September 10, 2026 • 29 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon put a bow on Wednesday Night Football and preview Thursday Night Football between the 49ers and the Rams. And the guys remembered Legendary ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose who passed away at age 70.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight,
10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern, 7 to 11 p.m.
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at FoxSportsRadio.com or
stream us live every night on the iHeartRadio app by
searching FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening
(00:24):
to Fox Sports Radio. Hello, welcome inside. Final hour tonight,
the Jason Smith Show with my best friend, Mike Harmon.
We'll have more on tonight's game, the reaction. The Seahawks
13-10 win over the Patriots. We'll ask a big question
we have not asked yet on the show. 271 to go, Smith.
(00:47):
Come on now. Don't count down. Come on, man. Don't
count down. We went 1-0 today. No, no, no. When
you count down like that, it makes it feel like, oh,
we're running out. We're not running out. We haven't started
week one. Don't give me the 271, 256. Don't do that.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We just turned the hourglass over, and it's a giant one.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Don't do it. Don't do it. A little bit of sand.
You're kind of making it feel like, oh, we're running out.
We're running out.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I've got to sell urgency in this world.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
We're just getting started. It's fine. No, it's the sense
of urgency. Today is important for all of us. You
missed one of 272. Here's the thing. This wasn't a
great game. Yeah, it was. It came down to the
final throw. It was a close game. It wasn't a
great game. That was thrilling. It was a close game.
I was standing up in the studio. No, you weren't.
You were sitting next to me. It's don't lie. You
(01:37):
saw me. Don't lie. You did not. I was screaming.
The only time you stood up tonight was when you
got a cramp in your calf and you were like, oh, cramp.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh, no.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I stand. Then you sat back down right away. And
then I flexed. Check that. But I got to ask
a big question. We got a big question out of
baseball coming up in a couple minutes first. But like,
you know, that's not here. You stop. Dude. The two
teams with the best record in Major League Baseball since
the trade deadline. How's that getting you into the playoffs?
Because we're starting. It's not. I don't know if you
(02:05):
know this. The MLB is starting the standings from the
end of the trade deadline. Jason fought to reinstall the
rules from 1981. Two best teams. Second half champion. Two
best teams in Major League Baseball since trade deadline. Phillies
and the Mets. You going to hang that banner next season? 100%.
Since the trade, yes. After the trade deadline, 100%.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Did you see that Babe Schwarmer today?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, well, I feel like now that's what I'm looking
at is like, oh, we're chasing the Phillies to win
the post-trade deadline. World Series, which is the best record
in baseball after the trade deadline.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You've got to set new benchmarks in your life, right?
I mean, look, just because you're a day older doesn't
mean you've lost.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
No, I feel good. Just today is day one of
the rest of your life. I feel good. And still
the Mets stuff is so cheap. You scored 15 runs today.
We barely won, right? Tobias Myers pitched well. But it's
one game, but especially, and this gets into how we
feel as fans and also as fantasy owners, is that
(03:05):
This game was so bad for Drake May. How bad
was it? You would almost rather have Cade Klubnick. This
game was so bad for Drake May. Threw a touchdown,
but three picks. It's a great Seahawks defense. I get it.
But it looks like he has regressed, or at least
he regressed from the end of last season. Or it's
(03:26):
just a bad matchup that haunts him. And now potentially,
without A.J.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Brown.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
And not going to make it any easier, right, without
weapons to really throw to. And Travion Henderson's been out
for now a few weeks. The guy's averaging five yards
a carry. Ramondre Stevenson averaging two yards a carry. So
that's not a great trade. No, it's not a good formula.
Scale of one to ten. If ten is I am
absolutely five alarm fire and one is not at all
(03:51):
everything is fine. Ten. How worried are you about Drake
May after tonight?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
If I drafted him where he was coming off the boards,
I'm terrified. And I really hope that I was smart
enough to go draft another viable quarterback.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Because you're likely losing week one if you started.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
No, this was awful.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
You need a monster game from multiple spots to overcome this.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I got to hope Garrett Wilson catches 14 passes from
Geno Smith. Well, because what did he have?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
He had, obviously, the three interceptions, 47 yards rushing.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
He'll take away... two of those. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Right?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah. So, 178 yards.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Keaton Mitchell could save the day.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
He's worth about 12 or 13 points. Yeah, someone 10
to 12. Fantasy, yes, because I'm a horrible.
Fantasy owner when it comes to being patient. Like, this
is where I'm going to stare at this for three
days and go, I got to trade him and get
him off my team, right? I got to trade him
and get him off my team, right?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Because he's either second or third off the board in
terms of fantasy quarterbacks, right? Depending on whether you wanted to.
So Allen's number one, and it was either him or
Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Right, right. You're like, I got to get rid of him.
I can't do this. I can't do this. But especially
when you think about how they're going to be without A.J. Brown,
however long they're without him, their two best players on
offense outside of him are not playing. From a football standpoint, yeah,
this really worries me. This really worries me from a
football standpoint, too, simply because these were mistakes that he
(05:24):
made that were forced upon him that mentally, he made
those mistakes, right? If this was a scheme thing, if
this was, hey, well, the Seahawks were able to do
things that the Patriots weren't ready for, and it was
an entire night of where they out-schemed them, out-talented them,
I get, okay, it's one of those games, right? They
(05:44):
are the Super Bowl champions for a reason. They beat
you in the Super Bowl for a reason. But the
fact that he made three really bad decisions to force
that football down the field... That does not fill me
with a lot of confidence that he's going to take
that next step from last year to this year. Because
these were three throws all into double coverage, off his
back foot, bad decisions where... If he's playing without his playmakers,
(06:08):
guess what? He's going to feel like he has to
force it. You're not going to win a lot of games, right?
We talked about this. The Patriots could start 0-4. If
they're without Brown and Henderson, they could start. The schedule's
not great. They could start 0-4 and their season could
be sunk opening night.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, for those that haven't seen it, home against Pittsburgh
on the 20th and on the road at Jacksonville at
Buffalo before a home date mid-October against the Raiders.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, they could start 0-4 and their season could be
done opening night. Because what he didn't do tonight was
take what the defense gave him. And I know it's
frustrating as a quarterback when you're used to making big
plays and you finish at the top of the MVP
vote and you're thinking, hey, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
But.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
If he plays a clean game... They win 17-3. This
is not close. This is, wow, as good a game
as the Seahawks defense played. If he doesn't make those throws,
they win this game by two touchdowns. But yet still,
he made those throws, which tells me when it comes
down to it, he's going to continue to try to
make plays where he shouldn't. Jason Cole talked about the regression.
(07:21):
of Drake May from last year to this year. I
don't know. I don't think you regress so much as
you fail to take that step forward. I don't think
for any quarterback they get to a point of, well,
they were at this level, but they've regressed. It's not
like Drake May suddenly is not going through his progression.
