Death, Taxes And One Game Out of First Place! A Common Theme In May

Wex and AC discuss Houston's win over the A's, plus why people who use the green bubble are the single worst entties in life!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam Raised, my Earl
Nolan Multipi the magnificent roller coaster ride.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
That is Houston Sports.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Chill lge down for the only home grown afternoon team
is Talking Your Teams? Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler are
the A Teams.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
A Welcome into a Thursday edition of The A Team.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
It's Sports Talk seven ninety. It'll be Space City Home
Network before you know it, as we are often running
wex Ac and Cole Thompson with you. You know, I
always hate day games because it feels like you gotta
wait that much longer to get back to the action.
And that's only Actually I take that back. I was
gonna say that's only when they win, but kind of

(01:08):
think of it. If they lose a day game, the Astros,
you want to get back to action yet again, because
that's how baseball is. You know, you don't have to
worry about the fact that you have to dwell on
a loss that much longer. You can get right back
to the action, regardless of it's a win or a loss.
And that's exactly what we'll be able to do. After
yesterday's thrilling come from behind win over the Oakland A's.

(01:31):
We talked about that ad nauseum over at Carbacha Brewery
yesterday and hopefully you guys were able to tune into that.
And then of course the Crawford Box cast is Gordy
and Ross Veria. I'll get you caught up on all
things Astros that we didn't get to. But yeah, I
like the fact that you can turn right around and
keep the good times rolling, and that's what the Astros
hope to do. I'm assuming, and again I should know

(01:53):
this coming in here at two o'clock, but I'm assuming
the Washington Nationals didn't completely crap the bed and lose
the big lead.

Speaker 5 (02:00):
Whether they have like a fourteen hour range layer or something,
it's game unted hours ago.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
Well it was six to one when I last peeked
in on that game, and then life happened once I
got home last night.

Speaker 6 (02:11):
So yeah, four hours we'll get you a score update
on that.

Speaker 4 (02:14):
Well now, because if they lose that game, it's a
half game, and the Astros with a win tonight and
a Seattle Mariners loss, it's.

Speaker 6 (02:22):
Light night on the major league schedule today.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Yeah, that's true. I forgot about that little part but look,
who cares. The Astros are just close to being in
first place. That's kind of the idea. Yes they have
a manual scoreboard at Dyke and Park. Yes we have technology.
No we don't.

Speaker 5 (02:39):
Hope the newspaper that arrives at the house of the
morning will give us our final score so we can
know what the score is. Yeah, there's a little bit
of scoreboard watching, but you said it there at the end.

Speaker 6 (02:49):
Just do what you do.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
Go out and win games, especially the ones at home,
go out and win series. That's essentially all they've done
at home all season long. After the opening home stand
of the season then included two wins against the Mets
and no wins against the Giants, they were two and
four to start that home schedule, and it's been smooth
sailing ever since. It's why they've gotten to thirty wins,
which is the same number that the Mariners have.

Speaker 6 (03:12):
They did not win last night. They did not come
close either.

Speaker 5 (03:16):
George Kirby made start number two and it looked a
whole lot like start number one.

Speaker 6 (03:19):
Unsuccessful. So the Astros do have an.

Speaker 5 (03:22):
Opportunity to continue just taking care of their own business
and watching their ascension up the American League West Ladder.
Well probably at the point in time, and I think
I said it. If it wasn't yesterday, it was definitely earlier.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
This week.

Speaker 5 (03:38):
The Angels hauled off and had what will be their
longest winning streak this season, and they followed it quite
nicely with what will be one of many long losing
streaks of their season. The Athletics are now ten games
under five hundred after the Astros handed them two of
those losses.

Speaker 6 (03:54):
And the Rangers.

Speaker 5 (03:55):
Nobody in baseball in twenty twenty five, not a soft
playing in the College World Series, not a baseball team
set for regionals if their ballpark is fixed in time
talking to you Austin, very unfortunate, or any of the
major league outfits. Nobody hates scoring runs like the Texas
Rangers hate scoring runs. Nice that they got a leadoff

(04:17):
hit last night and then went for twenty seven. They
did not win. It is as of today stated here
on the A team, and I believe it when I
say it. I'm not big on proclamations. I'm not saying
if this happens, then I'll walk to work backwards. The Rangers,
the Athletics and the Angels, they can play out the

(04:41):
rest of their seasons. One hundred plus games to go,
it is a two team race for the division title.

Speaker 7 (04:46):
Oh.

Speaker 5 (04:46):
In the American League, the Astros are a good baseball team,
five games over five hundred for the first time all season.
As they just stepped into the second third of their season,
they're fifty five games in. Mariners have played too fewer
than those losses are one fewer. The lost number is
one less than Houston. They're one third of the way
through the season. I don't imagine all of a sudden,

(05:08):
the awful hitters for the Rangers or somebody in their
system or some trade is going to change their fortunes.
And what they've done is waste one third of the
season of unbelievable starting pitching because it's not gonna get better.
They're not going to start pitching even better. So there
you have it. There's two teams that have a chance

(05:28):
to win this division. I won't say that the only
chance is to make the postseason, because if you look
around the American League, the American League Central boasts four
playoff caliber teams. I don't know if the American League
East boast more than one. The New York Yankees, Red Sox,
the Jays the opponent for tonight, the Rays. They're all

(05:51):
average baseball teams one third of the way through the season,
and none of them are healthier today than they were
when the season began, right the red most notably with
the extended absence expected for Alex Bregman, the long term
absence staring them in the face with Tristan Cassis. And
I didn't even mention the Orioles because they stink. So
that's the Yankees, four teams in the Central, the Astros,

(06:16):
and the Mariners. That's seven good teams. Six make the playoffs.
Of those seven. End of story.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
I can't believe that we're sitting here talking about the
Orioles this way.

Speaker 5 (06:28):
By the way, what we should be saying when we
take the next step is who do the Orioles have
that will be moved?

Speaker 8 (06:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Well, no, they have to be sellers, don't they.

Speaker 5 (06:37):
Yes, they do, because they can turn it around immediately
and win next year if they make the right type
of moves, have a couple guys come back and play
the way they should get past a few injuries like
Tokawser et cetera. They're too talented to look like they're
looking this year, but they didn't go out and do
anything about their pitching. They have some of the worst starts.
They probably have the American League's worst starting staff, And
when Rutchmen and a few others are having dismal season,

(07:00):
you get one of the worst teams in the American League.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
And there you have it. That's exactly what they are.
And look, it's not like I was brimming with confidence
that we would be sitting here saying the Astros are
a good baseball team. But I keep bringing this up
to you off the air and on the air. I
just can't believe how much worse the Astros were last
year with presumably a better roster.

Speaker 6 (07:25):
No, you're missing it completely.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
What did they do last year to get good which
they started even earlier this year, to get good hitting?
Just kind of a walk with me here a little bit. Okay,
So what happened when you know, they obviously started seven
to nineteen, they were twelve and twenty four. That was
still pretty early in the season. And you went a
little bit clearly got a little bit better.

Speaker 6 (07:47):
You didn't really like you kind of took off, but
you not so much.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
And then you absolutely stormed the league when something happened,
and this year they got started a little bit earlier
on that. They said, Man, I know, this guy's pretty good.
He swings from the left side. It's an all Star
caliber player. He's probably one of our best hitters. But
we want life without him, hey, Kyle Tucker twenty twenty four.

(08:11):
They started a little earlier this year with jord On Alvarez,
this movement up the American League West Ladder, this winning
at home at an exceptionally high rate. It's all taking
place with yord On going zero for four in May.

Speaker 6 (08:26):
That's it.

