah, and it's
really good, So don't think we're not gonna have fun

(06:28):
with it. But I mean, look, look at every night.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
The every night.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Drama in the NBA season has gone because every game
is a blowout. Right, if you get one game that's
decided by less than ten points, you feel like, well,
at least I got one game tonight. Yeah, how much
longer can the NBA go on like this?

Speaker 4 (06:41):
The running joke used to be, Hey, let's see what's
going on, maybe six minutes left, four minutes left in
the fourth quarter, tune in and see the score and
decide whether I'm coming in. That's been so exacerbated out
it's like halftime. Like, think about all the hype for
this game. Oh, they still do it now, but they say, hey,
tune in the second quarter. It's a four point game,
because the fourth quarter it's gonna be twenty five points.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Watch it.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
But but like, think about this game tonight. The amount
of hype, press conferences, media availability, and call ins and
promos for this How many times could they have shown
Minu Bowl draining six to three pointers on this date
thirty three years ago? I mean they probably went to
the well at Hey, remember Moses Malone, Let's talk about
him a little bit. That's all you can do, because

(07:23):
this game sucked. If it wasn't like Wenby scored forty
points and it was near a triple double with blocks,
he hasn't had to do anything because they've been destroying
the sixers from the from the get go. So it's like,
all right, what do we talk about now, Hey, remember
that time we were at that restaurant.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
Let's come on, let's just say what what would got
What would have got higher ratings tonight? If you did
the throwback game like they're doing airing Spurs in the
seventy six ers, or if you did the throwback night
and just aired that game where minut Ball had six.

Speaker 4 (07:56):
Game, we're gonna switch to a more competitive contest. That's
kind of where we're at. We're switching to a more
competitive game. This one from thirty three years ago. We
went back in the archives and found them a newt
ball six to three pointer game. Enjoy it because I'm
on the call sounding just like this with Mike Frattello.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
Or or no, no, no no, maybe it would have.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Been more and being on the call myself and Matt
Gukis had this thirty three.

Speaker 4 (08:24):
Years and Mats like that's the thing that they would
end up having to do. Let's go through the roll
call of all the folks that have worked with us.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
I bet year, I bet.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
You Doc Rivers played in that game. I forget, I
bet you he played in that.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Game thirty three years ago.

Speaker 4 (08:37):
I might have to look up the box score for
that one.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
And Doc Rivers's first name is Glenn. No one calls
him that. They've all called him Doc. That's his big
time out. Well, Oscar de la Joya and I party
late night, John Contact. The five year, twelve million dollar
contract checks in for the Hawks.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
You got Charles Barkley running over a high five and
minu bowl after he's traded through. That's how ridiculous that
game got, you know, just.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
To think about that for the NBA. For so, I'm
not lying to you with these scores going on right now.
I mean when when you have a you have a
night where you've got nine or ten games or eight
games a night.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
And I don't mean that that when there's three games, okay,
there's three games, only so much you can do.

Speaker 1 (09:14):
Uh, But when you have a full night and every
game is this, I'm like, when is when is tuning
into the NBA regular season of priority? When when does
it become like I sit back right now and I
go wouldn't now, seriously, wouldn't now be the best time
to have the playoffs in the NBA?

Speaker 3 (09:31):
Right? Think about it, We're sixty games in we start.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
I'm a big fan if you can start the NBA
Christmas Day, but okay, let's start the normal time. You
don't want to be away for to I understand that
if you started the NBA where it is and think
about the sports calendar, Super Bowl happens. The immediate aftermath
of the Super Bowl, teams come to spring training. In baseball,
we're getting ready for March, the madness of March, World

(09:57):
Baseball Classic. Once every four years, we had the Olympics, Right,
what if we got into the beginning of March was
the NBA playoffs? Because now these are all useless games
for the next twenty some odd games till the end
of the season. It's just everybody is punching a time clock.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
Right now.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
We're going and we're playing. You're not gonna see big
movements in the standings. Maybe a team moves a spot
up or down, maybe a team slides into the play
in round, or maybe a team slides from the playing
round into the top six, or one team goes from
the top six into the playing round. That's all you're
getting for twenty some odd games, right. The NBA is
perfect at fifty five sixty games. Think about where you

(10:37):
would pick up the momentum in the sports calendar and
you go right to the NBA playoffs now right, hey,
team it up. You have the NBA playoffs, you have
an NCAA tournament. All right, that's great, right, all, but
you're gonna fight between now. It's really only one week.
The nca TURN has games every night one week. That
one week is okay, one week is all right, down.
The next week it'll play till Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

(10:57):
It's okay, because that's really all that's going on. You're
not into baseball yet, You're not into the NFL draft yet.
There's enough to go around where basketball can really own
it in March and in Marching on. I mean, so
just think about this what we're seeing now in the
NBA with teams deciding, hey, we're gonna tank, but we
want to do it a little bit obliquely, Like we're
in such a rough part of the NBA calendar where

(11:19):
it's never gonna get better. Teams aren't gonna suddenly start
playing it closer to the vest. Now play, we're gonna
try to win these games. You're just gonna get twenty
some odd games of every single night for the next
twenty games for the rest of these teams, where in
a ten ten games in a night, none of them
are gonna be decided by double digits. One of them's
may be close near the end. I don't mean like,
I don't even mean close where hey we have a

(11:40):
buzzer beater, or it comes down to the final possession.
I mean close where at least in the final two
minutes it's up in the air.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
You're like, can we not get that?

