08-26-25 KOA Sports Hour 2 with Nick Ferguson

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We will be on till five thirty tonight. We hand
things off to the Rockies who are back in action
this evening, but we have all sorts of fun things
to get to.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Over the next hour and a half.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
We'll of course have rick Lewis actually at a different day,
but excited to have him on that set. Four thirty
I believe today coming up, so rick Lewis will be
John Color analysts. If you're defa Broncos, get his thoughts
on cut down day, the roster moves. We have some
interesting notes here from Sean Payton in just a matter
of moments, but we didn't get a chance to get
to this in the first hour.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
I want to get your thoughts on it.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Nick, Cayden Salter's named the quarterback the starting quarterback for
CU for Friday night's opening game. He's of course transferred
from Liberty played the last four years out there.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
What do you think about the decision from coach Prime
to go with Kayden Salter.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
I think that makes a lot of sense me too.
If you watch See You.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Football in the spring, you can tell that there was
a significant difference between the two quarterbacks. It's not to
say that Juju is not a talented quarterback. Yes, but
there is a jump that you're making from high school
to college, just like it is to the pros, and.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Not every player is ready for that.

Speaker 4 (01:10):
And it's not something to knock him down a couple
of pegs. It's just saying where he is right now
and to be ready and to want to play.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
That is something that you admire about Juju.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
But right now, Coach Prime is trying to replace two
star players, Travis Hunter and Shadora Sanders, and right now
you need a more season quarterback to step in.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
That's not to say that you don't put Juju in
at some point during the season or starting things off
at home home opener against Georgia Tech, that is something
you want to do. You want to make sure that
you sing your offense and defense into the game with
a boatload of confidence.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
I completely agree.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
And even when Coach Prime anounced today, it was a
you guys probably already know this.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
It's going to be Kayden Salter. They said they're.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Gonna try to work He said they're gonna try to
work Juju in at some point.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I don't know what that looks like exactly.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
But sounds like some trick plays me.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
But that's yeah, like some packages specifically for him. But
I don't is that goal line stuff is that?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
I don't know. I you know what is that? Is
he gonna take the ball and run with it.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
I don't know what we're looking at with Juju coming
into the game. College is a little bit different, right
If you were to announce that in the pros, we'd
be like, what are we doing here? This is this
coach know what he's doing? Like, but in college you
can sort of get away with things like this.

Speaker 4 (02:36):
Well, the reason why you can because you know, Caden
Salter is a veteran.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
He's only there for one year.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
Juju, the idea is that he is going to be there,
hopefully for three years. Because there's someone you got to
think that someone's in this camp is probably telling him, look,
this is not what we signed up for.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
You should jump into transfer a portal.

Speaker 4 (02:56):
But I would say to Juju and anyone else in
his camp, this is right where you.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Want to be.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
This is exactly right.

Speaker 4 (03:03):
You know that you don't have to step in right away.
I mean, just like when we're talking to Ian Rappaport,
what's going on with Spencer Rattler and Tyler shuk Right,
at some point a change will be made.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
But you want to.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
Give Tyler shuk an opportunity to just sit and wait,
because if you stick him in too early, it blows
up its confidence and then he's wrepped. The same thing
can be said for a young quarterback. And then also,
I mean Byron left Wich, is your quarterback coach, Sit
and learn. They're gonna hand the car, the keys of
the car over to you, and at some point they're
gonna get you some place here and there to make

(03:36):
sure that you're comfortable.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
Because we know there is going to be a transition.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
We already know that there's no such thing about keying
Salter is going to apply for another No, that's not
gonna happen. So I would just tell Juju sit, watch, learn.
When your moment comes, take advantage of it.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Perfectly said.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
And I think for Ceeu this is such an interesting shift,
right because you had Shador, you had Travis.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
That was the identity of who you are or were.
The two names are going to be up there at
folsome and those the players gonna get.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Just not even trying to take a dick, I'm just
saying like that, you're going to have a plane look
at it as a player for SeeU this year and
for the entire season. Right, So that was then what
are you now? A lot of people want to know
what are you now? What is this next iteration? And
what does Coach Prime look like without Shador and Travis
to lean on in high leverage moments? And so this