It's not like he suddenly, his footwork gets bad. That's
(07:42):
not what he's doing. But the fact that if you
are at this level of quarterback and you're You have
great success, and this is what happens early in the
career sometimes to players where they feel, I got it now.
I'm good. I know what I'm doing. All the prep
I have done has gotten me here. There's nothing that's
gotten me wrong. The prep I did in high school
to get me to college, the prep I did in
college to get me to the NFL, now to get
very early in my career, I'm a big star player.
(08:04):
I was arguably the MVP in the NFL last year.
It was really close. Yeah, I got it. So sometimes
when players feel that way and they don't progress, and
what happens is then you get caught up to. And
I feel like Drake May is getting caught up to, hey,
if you do this to the guy, this is what
he will do. If you are able to frustrate him,
(08:24):
keep him from big chunk yardage, keep him from his progressions,
keep him just a little bit uncomfortable, he's not going
to be able to respond. And that's kind of where
I feel like this may be where Drake May is.
And we're going to find out because he's not going
to have those bailout guys. Well, you don't have a
guy to hand the ball to that averages five yards
a carry. Well, you don't have the 1,300-yard-a-year wide receiver
(08:45):
that you made a big play for in the offseason available.
Are you really going to be great? Like, Mike, in
both fantasy and on the field for Drake May, It's
really high right now. Yeah, that escalated quickly.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
We didn't think necessarily you'd light it up, even with
the missing components of the secondary still had the under
when we talked about it last night. But you go
back to the playoffs, the decided step up in class.
He only completed 58 percent of his passes, 6.9 yards
per attempt. Six touchdowns, four picks last year, en route
(09:17):
to a Super Bowl run. He also ran for nearly
200 yards with a score. But all that to say,
you know, the Seahawks present a certain number of challenges. Again,
missing a couple of components of their secondary tonight. But
McDonald obviously had a good game plan.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And then once A.J.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Brown went down, And that's part of your larger thesis
here is that he's a guy that can go get it.
Do they have a guy that can do that on
the roster? We watched Dobbs try.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
No. Right? He had the 50-50 ball. But did he
really try? But did he really try? He got his
hands on the 50-50 ball. All he's got to do
is catch that one ball.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Oh, no, I didn't even get to that one yet.
I started with the interception. Then we have what?
Speaker 1 (09:59):
All he's got to do is catch that one. pass
and maybe the game is... I mean, really... No, but
that's just it, right? That's another guy you can't trust.
That's another guy you can't trust now if you're Drake Mack.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And then you're pushing the ball to Mack Hollins, who was.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Here's how bad it was. We were forcing it to
Mack Hollins like it was Odell Beckett Jr.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
In 2019.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
But I feel.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Bad for like he gets raked because it's not his fault.
Like you're the next man up. You're the third or
fourth receiver that all of a sudden your status elevates
because he sure as hell wasn't going to look to
Dobbs again.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Right?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Several targets. You know what happened on all of those?
Bad things, man. Bad things on.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
All of them.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Your offensive line struggled, and they got persistent pressure without
having to bring a lot of extra guys. So you
got a little bit of happy feet going there, but
we watched Ramondre Stevenson. He might be fine as a
split-time running back.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
He is not a No. 1.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
So Henderson not having jailbreak ability coming out of there
and a guy you've got to pick up out of
the backfield as a receiver changes complete complexion of that offense.
So next couple of weeks are going to be pretty
tough sledding. And right now, if you're a fantasy owner,
you're going, why, why, why? Cause you would have taken
him several rounds earlier than you had to at the
quarterback position. But right now, Boston radio, boy, you want
(11:18):
to talk about scorching hot takes, man, burn it down.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
What do you got, Frostberg? You want a scorching hot take?
Hit it. Yeah, sure, go ahead. And if you're the Patriots,
I know it's just week one.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
But you got to call J.J. McCarthy, don't you? Oh, wow.
Runner-up MVP.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, I mean, he was a national champion. Can you
sell that? I thought you were going to say you
got to call Diana Rossini. I really thought that's what
you were going with it. Oh, they don't even need
to call her. She just comes over. Oh, God.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
This is one I go to the postgame. Ravel's like,
anybody want to talk about that today?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I'd rather talk about that than the three interceptions that
Drake made through. Can someone ask me about that? No,
but seriously, Patriots, call J.J. McCarthy. I wonder how many
teams after this week in the NFL will call the
Vikings about J.J. McCarthy. You get them on the cheap.
I wonder, right? Because, I mean, when you're a guy
that gets named the No. 3 quarterback in Minnesota today, right? No. 3, again,
(12:16):
showing you that the Vikings made the worst quarterback decision
in the history of the NFL. because they had evidence
to keep Sam Darnold, all kinds of evidence, they still
decided not to. This story keeps getting worse and worse
for the Vikings. They just need to move on from him.
They need to have him not in the building every
day because it's a daily reminder of the big mistake,
the biggest quarterback mistake you could possibly make, again, in
(12:38):
the history of the game. After this week, I think
some people are going to call. The Patriots aren't going
to call, but will the Seahawks call? Like, why not? Hey,
we got Darnold and McCarthy. A little bit different now.
Now suddenly McCarthy's like, yeah, I'm way behind you, Skip.
You got it, man. I love you.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It's an interesting dynamic, right? We'll see what kind of...
haul they get if they finally pulled the trigger you
fired your gm we presumed he was going to be
the third quarterback well it's made official today uh we
go back to the draft and sean payton's taking a
lot of victory laps saying well this is how we
ended up getting bo nicks i'm keep waiting for jim
(13:13):
harbaugh saying yeah i really got over on the vikings
they listened to everything i said when i was selling
mccarthy along uh that entire highway leading up to the
draft but For the Vikings, it's now....
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Kind of a dead roster spot for the moment, right?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I mean, he didn't show you enough to beat out
Carson Wentz, but we talk about the war of attrition
for an NFL season. He'll be playing, quote-unquote, meaningful football
for someone down the line. That's how many quarterbacks we
go through. I think they're like, including all the wide
receivers or whatever with the one-off, but they were like
mid-60s players throwing a touchdown pass last year.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
How crazy would that be if, you know, we had, what,
60 quarterbacks start a game if none of them is J.J. McCarthy?
Make the call, Newman. None of them. Deep into the reservoir. Nope,
anybody but him. Not that guy. But he was a
top 10 pick. I don't care. It doesn't matter. We
don't want to just get him out. I'd rather start
Cade Klubnick. We will be starting Cade Klubnick. We'll be out. Well,
I think you would. He's an unknown.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Oh, yeah, sure.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Yeah. I don't know that he stinks yet.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But this goes back to an old married with children
joke where Peg would come down to Al and she'd
put a bow on herself. It's like, oh, Peg, why
are you giving me the same stuff I didn't play
with yesterday?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m.