Speaker 5 (08:27):
He played one game this month, their best month of
the season. They're definitely one of the five best offenses
in baseball this season. Most of their numbers are top three.
Their run scored is a little bit behind, but they've
obviously won a bunch of games to move from where
they were after April to where they are today. Their
pitching's been good throughout both months. It is their offense,
even with guys still in the mid six hundred at ops,

(08:48):
even with only one double figure home run hitter, even
with Altuve having an extended slump, which I think is over.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
I know it's I think it's over.

Speaker 5 (08:57):
With two homer games on this home standard might be over.
Like are they doing anything alarmingly well on offense? I mean,
Payne is having a much better year, Myers is having
a much better year.

Speaker 6 (09:12):
But I'm not. You know, you look at Peretis and great, he's.

Speaker 5 (09:16):
Doing much more than Alex Bregman did in the first
seven weeks of a season comparing this year to last year.
But he's not doing anything I didn't expect. They might
be able to get from Bregman. And you look everywhere
else on the roster. Their offensive numbers are by no
means alarming, Their home run numbers are by no means
alarmingly good. I mean they're pitching remains, they're hurt, worn out,

(09:37):
roughed up, starting pitching staff continues. Yesterday's game a great
example to just give him opportunity to win. If Framber
from ber Valdez and Hunter Brown pitch you to wins,
give you six strong, one run innings, give you seven
inning outings where you're going to win those games, and
the other guys just give you a chance to win.

(09:57):
Ryan Gusto tonight probably more more of Colton Gordon threw
out not too far away from seeing Spencer Arighetti back
and obviously with Lance mcculler's junior or what he did yesterday,
six innings, three runs, that's giving you the better team
a chance to win most days. When they hit the field,
they are the better team. Their bullpen's making sure those
have a chance to win. Games are wins. When the

(10:18):
A's went to their bullpen, they gave up three runs.
When the Astros went to their bullpen, they gave up nothing,
and a deficit turned into a victory. They've been doing
it all year.

Speaker 4 (10:29):
I still say top to bottom though, and this includes
the rotation. The Astros roster last year was better than
this year's roster, and yet they were way worse on
May twenty ninth last year.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
So let's take two of those rostered players, Josh Hater
and Brian A.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
Brave.

Speaker 5 (10:48):
Do you want to compare their numbers through fifty five
games last year to this year.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
We me technically got that answer out of him, if
he's being honest, which I don't think he has any
reason to not be now year later, say he's putting
a lot of pressure on himself last year to be
so awesome, and that actually that probably made his mistakes
all the more magnified this year he comes in. It's
old hat, old uniform at this point, relatively speaking, and

(11:15):
maybe it's not as uh, maybe it's not as dice
he mentally for you.

Speaker 5 (11:18):
For those that aren't aware, here's here's something about sports
you may or may not know. Front running while frowned
upon from the losers is easier playing from in front,
playing with more wins than losses, playing with three two
leads five to three leads way easier. This twenty twenty
five Astros team, with probably a lesser roster, isn't playing

(11:43):
desperate baseball twenty six games into the season. Because they're
twelve games under five hundred. Their manager doesn't have to
go to his very few trusted relievers every single chance
they have a chance to win, because they can't afford
to not win the games they have a chance to win.

Speaker 6 (12:02):
He's able to let the games breathe a little bit.

Speaker 5 (12:04):
Here's a good spot for Steven Okay, here we can
go Brian King. Here, we can go the unscored upon
Sean Dubin this year and get themselves in a position
to close out these games. It's just a dramatic difference
without a clearly better roster. We could debate whether you
think it's better or worse, and I think we'd probably
lose if we were on the they're better side of it.

(12:25):
But it's not significantly worse either. In name, it absolutely is.
You don't have Kyle Tucker, you don't have Alex Bregman
playing fifty plus games to this point in the season,
and yet you're sitting at thirty and twenty five. You're
in a very good position. You've managed your way through
the front side of the Righetty injury, you hopefully manage
your way through the.

Speaker 6 (12:43):
Backside of it.

Speaker 5 (12:44):
And it's obviously a lot of fun to talk about
a god games, listening to games, watch the games, and
get involved in the discussion here, something we will continue
to do here, rolling you through the four hours of
the A Team here our Thursday afternoon edition of the show.
Always welcome to join as we continue here on Sports
Talks ninety.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 8 (13:10):
One.

Speaker 4 (13:10):
Thing that I wanted to bring up yesterday and we
just ran out of time. She's just coming off of
yesterday's win for the Astros, so we've had how many
starts now for Lance mccullor's junior five starts, I would
say the majority of them were good. There was one
really bad one, and then yesterday's was like vintage whatever

(13:35):
the best level of mccolors there can be.

Speaker 5 (13:38):
Yeah, I'm a little torn on all that stuff. Like
he struck twelve guys out. We had the discussion preemptively
about strikeouts, and clearly his stuff was great. He was
absolutely nasty, nastiest he's been all year, and nastiest he's
been in three years. He hadn't pitched in three years.
But they scored three runs in six innings. That's not
a gem. That's not elite, that's not awesome. That's giving

(13:59):
your team chance to win. That's what the back end
of your starting rotation, that's what you're hoping for. That's
the low end of what you're hoping for.

Speaker 6 (14:06):
You keep them in the game.

Speaker 5 (14:07):
I mean, as much as you want to debate it,
you're more than welcome to six innings, three runs against
the A's. He did not dominate them. He struck a
lot of them out, but he gave up three runs
and six innings, and it was because they had four
extra base hits against him, one of them going over
the fence. He gave the team a chance to win.
That's really, really good. And similarly, you know, not giving
up any runs is awesome, and he had multiple starts

(14:29):
where he did not give up any runs, while in
the same sentence, he also put the bullpen on high
alert in each of those games because he just wasn't
capable at that point. And I totally down for easy.
The guy has not pitched. I'm not expecting greatness this quickly,
but you got it. You know, you're you're giving him
four innings. You're giving him four and a third. You're

(14:51):
needing fifteen fourteen outs from your bullpen each of your
turns through the rotation, and that can be very difficult
to deal with. It's timing wise, it was particularly difficult
to deal with. It just happened to occur during the
Astros running through seventeen consecutive days of baseball. He went
six innings, only needed his bullpen to get nine outs,

(15:13):
and they got him flawlessly, didn't allow any runs, barely
allowed any traffics, certainly weren't in any trouble, and the
Astros won the game, gave them a chance to win.
The other four starts were three and two thirds, an out,
four innings, and four and a third. They had a
chance to win the games that obviously aren't Cincinnati where
he couldn't get out of the first dick. They had

(15:34):
a chance to win all those games. But it also
puts strain on your team to the point that they've
got to go out and get the majority of the
outs in that game that you started. We're still in
an age where nobody's throwing complete games, but you need
a little bit of length out of your rotation. And again,
the timing of it, not only did it occur while
they were playing seventeen games in seventeen days, it occurred

(15:56):
while they lost Hayden was Nesky for the season, while
they lost Brenel Blanco for the season. Because again, the
announcement yesterday, that was the announcement, he had already been
plucked out of the starting rotation for quite some time
before the final diagnosis and announcement came in. They're starting
Colton Gordon. They have this year started aj Blueball. They
had to start Brandon Walter.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
They've got it.

Speaker 5 (16:18):
You know this, it's almost I don't want to say miraculous,
but it seems like a word almost close enough to
use what they've been able to do on the mound
as a team. While they've worked through this, we go
with Seattle all the time is last year's that's never
gonna happen again. They used six starters. Almost all of
their starters were healthy for almost the entire season. They
only had one starter missignificant time, and they only needed one.