Speaker 4 (11:47):
No, that's been the difficult part. And as much as
you may love the flow of the game, and we
highlight the superstars and some of the big matchups where
where we've been blessed with some of these ready made
for TV events, which in theory that could have been
the Spurs and Sixers for this throwback game. Instead you
got a lot of Charles Barkley and again here's my

(12:08):
new bowl on display in throwback fashion. But it's it's
just tough. We we look at the Western Conference right now,
you've got all right between the three seed and the
seven seed divide decided by about four games. Okay, so
there might be a little bit of movement up and down.
You can still fall beyond the sixth spot where we're

(12:30):
watching the Nuggets, the Lakers, the Suns before a little
bit of a fallback to Golden State. Okay, fine, Eastern
Conference Pistons well ahead of the Celtics. Right there are
the Knicks and Cavaliers and then a couple game separation
from there out and we want to see the stars.
And really it always comes back to, all right, how

(12:51):
do you make it punitive enough to where it's it's
something the teams have to consider, right because you saw
those five and both teams that got fined just laughed
at at the commissioner's office because we talk about it
in the NFL all the time, guys, and the pain threshold, right,
are you injured? Are you hurt? What can you play through?

(13:13):
Never mind what you take and do to get yourself
on the field, and the immediacy guaranteed contracts versus non guaranteed,
all those things. For the NBA, how many times do
we see a guy at this point it's like, well,
he's done for the year. Oh, he might legitimately be injured,
but there's no incentive or disincentive in place that to say, hey,

(13:36):
he's got he's got a toughen out a few more
games here, right, the money's guaranteed, he's getting paid no
matter what. He's not fighting for the next contract. In
that moment, the team if they realize, hey, we're streaking
towards the lottery. We want as many lottery ping pong
balls as we can get. So until you change that
function altogether, like there's nothing to suage. What one hundred

(13:58):
thousand dollars fine, five one thousand dollars fine? How much
do we get from the revenue sharing off of these
TV partnerships? Again, the fact that this is where Mark
Cuban needs to jump up and do the same thing
for the NBA that he did for the NFL all
those years ago, talking about how you know, the pigs
get slaughtered and all that stuff, because that that might
be where you are. Unfortunately, guys are making money so

(14:20):
much money right now. They're not looking down the road,
right owners aren't looking down the road. We just signed
these big broadcast deal. Look at all the money we're making.
Exit out bout a Fresca exit swelling Dome. Jason Smith
Mike Harmon, Live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios. I mean,
we're in this such a dead part. We're just waiting
for the playoffs. Twenty plus games, they're useless. Put them
on bubble wrap, especially if teams aren't gonna take it seriously.

(14:42):
I mean, that's where we're at now. Oh but tanking's
going to solve the problems in the NBA, Sure sure will.
Jason Smith, Mike Harmon. Let me tell you about Weebel.
Ready to tackle your financial goals. Weebel makes it simple
to start investing, powerful tools, real time data, all in
one app. Get started at we bowl dot com or
download the we Bowl app today. Weeble Financial LLC Member

(15:05):
SIPC Finra Investing involves risk. For more information, visit we
Bowl dot com slash disclosures. Well, coming up next, big
quarterback news in the NFL. If you want a quarterback,
Kyler Murray's gonna be available, and boy do we have
a great, big hot take on that. Coming up next
Jason and Mike Fox.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
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 5 (15:37):
Hey, It's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (15:42):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from seven
to ten pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are
excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.

Speaker 5 (15:52):
That's right, you can now watch The Odd Couple live
on YouTube every day.

Speaker 6 (15:57):
All you gotta do search o couble fs are on
YouTube again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us
out on YouTube and subscribe.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
Peter Lonzo's home run against the Netherlands from today. Netherlands
playing playing in the Al East this year gonna be
tough for the Netherlands. That's a long road trip, man,
that's a long road trip.

Speaker 4 (16:28):
Well, I mean, look, expansion, aggressive expansion.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
If you watch Ted Lassa, you see crazy things happen
when they go play in Netherlands. So I send you
sent a baseball team there. It's gonna be difficult. It
funny you should say that. I actually watched that episode
earlier today. And that's what we do over breakfast. We
watch an episode of Ted Lasser So than the Mets
do it stop it's it's exhibition.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter matters. It's they're playing
the Netherlands. Man, come on to beef with the Netherlands.

Speaker 4 (16:57):
They're playing the Netherlands two to RBI the home run,
Come on.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
Kennley Jansen.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
Kenney Jensen once played catcher for the Netherlands and the WBC.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
He was a good catcher. He maybe you should have
stuck with that all the games he blew for the Dodgers. Yeah,
I mean it was an eight to five lost to
the Netherlands.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
That's okay, we lost.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
They lost the pillow Fight to the Netherlands.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
No, you ty have cos uh rain drops, big story
out of the NFL, big quarterback news. But first we
have the play of the day, The play of the Day,
of course, is brought to you by tire Rack. For
over forty years, Tyrak's been uping customers find the right
tires for how, what and where they drive, Shipped fast
and free, backed by free road hazard protection with convenient

(17:42):
installation options like mobile tire installation. Tiraq dot com is
the way tire buying should be. Well, when you play
in the throwback game all the big round ball rock
and nineties graphics, and you lead a team by forty
nine points after three quarters, well the San Antonio Spurs
get to be the play of the day.

Speaker 7 (18:04):
Rhymes good if it goes from three quarters of the length,
but it comes up short. The Spurs do indeed big
history their largest lead through three quarters in Francise history,
forty nine points, one thirteen sixty four at the end
of three.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
It's just so embarrassing the Sixers. Now, hey they they
have cut it to forty two. Oh good, so this
last three minutes might really be something. It's one twenty
six eighty two. They have cut it to forty two.

Speaker 4 (18:32):
No quitting this team, no question about it. I want
to see if the Spurs get it back up to fifty. Hey,
show me you got something here Walker and Watford really
trying to bring the charge off the bench. Late, guys,
I'm gonna play this message from Greg Papovich who wants
a fifty point win tonight.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
Okay, you just take a look and see.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
I mean Wemby, Wemby played twenty four minutes, He's got
ten points.

Speaker 4 (18:52):
Eight players in double figures.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
That's it. This one just eight well for I mean,
that's it. It's still early.