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Fox Sports Radio, the Jason Smith Show with my best friend,
Mike Harmon. Yeah. Just because this is really entertaining. If
you get a chance, watch Frank Caliendo. He does a bit.
It's on Twitter. about if Madden and Summerall were still
around to explain the ending of Western Michigan versus Michigan.
And it's absolutely hysterical. There's a throw. No, no, no, no, no.
(15:02):
It's explaining what happened after. So it's Caliano going, oh,
there were two clocks. There's a clock on the field
and there's a clock, but there's also a secret clock.
That's a secret clock that keeps the time. So this
is how we're doing it going forward. No, actually, a
new clock is going to be with a field clock
because it's a clock that people can see on the field.
The secret clock is no longer a secret clock.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You're somewhere between Madden and Bill Cosby.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It's really funny. Jello pudding. So that's, I mean.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It was the anniversary of Fat Albert and the Cosby kids.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
It was, yeah. It was also the 85-day anniversary of
the Knicks winning the title. Yeah, buddy. 85 days. Why
did I open the door? Happy 86th day of the
Knicks winning the championship. Happy 86th day anniversary of the
Knicks 86ing the Spurs in the finals, TJ. Now, we
got more football on the way, but a big story tonight.
(15:59):
It looks like Shohei Otani could be headed... To the
injured list. You watch your mouth, Jason. Dave Roberts saying
tonight following the game, the thought was to give him
today off, which he was out of the lineup again
six times in seven games, then huddle up with him,
the medical staff, and figure out what's next. Dodgers are
off on Thursday, open a seven-game trip in Miami on Friday.
(16:23):
Otani saying that he likely isn't going to pitch again
this year. The injuries to his arm and his knee
are still bothering him. So potentially an IL stint. You
don't want an IL stint this close to the playoffs
for Shohei Otani. This is now a red flag danger
moment for Otani. And honestly, this is why we say
(16:43):
things like, Enjoy what we've seen Shohei Otani do because
the number of times you are going to see him
pitch again in Major League Baseball is dwindling down to zero.
He's not going to pitch again this year. And you
can see his body can't withstand the rigors of pitching.
end hitting every day, right? Every fifth day. Again, it's
(17:03):
going to wind up coming down to what we said
it should be a year and a half ago for him. Hey,
two elbow surgeries, really can't stay healthy yet. He's going
to have to close. If you need him, he can
still throw great. He's going to have to close where
he pitches maybe 60 innings a year, 65 innings a year. Yeah,
if he gives up the lead and you lose the
DH spot, you figure things out, you pinch hit. It's
(17:24):
not rocket science where suddenly, oh, the ninth inning is
crazy for us. No, you can do that if Otani
gives up the lead. and you need to do something else.
But outside of that, that's the next step from not
pitching anymore. I don't think people understand how close we
are to not see him pitching again because he can't
come back as a starter. Now you're seeing that his
everyday value in the lineup is put at risk because
(17:46):
of his pitching injuries. So it's either going to be
closing or that's it, and they're shutting the door on
him pitching. Again, why we say... Enjoy what we have
seen from him because, as you're seeing now, a couple
of arm injuries, years cut short. Now this is cutting
into him again. Yeah, we're getting close to the point
where we're not going to see him pitch anymore.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yeah, I mean, we've watched it with all athletes. You
hit your expiration date, the number of reps that you
can do, all of that. But when you're trying to
be hitter, run the base paths, not playing in the
field anymore, but... Talk about what your body has to do,
the mechanics to pitch. Like, it all adds up. Add
(18:28):
a couple extra months of games, which is what they've
done the last couple of years. Didn't have to worry
about that in Angel Town. But you're talking about so
much on his body and the everyday wear and tear.
It's made him less of a player at the plate.
He's had some stretches where it's like, all right, he's
finally gotten back together. to being himself, but he's not
(18:51):
the guy on the base paths. I don't need him
to be 50-50, but I need him to be a
threat because that changes the complexion of how an at-bat
is pitched, right, to the guys behind him. So going forward,
you want the closer and I think the staging. And
for Shohei Otani, it's convincing him and making him understand
(19:12):
what it means for the longevity of his career and
what he's still able to do because... Part of this
was placating him of, all right, he still wants to pitch.
At some point, and that first half was amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
He was dominant. He was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
But then you started to see his body breaking down
and nobody, they were still leaving it in his hands.
At some point, you got taken away from him. You
can't let the guy be his own worst enemy. Because
pride says, well, this is what I've been able to do.
Damn it, I'm going out there every fifth day. If
it's going to be a hampering to you of keeping
you in the lineup, shortening your career. and putting your
(19:51):
team and their, you know, success in jeopardy, then all
of those things, you've got to be the, for lack
of a better term, the adult in the room. You're
getting paid as the manager and the GM, the head
of the training staff, to just say, you know what,
the human body, the body's telling you this is done. Like,
(20:12):
we can't go through this. Like, even your closing stage.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah. I skip straight to zero. Like, how long? But
I don't think he's ready to give it up totally. Like,
he is. How much have you seen him try to
come back? Oh, no.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
He wants to. And so I think that's probably the
Band-Aid solution is, let's see you close, and let's see
how it goes. And if you can do that... Awesome. Right.
We can we can do that. And this can be
how you, you know, late in your career, because maybe
your arm can withstand 60 innings a year.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Maybe you can do that. Maybe that can happen. But
if it can't, like that's got to be it.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Like, like if you if you put like the number
of times you're going to see him pitch again. in
the major leagues and you put it at like 10.5
or 11, I would probably take the under. I don't know.
Are you really going to see that? But again, I'd
like to see him try. I'd like to see him
close because that seems like the best thing you can
do because why are you having him as an opener?
(21:05):
That's just dumb. On the plus side, though, Tay Oscar?
Mookie Betts. He can't pitch either. And Lil' Tommy. He's
not been hitting well. None of those guys can pitch. Well,
Kike didn't get used today. They're saving him for good.
They could have pitched him with 13-1.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I was really kind of waiting. Because he'd already homered.
I was really waiting for him to try it out
for the ninth. And instead, I found you a 2025
Topps Chrome autograph card of Halverson pictured with the Rockies.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Exit out about a fresca. Exit Swollen Dome. Jason Smith,
Mike Harmon, live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios. Now, today...
We lost an absolute titan in the sports industry. Barry Melrose,
former player, coach, ESPN analyst, died at the age of 70.
And Barry had been suffering from Parkinson's for a few years.
(21:52):
He had to retire from ESPN where he was for
the better part of his post-coaching career. I worked with
him on NHL Tonight the first couple of years. It
debuted in the 90s. And he was such a fun
guy to work with. And look, he's someone that always
was interested in you, whether you were a 23-year-old production assistant,
(22:14):
a 30-year-old producer, a 55-year-old coordinating producer. He was always
interested in what you had to say, right? Oh, hey,
how are you doing? I remember him asking me questions about...