(04:33):
was kind of the first thing, like, Okay, what does
it look like? You went with a vet VET. You
with a quarterback that has experience, Right, He's got several
years of experience out there at Liberty they transferred over.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
You're right, he's a senior.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
This is his last year of eligibility, so he's going
to play for you.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
And yet you've got to balance that knowing that.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
To your point that Juju's thinking about, Hey, I was
one of the most coveted quarterbacks in all of college football,
and I chose to come to see you with the
expectation that I would get to following the footsteps of
George Sanders, and here you are now in maybe not
the role that you wanted. So the delicate balance of
this whole thing and how Coach Prime is able to

(05:11):
navigate it is going to be so intriguing to watch
this year.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
Hey, there's a difference between what you want and what you.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Need stones to me, aren't you.

Speaker 5 (05:21):
No?

Speaker 4 (05:21):
No, I could have, but I'm not. But the idea is,
it's hard when you are in a certain position and.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
You are a highly touted player like Juju.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
Is coming out of high school. I mean, everyone has
been telling him how great he is. He wants to play,
and he wants to play now, but sometimes that's not
the best thing for you, because it's not living in
the short term, is living in the long term, and
he stands to benefit a lot from the long term
being as though, regardless of what you think about coach

(05:55):
Prime and CEEU and how many games they want opposed
to not winning, that's still musty TV.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Everyone is Everyone's.

Speaker 4 (06:03):
Gonna be tuning in Friday to watch Georgia Tech play CU. Right,
either you are a fanning you want to see see
you do well, or you want you're looking because you
want them to fall on you on their faces. Everyone
is watching. So with that being said, Juju, if if
Juju say we're to transfer anywhere elsewhere else, he's not
gonna get this type of publicity.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
And I know today's youth. That's what it's all about.
It's all about branding, rebranding and NI own money.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
What do you think is gonna happen on Friday, mister
Georgia Tech.

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Well, for me, I think it's gonna be really difficult
for CEU, right because Jamal Hayes and Haines King the
offense runs between the quarterback and the running back and
being able to slow those guys down.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
Is gonna be key.

Speaker 4 (06:51):
And what Robert Livison, the defensive coordinator for CIA, is
gonna have to do. He's gonna have to shorten the
game because you're gonna see Brent Key, head coach for
the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There's gonna be some design
quarterback runs don't and if you can slow them down
and force them to make mistakes, fine, But Brinkey's thinking,
wait a minute, we're coming up into thin air.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
It's going to be.

Speaker 4 (07:12):
Difficult because we can't train for that. So they want
Georgia Tech wants to slow the game down. They want
to slow the game down. They don't want it to
be up pacing up tempo because those those guys upfront.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Get tired fast.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Right.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
I imagine the pacing for CU probably doesn't change a
lot like well they should though, well, I mean.

Speaker 4 (07:31):
Because you want to speed Georgia Tech up.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
I'm saying what they were last year is what I'm
trying to say is what they were last year with
Shoe or Standers, with Travis Hunter, like, with that high
flying offense, with all those receivers out there.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
I think they're gonna want to do that again. I
just don't know if they're being able to do at
the level that they want to yet. Yeah, you know,
we don't.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
Know because this offensive line we've never seen them play together,
because there's a lot.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Of transfers on this on this group.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
Here's what I will say that CU has going for them.
Opposed to when Coach Prime first came to Boulder. These
guys now looked the part. They look like SEC players
as far as upfront. Now, can they drive guys off
the ball? We'll just have to see. And it's gonna
be on Caden Salter to keep the office to someone
in the rhythm. But for me, the guy who has

(08:19):
a lot the most pressure is officer coordinator Pat Shover.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
One hundred percent agree. We'll give you a chance.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Speaking of Friday night, we'll give you a chance to
win a pair of tickets to the Rockies Cubs game.
Come see me throughout the first pitch. We'll do that
here in about ten minutes. We'll get back into the
Broncos fifty three man roster.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Cuts coming up next.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
You can understand the frustration and well, because it's being
shoved down fans's faces the audience. It's like, like I
was telling you, I think Holly of Travis, Holly of
Tellis Swift, congratulations, whatever.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
But it gets to a point where I want to
watch the football game. You know what it's like.