Speaker 4 (18:58):
I mean, I mean waters as eight and is nine
minutes played.

Speaker 3 (19:04):
I mean this, like I said, how many more?

Speaker 1 (19:06):
How much longer can the NBA go on with with
nine out of every ten games being of ten to
fifteen point burial every single night?

Speaker 3 (19:14):
But you can't look at it and I get it.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
We started getting it on Twitter, bring it on at
how about Apresca at Swollen Dome at Fox Sports Radio.
I know there are a lot of blowouts late in
the season in the National Football League, and certainly you
have great degrees of variants in terms of competitive balance
in college football. That is always going to be that
that's never going to go away. You're in and you're

(19:40):
out for the NFL, you still had a third of
your games decided by three or fewer points. So you know,
when we get down to it in over one hundred
games decided by seven or few, or keep going on
down the line, that we we've got at least balance
into the final weeks of those seasons. Sure there are

(20:02):
bottom feeders, and there are teams that are heading towards
the number one pick in the draft, but you don't
get to the level of tanking and just terrible play
with months to go like you do here. Yeah, you
got one or two teams that you can recognize are
going to be terrible in the National Football League. In

(20:24):
the NBA, we're talking about half the league looking around, going, well,
there's gonna be seven or eight really good players coming
in that are freshmen into the draft, plus the international prospects.
The hell with it. You're hurt, right, get in a suit.

Speaker 1 (20:37):
So to the NFL we go, where what we knew
was coming became somewhat official today. It's not going to
be official official till next week. But the Cardinals tell
Kyler Murray he will be released next week. You put
a big message on social media thanking the fans. Sorry
he couldn't end the seventy seven year drought for the organization.

Speaker 3 (20:59):
I am sorry.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
I failed us, dude. It's the Cardinals. I think everybody.
Everybody is okay. It's it's not like you went. Hey, Steelers,
we couldn't get back to the super Bowl. Patriots Chiefs
couldn't get back there. No, hey, I'm sorry, dude. It's
been seventy seven years. I think the fans understand we're
probably not gonna win a super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
But here's the thing, right, a lot put on his shoulders,
certainly as the number one pick going back to twenty nineteen. Right,
he's brought in, He and his guy Kingsbury, they were
gonna rule the world. And you've seen a number of
coaching changes, regime changes. It goes back to how much
do you blame? You'll blame pie. And there are certainly
some that are stomping up and down on Kyler Murray.

(21:38):
Whether it's his size, whether it's his alleged love of
video games. How much of that's true and false? I
you know, you got to decide noise when stuff starts
leaking out like that, how much of that is coaching
staff's trying to fly, well, this guy just doesn't work
hard enough. How much of it is he's always been
great going through high school, through the Heisman, through being

(22:01):
the number one pick here, being a top ten pick
in baseball, that that next level of dedication wasn't there
because he hadn't had to do it. I don't know
how much percentage you have signed there, but for him
to put out that message to say, yep, put it
on me, fine, bring it on. I kind of dig that.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
About it my for seventy seven years, that's not you.
But okay, but thank thanks for much.

Speaker 4 (22:24):
But by putting that specificity on he goes I might
have been part of the problem here these last few years.
Decide how much it's a long standing issue. And yeah,
Kurt Warner got closed, but they did not break down
that wall.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
Now, two things, because there's one team that already Kyler
Murray is being linked with, and that's the Jets. And
I'm first to tell you this is not about the Jets,
because boy do I have a great hot take for you.
The Jets you only go to when you have no
other choices. Okay, that's when you go to the Jets.
We have no other choice, Right, Why did Justin Fields
become a Jet? Wasn't going to anywhere else? Only choice

(22:58):
was the Jets. Okay, I'm going to the Jets. Kyler
Murray has options. He's got options. He's got teams that
want them. Are you already seeing, hey, where could he
fit with a bunch of different teams? But you're seeing
the Jets mentioned most often because the Jets aren't getting
a quarterback. They are absolutely quarterback needy. They need to
get a quarterback this year because as much as you
want to wait and I'd love to see them tank
for next year, when quarterbacks there, we can go get

(23:20):
Arch Manning or Dante more and we have a new
head coach and everything else. Because we're just gonna suck
this year. I get that that's not gonna happen because
Aaron Glennon company want to be around for twenty twenty seven.
So they gotta go get a quarterback. They gotta get
somebody to come in and win games. They can't just
go three and fourteen again and hope to be brought back.
But Murray's got options. He's got options. He's the most
talented guy out there. His resume, he's still young, he's

(23:43):
got a couple of Pro Bowls. He's gonna have a
lot of options. He should be the number one most
sought after guy. Whether he's number one on your board,
but he should be the number one most sought after
player because now you don't have to worry about trading
for him, don't have to worry about salary, dead cap money.
You can sign him most likely to a deal we
talked about last week, which is, hey, two years and
forty million. That'll get you what what justin Field signed

(24:05):
for last year is what you can get a guy
like Kyler Murray for this year. Two years and forty million.
Whether it's got to be guaranteed or thirty million of
it is guaranteed, that's okay. But two years for Kyler Murray,
that's about where you're at.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Right. So that's Kyler Murray.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
So where's his fit because again, he's got he's got options,
right the Men, Jets or no no options, Jets, options
anywhere else but the Jets.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
Let me throw this out there.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
We talked about this last night, that that Atlanta is
the best the best fit for him, right we mentioned this.
He should want to go where Kevin Stefanski can can
continue to do the magic that he does with quarterbacks.
He should be joining a team that's young up and coming,
the energy that he would bring, they should both be
desirous of each other. All right, Murray getting there with
the team. He can make a lot of plays with
mobile quarterback. Atlanta is made for him. But let me

(24:53):
throw this out here. Let me throw this hot take
out here. Are the Raiders really sold on Fernando Mendoza?
Are you sold on him?