Speaker 6 (16:40):
Other starter to replace him.

Speaker 5 (16:42):
The Astros are rolling out astros and major league debuts
on a once every other week basis. Four different pitchers
have made either their major league debut or their Astro's debut,
and all of them their starting debuts as major leaguers.
In tonight's Game fifty six. It's not Game one oh six.
It's not Game one forty six. This has all happened

(17:05):
within the first fifty games of the season, as they
trot out one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.

Speaker 4 (17:11):
That's the crazy part is that they do have one
of the best staffs in baseball, given what's happened, you know,
injury wise, and I do have high hopes for Spencer Arrighetti,
but I'm also realistic in a lot of ways, like Lance,
just not as long of a layoff. Obviously, you know
he's not going to be mid season form right away

(17:34):
because well he can't be. He's essentially starting his spring
training in a way.

Speaker 6 (17:39):
I don't know that he can't be.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
Honestly, it depends how they have the opportunity to let
him roll through his minor leagues, his rehab assignment. Essentially,
the ramp up has to be there, Dana Brown said it.
We all know we can do the math. He hasn't
pitched in so long. There has to be a ramp
up for a starting pitcher. But are they able to
wait until he's gone sixty five in an outing in
a minor league game, gone seventy seventy five pitches in

(18:03):
a minor league game, So when he returns seventy five
to ninety pitches is expected. Thus he should be able
to get you into the fifth inning, might be able
to get you through a full five or into the
sixth inning. Then essentially you know, results aside back on track.

Speaker 4 (18:19):
Yeah, So those two though, like what is Lance mccullors
on May twenty nine, twenty twenty five, in what what
will Spencer Ara Getty be? Because I don't think either
one of them is.

Speaker 5 (18:31):
Leave it right there and pick it up. You say,
May twenty nine to twenty twenty five. Obviously Suspenser's not pitching,
so make it June twenty ninth, twenty twenty five. From
there to the end of the season. Who's better, who
helps his team win more of their starts, who's able
to maintain their health the rest of the way, and
very very, very very different situations. It has been awesome
to see Lance get the ball every trip through the rotation.

(18:52):
Once he got in it, hasn't need to step aside,
doesn't need to slow down, hasn't need an extra day,
just gone out there and taken the ball when asked
and has performed very well because the improved performances are
part of that track. But over the course of the
final it would be roughly maybe eighty games or so,
roughly halfway through the season, probably when Arragetty makes his return,

(19:12):
another twenty six games will be at game eighty one,
that's the neighborhood of when he makes his return. I mean,
I'm asking you a question that we only discuss here
because we have time to discuss it. The real point is,
what if both of them give take the ball every
fifth day for the final sixteen starts of the year.
Each then you're in unbelievable shape because now that's four

(19:33):
quality starters. As you figure out how we're gonna fill
that last spot the rest of the way, and I
think they'd be in incredible shape if you knew those
two were gonna get the ball the rest of the
way and you know, at the very least give you
a chance to win. I mean, we recall that one
of the two starts, two starts that Spencer Harrighedtty made
before Seattle tried to hurt him, he won six.

Speaker 6 (19:54):
Innings and gave up a hit.

Speaker 5 (19:57):
That's what he opened the season with, a one hitter
over six His second start was not nearly as successful,
but what he did at the end of the season.
I know he's young, He's spent zero full seasons as
a major leaguer. I feel very good about Ara Getty.
To the point, since I asked, I am a little torn.
I probably I want to say I feel better about Spencer,

(20:18):
and yet I wasn't blind. Yesterday we were right there
at Carbach watching the nastiness from Lance mccullors, and I
think that can happen against many more capable offenses.

Speaker 6 (20:29):
And we'll see if it does.

Speaker 5 (20:30):
Because if that kind of movement into and out of
the zone comes out of the lightning right arm of
Lance mccullors Junior, then while he'll technically be back of
the rotation on this staff, third, fourth, or fifth, he
might be able to give this team a lot more
than that.

Speaker 4 (20:46):
Well, and you asked me the question, who's gonna do
more to help this team win down the stretch? You
can't answer that question unless you know about the health
of really mccullors. I mean, Spencer Araghetty was a broken digit.
You know, it's not a elbow injury. It's not something
that fully recovered.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
His only timing related setback is he's a pitcher. He's
not ready to give them a starting pitcher. He's not
ready to pitch them for them in the way that
he needs to. If he was an everyday player and
we were on the same injury, well, he'd maybe go
on a rehab assignment for a game or two or
three tops.

Speaker 6 (21:27):
Right, maybe he might.

Speaker 5 (21:28):
I mean, if a mere mortal like Jordan Alvarez hurt
a finger, had it fully healthy and came back, he'd
go right back in the line. He's probably not going
to even go on a rehabit signment himself when he
overcomes his hand issue. Yes, being a starting pitcher is
a little bit different, but as Spencer told everybody before
the game earlier this week, he's healthy. He's ready to

(21:48):
throw all of his other pitches, but his initial fastballs,
et cetera doesn't bother him at all. He's not feeling
any pain, he's not feeling any repercussions of the injury.
He's obviously going to feel the well, I haven't pitched
in a while. My arm's not ready to do this,
but it's not injury related. It's he's been on the
shelf related.

Speaker 4 (22:07):
Yeah, I'm just it's fascinating to kind of think about that.
But in the grand scheme of things, I'm just glad
they're both healthy and especially in the case of Lance,
looks like at least for one day yesterday and more
often than not, the Lance of old. Although he's still
rounding into shape, he hasn't been off a month in change.
He's been out, you know, multiple years. So sure, we

(22:28):
will continue to discuss all things astro. As a matter
of fact, Chris Gordy will come in about an hour
from now to Talk All Things Astros. Today will also
hear from Brian McTaggart and a whole lot more as
we continue here on a Thursday edition of the program.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
The Eight on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 8 (22:50):
Did you all see this?

Speaker 2 (22:51):
Should be putting out between five and fifteen posts.

Speaker 4 (22:54):
Oday, four hundred people were arrested for things that they
said on social media.

Speaker 9 (22:58):
History repeats type, Ben, you will succeed.

Speaker 4 (23:03):
Never doubt that you're the one to plus for no
one building.

Speaker 6 (23:07):
You're the best.

Speaker 10 (23:09):
X.

Speaker 6 (23:10):
Nothing's gonna ever top. You know you're the best posting
every single day.

Speaker 4 (23:17):
You know you're the best of X, breaking the entire Internet.

Speaker 5 (23:25):
Best of X social media each and every day here
on the A team, halfway through our number one, so
right around two thirty, never a shortage of it, always
taking suggestions on it at Adam J. Wesler, at mister
Cole Thompson, at Adam Clinton, and several of the suggestions
have been heard and used and will continue to be there.
This one felt like there would be something if Minnesota

(23:48):
had come back and won their series against the Oklahoma
City Thunder. Because the Minnesota Timberwolves social media team, creative
guys and gals have come up with some real doozies
as they eliminated the two teams now behind them. But
they obviously needed not only last night's win, which just
came up a little short on just but the two

(24:08):
other wins that they now don't even get a chance for,
and the Thunder just kind of treating it like they
probably should. We're awesome, we know it. This is hardly
an accomplishment. Maybe after four more wins will give you something,
but that's not to say we didn't get excellence related
to last night's victory by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Speaker 6 (24:28):
I don't really keep tally.

Speaker 5 (24:30):
The wextual research team is way too busy for this,
and I really didn't think there was a leaderboard needed
for Best of X, as in, who have we heard
from the most during the daily best of exes? There
have been hundreds of them now that we've been doing
this each and every day.