Speaker 4 (09:04):
It's like, you want to watch the football game, and
right as the game comes.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
On, there's a honey do list. Right, it's a honey
do list, and it's.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Like, for real, I'm just giving you an example.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
I'm just giving you a good one.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
But I don't care. I'm just it's an example. Nonetheless,
it's a one example. So now it's cutting into your tongue.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
Mike Tarico goes to Taylor Swift to the watch, You're like, oh,
I got to go clean the toilets against That's what
it's like.

Speaker 4 (09:28):
A honey do list like like it's a two minute
drive and you and you just kind of, you know,
into the game, you just pin to your seat and
then all of a sudden, Hey can you come help
with the garage?

Speaker 1 (09:39):
And it's just like, oh, let's see what Taylor Swift
thought about that catch from Travis Kelsey.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
I got to go right the leaves.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
But that's kind of what it's like. But look, you
you want to watch the game. You didn't, you didn't
get your subscriptions because there's a streaming service for every
game now Thanksgiving, whatever it is. I want to watch
the game, show her wants or whatever, and that's it.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
And I think the.

Speaker 4 (10:03):
Oversaturation of the relationship and the league using it as
a tool. Like you said, you read off the text
line that someone watched the game, right and they don't
even want like football, but the league looking at it
as another marketing tool for lawyer fans just want to
watch the game.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
I just want to watch the game.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
You've seen the ratings, Spike, I mean, have you actually
seen the numbers.

Speaker 3 (10:26):
Yes, I've seen them. I've heard the league, people in
the league I know.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
Talk about them. But at the same time, I want
to watch the game. Adapt to die Man adapt to
what if I want to see listen, if I want
to see that much of Taylor Swift, I'll go to
a concert. But I had to tune into. But that's okay,
that's okay. You just have to know some representatives.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Again.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
So but the whole idea is that let us watch
the game.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
If if you want to show her wants Mike Tariko
at the beginning of the game. Fine, not like every
Kansas City possession, there's a throw Travis Kelsey boom right
to the skybox.

Speaker 6 (11:08):
No, you're ruining it for us. Okay, that's all I'm saying.
Your chance to win Rockies Cubs tickets. We don't agree,
but that's okay. Well, Rocky's cub tickets coming up here
in just a matter moments. Rick lewis joining us in
ten minutes.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Sean Payton on the team meeting for six hours last
night on this depth and roster.

Speaker 7 (11:28):
Say, look, our first year. I can't tell you the
length of the meeting. There's always George and I are
meeting daily leading up into call it the final meeting
the night before, right, I can't tell you an hour
two hours last year hour two hours. But last night
was closer to six out. I mean, there was a

(11:50):
lot of discussion film. It was very evident that were
deeper and I would say just strictly based on the
length of the the meeting. In the process itself, that
was very clear, and I think it was evident in
the preseason games as you watched him, when when the
second wave or the third wave went in, you saw good.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Football man, he really likes this team.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Like he really likes this team six hours last night
on guys that you've been watching for months.

Speaker 4 (12:23):
See unlike you right, Uh, this is cut down days.
So there was a lot of importance into it.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, people wanted to spend some time unlike me.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
Yeah, I just go back to you asking the question
about you know, tell Swift.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
We're insulted by that.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
That was good, But I'm just saying there are guys
who are losing jobs.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, yeah, I understand coach.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
Payton saying that in years past we get in and
out by two hours.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
No, you spent six hours.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
That's right, because it's harder to really good players.