Speaker 3 (25:06):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Kyler Murray for two years and forty million, and the
Jets will give you a lot for that number one
pick for Fernando Mendoza. They'll give you a ton or
somebody else would give you a ton to move up
to get him because he's the only quarterback in the draft.
I say the Jets because I know that they went
out and they looked at him a bunch of times.
They sent scouts to like I think the last nine

(25:30):
games he had.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
Are you that.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
Sold on Fernando? Do you love Fernando Mendoza that much?
Do you love him that much? Because you've heard a
lot of stuff coming off the combine. Maybe his tape
isn't that great. And look, I told you at the beginning,
I thought Fernando Mendoza is the best of a weaker
group of quarterbacks. And if he's a combination of Kerry
Collins and Kirk Cousins.

Speaker 3 (25:50):
Okay, is that.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
A guy you draft number one overall? If he's a
combination of Kirk Cousins and Kerry Collins, Try to say
that three times fast. Combination of Kirk Cousins, Kerry Collins,
combination Kirk causes Kerry Collins. Are you that sold or
are you better off if you're the Raiders because you're
starting over with a guy like Kyler Murray coming into
an offense where the head coach just won a Super Bowl,

(26:12):
just made it work with a quarterback that people had
on the scrap heap a couple of years ago. As
good as Sam Darnold was with the Minnesota Vikings, he
goes on and wins a super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.
They win when he has big games, win when they
run the ball. Well, Clint Kubiak now taking over, this
is the job he wanted. He wanted the Raiders gig.
This wasn't where Hey, the last guy standing is the
Raiders head coach. All of a sudden, I throw that

(26:36):
out there. You sign Kyler Murray, you trade the number
one pick, and you get a high first round pick
another first round pick, maybe a first round pick next year,
second round pick this year, because that number one pick.
Somebody's gonna want that quarterback. Somebody's gonna be all in
on Fernando Mendoza. If you're not in on him, if
you are not in, if you doubt a little bit

(26:58):
that he's the guy that maybe I don't know, I
don't know if his tape stands out, I don't know
if he's someone that's going to translate to the next level.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Don't you look at this.

Speaker 1 (27:06):
Don't you look at this and say, maybe Kyler Murray
for two years and forty million, because it doesn't work,
we can easically go out and get our quarterback next year.
We always pick at the top of the draft. If
it works out for us, great, If not, we're here
again next year and we'll go get Arch Manning or
Dante Moore whoever else is there. Just think about if
if you're not sold, does Kyler Murray and a treasure
trove of picks, including an early first round pick, like

(27:28):
you can draft Caleb Downs and the numb you can
draft rvel Reee.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
You can get somebody really good.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
You can you can go get whoever you want to
in the top five, top seven, because that's we're gonna
wind up picking. Just think about that option for Kyler Murray.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
Well, the question for Murray becomes the reality of you know,
how robust is the marketplace because you got a lot
of places that could be in play, right your jets, Cleveland, Minnesota.
He was a Minnesota fan, right and O'Connell certainly after
the uh quezy got bounced, and Justin Jefferson got Chirpye

(28:04):
and a lot of others potentially there. We talked about
Atlanta a lot yesterday. Certainly options and the Mendoza thing
is something we have kicked that tire a couple of times.
You and I in terms of whether you trade the pick.
The look, the Cardinals are on the hook for almost
thirty seven million dollars, right, It's like thirty six eight
or thereabouts once they release him, So it's not like

(28:27):
you necessarily have to break the bank for Kyler Murray.
This might be the way you also figure out how
to not only make a trade if you're the Raiders
and get picks back and everything else, but if you
can get Murray on the cheap, how to prove the
deal not quite to the Russell Wilson. He's much younger
than Wilson was at the time. Denver swallowed that pill

(28:48):
and moved on. But if you can get a cheap
then maybe you can figure out a way to keep
Max Crosby happy. Look, we bring in a quarterback, we
make a deal. We also have also picked and you
could stay right because you want to be a raider, right,
and that's where you try to figure out what the
noises around him. But suddenly you are able to build
a roster with other picks for the offensive line to

(29:10):
bolster things, and suddenly you become competitive and Murray's there
on maybe a one year prove it, second year becomes
club option. Hey, we'll play you then and go through that.
But I don't hate it. Like we watched Mendoza a
lot and I like him. But it is that question
of does it did he separate himself because of the

(29:32):
back end struggles of Simpson, because of nuss Meyer getting
ousted at LSU, and because guys that were expected to
be some of the head heavyweights in this class fell back. Yeah, Look,
you're talking about North Dakota State moving up maybe and
being the number two quarterback. If it's not Ty Simpson, right.
Is Fernando Mendoza really that good? Or is he just

(29:56):
the best quarterback in this draft? And because of that
in the Raiders need it? Hey number one. Overall, there's
your marriage, right.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
Just think about that for a second, because I remember
reading some stuff last week where it was thrown out
there should teams trade for for Kyler Murray. I remember
reading one I think I think it was a Raiders
blog with someone. Someone said something like, oh if we
traded this pick and this pick.

Speaker 3 (30:18):
For Kyler Murray.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
I'm like, you don't need to trade a pick for
Kyler Ridge. Just wait now, you get it negative for nothing.

Speaker 4 (30:23):
You don't need to give it.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
You don't need to give them a big contract.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
You don't need to bring in Kyler Murray for five
years and two hundred and thirty million dollars. You can say, okay,
two years and forty million. You guess what if it sucks,
We're right back here next year and we get a
better quarterback and we go back and get them.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Are you that?

Speaker 1 (30:38):
Do you love Fernando Mendoza that much? Now I'm making
all the Raiders palm sweat. How much do we really
love Mendoza that much. Do we really love them that much?
Just think about that exit out about a Fresca exit,
swollen dome. Time not to find out what's trending in
the wide world of sports from someone who's been called
the Fernando Mendoza of Fox Sports Radio because they're the
exact same height.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
It's Steve de Seger.