When my girlfriend and I first went away, hey, how
did it go? What did you wind up doing? Where
did you go? I remember the conversations we would have,
and he would say, oh, yeah, this is a great
place to go on a holiday. And he really did.
(22:36):
He cared about everybody. He talked to everybody. And that's
a great thing. In front of the camera, which is
where everybody saw him, to borrow that quote from Bill Maher,
I can't prove it. I only know that it's true.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
He.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
increased the popularity of hockey in the United States because
of how he talked to us about the sport. When
he finished coaching, and again, the big run with the Kings,
they make it to the Stanley Cup final with Wayne Gretzky.
That's the moment where hockey really started to hit it
big in the United States, Gretzky in Los Angeles. he
(23:13):
goes to ESPN and he becomes the hockey department, right?
Like that's it. Like it's Bill Pito and, and Barry Melrose.
And then it's Bucciagross and Barry Melrose. And Barry had
a way of talking about the game and, that always
made you feel comfortable, whether you are a huge hockey fan,
you know, you and I are both huge hockey fans,
whether you are middle-of-the-road hockey fans or if you're somebody
(23:35):
new to the game and just want to hear what's
going on. Like, he found a way in everything he
talked about to be able to appeal to all three
of those levels. And not many people can do that.
You see, hey, this NFL analyst, what he's talking about
is a top one-tenth of one percent. Well, I'm blown
away by hearing what he has to say. This MLB
(23:55):
analyst is telling me just what I want to know,
meat and potatoes right here, what this matters. But Melrose
found a way to do it at every level. And
I vividly remember when the NHL first made their change
to four-on-four overtime, right? And so I'm going back a
few years. And in like a 35 or 40 second rip,
(24:16):
he did that. He appealed to all three levels. He
started out by saying, you're going to see this is
what's going to happen. These are going to be the
areas of the ice that are wide open and over
time that are going to start adding to. scoring opportunities
and he circled on the ice this is where it's
going to be this is where you're going to see
guys breaking out here here and here I'm like wow
that's really in depth then he talked about how you're
(24:37):
going to see these games they're going to end within
a certain amount of time this is the best change
the hockey has had in 20 years going to four-on-four overtime, right?
So there's a 30-second rip where he's at all three
levels of telling me something that only the top one-tenth
of one percent people know, which is where the open
spots are going to be on the ice, to what
it's going to mean to the average fan. What does
(24:59):
this mean? Are we going to see goals in overtime?
And then, hey— Biggest change in hockey in, in, in
20 years. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't know anything about that. Well,
he found a way to do that. And so many
people responded to him and he was so prevalent on
sports center and NHL tonight and everywhere else, but just
because of the way he talked about it. I mean, really,
you know, you, you mentioned earlier in the show, like, Hey,
(25:21):
the Mount Rushmore of, of, of, of hockey people, uh,
when it comes to people on television and in the media,
and it's like, really, there's only two people. It's, Canada
had Don Cherry with his suits and his craziness and
how upset he always was. No, that's right. And you
had Barry Melrose with the suits and the goatee and
the mullet. And the laughs. Hockey's fun. Love hockey. These
(25:41):
are the two guys that brought the sport into that
level where just hearing them talk about it made you
appreciate it more, made you want to watch it more,
and increased the popularity of it. And there's nobody else...
like Barry Melrose. It felt like it was family. Like
I'm seeing my Uncle Barry on television tell me about
what I just saw in the game, right? Like they
(26:02):
always say the best people on air are the ones
who sound like people you'd be friends with, but they
just know a little bit more about things than you
do because it's what they do for a living. It's
right like, oh yeah, I'm friends with you and you're
a bank executive, so you know more about being a
bank executive than I do. You know more about directing
movies than I do. You know more about whatever it is.
(26:23):
and that's kind of what Barry Miller was like. He
was always like, hey, I'm Uncle Barry. I'm telling you things,
but I know a little bit more about it because
it's what I did for a living, and I'm not
going to talk down to you. I'm not going to
talk bad about the game because I love the game,
and I'm going to tell you about things that I see. Hey,
when guys make mistakes and guys play bad, I'm going
to tell you, but we're going to talk about the
(26:44):
game this way, and he welcomed everybody in, and it
was just amazing to see him do that. Great ambassador for...
ambassador for the game, right?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
That's what it comes down to of, all right, we're
going to go to the hockey desk and we're going
to break into a show here. And it was the,
all right, come on and have fun with us, right?
Because hockey is one of those sports, right? A lot
of folks in or out, they're going to talk hockey, click,
you know, that kind of thing. Barry Melrose made it
engaging and had fun with it. And obviously having the
(27:14):
cachet and being around those movie stars, just like like
you just went out of your way to, you know,
casually drop your, uh, affiliation with JJ Abrams, your old
neighbor there, uh, you know, movie directing. Um, but it's
just that, right. You need folks to, to get you
excited about a sport. And he did that, uh, each
(27:35):
and every night for all those years and cool stories.
You've been telling us behind the scenes of your interaction
and those meetings and, and how it was that community.
And that's, you know, always what we always try to
build as best we can here in our perch here
at Fox Sports Radio. But he did that for, you know,
on TV for all those years for the hockey audience.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I mean, he was such a fun guy to work
with and you see people saying glowing things about him
because that's the kind of guy he was. He wasn't
somebody that walked around ESPN with an attitude or, Hey,
I'm a talent. Like he made, he made everybody feel comfortable.
And that extended to the, I think, honestly, it was just,
it was as simple as this is who I am.
And so it's who I am every day, whether I'm
(28:16):
in front of the camera, whether I'm in a meeting,
whether I'm getting a hamburger, whatever it is like that,
that's who he was. But also think about it.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
How many people in consultants or the people in makeup
at some point wanted to, to take the mullet away?
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah. Oh, yeah. How many fights did he have going on?
This is what I do. No, I mean, like the
mullet was his thing, man. I mean, that that's his thing.
Business up front, party in the back, his entire run.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
How many executives told him to cut it, though, over
the years and he never did? Oh, I'm sure a
few jokingly told him about it. Well, no, but would
bring it up. You know, hey, you know, Barry, maybe
you leave that like. Kind of joking, but really trying.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
To push him. Yeah, that mullet was great. When it
was really popular in the late 80s, early 90s, I
really wanted a mullet. I remember really wanting it, but
my hair, I could never do it. Did you really
want it because of Terminator 2? No, but I kind
of said, ah, the mullet's really cool, man. I'm going
to get a mullet. And then you realize, oh, wow.
But he was able to pull off. He was the
(29:13):
only guy that could pull off a mullet. Not even
Billy Ray Cyrus could pull off a mullet for most
of the time. It's a hard thing. A Jason Smith mullet. Yeah, yeah.