Speaker 4 (12:55):
It gets harder because even though coaches don't want to
do that, this kind of violates coaches code where you
get tied to a player emotionally, you have to kind
of break away from that to be able to make
an objective decision when you're trying to set your roster.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
So that's why it took so long.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
It's like, Okay, well, who do you guys think we
should keep here? I know we keep in this amount
of wide receivers. Well you know what this guy did this?
You know, Coach Colbert, tell me what you think about
Courtney Jackson. If you had to make a plea that
he should make this team for whatever reason, what would
you say?

Speaker 3 (13:29):
So that's why it kind of you know, it's taking
so long. It's very different.

Speaker 4 (13:33):
It gets difficult, man, because you become invested in the
people that you're around.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Absolutely, I couldn't agree with you more.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Why do you keep trying to paint this picture of
like I don't care, Like I'm heartless in this thing.
I very much care. Spent a lot of time around
these guys. I didn't have the same experience then.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
I know that.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
But it's not to say that I'm like the grinch
over here.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
I'm not saying that you Benjamin all Bright, That's not
what I said.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Kind of inferring it though, Yeah, that I don't understand love. Interesting,
we're gonna rick Lewis, who definitely understands love. He's gonna
join us coming up next. But right now, call number
ten three all three seven one three eighty five eighty five.
Caller ten three all three seven one three eighty five
eighty five.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
You're gonna win a pair of tickets to the Rockies Cubs.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Koa night at Coursefield this Friday. Winners also receive a
chef Iq Smart wireless meat thermometer. Holy cow, what a deal.
Caller number ten three all three seven one three eighty
five eighty five plus, And it doesn't include this on
the rod on the read here you get to see
me throughout the first pitch.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
That's right. You come out watch the game.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
Rockies fan, Cubs fan, Baseball fan, chef Iq Smart Thermometer fan.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
Take a video over it, post it, let me see it.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
Be calling number ten right now, and you get to
have all You get to have it all.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
Well, bright back with rick Lewis.

Speaker 5 (15:00):
The chairs situation fixed. I can't even see the field.
I look like a kid at the Thanksgiving kids table.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
What are you guys eating? Sorry?

Speaker 5 (15:14):
Serious, Sorry for interrupting on your side like.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
One of the little people.

Speaker 7 (15:26):
Rick's chin is closer to what he's right that he's
belly buttons.

Speaker 5 (15:32):
I could literally put my chin on the counter.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
That I just got a text for management. You guys
are having way too much fun.

Speaker 6 (15:38):
We need to get.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
Okay, sorry, this is a very segment, serious project.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
Back to it and talk to some serious football now.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, okay, Rick, my friends, great job. That was fine,
and you know you played big man. You listen. Not
only do we did that, but then he went on
to do a whole segment talking about the Broncos game
after that.

Speaker 2 (15:58):
So tip of the cap to you, my friend. How
are you?

Speaker 5 (16:00):
Yeah, yeah, it was an awkward moment, not an awesome moment,
And yeah, I battled my way through it the whole time.
Dave is pretty much on the floor laughing at me.
But we did make it through, Ryan, and you're a
true pro man. You hung in there with me the
entire way. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
No, he was great, man.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
It's always great, And I love doing those segments in
a lot of ways because we do have some improvisational
moments in it, and we're talking about the weather and
we're talking about heating blankets and you know whatever, and
I think what's cool about it in a lot of
ways is is it takes people into the booth really right.
I mean, there's not really moments otherwise when we're talking

(16:40):
about the scene inside the booth.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
It's always outside the booth.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
But you guys have those experiences inside the booth with
the chairs and sitting out reams of paper just to
be able to see the field. And then what was
it like Miami a couple of years ago where you
guys were in the corner and you could barely even
see the field and it's raining, And I mean, I
just I think that stuff's awesome.