Speaker 8 (31:01):
And same bank account just a few months from now.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
Well, I think nil. I think he did pretty well.
I don't think they were paying him with Chipotle Bucks.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
I think he did.

Speaker 4 (31:08):
Okay, I saw you in a Dodger uniform.

Speaker 3 (31:11):
You got paid?

Speaker 8 (31:12):
Uh no, no, nil back then? Oh for the media game, No,
we do have the final from saying.

Speaker 4 (31:18):
Get a sandwich?

Speaker 8 (31:20):
Did we get a sandwich?

Speaker 3 (31:21):
Oh?

Speaker 8 (31:21):
Yes, of course. Press box was totally free back then. Boom, yeah,
how things have changed to the NBA scoreboard. The Spurs
final was one thirty one to ninety one at Philadelphia
Minnesota in action tonight, and well they had they had
Anthony you know, it was the before the game. Anthony

(31:42):
Edwards is questionable. Suddenly he's questionable. Foot injury maintenance is
getting to set out.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
No, he played.

Speaker 8 (31:47):
He had forty one points in thirty seven minutes on
the court, and the Timberwolves have beaten Memphis one seventeen
to one ten. Oklahoma City's record now forty eight and
fifteen at a victory in Chicago tonight one sixteen to
one oh and Shay Gilgess Alexander was out managing an
abdominal strain. New York's Jalen Brunson with twenty six points
tennisists just one turnover. Nicks won at Toronto one eleven

(32:10):
ninety five. Miami sent Brooklyn to a ninth straight loss.
Charlotte won its fifth in a row. Orlando pounded the
Washington which is lost sixth straight, and Cleveland beat Detroit
one thirteen to one oh nine. The two late games,
well one of them about to begin in LA. Lakers
are hosting New Orleans I and Williamson is playing. He
was questionable. He had missed the Sunday game in LA

(32:31):
against the Clippers with a sprained ankle. In a half
an hour. Still, we'll get the late tip off at Sacramento.
The Kings at fourteen and forty eight hosting Phoenix. So
you know, everybody stayed through that NBC fifty point game.
The Spurs just put up and staying to watch the
Sacramento Kings. Of course, right after.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Hey, the Kings, led by Vlati Dvats will take on
the Charlotte Hornets and Buggsy Boats.

Speaker 8 (32:56):
If only they had that team. As for college hoops,
it's on us one right now. Fourteenth rank Kansas was
down twenty at Arizona State and Bill self was kicked
out coach before halftime. ASU's lead now forty two to
thirty three against the Jayhawks early in the second half.
Number nineteen Miami of Ohio thirty and oh now after

(33:16):
winning seventy four to seventy two against Toledo, Georgia upset
Number sixteen Alabama ninety eight eighty eight. Saint John's edged
Georgetown TCU won at number ten Texas Tech, Virginia Edgewake,
Forest and North Carolina beat Clemson sixty seven sixty three.
In the NHL, the Dallas Stars are going for a
tenth straight win. Late second period Dallas up five to

(33:38):
one at Calgary Ohn.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
Mike MacDonald with three goals, Jerome Aginla scoring for the Flames.

Speaker 8 (33:44):
Yes for Calgary, as they would say, north of the Border,
and wins for Buffalo and Boston already, the Jets franchise
tagged running back Breese Hall. Today was the deadline to
do that. The other two officially tagged were wide receiver
George Pickens by Dallas and tight end Kyle Pitts by Atlanta.
So the Bengals did not tag defensive end Trey Hendrickson
and the Seahawks did not tag running back Kenneth Walker

(34:06):
so he could be a free agent soon. The Colts
use the transition tag quarterback Daniel Jones, so Indy has
the right to match any offer he gets. He's coming
off a torn Achilles Braves. Outfielder Jerrekson Profar was handed
a one year suspension. Team USA won its exhibition in
Arizona fifteen to one over the San Francisco Giants, two
run singles for Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper, and in

(34:29):
an exhibition tonight, Puerto Rico got a five to three
win against the Red Sox, getting three runs top of
the first back to.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
You, Hey, you know how Berman would announce Daniel Jones story,
how's that? And like the crack of a whip, hoping
to keep him in Indiana, Jones gets the franchise tag
or transition tag. Buy the Colts, and I don't know
why I'm doing more of Albert doing it. It just
sounded like the right thing to do.

Speaker 8 (34:55):
Yes, it's causing our face to melt.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
Thank you, Stevo. Coming up there. We got big NFL
on the way.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
We'll get into the transition tag franchise tag, but straight ahead,
the biggest piece of sports memorabilia in months has been found.
And wait, do we tell you how much it might
be worth? That's next, Jason and Mike Fox. Is it
the illustrator?

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with My bass
friend Mike Harmon. Tag your it coming up in about
ten minutes. However, the biggest piece of sports memorabilia this
year and probably the entire year, has now officially been located.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Wait, we already own it.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
And I got questions? What do we own Frostburg's Mike,
he bought us shares. I still have shares in the jockstrap. Oh,
we do have giants jockstrap. But that was that was
never missing, and we've we've had that for a that
we know that for a while.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
But you said the most covenant prize of all of
this year.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, okay, we own a piece of Andrew the tracks
top that uh, the puck with with Jack Hughes scored
the game winning goal in the Olympics has been located.
Remember's right after the game that hey, do you have
the puck he scored the goal? Game winning goal? He goes,
no idea where the puck went. I know who doesn't

(36:28):
have it is me? I sure as held all. That's
too bad he didn't have it. Turns out now we
know where it is. Canadian goalie No, Jordan Bennington has
it and I'm gonna burn it. Apparently and I say apparently,
the Hockey Hall of Fame has it.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
The players found located and according to reports, the puck
from the gold medal game, the game winning puck is
going to be displayed along with other memorabilia from the Olympics.
Hillary Night Jersey, I think the puck from Megan Keller's
game winning goal and the women's game is gonna.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
Go up there.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
So it's been found, or at least, according to reports,
has been found. Maybe the Hall of Fame just said
nobody knows where it is that looks like a puck.
We'll just say we have it. We'll say that's it,
all right, great fun. Hey, here's the game winning puck.
Here's the puck that Jack Hughes used to score the
game winning goal.