We need this.
Thanks for listening to the Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight,
10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern, 7 to 11 p.m.
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at FoxSportsRadio.com or
stream us live every night on the iHeartRadio app by
searching FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening
(00:24):
to Fox Sports Radio. Hello, welcome inside. Final hour tonight,
the Jason Smith Show with my best friend, Mike Harmon.
We'll have more on tonight's game, the reaction. The Seahawks
13-10 win over the Patriots. We'll ask a big question
we have not asked yet on the show. 271 to go, Smith.
(00:47):
Come on now. Don't count down. Come on, man. Don't
count down. We went 1-0 today. No, no, no. When
you count down like that, it makes it feel like, oh,
we're running out. We're not running out. We haven't started
week one. Don't give me the 271, 256. Don't do that.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We just turned the hourglass over, and it's a giant one.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Don't do it. Don't do it. A little bit of sand.
You're kind of making it feel like, oh, we're running out.
We're running out.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I've got to sell urgency in this world.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
We're just getting started. It's fine. No, it's the sense
of urgency. Today is important for all of us. You
missed one of 272. Here's the thing. This wasn't a
great game. Yeah, it was. It came down to the
final throw. It was a close game. It wasn't a
great game. That was thrilling. It was a close game.
I was standing up in the studio. No, you weren't.
You were sitting next to me. It's don't lie. You
(01:37):
saw me. Don't lie. You did not. I was screaming.
The only time you stood up tonight was when you
got a cramp in your calf and you were like, oh, cramp.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh, no.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I stand. Then you sat back down right away. And
then I flexed. Check that. But I got to ask
a big question. We got a big question out of
baseball coming up in a couple minutes first. But like,
you know, that's not here. You stop. Dude. The two
teams with the best record in Major League Baseball since
the trade deadline. How's that getting you into the playoffs?
Because we're starting. It's not. I don't know if you
(02:05):
know this. The MLB is starting the standings from the
end of the trade deadline. Jason fought to reinstall the
rules from 1981. Two best teams. Second half champion. Two
best teams in Major League Baseball since trade deadline. Phillies
and the Mets. You going to hang that banner next season? 100%.
Since the trade, yes. After the trade deadline, 100%.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Did you see that Babe Schwarmer today?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, well, I feel like now that's what I'm looking
at is like, oh, we're chasing the Phillies to win
the post-trade deadline. World Series, which is the best record
in baseball after the trade deadline.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You've got to set new benchmarks in your life, right?
I mean, look, just because you're a day older doesn't
mean you've lost.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
No, I feel good. Just today is day one of
the rest of your life. I feel good. And still
the Mets stuff is so cheap. You scored 15 runs today.
We barely won, right? Tobias Myers pitched well. But it's
one game, but especially, and this gets into how we
feel as fans and also as fantasy owners, is that
(03:05):
This game was so bad for Drake May. How bad
was it? You would almost rather have Cade Klubnick. This
game was so bad for Drake May. Threw a touchdown,
but three picks. It's a great Seahawks defense. I get it.
But it looks like he has regressed, or at least
he regressed from the end of last season. Or it's
(03:26):
just a bad matchup that haunts him. And now potentially,
without A.J.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Brown.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
And not going to make it any easier, right, without
weapons to really throw to. And Travion Henderson's been out
for now a few weeks. The guy's averaging five yards
a carry. Ramondre Stevenson averaging two yards a carry. So
that's not a great trade. No, it's not a good formula.
Scale of one to ten. If ten is I am
absolutely five alarm fire and one is not at all
(03:51):
everything is fine. Ten. How worried are you about Drake
May after tonight?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
If I drafted him where he was coming off the boards,
I'm terrified. And I really hope that I was smart
enough to go draft another viable quarterback.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Because you're likely losing week one if you started.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
No, this was awful.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
You need a monster game from multiple spots to overcome this.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I got to hope Garrett Wilson catches 14 passes from
Geno Smith. Well, because what did he have?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
He had, obviously, the three interceptions, 47 yards rushing.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
He'll take away... two of those. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Right?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah. So, 178 yards.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Keaton Mitchell could save the day.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
He's worth about 12 or 13 points. Yeah, someone 10
to 12. Fantasy, yes, because I'm a horrible.
Fantasy owner when it comes to being patient. Like, this
is where I'm going to stare at this for three
days and go, I got to trade him and get
him off my team, right? I got to trade him
and get him off my team, right?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Because he's either second or third off the board in
terms of fantasy quarterbacks, right? Depending on whether you wanted to.
So Allen's number one, and it was either him or
Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Right, right. You're like, I got to get rid of him.
I can't do this. I can't do this. But especially
when you think about how they're going to be without A.J. Brown,
however long they're without him, their two best players on
offense outside of him are not playing. From a football standpoint, yeah,
this really worries me. This really worries me from a
football standpoint, too, simply because these were mistakes that he
(05:24):
made that were forced upon him that mentally, he made
those mistakes, right? If this was a scheme thing, if
this was, hey, well, the Seahawks were able to do
things that the Patriots weren't ready for, and it was
an entire night of where they out-schemed them, out-talented them,
I get, okay, it's one of those games, right? They
(05:44):
are the Super Bowl champions for a reason. They beat
you in the Super Bowl for a reason. But the
fact that he made three really bad decisions to force
that football down the field... That does not fill me
with a lot of confidence that he's going to take
that next step from last year to this year. Because
these were three throws all into double coverage, off his
back foot, bad decisions where... If he's playing without his playmakers,
(06:08):
guess what? He's going to feel like he has to
force it. You're not going to win a lot of games, right?
We talked about this. The Patriots could start 0-4. If
they're without Brown and Henderson, they could start. The schedule's
not great. They could start 0-4 and their season could
be sunk opening night.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, for those that haven't seen it, home against Pittsburgh
on the 20th and on the road at Jacksonville at
Buffalo before a home date mid-October against the Raiders.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, they could start 0-4 and their season could be
done opening night. Because what he didn't do tonight was
take what the defense gave him. And I know it's
frustrating as a quarterback when you're used to making big
plays and you finish at the top of the MVP
vote and you're thinking, hey, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
But.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
If he plays a clean game... They win 17-3. This
is not close. This is, wow, as good a game
as the Seahawks defense played. If he doesn't make those throws,
they win this game by two touchdowns. But yet still,
he made those throws, which tells me when it comes
down to it, he's going to continue to try to
make plays where he shouldn't. Jason Cole talked about the regression.
(07:21):
of Drake May from last year to this year. I
don't know. I don't think you regress so much as
you fail to take that step forward. I don't think
for any quarterback they get to a point of, well,
they were at this level, but they've regressed. It's not
like Drake May suddenly is not going through his progression.