Speaker 5 (17:02):
You know what, me too, I've always liked that my
entire radio career. I like taking people behind the curtain
because I think people find it fascinating. You know, the
radio is is is such a beautiful thing because you're
painting a picture, and so everybody's got this picture in
their head of what you're trying to paint for them,
and so when you take them behind the curtains, sometimes

(17:24):
they're really surprised, like, WHOA, I had no idea these
guys are doing the calling the game from an NFL
press box in kids chairs. We had to put booster
seats on these chairs to get that game called.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
But man, you just got to you just do what
you gotta do.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
You know.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
You guys were you guys were amazing. Well, it's really
great to have you on the show for a moment here.
I do want to ask you about the fifty three
minute roster cut down. You guys, we speculated a ton
during the preseason and all of our segments, and of
course during the games, you guys took text all those
kinds of things.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
What was your general reaction.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
To the fifty three man roster, at least the initial
fifty three man roster, because we know the Broncos might
actually put some waiver claims into you.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
Know, I don't think there was too many surprises. I
think what we saw is pretty much what we all
talked about and agreed upon during the past week or so.
Sam Ellinger was the last guy to get cut. I
was thinking maybe they would keep three quarterbacks. You know,

(18:26):
it's a bit of a long shot to do that,
but they did it last year. And just knowing how
much Sean Payton loves Ellinger and they just cut him,
they'd love to have him back. He provides a little
something to that quarterback position that I think is pretty interesting,
you know, kind of like a joker at the quarterback spot.

(18:46):
He can do a lot of things for you. We'll
see if they get him back on the practice squad.
I'm afraid he probably showed way too much in those
preseason games. I would think somebody's going to pick him up.

Speaker 4 (18:57):
You know what, this is always a very difficult time
of the year, especially for some rookies and more importantly
some veterans.

Speaker 3 (19:04):
And last week on.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
BCT Ben and I talked about this Sam Franklin junior
and looking at the safety position in which guys that
they were going to keep, but he was one of
those guys who were you know, special team or a
guy who they value, who they figures though would add
some debt, but they let him go. So when you
see a veteran guy like that, you know, let go,

(19:28):
how do you think it impacts the Broncos safety position.

Speaker 5 (19:33):
Yeah, that is a good question. I think it tells
you they think J. L. Skinner still has an upside
that maybe we haven't seen. You know, we don't see
him every day in practice. He's a good special teams player,
but I think expectations were a bit higher for him
of just being a special teams player, so they did

(19:53):
keep him. And you're right about Sam Franklin Junior. This
is a veteran who's not only good on special teams
but has played a lot football and he had a
million dollar plus guarantee, So I think that tells you
a lot right there. They were willing to eat that
cap number to keep Jail Skinner in the in the

(20:14):
defensive backfield. So that was that was just a little
bit of a surprise. I mean, there really wasn't any
big surprises. Maybe Karne Reid, yeah, making making the final
fifty well it's not the final fifty three yet, but
the first fifty three undrafted rookie Utah. We called his
name a lot in preseason because he had an interception

(20:38):
and a fumble recovery, so he was making plays and
definitely stood out. Apparently other teams were interested in him,
so they felt like they had to keep him on
this cut that just happened today.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
Yeah, Sean talking after practice today mentioned him as well
as Frank Crumb kind of in the same vein of
guys that they were getting a lot of calls on
and listen, they have better pulls on this thing than
we often do. And I was asked a lot about
Bailey versus Reid today and in the end, as we
were talking about a bit earlier, the back end roster

(21:11):
guys tend to be special teams guys, like there's somebody
that the special teams coordinators pounding the table for.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
So it's not to.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
Say that Lavelle Bailey wasn't somebody that they were interested in,
or that Darren Rizzy wasn't interested in. It's just to
say that maybe he thought they'd get more out of
Reid as they brought him in this year.