Speaker 4 (37:18):
It is curious, though, because whenever we get to milestones
in baseball, we've seen it for Otani, for Judge, back
when Bonds was hitting home runs, that the Big Chase
of ninety eight, going back maguire. So, so whatever, they
would authenticate the baseballs that were put into play, and
I'm curious what the process was for the gold medal game. Hey,

(37:40):
just we got a couple of pucks, just put him
in play, you know. I gotta think there was some
authentication process. I mean, they know the business. That's actually
the puck that McDavid missed on the breakaway with. We'll
just tell them it's the Hughes which.

Speaker 1 (37:53):
But I want to know this and here because this,
this is my main thing with this, is that Hughes
is I have no idea what happened to the puck.
And I get it that it's an incredible moment, game
winning goal in overtime Olympic.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
This puck.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
According to some professionals, say, this puck would go for
a million dollars if it was sold right now, a
million dollars right now. With time, will it appreciate in
value or depreciate It probably will go down, but right
now it would go for a million dollars. What I
want to know is how did nobody say let's get

(38:28):
the puck because we're in such an We're in such
an era now of knowing when when Otani hit that
fiftieth home run, we knew you had to get that ball.
Whenever somebody we know when something's big. This puck is
a big deal. Not one person, I get cueses insane,
But not one person coming off the bench, not not
one player, not one coach came on the ice and

(38:50):
grabbed it and said, hey, let me get that puck. Nobody,
nobody grabbed the puck. Like I don't understand. The Zamboni
guy come out at the end to go, hey, I
got the puck. I'm gonna give it to you because
that's a million dollar puck.

Speaker 5 (39:00):
Man.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
I know that Jack Hughes is in the middle of
an eight year, sixty four million dollar contract, so he's
doing okay. But somebody could have had that. Somebody could
have picked it up. It could have been the guy
out to clean the eyes. I'm gonna make a million dollars.
I'm gonna sell Its gonna change my life. How did
nobody pick up the puck? How did nobody pick up that?

Speaker 4 (39:16):
Yeah, it just seems someone would have gone off the
bench to grab it if nothing else for Team USA history,
or for Hughes or or somebody would have had the
presence of mind to just go make sure there was
no question of providence and authenticity. It's like, all right,
I went and grabbed it from the back of the net.

(39:38):
Like I said, I wouldn't have been surprised if you
pocket that. Yeah, I gave up the goal, but I'm
gonna get my payday out of this, right, netminder, one
of the defend sewers. You're salty about it, but you
realize the largesse of the moment and what the memorabilia
market will do. Right, we doctor you and I going
back for a you know, a Tom sever item that

(40:02):
went for over eight hundred thousand this weekend, Hulk Hogan's
boots from WrestleMania One. Some question of whether it was
another Madison Square Garden card, but either way went for
a million dollars. UH signed yellow boots this weekend. Here
piece of history. Forty six years since the last US
gold medal. Yeah, there's a hot market right now. Someone

(40:24):
would have been wise to make sure they plucked that
that puck immediately gone and gotten his stick gone. And
you know how big a deal that is.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
You know, we got it. Whoever scores it, whoever scored
the goal. We gotta make sure we go get this
is gonna be a golden goal.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
Right to it. I don't get that. I feel it.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
So it's so odd that that feels wrong. The Hall
of Fame has it, like, hey, nobody pay and went
straight to the Hall of Fame and this is insane.
Coming up next, we're the tags right Fox Sports Radio,
The Jason Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harmon.
That music can only mean the welcome in of one

(41:06):
person who is getting set to head to Houston, United
States Brazil Night one of the World Baseball Classic on Friday.
Are men covering it all longtime Baseball insider MLB Network
with us here at Fox Sports Radio back from Italy,
where you try to get an interview with Pope Leo,
John paulmer Rosi's I guess right now, John Paul, what's

(41:26):
happening man?

Speaker 3 (41:27):
How are you welcome back?

Speaker 5 (41:28):
Outstanding Gazi. No interview with the Pope, but I did
see two gold medal winning hockey games for the United
States of America, so that was a pretty successful trip
all the way around. And no word yet on if
Pope Leo plans to attend the US versus Italy match

(41:49):
in the World Baseball Classic in Houston coming up within
the week. That would be a great venued interview the Pope.
But if if it doesn't happen, then I will look
for the next opportunity, either maybe during the World Cup
or another chance that hopefully is coming our ways.

Speaker 3 (42:05):
You know what would have been a even better trip
to Italy for you?

Speaker 5 (42:10):
What's that? You know?

Speaker 1 (42:11):
It would have been a better trip if you had
gotten the Jack Hughes game winning puck. You'd had a
million dollar puck.

Speaker 5 (42:16):
So that was my first question was where did the
puck go? And in whose hands did it find itself?
Because it went into the net so sneakily to begin
with that it had a certain mystery about it all
the way along. And yes, well, I was in the
stands and not in approximate location to be able to

(42:38):
fish that puck out of the net. Remember, there is
still I may be mistaken on this, but there was
a lot of mystery about where the Chicago Blackhawks twenty
ten puck went. It was the game in Philly ended
in such chaotic fashion that there was a mystery about
that one too, So add that one to the list.

Speaker 4 (42:57):
Did you at least steal me a couple of tickets?

Speaker 3 (43:00):
Dubs?