Speaker 4 (24:44):
At two thirty.

Speaker 5 (24:45):
If I were to guess, if we kept the tallly,
this particular social media poster probably has found his way
to the Best of X more than anybody else.

Speaker 4 (24:57):
At Magic Oh my Gosh.

Speaker 5 (25:01):
Irvin Magic Johnson wants to apologize, so he took to
the extra platform to do so last night after the
Thunder victory on May twenty eighth, ten thirty eight pm
last night, over a million people have viewed this say
nowhere to go for good, great information. I want to
apologize to the Oklahoma City Thunder for underestimating them and
not thinking they were ready to compete for a championship.

(25:23):
So that's simple enough, not crazy. Many people, not that many,
but many people that might have predicted, all right, the
Thunder a great regular season. We saw what happened against
the Nuggets. Okay, this is the team that's gonna push
past more. I never believed in them all season. I
still wanted them to prove it, and I'm gonna stick
to my guns. It's a reasonable thought for a team

(25:43):
that ran roughshot over the West in the regular season,
did not lose a game in the opening series, handled
arguably the next best team in the West in a
seven game series, and now was in the conference finals
first time for this group.

Speaker 6 (25:57):
So it's okay to have a.

Speaker 5 (25:59):
Little bit of hesitat to crown them or predict they
would win, although most everybody else has done that, including
those here on this program. So I'll have to go
to the comments for the true excellence among them, mister White.
He says me too, mister Johnson, who knew the Wolves
would fold so easily and hard to say? Nah, that's

(26:21):
not what happened in this series. And I don't really
want to say they brought no fight or they didn't
have any you know, they didn't weren't didn't come to play.
They definitely didn't have any answers. Their coach, who I
think is very good, did not have a clue what
to do.

Speaker 6 (26:37):
And maybe it's not on him.

Speaker 5 (26:39):
Maybe he knows his personnel and maybe he said, well,
there's nothing they can do about it.

Speaker 6 (26:42):
They're not good enough.

Speaker 5 (26:43):
No, Oklahoma City Thunder not only were better than them,
they played harder than them. And the Minnesota Timberwolves just said, man,
if I keep driving into traffic, I'm probably gonna turn
it over. I'll just keep doing that all first half long.
And they couldn't score, and they couldn't stop him. It
was a no contest game. That's three no contest games
out of five, or the other no contest game they

(27:03):
actually won by forty. But other comments aside, I knew
you were instantly wrong when you posted Timberwolves to the finals.

Speaker 6 (27:11):
Hey, it's cool it happens.

Speaker 5 (27:13):
That seems like I would imagine most people's philosophy would
be on that apology accepted. You weren't the only one
or underestimated the thunder, but you are the only one
to own up to it. These are like the nicest
comments ever on behalf of Oklahoma. We accept your apology.
Now let's enjoy the finals. Does anybody have an issue
with this at all? I mean anybody apology accepted. I

(27:37):
mean maybe you could say that's doesn't quite agree with
some help of the refs they got there. I mean,
we've complained about SGA. We've heard the complaints about SGA.

Speaker 4 (27:47):
They're not there because of the.

Speaker 6 (27:48):
Refs, but they're not there because of the refs.

Speaker 5 (27:51):
If SGA warmed up before last night's game, got out
there for the jump ball that Rudy Gobert would likely
lose and SGA called an immediate timeout and walked over
to his bench and said, I'm out, I bet you
they win last night.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
Yeah, it's not when it's see. That's why that's the
difference between us complaining about Game seven with the Warriors,
not that that was a game that the Rockets actually
were leading by double digits. Not they're getting mollywopped by forty. Yeah,
but their best player was there. Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 5 (28:28):
Now to some of the others still convinced Lakers would have.

Speaker 4 (28:32):
Beat them, Okay, you're just a misguided soul.

Speaker 5 (28:35):
Now he knows it, because he added probably delusional. But
we matched up well with them.

Speaker 4 (28:40):
I mean, that's honestly what he's just said there at
the end, though, is so important in the playoffs. I mean,
I'll see here right now, I'll tell you, I don't
think the Rockets have their two championships as they have
to play Seattle in either of those two years ninety four,
ninety five. There's just some teams that are bad matchups
as constructed.

Speaker 6 (28:58):
Yeah, it is Seattle.

Speaker 5 (29:00):
Fifty seven win Seattle is interesting in that they did
not play fifty seven win Seattle. When they rolled through
the postseason as a sixth seed. The fifty seven win
Sonics were ahead of them technically or obviously in the standings.
They ended up playing a three seed that's a sixty
win team, They played a two seed that was six

(29:21):
it was a fifty nine win team, Phoenix, and then
they played in the conference finals, another sixty win team.
Then they went to the NBA Finals to face the
fifty seven win number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
So they missed the fifty seven win Sonics and instead
played a team that won fifty seven, fifty nine, sixty
and sixty two games.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
Yeah, but that's that's what those teams won. And I'm
not saying that. I mean the matchups. The Rockets exploited
the matchups. But like those teams, the Sonics just they
were the because they illegally defended. He cheated, They cheated.
They were cheaters, Yeah, they were.

Speaker 5 (30:00):
I wonder if for a you know, I think there's
enough Atlanta Braves Astros discussed that when I always go
to the cheating analogy, I usually say, hey, look, if
Maddox and Glavin and Avery and Smoltz know that a
ball five feet off the lake, look at me, it's
going to be called a strike.

Speaker 6 (30:17):
Why wouldn't you throw it there?

Speaker 5 (30:19):
But shouldn't I shift to if Derek McKee and Nate
McMillan and Debtla Shrimp can do whatever they want defensively
even though it's against the rules, but the officials all
two of them on the court at the time, in
this day and age in the NBA. If they're not
going to call it, well, why wouldn't you keep quote
unquote cheating?

Speaker 4 (30:36):
They're not telling you to stop. I mean this is
this has been my problem with the NBA for years.
There's no consistency. This has been my.

Speaker 6 (30:44):
Problem with you umpire every stuff for years.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
Well, all that means, you know what? In all honesty though,
and I'm not even trying to make a joke of this.
Great you put in another official who's bad, like that's
what happened.

Speaker 6 (30:57):
Maybe he has a different view on the block charge call.

Speaker 4 (30:59):
I bet he does.

Speaker 5 (31:00):
Maybe he saw whose fingertip touched the ball last. Maybe
he did well. Maybe the fourth official in secaucus can
help all three of them.

Speaker 4 (31:07):
Probably won't because they'll review the thing and still get
it wrong. How many times we see that this year?

Speaker 5 (31:12):
Not that often on the balls out of bounds? Some
other calls are much more difficult.

Speaker 4 (31:17):
I know we give I May a lot of grief
about whoever makes him challenge these, because Lord knows it
wasn't him.

Speaker 6 (31:26):
He doesn't have the iPad.

Speaker 4 (31:27):
Well, then whoever does needs to have it taken away
because they're lot.

Speaker 6 (31:30):
Do you think they're bad overall?

Speaker 5 (31:32):
At challenging or their decision making on when to and
when not to.

Speaker 4 (31:36):
That one that part right there, Yeah, and it makes
E may look bad and he's not even the one
doing it. He doesn't want to challenge. He wants to
get on with the game because he's disgusted with everyone
and everything, like me. That's why I like him so much.

Speaker 5 (31:47):
For those unfamiliar with the eighteen out of Clinton and
I'm well actually here with you.

Speaker 6 (31:51):
Do you know which one's which yet?

Speaker 4 (31:53):
Weekdays two to six Thomas wit tweet yeh.