It's not like he suddenly, his footwork gets bad. That's
(07:42):
not what he's doing. But the fact that if you
are at this level of quarterback and you're You have
great success, and this is what happens early in the
career sometimes to players where they feel, I got it now.
I'm good. I know what I'm doing. All the prep
I have done has gotten me here. There's nothing that's
gotten me wrong. The prep I did in high school
to get me to college, the prep I did in
college to get me to the NFL, now to get
very early in my career, I'm a big star player.
(08:04):
I was arguably the MVP in the NFL last year.
It was really close. Yeah, I got it. So sometimes
when players feel that way and they don't progress, and
what happens is then you get caught up to. And
I feel like Drake May is getting caught up to, hey,
if you do this to the guy, this is what
he will do. If you are able to frustrate him,
(08:24):
keep him from big chunk yardage, keep him from his progressions,
keep him just a little bit uncomfortable, he's not going
to be able to respond. And that's kind of where
I feel like this may be where Drake May is.
And we're going to find out because he's not going
to have those bailout guys. Well, you don't have a
guy to hand the ball to that averages five yards
a carry. Well, you don't have the 1,300-yard-a-year wide receiver
(08:45):
that you made a big play for in the offseason available.
Are you really going to be great? Like, Mike, in
both fantasy and on the field for Drake May, It's
really high right now. Yeah, that escalated quickly.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
We didn't think necessarily you'd light it up, even with
the missing components of the secondary still had the under
when we talked about it last night. But you go
back to the playoffs, the decided step up in class.
He only completed 58 percent of his passes, 6.9 yards
per attempt. Six touchdowns, four picks last year, en route
(09:17):
to a Super Bowl run. He also ran for nearly
200 yards with a score. But all that to say,
you know, the Seahawks present a certain number of challenges. Again,
missing a couple of components of their secondary tonight. But
McDonald obviously had a good game plan.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And then once A.J.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Brown went down, And that's part of your larger thesis
here is that he's a guy that can go get it.
Do they have a guy that can do that on
the roster? We watched Dobbs try.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
No. Right? He had the 50-50 ball. But did he
really try? But did he really try? He got his
hands on the 50-50 ball. All he's got to do
is catch that one ball.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Oh, no, I didn't even get to that one yet.
I started with the interception. Then we have what?
Speaker 1 (09:59):
All he's got to do is catch that one. pass
and maybe the game is... I mean, really... No, but
that's just it, right? That's another guy you can't trust.
That's another guy you can't trust now if you're Drake Mack.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And then you're pushing the ball to Mack Hollins, who was.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Here's how bad it was. We were forcing it to
Mack Hollins like it was Odell Beckett Jr.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
In 2019.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
But I feel.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Bad for like he gets raked because it's not his fault.
Like you're the next man up. You're the third or
fourth receiver that all of a sudden your status elevates
because he sure as hell wasn't going to look to
Dobbs again.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Right?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Several targets. You know what happened on all of those?
Bad things, man. Bad things on.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
All of them.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Your offensive line struggled, and they got persistent pressure without
having to bring a lot of extra guys. So you
got a little bit of happy feet going there, but
we watched Ramondre Stevenson. He might be fine as a
split-time running back.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
He is not a No. 1.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
So Henderson not having jailbreak ability coming out of there
and a guy you've got to pick up out of
the backfield as a receiver changes complete complexion of that offense.
So next couple of weeks are going to be pretty
tough sledding. And right now, if you're a fantasy owner,
you're going, why, why, why? Cause you would have taken
him several rounds earlier than you had to at the
quarterback position. But right now, Boston radio, boy, you want
(11:18):
to talk about scorching hot takes, man, burn it down.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
What do you got, Frostberg? You want a scorching hot take?
Hit it. Yeah, sure, go ahead. And if you're the Patriots,
I know it's just week one.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
But you got to call J.J. McCarthy, don't you? Oh, wow.
Runner-up MVP.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, I mean, he was a national champion. Can you
sell that? I thought you were going to say you
got to call Diana Rossini. I really thought that's what
you were going with it. Oh, they don't even need
to call her. She just comes over. Oh, God.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
This is one I go to the postgame. Ravel's like,
anybody want to talk about that today?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I'd rather talk about that than the three interceptions that
Drake made through. Can someone ask me about that? No,
but seriously, Patriots, call J.J. McCarthy. I wonder how many
teams after this week in the NFL will call the
Vikings about J.J. McCarthy. You get them on the cheap.
I wonder, right? Because, I mean, when you're a guy
that gets named the No. 3 quarterback in Minnesota today, right? No. 3, again,
(12:16):
showing you that the Vikings made the worst quarterback decision
in the history of the NFL. because they had evidence
to keep Sam Darnold, all kinds of evidence, they still
decided not to. This story keeps getting worse and worse
for the Vikings. They just need to move on from him.
They need to have him not in the building every
day because it's a daily reminder of the big mistake,
the biggest quarterback mistake you could possibly make, again, in
(12:38):
the history of the game. After this week, I think
some people are going to call. The Patriots aren't going
to call, but will the Seahawks call? Like, why not? Hey,
we got Darnold and McCarthy. A little bit different now.
Now suddenly McCarthy's like, yeah, I'm way behind you, Skip.
You got it, man. I love you.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It's an interesting dynamic, right? We'll see what kind of...
haul they get if they finally pulled the trigger you
fired your gm we presumed he was going to be
the third quarterback well it's made official today uh we
go back to the draft and sean payton's taking a
lot of victory laps saying well this is how we
ended up getting bo nicks i'm keep waiting for jim
(13:13):
harbaugh saying yeah i really got over on the vikings
they listened to everything i said when i was selling
mccarthy along uh that entire highway leading up to the
draft but For the Vikings, it's now....
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Kind of a dead roster spot for the moment, right?
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I mean, he didn't show you enough to beat out
Carson Wentz, but we talk about the war of attrition
for an NFL season. He'll be playing, quote-unquote, meaningful football
for someone down the line. That's how many quarterbacks we
go through. I think they're like, including all the wide
receivers or whatever with the one-off, but they were like
mid-60s players throwing a touchdown pass last year.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
How crazy would that be if, you know, we had, what,
60 quarterbacks start a game if none of them is J.J. McCarthy?
Make the call, Newman. None of them. Deep into the reservoir. Nope,
anybody but him. Not that guy. But he was a
top 10 pick. I don't care. It doesn't matter. We
don't want to just get him out. I'd rather start
Cade Klubnick. We will be starting Cade Klubnick. We'll be out. Well,
I think you would. He's an unknown.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Oh, yeah, sure.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Yeah. I don't know that he stinks yet.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But this goes back to an old married with children
joke where Peg would come down to Al and she'd
put a bow on herself. It's like, oh, Peg, why
are you giving me the same stuff I didn't play
with yesterday?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m.