Speaker 5 (21:30):
Yeah, that's a good point. You know, Reid does have
NFL DNA. His dad played in the league for a
couple of different teams. I don't know if that's a factor,
but it shows you he's got that genetics. He's an
NFL linebacker. And LaBelle Bailey a bit surprising, because they
sure talked him up during training camp and pre season,

(21:51):
how smart he is and how much they like him.
That was a bit of a surprise as well. There
was just a couple of minor surprises. I think you
mentioned Frank Crumb, big athletic raw talent, beautiful natural blonde
here by the way, which you don't see with a hemeton,
but it does flow out the back and a really

(22:12):
good dude. I really like Frank Crumb. He's a massive
human being, he's a good athlete, and there's an upside
to him. I don't think we've seen it yet, but
I'm sure they've seen it. And I was a bit
surprised that he didn't make the final or the fifty three.
Today I keep saying the final fifty three, but that's

(22:32):
not going to happen here for a couple more days.
But I'm glad they kept him because I do think
there's an upside.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
Rick, What do you think of the the Broncos roam
of past rush is because it's an excellent mix of
young guys and veterans and this is a group that
really showcased their ability last season. I think the biggest question, too,
is after an historic sixty three sacks last season, will

(22:59):
they be able to even get close you think to
that number this season.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
I'm gonna say no, that was such an incredible season
last year. Will they be that aggressive rushing the quarterback? Maybe?
Is another question? Will Vance Joseph continue to do that.
I mean, they were one of the most aggressive pass
rushing teams in the league last year. They've got a
great front seven, They're deep at all the positions. There

(23:30):
Kee Robinson a rookie that made the team today with
a big upside, very raw talent once again, and as
you said, a good mix of veterans and young players. Yeah,
I gotta like you know, there's a lot to like
about this defense when you look at it and you
look at the guys that they cut. These are good

(23:53):
football players they got cut today. Effect on both sides
of the ball. It tells you a lot about how
deep this ross there is and what a great job
Sean and George Peyton have done in the last couple
of years. It's just incredible. Offensively, Courtney Jackson was a
guy that really shined here in the preseason. Didn't do

(24:16):
enough apparently to make the fifty three, although I think
a lot of teams took notice of him. We'll see
if he gets picked up. I would not be surprised
if he does.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, that seems like the case last one here for you.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
And this is more on a personal level for me, because,
as you heard a little earlier, I am throwing out
the first pitch on Friday at the Rockies Cubs game.
By the way, congratulations to Patricia, one of our listeners,
which is one of those tickets. So I've thrown out
the first vision on Friday. You've done this several times.
I'm obviously needing all the advice I can get. You
saw my last first pitch. Anything you can pass along

(24:50):
to me to help me out.

Speaker 5 (24:53):
Yeah, let me give you some advice here. It's very simple.
I've done this three times, and it was early in
the Rockies early years at Mile High Stadium when they
were drawing eighty thousand people to a game. So the
first two times I threw a perfect fastball. Both times
perfect strike, fastball, second time fastball, perfect strike. So when

(25:17):
they asked me the third time, I got a little
cocky and I decided to throw a trick pitch, just
kind of as a joke, and I talked about it
on the radio. Hey, I'm going to throw a lobster forkball, Okay,
so get ready for it. Nobody can hit this pitch.
And I threw the lobster forkball into the dirt. It

(25:37):
bounced about three times before the catcher got it, and
I got booed by eighty thousand fans walking up the field,
and I don't think too many people know what that
feels like when you get booty. Even though I was
joking around, it didn't feel too good. So I would
tell you just play it straight, man, Just play it straight, relax,

(26:00):
and just throw the ball easy to the catcher. Don't
try to get fixed with it.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
That's my lean as we sit here today, you know,
and you know Dave was just go out there and
let it, let it go, let a rip, And you know,
Ben's trying to say the same thing. And you know,
I think last time I did more of a wind
up kind of deal, and I'm feeling a much more
just like you just I mean, listen.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
I had weeks to prep for it. Last time.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
I was just informed of this, you know, within a week.
So I feel like I kind of have to go
straight at this thing. And I definitely don't want to
get boot I have enough trying to make sure I
don't disappoint Dave Logan on a daily basis.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
Let alone have this followed up and the rest of
my career.

Speaker 5 (26:40):
Yo, Yeah, because that hangs heavy over everybody. But here's
one more thing. You're much better off throwing it over
the catcher's head into the backstop, Okay, then dribbling it
to the balancing ground. Yeah, yeah, just heave that thing.
Just throw it over his head. People will cheer for that, Okay,
But you throw it into the ground, you're gonna get.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
Boot Okay, that's good advice.