Speaker 5 (31:56):
You can find us here each and every weekd afternoon
from two to six, always taking sub estions. I scour
the socials pretty pretty well, hit the reels and the
ig stories and everything else that might be out there
on all possible forms. And we've yet to go to
this snapchat for a best of X and I don't
think we ever will. They go away and they're not
very sports related very often. But if you ever have

(32:17):
a suggestion you want to find us on the socials,
you can hit us up with that. We'll take them,
we'll see them, we'll use them, and of course we'll
not credit you. Thanks for joining us here on the eighteen.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (32:45):
It is the a team Sports Sox seven ninety. There's
very very good life. I want to ask you a question.
Since you've got a daughter at UT and I have
a daughter at UT, how many times in the of
her first I'll just say here, I won't even say
a semester. Did she get any sort of parking violations?

(33:08):
Or did you get any parking violations in conjunction with
going up there to help out? Moving, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 5 (33:16):
No parking violations when I went up there, moving in
or out any times, and she also got none throughout
the any of the four semesters she's been there without
a car.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
Lucky that doesn't count. Then, Okay, I'm just gonna say this,
and I don't even like it's I think people will
commiserate with me because I think they've dealt with this,
probably here in Houston, but especially in the case of
she lived in a dorm the first year. She will
not be living there next year, and if she had
been planning on living there next year, that would have
changed after this. We went and it's one of those

(33:50):
deals where the parking garage is open and they're like, yeah,
come on in, and then when you leave, they're like,
go on out. There's nothing out of the ordinary, saying, oh,
you're gonna owe money here, You're gonna I owe some
money here if you don't pay or stop all things
in your life to make sure that you haven't paid,
nothing of the sort. And then you get the snail mail.
That's my favorite thing. They send you the snail mail

(34:11):
with one violation twenty nine dollars. All right, that's fine,
that sucks, but I can handle that thirty dollars fee whatever.
Then you log on to pay it and you realize
it's one of three and it's actually one hundred dollars.

Speaker 6 (34:25):
And not only that I should have paid earlier.

Speaker 4 (34:27):
Oh really you think so? Wex I do, because if
I had paid, or the unpaid portion, if.

Speaker 6 (34:33):
You wise, penalty is just keep going and going on.

Speaker 4 (34:37):
Three different violations, each of which was for a well
two of them were for four dollars, and then one
of them we were a little bit longer in the garage.
I guess that was for sixteen. Yikes. Now that's not
too much to handle, all right, that's twenty four dollars
that I can handle on my own. That's just that's fine.
But then you tack on a notice fee for each
one dollar you haven't paid. Yeah, I noticed you haven't paid,

(35:00):
and I decided to tell you about it. That'll be
twenty dollars extra please per violation. So that's another sixty
And then, of course, of course the processing fee. This
is separate and apart from the notice fee.

Speaker 5 (35:11):
Yeah, pushing enter on the computer that person is sitting behind.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
So you go from one violation for twenty nine dollars
to ninety nine seventy five. The stupid University of Texas,
of which I'm wearing their shirt today you can't see
until next segment. You know what, I think I'm gonna
do a wardrobe change before we go on TV today
because I'm pissed off at UT. What are you doing?

Speaker 5 (35:35):
You gave them parking fee, punishment money, and apparel money.

Speaker 4 (35:41):
No, and tuition. That's where you're wrong. I gave them
apparel money. It's the state's university.

Speaker 11 (35:47):
Man.

Speaker 4 (35:47):
I told Teresa to pay the fees because he is
your fault. We were up there in my truck.

Speaker 6 (35:54):
She goes, I'll pay away somebody else's fault.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
I didn't do it. Where were you actually, technically I
did do it. I did what I was told. She
goes just park in their garage real quick. Oh okay,
you mean like you did the last time when you
took my truck up here. There you go, So this
is on my license plateed of course.

Speaker 6 (36:08):
And now you're free. Now you're clear. It's good to go.

Speaker 4 (36:10):
Yeah, Noll caught up now that she paid it.

Speaker 5 (36:12):
All caught up, ready for another semesters?

Speaker 4 (36:15):
Is that one on some apparel?

Speaker 6 (36:17):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (36:18):
I'm just it makes my blood.

Speaker 5 (36:20):
Long Horns great segue here on Sports Talk seven ninety Yeah, Longhorns,
like many other college football thirsty universities, pushed out their
kickoff times for the upcoming season.

Speaker 4 (36:34):
How many games are we going to melt in in
September and October?

Speaker 5 (36:38):
I did look at it, and that's usually item number
one that I'll notice.

Speaker 4 (36:43):
Yeah, which four games for the first month and change
of the season. Am I not attending because they're outdoors
in Austin, they're home in September.

Speaker 5 (36:49):
Their home schedule in general is I don't know, not
super awesome. Let's let's just say not super awesome.

Speaker 6 (36:58):
Is what we'll go with?

Speaker 5 (36:59):
Two games games three games before September twentieth are at home,
or excuse me, two of those games are at home,
and they're both day games. You got an eleven o'clock
game against the Spartans. You's got on a three to
fifteen game against the Miners, a night game against you.

Speaker 6 (37:14):
Guys, the Bearcats.

Speaker 5 (37:15):
Yeah, you know, and then you have two other games
the rest of the season that they've attached the game
times too, so they all the games, yet one of
those games not even in Austin. That's the obvious game time.
We kind of knew this already a two thirty kick
for Texas OU and similarly kind of knew this already

(37:36):
for the kicktime for the Aggies visit to Austin six
thirty day after Thanksgiving. I didn't mention the other game
time that they officially announced today because we've already talked
about it, because the Longhorn said, you are not moving
this game to Sunday, and we're not playing at night,
so you can go out and just keep that big
new knit kickoff at eleven am against the Buckeyes to
open up.

Speaker 6 (37:55):
The season on their turf.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
What Okay, that that date is what now August thirty,
So who's the Marquee game that night.

Speaker 6 (38:04):
Sunday night.

Speaker 5 (38:05):
Yes, but the I think from what I've gathered, so
many people have tried to get to the actual bottom
of what would the reasoning be. It shortens your week
for one thing, right out of the gate. Now you
had how many weeks to prepare for this? Can you
really not manage one? I just think it's an overall
picture of well, we don't have to say yes, so
we're not gonna say yes.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
I was playing in primetime on Saturday night, Clemson versus LSU.
Do you think do either of you think that is
a better matchup? One? Really?

Speaker 7 (38:33):
Yes, I think that that is the best quarterback matchup
we will see all year in college football going up
against each other, not even joking, but.

Speaker 4 (38:41):
These two teams, and I know there's been a lot
of turnover, but these two teams play to see who
would be a participant in the national championship last year.

Speaker 5 (38:48):
Which is why even though Cole's college football smarts is
shining super accurately and brightly, it's probably not the correct
answer for television.

Speaker 4 (38:59):
I on the other hand, and being a television executive, yes, so.

Speaker 5 (39:03):
In Ohio state kind of a big fan base yeah,
kind of a national champion currently, let's talk about kind
of a big fan base.

Speaker 6 (39:11):
Do you guys know who's playing the Sunday night game instead?

Speaker 5 (39:13):
It's not it's it's big names, but it's not great teams.

Speaker 6 (39:17):
Right, but it's big names they made up for with
Notre Dame in Miami.

Speaker 4 (39:20):
Oh you know what, I'm so tired of Notre Dame.
Why because the whole country is coal.

Speaker 5 (39:25):
No, they're not where How did a Notre Dame finish
up this year?

Speaker 6 (39:28):
They were the runner up in the national championship.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
You got a point there. That's pretty good.