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Fox Sports Radio, the Jason Smith Show with my best friend,
Mike Harmon. Yeah. Just because this is really entertaining. If
you get a chance, watch Frank Caliendo. He does a bit.
It's on Twitter. about if Madden and Summerall were still
around to explain the ending of Western Michigan versus Michigan.
And it's absolutely hysterical. There's a throw. No, no, no, no, no.
(15:02):
It's explaining what happened after. So it's Caliano going, oh,
there were two clocks. There's a clock on the field
and there's a clock, but there's also a secret clock.
That's a secret clock that keeps the time. So this
is how we're doing it going forward. No, actually, a
new clock is going to be with a field clock
because it's a clock that people can see on the field.
The secret clock is no longer a secret clock.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
You're somewhere between Madden and Bill Cosby.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It's really funny. Jello pudding. So that's, I mean.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It was the anniversary of Fat Albert and the Cosby kids.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
It was, yeah. It was also the 85-day anniversary of
the Knicks winning the title. Yeah, buddy. 85 days. Why
did I open the door? Happy 86th day of the
Knicks winning the championship. Happy 86th day anniversary of the
Knicks 86ing the Spurs in the finals, TJ. Now, we
got more football on the way, but a big story tonight.
(15:59):
It looks like Shohei Otani could be headed... To the
injured list. You watch your mouth, Jason. Dave Roberts saying
tonight following the game, the thought was to give him
today off, which he was out of the lineup again
six times in seven games, then huddle up with him,
the medical staff, and figure out what's next. Dodgers are
off on Thursday, open a seven-game trip in Miami on Friday.
(16:23):
Otani saying that he likely isn't going to pitch again
this year. The injuries to his arm and his knee
are still bothering him. So potentially an IL stint. You
don't want an IL stint this close to the playoffs
for Shohei Otani. This is now a red flag danger
moment for Otani. And honestly, this is why we say
(16:43):
things like, Enjoy what we've seen Shohei Otani do because
the number of times you are going to see him
pitch again in Major League Baseball is dwindling down to zero.
He's not going to pitch again this year. And you
can see his body can't withstand the rigors of pitching.
end hitting every day, right? Every fifth day. Again, it's
(17:03):
going to wind up coming down to what we said
it should be a year and a half ago for him. Hey,
two elbow surgeries, really can't stay healthy yet. He's going
to have to close. If you need him, he can
still throw great. He's going to have to close where
he pitches maybe 60 innings a year, 65 innings a year. Yeah,
if he gives up the lead and you lose the
DH spot, you figure things out, you pinch hit. It's
(17:24):
not rocket science where suddenly, oh, the ninth inning is
crazy for us. No, you can do that if Otani
gives up the lead. and you need to do something else.
But outside of that, that's the next step from not
pitching anymore. I don't think people understand how close we
are to not see him pitching again because he can't
come back as a starter. Now you're seeing that his
everyday value in the lineup is put at risk because
(17:46):
of his pitching injuries. So it's either going to be
closing or that's it, and they're shutting the door on
him pitching. Again, why we say... Enjoy what we have
seen from him because, as you're seeing now, a couple
of arm injuries, years cut short. Now this is cutting
into him again. Yeah, we're getting close to the point
where we're not going to see him pitch anymore.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yeah, I mean, we've watched it with all athletes. You
hit your expiration date, the number of reps that you
can do, all of that. But when you're trying to
be hitter, run the base paths, not playing in the
field anymore, but... Talk about what your body has to do,
the mechanics to pitch. Like, it all adds up. Add
(18:28):
a couple extra months of games, which is what they've
done the last couple of years. Didn't have to worry
about that in Angel Town. But you're talking about so
much on his body and the everyday wear and tear.
It's made him less of a player at the plate.
He's had some stretches where it's like, all right, he's
finally gotten back together. to being himself, but he's not
(18:51):
the guy on the base paths. I don't need him
to be 50-50, but I need him to be a
threat because that changes the complexion of how an at-bat
is pitched, right, to the guys behind him. So going forward,
you want the closer and I think the staging. And
for Shohei Otani, it's convincing him and making him understand
(19:12):
what it means for the longevity of his career and
what he's still able to do because... Part of this
was placating him of, all right, he still wants to pitch.
At some point, and that first half was amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
He was dominant. He was fantastic.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
But then you started to see his body breaking down
and nobody, they were still leaving it in his hands.
At some point, you got taken away from him. You
can't let the guy be his own worst enemy. Because
pride says, well, this is what I've been able to do.
Damn it, I'm going out there every fifth day. If
it's going to be a hampering to you of keeping
you in the lineup, shortening your career. and putting your
(19:51):
team and their, you know, success in jeopardy, then all
of those things, you've got to be the, for lack
of a better term, the adult in the room. You're
getting paid as the manager and the GM, the head
of the training staff, to just say, you know what,
the human body, the body's telling you this is done. Like,
(20:12):
we can't go through this. Like, even your closing stage.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah. I skip straight to zero. Like, how long? But
I don't think he's ready to give it up totally. Like,
he is. How much have you seen him try to
come back? Oh, no.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
He wants to. And so I think that's probably the
Band-Aid solution is, let's see you close, and let's see
how it goes. And if you can do that... Awesome. Right.
We can we can do that. And this can be
how you, you know, late in your career, because maybe
your arm can withstand 60 innings a year.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Maybe you can do that. Maybe that can happen. But
if it can't, like that's got to be it.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Like, like if you if you put like the number
of times you're going to see him pitch again. in
the major leagues and you put it at like 10.5
or 11, I would probably take the under. I don't know.
Are you really going to see that? But again, I'd
like to see him try. I'd like to see him
close because that seems like the best thing you can
do because why are you having him as an opener?
(21:05):
That's just dumb. On the plus side, though, Tay Oscar?
Mookie Betts. He can't pitch either. And Lil' Tommy. He's
not been hitting well. None of those guys can pitch. Well,
Kike didn't get used today. They're saving him for good.
They could have pitched him with 13-1.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
I was really kind of waiting. Because he'd already homered.
I was really waiting for him to try it out
for the ninth. And instead, I found you a 2025
Topps Chrome autograph card of Halverson pictured with the Rockies.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Exit out about a fresca. Exit Swollen Dome. Jason Smith,
Mike Harmon, live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios. Now, today...
We lost an absolute titan in the sports industry. Barry Melrose,
former player, coach, ESPN analyst, died at the age of 70.
And Barry had been suffering from Parkinson's for a few years.
(21:52):
He had to retire from ESPN where he was for
the better part of his post-coaching career. I worked with
him on NHL Tonight the first couple of years. It
debuted in the 90s. And he was such a fun
guy to work with. And look, he's someone that always
was interested in you, whether you were a 23-year-old production assistant,
(22:14):
a 30-year-old producer, a 55-year-old coordinating producer. He was always
interested in what you had to say, right? Oh, hey,
how are you doing? I remember him asking me questions about...