Speaker 5 (43:01):
So here's the interesting thing about that all tickets? So
I did not. All tickets were digital. I am contemplating
ordering the actual paper tickets after the fact. That's actually
a question. Instead of you asking me questions, I'm gonna
put that to you. Is that a worthwhile thing.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
To happen if you can get the paper tickets printed? Yes,
pay whatever you need to. Yet used to have a
kiosk at Staples Center where you could do that with
your game ticket. It is well worth that the marketplace
for ticket stubs is starting to explode and only a
fraction of people will actually do it.

Speaker 5 (43:41):
Interesting. Well, I have gotten insight into the world of
ticket stubs from you this evening, and I appreciate it
very much. Yeah, I gotta work on that now.

Speaker 1 (43:49):
It would have been easier if you just went over
the boards and got the puck. Kenny Albert would have broadcasted.
And there's John Paul Morosi looking to get the puck.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
There he is MLB networkszone looking a him. He's got it.

Speaker 1 (43:59):
He's trying to find a way off the ice, weaving
his way past Connor.

Speaker 5 (44:02):
HELLI book, I saw Kenny. I saw Kenny before that game,
actually in the on the third level of the of
the stands. I think I did I tell you that
the story about seeing ERUSIONI. If I didn't, I can
tell you no.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
You know what happened.

Speaker 5 (44:18):
So I was a great conversation with my friend Steve Buckley,
longtime Boston Columbus, who, of course ROUSIONI knows. And so
I was there on the concourse at the little snack
bar there behind where the press was sitting, and uh
and ERUSIONI walks up and says I to Steve, and
then he says alone to me, very unlikely that he

(44:41):
knew had any clue who I was, nor should he,
But he says alone to me, and I said, Mike,
I have with me. Here the copy of La Gazetta
denos sport, which is my favorite publication in the world,
really daily publication, because it is an all sports newspaper,
all in Italian, the best. And and I said, Mike,

(45:05):
this story right here, like the center display of the
paper was was all about the men's hockey gold medal game,
and and the the the page I'm looking at it
right now is miracoiacho, which we can guess what that means,
miracle on ice lutrino us a, meaning that was the
last time the US won. So I have this paper

(45:27):
in Italian, and I showed it. I said, Mike, look this,
this paper is all in Italian. And look there's there's
your name. Your name is in this story. It's in
the story right here, so it's it's in our native
language about about the miracle on ice. And Mike looks
at me and smiles and says, the only word I
know in Italian is and he said something I can't
repeat on the ear. So, uh, that was that's my

(45:51):
Eruzione story. That was our conversation before the gold medal game.
And of course hours later, at long last, he had
some company among the gold medalists the American men at
the Olympic winner games.

Speaker 1 (46:02):
All right, now you leave the comfort of Milan and
the Italy Olympics to head to the World Baseball Classic.
If I said to you your confidence level of the
United States winning the WBC on a scale of one
to ten. If one is forget it not happening, ten
is yes, it's gonna happen, regardless of whatever Aaron Judge says,
Where are you right now?

Speaker 3 (46:23):
You're confidence level for the.

Speaker 5 (46:24):
United States, I've got it at a five. It's a
toss up, and maybe even I would bump that down
a little bit to a four, in the sense that
if you gave me all the teams in the World
Baseball Classic in one bucket and said, do you think
the winner's going to come from this bucket? Or is

(46:46):
the winner going to be in the United States? I
would take I would take the field, I think, and
that's no disrespect to the US. The US may in
fact have the best chance of anybody, but I don't
think it's more than fifty percent right now. There's so
many good teams. I don't know. The Dominican Republic played

(47:06):
the Tigers tonight, a quality ball club, and like the
last home run landed in my front yard like five
minutes ago. I mean, like all the way from Senat Domingo.
I mean that lineup is unreal. Team Japan maybe not
quite as formidable as they were last time around. Of course,
off twany is not pitching. The pitching depth doesn't seem

(47:27):
to be there. But I do think Korea is better,
Taiwan is better. Venezuela competitive again, as I mentioned that
the Dominicans are certainly better. So in a one one
game playoff situation, anything can happen. So I think the
US probably still has the best chance of any individual

(47:47):
nation of winning it. But I don't think any individual
nation is above fifty percent. There's just there's too many
excellent baseball nations right.

Speaker 4 (47:56):
Now coming off of the Olympics and end of this competition.
I mean, I would have hoped for a little more raw,
raw from Aaron Judge in that speech that went viral JP.
I mean, I don't know how inspiring that necessarily was.

Speaker 5 (48:10):
Well, I think that that first of all, everybody's gonna
lead the way that they that they want to lead,
and and it's it's not it's not fair to expect
that Aaron Judge is going to be Herb Brooks. It's different, different,
different for a different time. Uh, maybe not even fair
to expect him to be Austin Matthews and Brady could chuck.

(48:33):
Everybody's going to be their own person, their own leader. Uh.
I think that that from where I sit, that Aaron's
confidence is perfect. He's what he said is probably quite
similar to what Derek Jeter would have said in a
similar circumstance. And he has played every game of his
career pressure packed because the Yankees are supposed to win

(48:56):
every game. And and I think that he has worn
that mantle of captain of the Yankees face of baseball
as well as anybody possibly could. And I think that
the ethos to me of Team USA is we're really talented.
We just need to play play, respect the competition, respect

(49:17):
the game, stay within ourselves, and we've got an excellent
chance to win this tournament. And I think he's right.
The pitching, obviously is always the big question in this tournament.
But when you look at this lineup, I think they
can beat you in different ways than maybe they did
in past years. It's not just an all star team
with a bunch of sluggers. They've got some players that
can play small ball if need be. I love Roman

(49:40):
Anthony being on this team. I love Bryce Draang being
on this team. Some of the younger guys that have
really emerged a lot. So I'm a fan of the
way that they put this team together, certainly Mark DeRosa
and Andy Pettt. They've got some rules around the pitching usage,
whether it's schooble schemes or anybody else, that is totally normal.