Speaker 6 (39:32):
That's a pretty all.

Speaker 4 (39:33):
For the first time in a while, they actually did
something instead of just being we're told they were belonged.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
I do think they could be in for a even
with their I'm not thinking very difficult schedule.

Speaker 6 (39:46):
I think they're going to take a step back.

Speaker 5 (39:48):
And even though Miami's got a break in a Nubie
a QB, I a Nubie at QB not all enthused
about this game. To be honest with you, you know.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
This all started when we chose an American boa. That's
what did it.

Speaker 5 (40:01):
Well, he would want the Notre Dame game to be
in primetime. He's a Chicago Yeah.

Speaker 6 (40:06):
Yeah, it's routside. He's definitely a Nard, and.

Speaker 5 (40:09):
Doesn't he probably possibly hate Ohio State.

Speaker 4 (40:15):
I mean, if you're a Notre Dame Fanily, then you're
in Illinois. So it's not a given. I mean he
doesn't have to. He might hate Michigan and Ohio State.
Michigan like you have think we I know, geographically, I
know we got a break, but like we hate Dallas
because they're up the road. But up the road in
Texas is different than up the road anywhere in the
north or the northeast.

Speaker 5 (40:33):
Certainly is great for us to continue that discussion as
we continue in our number twoes three and four to
three and four of the eight team.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety two. Lifelong Houston
sports guy's named at him talking your team, Adam Clinton
and Adam Weckler.

Speaker 2 (40:58):
Are they.

Speaker 4 (41:07):
It is the A team Sports Talk seven to ninety
and Space City Home Network simulcast underway as we take
you up until six o'clock tonight, Astros and Rays getting reacquainted.
The last time these two teams played together, it was
in a minor league ballpark. Actually, it wasn't even a
minor league ballpark. It was a spring training facility owned
and operated by the New York Yankees, still in Tampa,

(41:30):
by the way, But the Astros are looking to return
the favor, and they were playing a lot better baseball
than they were playing the last time these two squads
got together. You had them sweeping unceremoniously. The almost said it.
I almost said Oakland, but I didn't say Oakland Athletics.
They got rid of them. They took three out of
four from the Mariners prior to that, and they are

(41:51):
a half game out of first place going into tonight's contest,
where the Mariners are continuing their series with the Washington Nationals,
who blanked them nine to nothing last night, And that
was a George Kirby start. We didn't really touch on
that nearly enough when we just kind of mentioned it earlier.
He hasn't looked great in two outings, one against the Astros,
one against the hapless Nationals. How do you refer to

(42:15):
the Nationals these days? Walgreens.

Speaker 5 (42:17):
It's kind of a shame that they aren't doing anything.
They've got one of the best starters in the National
League and Gore. They got two of the best young
players in the National League and James Woods and c. J. Abrams,
and their record is not indicative of that at all.

Speaker 6 (42:28):
And I know it's just.

Speaker 5 (42:29):
Three of twenty six, but the foundation of something that
you're building kind of actually does exist. And you'd think
a little bit better baseball would be more the norm
than it is. But maybe it'll just be the norm
when they play the Mariners again tonight, then we don't
really care.

Speaker 4 (42:43):
Again, Yeah, good way to look at it. So but yeah,
we talked a little bit about that. You know, coming
off of yesterday's day game. We've already had an abbreviated
version of the show and thanks to everybody out at
Carbach took very good care of us yesterday, both us
and the Crawford Bochs cast with Gordy and Ross Viial.

(43:05):
Gordy will be in here by the way at the
bottom of the hour sponsored by Crawford, and I want
to tell you that I feel like we caught up
with our good buddy Blumber today and I'm just the season.
I mentioned this in the first hour, the season going
the way it's going right now versus where we were

(43:28):
at this time last year. I'm still convinced there is
even more consternation about this year's team somehow, someway. Maybe
that's just my own personal feeling. I know I was
coming in here ben out of shape last year. At
this time, they were probably eight games under five hundred.
They were probably playing way worse, both pitching and hitting.

(43:49):
But it just I don't know. I guess because of
the departures of the big names this season, and because
maybe Christian Walker wasn't performing the way he would have liked.
I feel like we had whiplash from Jose to Bray,
and up until a few days ago, I was referring
to Christian Walker as a Bray You two point zero.
By the way, X Ray's negative on his finger ninety
six miles an hour. He didn't break a finger.

Speaker 5 (44:11):
Kind of a matter of if you've been able to
just take it in the right part of the finger,
the right spot usually that is deadly from a game's
missed standpoint, And we'll see shortly if he's even missing
tonight's game. He did leave yesterday's game, but that's the
word that he gave everybody afterwards. He Joe Spottable said,
Rake Serres are negative dealing with the inflammation over the

(44:32):
next couple of days, and hopefully it won't keep him
out of the lineup unless it's necessary. It's not like
they can't win without him, but he's obviously their best
defense at first baseman and usually gets overlooked that for
the most part. I've had a couple of stretches and
it's been very short lived in each of them where
their defense has let them down. A two to three
games stretch where they just weren't feeling the ball as

(44:54):
well as they have the rest of the year, you know,
a couple of three error games. For the most part,
this is one of the best defenses in the league,
and his playof first base has certainly made a big
imprint on that twenty four and thirty one, fifty five
games into the season. A year ago, they were actually
playing Seattle at the time, and because they had lost
that fifty fifth game, they were five and a half

(45:14):
games back.

Speaker 6 (45:14):
They were in third place.

Speaker 5 (45:16):
That's only five games difference in the standings, which is
rather remarkable, even though the Astros are six games better
in the win loss column. They would have six more
wins through fifty five games than they did a year ago,
and at twenty four and thirty one. It took them
all the way until the second half of the schedule,
the second game of the second half of the schedule,

(45:38):
game eighty three, for them to be a winning team.
That bad start was awful. Twelve games under thirty six
games in the season, and fifty five games later, forty
five games later, they were still under five hundred. It's
a long road back. They don't have to do that
this year. They don't have to do anything remotely.

Speaker 4 (46:00):
They came out of first going into tonight's action.

Speaker 5 (46:02):
Yeah, and it's to me, it's less about where they
are in the standings and more about well the games
they need to just chalk it up, put a tally
in the win column. Don't have to worry about it
later in the year because you blew this game and
you didn't win this game. And they're not without a
few blown games this year, quite obviously, and two of
them happen to be against Seattle. But for the most part,
that's it's the opposite of last year. They're not blowing games,

(46:25):
they're taking advantage of other teams laden games. They're winning
games that are there for the taking. Somebody's gonna win it.
When it's three to three in the seventh inning. Quite obviously,
one team's going to win it when they're up eleven
to one. That's you against the A's on Tuesday, and
the other mentioned is, well, that's what happened on Wednesday.
One of those two teams, obviously is gonna make them, Hey,
do something with their bullpen or against their bullpen, and

(46:48):
you're gonna walk away with a win. The Astros have
still been outscored in the first five innings cumulatively by
their opponents, and almost all of that comes from the
first inning. They're minus twenty three in the first inning,
and then the respective bullpens enter. The Astros have outscore
their outscore their opponents by twenty four runs in just

(47:09):
the sixth inning, by nineteen runs in just the seventh inning,
and in every inning including extra innings, from the sixth
inning on, the Astros have outscored their opponents.

Speaker 6 (47:21):
That's how you win baseball games.

Speaker 5 (47:23):
That's how you put yourselves in the eighty five to
ninety win area, even when quite obviously this is not
the talent that some other Astros Golden Era teams have had.
But there's a chance to win the game when you're
through the first six innings.