When my girlfriend and I first went away, hey, how
did it go? What did you wind up doing? Where
did you go? I remember the conversations we would have,
and he would say, oh, yeah, this is a great
place to go on a holiday. And he really did.
(22:36):
He cared about everybody. He talked to everybody. And that's
a great thing. In front of the camera, which is
where everybody saw him, to borrow that quote from Bill Maher,
I can't prove it. I only know that it's true.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
He.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
increased the popularity of hockey in the United States because
of how he talked to us about the sport. When
he finished coaching, and again, the big run with the Kings,
they make it to the Stanley Cup final with Wayne Gretzky.
That's the moment where hockey really started to hit it
big in the United States, Gretzky in Los Angeles. he
(23:13):
goes to ESPN and he becomes the hockey department, right?
Like that's it. Like it's Bill Pito and, and Barry Melrose.
And then it's Bucciagross and Barry Melrose. And Barry had
a way of talking about the game and, that always
made you feel comfortable, whether you are a huge hockey fan,
you know, you and I are both huge hockey fans,
whether you are middle-of-the-road hockey fans or if you're somebody
(23:35):
new to the game and just want to hear what's
going on. Like, he found a way in everything he
talked about to be able to appeal to all three
of those levels. And not many people can do that.
You see, hey, this NFL analyst, what he's talking about
is a top one-tenth of one percent. Well, I'm blown
away by hearing what he has to say. This MLB
(23:55):
analyst is telling me just what I want to know,
meat and potatoes right here, what this matters. But Melrose
found a way to do it at every level. And
I vividly remember when the NHL first made their change
to four-on-four overtime, right? And so I'm going back a
few years. And in like a 35 or 40 second rip,
(24:16):
he did that. He appealed to all three levels. He
started out by saying, you're going to see this is
what's going to happen. These are going to be the
areas of the ice that are wide open and over
time that are going to start adding to. scoring opportunities
and he circled on the ice this is where it's
going to be this is where you're going to see
guys breaking out here here and here I'm like wow
that's really in depth then he talked about how you're
(24:37):
going to see these games they're going to end within
a certain amount of time this is the best change
the hockey has had in 20 years going to four-on-four overtime, right?
So there's a 30-second rip where he's at all three
levels of telling me something that only the top one-tenth
of one percent people know, which is where the open
spots are going to be on the ice, to what
it's going to mean to the average fan. What does
(24:59):
this mean? Are we going to see goals in overtime?
And then, hey— Biggest change in hockey in, in, in
20 years. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't know anything about that. Well,
he found a way to do that. And so many
people responded to him and he was so prevalent on
sports center and NHL tonight and everywhere else, but just
because of the way he talked about it. I mean, really,
you know, you, you mentioned earlier in the show, like, Hey,
(25:21):
the Mount Rushmore of, of, of, of hockey people, uh,
when it comes to people on television and in the media,
and it's like, really, there's only two people. It's, Canada
had Don Cherry with his suits and his craziness and
how upset he always was. No, that's right. And you
had Barry Melrose with the suits and the goatee and
the mullet. And the laughs. Hockey's fun. Love hockey. These
(25:41):
are the two guys that brought the sport into that
level where just hearing them talk about it made you
appreciate it more, made you want to watch it more,
and increased the popularity of it. And there's nobody else...
like Barry Melrose. It felt like it was family. Like
I'm seeing my Uncle Barry on television tell me about
what I just saw in the game, right? Like they
(26:02):
always say the best people on air are the ones
who sound like people you'd be friends with, but they
just know a little bit more about things than you
do because it's what they do for a living. It's
right like, oh yeah, I'm friends with you and you're
a bank executive, so you know more about being a
bank executive than I do. You know more about directing
movies than I do. You know more about whatever it is.
(26:23):
and that's kind of what Barry Miller was like. He
was always like, hey, I'm Uncle Barry. I'm telling you things,
but I know a little bit more about it because
it's what I did for a living, and I'm not
going to talk down to you. I'm not going to
talk bad about the game because I love the game,
and I'm going to tell you about things that I see. Hey,
when guys make mistakes and guys play bad, I'm going
to tell you, but we're going to talk about the
(26:44):
game this way, and he welcomed everybody in, and it
was just amazing to see him do that. Great ambassador for...
ambassador for the game, right?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
That's what it comes down to of, all right, we're
going to go to the hockey desk and we're going
to break into a show here. And it was the,
all right, come on and have fun with us, right?
Because hockey is one of those sports, right? A lot
of folks in or out, they're going to talk hockey, click,
you know, that kind of thing. Barry Melrose made it
engaging and had fun with it. And obviously having the
(27:14):
cachet and being around those movie stars, just like like
you just went out of your way to, you know,
casually drop your, uh, affiliation with JJ Abrams, your old
neighbor there, uh, you know, movie directing. Um, but it's
just that, right. You need folks to, to get you
excited about a sport. And he did that, uh, each
(27:35):
and every night for all those years and cool stories.
You've been telling us behind the scenes of your interaction
and those meetings and, and how it was that community.
And that's, you know, always what we always try to
build as best we can here in our perch here
at Fox Sports Radio. But he did that for, you know,
on TV for all those years for the hockey audience.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I mean, he was such a fun guy to work
with and you see people saying glowing things about him
because that's the kind of guy he was. He wasn't
somebody that walked around ESPN with an attitude or, Hey,
I'm a talent. Like he made, he made everybody feel comfortable.
And that extended to the, I think, honestly, it was just,
it was as simple as this is who I am.
And so it's who I am every day, whether I'm
(28:16):
in front of the camera, whether I'm in a meeting,
whether I'm getting a hamburger, whatever it is like that,
that's who he was. But also think about it.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
How many people in consultants or the people in makeup
at some point wanted to, to take the mullet away?
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah. Oh, yeah. How many fights did he have going on?
This is what I do. No, I mean, like the
mullet was his thing, man. I mean, that that's his thing.
Business up front, party in the back, his entire run.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
How many executives told him to cut it, though, over
the years and he never did? Oh, I'm sure a
few jokingly told him about it. Well, no, but would
bring it up. You know, hey, you know, Barry, maybe
you leave that like. Kind of joking, but really trying.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
To push him. Yeah, that mullet was great. When it
was really popular in the late 80s, early 90s, I
really wanted a mullet. I remember really wanting it, but
my hair, I could never do it. Did you really
want it because of Terminator 2? No, but I kind
of said, ah, the mullet's really cool, man. I'm going
to get a mullet. And then you realize, oh, wow.
But he was able to pull off. He was the
(29:13):
only guy that could pull off a mullet. Not even
Billy Ray Cyrus could pull off a mullet for most
of the time. It's a hard thing. A Jason Smith mullet. Yeah, yeah.
We need this.
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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