Speaker 4 (27:00):
Well, Rick, you may want to kind of put that
in context and what I mean by that, because you're
telling Ryan throw it further instead of shorter. Now you
also have to make sure that you tell him to
get it over the plate and not why right or
wide left.

Speaker 5 (27:18):
Well, like I said, if you want to really play
it safe, just throw it over the catcher's head. Even
if it's wide left, right right down the middle, it
doesn't matter. It's show you're showing off your arm. That's
basically by doing that. Yeah, that's way better than dribbling.

Speaker 4 (27:33):
No, when you said that, you should have seen Ryan's face.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Light up, like yet, throw it as hard as I can.

Speaker 5 (27:43):
Well, I've never seen Ryan really throw. I've seen video
and I thought, maybe did you do that as a
joke the first time?

Speaker 2 (27:53):
Wow?

Speaker 5 (27:56):
I mean it should have been a joke. Throw like
I did with the with the lobster.

Speaker 1 (27:59):
For the wind up, the shaking off the catcher in
this case, Dinger, Yes, that was a joke, like Ben
Bennen sort of asked me to do that, so I said, okay, final,
I'll go shake off the catcher.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
That was the joke part. And then the throw, unfortunately
was it was kind of real.

Speaker 5 (28:14):
So just tell people you threw it with your off hand.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
There you go. That's it. Thank you for the advice, uh.

Speaker 5 (28:20):
Rick, because you like a charlege, because I like a challenge.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
Rick, I appreciate you so much, man, Thank you for
a great preseason.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
Can't wait for the regular season.

Speaker 5 (28:29):
My friend, same here man, you guys do a great job.
Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
Appreciate it the best. Rick Lewis color analyst for your
Denver Broncos. Good advice. Throw it as hard as I can.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
Yeah, and even if it goes over Dinger's head. They
won't let me up on the mound. Like we were
talking about that yesterday. You know, Dave was like, oh,
demand it, demanded me up on the rent in the mound.
I was like, that's not that's not you look at me.
That's not a thing I get to do. I don't
get to demand things. I go out there it's Kawa
Day and try to represent the station well. And you know,
we played that sound by from Mandy. I'm gonna try

(29:01):
to at least look a little better than Mandy did last.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
Year, which I thought she did a good job.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
Do they tell you, hey, listen, throw it from here?

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yes, they do, right in front of the mount like
in the grass.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Interesting, yeah, they say in front of the grass or
in front of the mount on the grass. And then
Dinger was up in front of home plates.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
Yeah, so to make it more well.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, that's what that's what they said yesterday. But I
don't think that's what it is. I think it's just
they want to stay off that. They just you know,
they just got done watering and raking the dirts.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
They just want to make sure that you don't ruin.

Speaker 1 (29:36):
That's right, home Plate, that's right. They don't want me
to get They want me throwing into the dirt.

Speaker 4 (29:40):
And see, now it all makes sense. We don't want
to put your bad mojo on the bump or at
home Plate, so let's get you off by both of those. Now,
I got it. Now, now it makes sense. No, I'm
saying I get it.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
My bad mojo.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
Well, well consider this.

Speaker 4 (30:00):
Now, you and I've had these conversations. You try to
turn me into the Rockies debut downer you are, but
you know, I mean, I know you've gone hold.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
Rockies, yeah, and I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:11):
But the whole idea is that you want to make.

Speaker 4 (30:13):
Sure that they win every time, every day exactly. So
that's you being a team player. Get stay off the bump,
stay off the bump, don't.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Put any modes on there. There you go, you like it,
that kind of things.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
But the last time I did throw out first pitch,
they lost one hundred games that year.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
And I'm just saying they haven't.

Speaker 3 (30:31):
Under saying.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
Here's Sean Payton talking about the decision to go as
Corene Reid over label Lavel Bailey.