(50:01):
Basically every American roster ever has had a deal with that.
That's the price of having great pitchers that are on
major league teams that want to protect him. Now, the
one thing I think is fascinating here is is Kershaw
is totally uninimited. He can do whatever he darn well bleazes,

(50:23):
and so it's not out of the realm of possibility
that a retired Clayton Kershaw will rank at the end
of the day among the five or six leaders in
anything stitched, just because he doesn't have a boss telling
him what he can and can't do like everybody else does.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
John Paulss we had a long discussion on this last night,
and I was called anti American. I don't understand something
we're not being told. Here's Clayton Kersher retired from Major
League Baseball winning the World Series. The Dodgers know we
can only throw him out there for a very short
amount of time in one game in the World Series
and out well for him. But he's retired. But I'm

(51:03):
gonna go through the entire offseason. I'm gonna train, and
I'm gonna get ready. And he looks it looks like
he's been training, doesn't quite have the dad body had
the end of the last couple of years, but he
knows coming in. Mark Turosis said, yeah, no guarantees even
gonna pitch, so that something doesn't compute with me here
that he retired. But i want to be on the
WBC team. But I'm not even guaranteed to pitch. Something's

(51:23):
not computing here.

Speaker 5 (51:25):
We wants to wear the uniform. That's a pretty cool
way to go out. I actually think it makes complete sense.
First of all, one of the most vital things that
you must have on a team in a tournament like
this where every inning is precious. Let's say tm USA
is leading Brazil nine to nothing and it's the eighth inning.

(51:46):
Instead of using David Betnar and the guys you need
for tomorrow's game. Put Kersher out there, and you know,
if things get goofy, I guess you still have Bednar there,
but cover those innings. It is not about out throwing
the best guys in every inning. It is lining up
your pitching the best that you can to win the

(52:09):
relay race of seven games. That's the goal. It's the
four pool play games and you hope you play quarterfinal,
semifinals seven games. That's it. It is as short of
a tournament as you could possibly imagine. So it is
about getting as many big outs from your best pitchers

(52:30):
as possible. And if you have a nine to nothing
lead on Brazil, that you do not need to waste
schemes in that situation. Get Kershaw in the game, Get
some of your lower leverage guys in the game, Ryan
Yarborough Kershaw, get him in there. And that's just smart
managing for me. So I realize there is a little

(52:51):
bit of stage craft here. This is baseball. It's full
show business. I get it. But he can actually serve
a very valuable purpose and that he's the only pitcher
on the Ross sure whose GM is not sending Mark
de Rosa a usage restriction that looks something like the
the you know, the the fifty five page plans of

(53:12):
a whole home generator that you got, and then that's
what it looks like. It's not that, it's it's with
kershard say hey he's here, he can pitch. That's it,
And I think that's actually a very important thing to
have on your team.

Speaker 3 (53:24):
He's on Twitter at John Morosi. He is on Twitter
again at John Morosi. By that philosophy, John Paul would be.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
Okay, let's say, hey, John Paul, we're gonna send you
to cover the World Baseball Classic.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
Get ready.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Okay, that's great, but we can't guarantee you that you're
gonna be on TV.

Speaker 3 (53:38):
Wait wait, wait what man? Do just go cover the cloud?

Speaker 1 (53:40):
We can't, but we can't guarantee you're gonna be on TV.
All right, go for the experience, John Paul MOROSSI, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (53:45):
You get it. Hey listen, man, listen, these guys they're
not staying in a in a low budget one star hotel.

Speaker 3 (53:53):
Man.

Speaker 5 (53:53):
Okay, I mean there's a nice hotel, hanging out with
a lot of really cool people. Where where are your
country on your jersey? All those things? I think are
pretty good.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
John Paul is always appreciated. Look, we'll talk to your
Friday after Game one. United States and Brazil. Enjoy the
trip to Houston.

Speaker 5 (54:12):
Love it can't wait, my friends.

Speaker 3 (54:13):
All the best there goes John Palm Morose.

Speaker 1 (54:16):
I was gonna do a trash can line there for him,
but I decided, I decided it's okay.

Speaker 4 (54:20):
Yeah, fact from well, I mean he loves baseball, John,
I mean Aaron Judge bored me.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
Yeah. Good.

Speaker 1 (54:27):
Well, here's the thing about Aaron Judge, right, because I
know he's been getting a lot of a lot of
a flak on that, and I'm like, I get it,
but I honestly think it's stupid because it's not like
a speech he was giving.

Speaker 3 (54:37):
They were gonna go out and play right away.

Speaker 1 (54:40):
This wasn't This wasn't right before United This wasn'ty We
played them ten times, they might beat us nine, but
not tonight.

Speaker 3 (54:48):
This is everybody's here.

Speaker 4 (54:50):
We're meeting each other for the first welcoming everybody to
Vegas at the beginning of Oceans West.

Speaker 1 (54:55):
This is hey, everybody, we're all here. Hey, let's play together,
and guess what We're gonna go home with? The gold
we're very excited about it.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
Let's go on. This is the first minute.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
This is not Hey, we're getting out there in two
minutes and let's go No, this is not that you
were born to be baseball players, every one of you.

Speaker 3 (55:12):
I mean, this is not that. Oh McLanahan, come on,
you got a bruise, get out there and play. You
want me to play, coach, you have me to that.

Speaker 1 (55:18):
I'll get him going to the second period, like I
mean that. That's the thing is that if it was
that kind of speech, I get it. But this is
just him, Hey, welcome to camp. It's it's when you
get to summer camp and the councilor says everybody, welcome in.
Everybody be okay. The twelve year olds, you're in the
bunk over there. Thirteen year olds are across the pond
over there. We're gonna meet two o'clock for a late
lunch yet.

Speaker 4 (55:38):
But when we get everybody in at two o'clock, you
gotta put on a blanket show get welcome to camp.
Good morny campus. I'm your uncle, lady, and I welcome
mute