Speaker 6 (47:36):
You're the team. The Astros have been the team that's
winning those games.

Speaker 4 (47:41):
I I often think about because of this run the
Astros have been on. I think about those two basically,
those two runs in two thousand and four and two
thousand and five. You know, you get to Game seven
of that the NLCS against the Cardinals, and Clemens can't
get it done, and the stupid Cardinals go to anillion
real series. And then the next year they got swept
by the White Sox and in a ridiculously close championship round.

(48:05):
And I'm like, I know the pitching staff was elite
both those years. I know about Clemens and Pettitt and Oswalt,
I know the bullpen, even Brad Lenche, But I like
the lineup.

Speaker 6 (48:21):
Is it all?

Speaker 4 (48:22):
Was it all that different?

Speaker 5 (48:23):
Well, let me say one thing about the pitching staff. Well,
everything you said about the Astros group was accurate, and
the other team's pitching staff was way better. Yeah, their
postseason that year for the White Sox it was insane.

Speaker 4 (48:37):
I still hate Bobby Jinks.

Speaker 5 (48:38):
Well, you played, obviously, you played four games. Their four
starting pitchers went seven seven, seven, seven and a third
like and then their Bullpen gave up let's see pitcher
in the series. Yeah, Brandon Backy was outstanding. And this
is just just the World Series is the only only
numbers I'm giving out. But they were like that in
the whole postseason. So the offense as a whole, I

(49:01):
probably think it would have been reasonable to say, well,
the names tell you the Astros should be in an
okay spot. I'm not saying the White Sox weren't great offensively,
but you had Berkman and Bigio. I wouldn't really say
you had Bagwell, he was in uniform, appeared in all
four games, but he wasn't clearly a true part of

(49:22):
what they were doing at that point. She didn't really
get much from anybody else that whole series. Your third
baseman was Mike lamb Uh. He did at least he
homered in the World Series.

Speaker 4 (49:33):
Was in Game one?

Speaker 5 (49:34):
He Jason Lane and Morgan Ensburg your three bombs in
four games.

Speaker 4 (49:40):
Jason Lane was right field mm and Morgan Ensburg was
your third sackerright. I just even or even last year,
but even this year, that's a that's a comparable lineup
what the Astros are going to trot out today minus
Christian Walker. Chrisian Walker's not in the lineup.

Speaker 6 (50:03):
That's interesting.

Speaker 5 (50:04):
We'll get to today's lineup here where you go a
full fledge getting to Astros lineup in twenty five, Yeah,
versus the Astros World Series lineup in five interesting comparison.

Speaker 4 (50:16):
Because the whole the the rap on that team was
they had amazing elite pitching that never got run support,
especially when Clements pitched. That was their mo They just
could not scratch enough runs across to like they had
to play. The guys had to pitch perfect game and
if they made one mistake, well you probably are gonna lose.

Speaker 5 (50:37):
Well, they pitched a lot of good, well pitched games.
Considering they made it all the way through the regular season,
a couple of rounds of the postseason, and into the
World Series, it could be pretty good.

Speaker 4 (50:45):
It's been twenty years now, but I could be misremembering
a lot, But that's how I feel like it went.

Speaker 5 (50:51):
Yeah, and I honestly i'm you know, watching this season unfold,
it feels a little bit different. Well, we'll get into
that comparison a little bit more. Your first basement, even
with without Christian Walker, well he'll be one of your
better hitters this month. Victor Carrotini's gonna get the start
today at first base. I would assume when Joe Spata divulges.
The reason why, I can't imagine Christian Walker is available

(51:13):
unless he's available for defense late in the game. Maybe
probably not available to hit. Yeah, Pinia Paritis, Altuve, Carratini,
Meers Diaz, which has been pretty standard for the team. Obviously,
with the Walker Caratini flip in there, Altuve is the DH.
So Mauricio Dubon will be back in the lineup at
second base. The proper player to be having at second

(51:36):
base Cam Smith and Zach Decenzo, both of whom are
hitting the ball well. Decenzo obviously the big homer in
yesterday's game. Cam Smith has two more games to finish out.
Arguably the word to use is a spectacular second month
of Major League baseball here for cam Smith. Brian Gusto
another start for him. That's one of the other candidates

(51:58):
to be a season long member of this rotation. If
Arrageddy and mccullors continue, Arageddy returns, mccullors continues you continued
health for Valdez and Brown, there's one spot still available
Gordon will be in the rotation this weekend. Also, he
will start before Hunter Brown gets the ball to round
out this homestand so the long anticipated discussion in comparison

(52:21):
between the thirty and twenty five Astros and the World
Series runner up two thousand and five Astros among the
things we'll discuss as we continue here on the eight.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (52:46):
It is the eighteen Sports Talks seven ninety Space City
Home Network. Chris Gordy right around the corner, catching up
with him in studio. Hopefully you guys heard him and
Ross Vi real out at Carbock Brewer yesterday the Crawford
Box cast. We'll also have a replay of Brian McTaggart's

(53:06):
visit with the station coming up in the five o'clock hour.
We've got what's up with that in the four o'clock hour,
got a lot to get to. On a Thursday edition
of the program, you were mentioning the Minnesota Timberwolves. In
the fact that the Oklahoma City Thunder are now back
in the NBA Finals. It sounds weird to even say that,
because twenty twelve, I mean, why does it sound weird?

Speaker 5 (53:30):
They're back in the NBA Finals. This has been a
little bit over a decade. Some of the players from
that team, all three of the biggest players from that
team are still in the league.

Speaker 4 (53:37):
Russell Westbrook retiring today. Russell Westbrook retired today. Let's not
breaking news. I don't know why would he retire.

Speaker 5 (53:47):
I'm honestly, I'm asking he was a major component in
getting the ben fired for a team that was in
the final eight.

Speaker 4 (53:55):
No, I hey, listen, I no one was more surprised
by his career resurgence than me. I mean, let's just
start with the fact that he drifted around quite a
bit after being a staple with Oklahoma City, played one
year here in Houston after a much balue who trade,

(54:17):
and then he just kind of he bounced all over
the place. He was a Laker at one point. But yeah,
I think of all those stops after Oklahoma City, wouldn't
you say his best fit was with the Denver Nuggets.

Speaker 5 (54:34):
Yeah, of recent years, clearly, because like I said, he
was a factor.

Speaker 4 (54:37):
No matter all the other places after Oklahoma City, he
didn't fit in anywhere else as well as he did
in this last stint with the Nuggets.

Speaker 5 (54:49):
I think he fit in better here than it's looked
back upon with the Rockets.

Speaker 6 (54:54):
Yep, once they got to him.

Speaker 4 (54:57):
Or made him agreed on.

Speaker 5 (54:59):
Here's what we need you because you're still really, really
good at that stuff. He kind of caught me by
a surprise with the Russell Westbrook retirement.

Speaker 4 (55:05):
Oh you didn't know. I don't.

Speaker 6 (55:08):
I'm still looking for the confirmation on that.

Speaker 4 (55:10):
I saw this on social media earlier today, and this
could be one of those moments where I see something
and it's I got duped. But I could have sworn
and said that he announced his retirement and this was Instagram.
To be fair, Usually that kind of stuff happens more
on x Well.

Speaker 5 (55:27):
Wherever it happened, it usually finds its way into our
mainstream discussion.

Speaker 4 (55:32):
Did you find something?

Speaker 6 (55:33):
I found something?

Speaker 5 (55:35):
He did get an injury update from the Nuggets just
two days ago that he's undergone surgery on his right hand.
He's expected to resume full off season training this summer,
training for what because he's retired and see training.