Speaker 7 (30:40):
We saw man a draftable player. It's interesting because both
with Red and Bailey, they were on the phone heading
somewhere six teams, and I would say, identically an hour
an hour and a half with me, he mailing the

(31:00):
information relative to free agent guys that make rosters. You know,
everyone can say, hey, free agents have a great shot
at making our team. And you we had a history,
our scouts did a great job of putting together seventeen
years eighteen nineteen years with me as a head coach
and so and then getting that information. So the process

(31:24):
with those two players I felt like was almost identical.
You know, we I can't recall the teams, but we
flipped them and.

Speaker 1 (31:34):
Man it.

Speaker 7 (31:35):
You know, you're you're putting Greg Penner on the phone
with them. You're you're you have the whole scouting room,
you know, stand up and yeah, yeah, you're being creative
because it's so unique. The draft ends and here is
this hour and a half period where there's just so

(31:56):
much happening and trying to organize it and prioritize it
to where you're signing the highest graded players first while
you're on the phone.

Speaker 5 (32:07):
Maybe with Plan B or C.

Speaker 7 (32:10):
It's it's not an exact science, it's it's a challenge.
The good thing is you can you can zum players
before the draft. You can bring players in. Sometimes we'll
bring players in that we feel like we already know
about the makeup and the mental but a lot, you know,
for a player to visit a facility and then go

(32:30):
home and then get a call after the draft, there's
a comfort level. Maybe that didn't exist if he didn't visit.
So sometimes we'll use some thirty visits for priority free
agents if they don't get drafted.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
What was your process like because you were undrafted as well? Right? Yes, okay,
so what was that like being undrafted?

Speaker 1 (32:52):
I mean like that that night when you're getting the
calls and you have teams hitting you up.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
I mean, what was that? What was that like? Cincinnati?

Speaker 3 (32:59):
Right?

Speaker 4 (32:59):
It was interesting because, like you said that, there are
teams that are calling, and it was the Colts, the
Bengals and some other teams.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
Now, the way that.

Speaker 4 (33:10):
I can help you and the audience understand this, this
is like speed dating, but really rapid fire, because you
had to make sure that you made a decision, and
you only had a small amount of time to make
that decision because they're going to go on to the
next person. You say no, they're on the phone with
someone else.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
And it was based on how much playing time.

Speaker 4 (33:32):
What other veterans were at your position, would you get
a real shot because like Coach Payton said, I mean
everyone in their mama is on the phone. Hey, hey,
come over here, Hey, Ryan, Ryan Evers, come talk to them,
anyone to convince you to come and join them because
they understood that whether you made that team or not,
your skill set was going to push someone else right right.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
And I had to make a decision, and the Colts.

Speaker 4 (33:58):
Wanted to give me more money, but I was like, well,
you're already stacked at my position, so I'll get the
more money, but I'm not going to be on the
roster that long. So I decided to go to Cincinnati
where it would prove to.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Be a better opportunity for me.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
And then I got hurt and things kind of went,
you know, down from there, and then you went to Saskatchewan, right, yeah,
after I rehab my injury. But let me tell you
how cold the game was because I got injured in
Cincinnati and I told the head trainer, Yo, this is
the injury that I'm dealing with, and I'm thinking, like

(34:35):
maybe I need to sit out for a bit. It
was like no, hey man, the way I'm talking here
from the coaches, you have an opportunity to make this team.
So I go like, okay, let me get out there.
So I got out there hurt and I didn't put
good film out there and it made me look bad.
And once you get out there and you're running around.

(34:57):
He's good cutting the worst. Yeah, yeah, that is Cincinnati Ice.
They suckered me and they got me too. Hey yeah,
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
If it's a good time for that. Yes, I don't
know that's a good time for that. Well, that's that's unfortunate.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
That's why they never succeed That's why they never succeeded.
That's right.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
Put you put the curse on them.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Huh No, they did that to themselves. As grant, he's
been a fan for a while. What have they had
to celebrate.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
As of Lake, Well, they went to a super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (35:30):
Did they win?

Speaker 2 (35:31):
They did not. That's history would show.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
Okay, Like I said, what did they celebrate