Speaker 6 (55:47):
For per Yahoo Sports.

Speaker 7 (55:49):
Former nm NBA MVP Russell Wilson is considering Westbrook?

Speaker 4 (55:55):
Wait what not not? Now Russell Westbrook considering retire? Then
maybe that's what I saw, but that is would not
have thrown me for a loop at all. Russell Weston,
considering retirement is still pretty close to retirement.

Speaker 7 (56:10):
Well, I'm considering leaving you, all right, congratulations, I'm not
leaving you.

Speaker 6 (56:14):
Is that the same thing?

Speaker 4 (56:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (56:15):
But the reason why I caught me by surprises because
you twenty in the afternoon and I'm like, I didn't
hear that out?

Speaker 4 (56:20):
Did I miss that?

Speaker 8 (56:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (56:21):
Not so much that he's contemplating it. Uh, he didn't
just get to the league. He has been around. He's
been floating around, just like you suggested, from Oklahoma City
to six other destinations, none lasting more than six years.
Being in LA for more than half of those six years, though,
I think was pretty important considering that's where he is from,
and I think that's where he and his family will

(56:43):
almost assuredly be for the you know, their time after
the NBA. But if he was not going to be
a big part of it, say Denver's re uped with
coach Attleman, which they have, you know, maybe there's a
direction where he's now looking for work again. I can
absolutely see him not being interested in doing that anymore.

(57:03):
And there's part you know, there's there's a lot of
what he does that most teams would say, we gotta
do better than this, Like they had no belief the
nuggets I'm talking about in enough belief in Watson or
Strawther or some of the other players they could have
given minutes to. So they were willing to put up
with the four good plays versus three bad ones, the

(57:24):
three dynamically good plays versus I can't believe you made
that pass the wow. I can't believe he got there
for that rebound and then threw it out of bounds,
and he even acknowledged it this year. He really, I think,
was a realist about who he was. But he's still
always pushed back on I'm not changing. The only way

(57:45):
you're gonna get the good is I'm going to have
to still make the bad, and I just it's the
same reason why I always had a negative vibe about
Brett Favre, Like it's okay to not throw twenty interceptions.
You don't have to do that to throw your thirty
five and thirty nine touchdown seasons and you're an MVP
winner and you're awesome, and you've got unreal skills and

(58:06):
your arm strength A second to none and you're taking
I get it, but.

Speaker 6 (58:10):
You don't have to also do that. And he never
seemed to really care about it.

Speaker 5 (58:13):
That's why your favorite play by play guy of all
time is just ripping him a new one when he's
the Vikings quarterback and Paul Allen their play by playboys
going what.

Speaker 9 (58:21):
Are you doing? And you just you're watching this these plays.
It's what the studio in Denver literally said when Russell
Westbrook was pushing the ball down the court and they
were expecting something bad and instead he smartly passed to
Aaron Gordon who hit the monster three.

Speaker 6 (58:40):
Like there's a lot of good in there.

Speaker 5 (58:42):
He just had a hard time pushing back away from
I can get this part of this out of my game.

Speaker 6 (58:48):
He just really never did it.

Speaker 5 (58:49):
And we mentioned there was a short time where I
thought he did it in Houston, and each of the
years that he's been away from the Rockets, remember he
was only here for one season. He was only in
Washington for one season, LA for one and part of
a second season similarly there with the Clippers, and then
a full season with Denver, where again it was a
pretty big role for a pretty good team, but the

(59:12):
mistakes were just they just never went away. Early in
his career, a little easier to stomach it when he's
going for thirty ten to ten and he's one of
the league's best scores, and he's much more efficient doing
it because his attacks at the rim most of the
time would result in a crush, a smash, a rim
rattling death defying, get the fans on their feet, finish

(59:35):
not man, He really got off the ground, but he
just couldn't finish it there. He was so athletic that
he could finish all those plays he was in his twenties.

Speaker 4 (59:43):
Well, now he's in his mid thirties. That's a little
bit different. A few more flat tires since then.

Speaker 5 (59:48):
Yeah, definitely so, so the mistakes get magnified. He's scoring
thirteen points a game in twenty five minutes. He's not
scoring thirty points a game in thirty five minutes.

Speaker 4 (59:59):
I think I thought he would he would look more,
or I guess, less athletic at this advanced stage of
his career than he does. He still looks like he's
a like he could jump out of the gym.

Speaker 5 (01:00:10):
But he still can't stand on the perimeter and take
a jumper from anywhere. Beyond twelve feet if he can't,
and literally he can do it, but it's not going in.

Speaker 4 (01:00:20):
Yeah, No, you're very good, very good addendum there by
the way, Sam the sports Fan tweeted in and said
Clant always shares things to get on his nerves or
pot or quote boil his blood. I don't know him personally,
but I would imagine his blood is usually always on
a high simmer. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Speaker 6 (01:00:38):
Certainly between two and six.

Speaker 5 (01:00:39):
The rest of the day you think about what make
what might get it to a full boil and explosion,
and you save it for us.

Speaker 4 (01:00:45):
Well, my drive in is actually far more stressful than
my drive home, even though there's way more traffic on
my drive home. I just that's what actually gets my
blood boiling. Legit, blood pressure raised. The idiots the roadways
in this town, and then you throw in all the
construction and everything else.

Speaker 6 (01:01:05):
Yeah, just to make our roadways better. We appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (01:01:07):
I just I don't know. I don't know why. I
don't know why it's so hard to maneuver. But yeah,
that's a good observation there, Sam the sports Fan, I
appreciate you listening. He is a regular contributor to the show.

Speaker 8 (01:01:19):
All right, so.

Speaker 4 (01:01:21):
Finals set tonight?

Speaker 5 (01:01:23):
Probably final set tonight? Finals Are finals are set tonight?

Speaker 11 (01:01:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:01:27):
Probably so tonight.

Speaker 5 (01:01:28):
I do like the idea of the Knicks pushing it.
I'm sure I feel very confident saying this. It won't
be as bad as last night. I think it gets
decided late. But I think this one gets decided in
favor of the Pacers.

Speaker 4 (01:01:41):
Like, what was it twenty six to nine after the
first quarter?

Speaker 7 (01:01:43):
Yeah, it was a twenty five point lead. I don't
know what the score was, twenty five points.

Speaker 4 (01:01:48):
I mean it just I guess I expected a little
bit more Minnesota and now I really will always wonder
if the Rockets couldn't have knocked off the Timberwolves had
they gotten passed the stupid washed up Warriors.

Speaker 5 (01:02:00):
You're as much as I think the Rockets defense is awesome.
The Rockets there are very few games, and I know
there were a couple very few games, and none really
in the postseason. They only played one team. What they
did last night to Minnesota defensively was incredible. I believe
that both finals will be set the night. By the way, yes,
the very very.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
Popular NHL stop trying to make hockey happen.

Speaker 5 (01:02:22):
Why don't I just call them the NHL Finals? Will
that make you even more angry?

Speaker 12 (01:02:25):
You know what?

Speaker 5 (01:02:26):
The NHL Finals will be set tonight. Tell me, tell
me you are intending to promote the idea that you
don't know about hockey without telling me by calling them
the NHL Finals. That sounds so stupid when I say
it out loud, the NHL fight, it's so dumb.

Speaker 4 (01:02:44):
So well, if you think about it, there's no bowls
in the NFL until the championship game, where it's a
bowl that is super but the entire.

Speaker 6 (01:02:52):
Playoff is called the Stanley Cupps.

Speaker 5 (01:02:54):
So at the end, after the the Commander's lost to
the Eagles, the Eagles advance and the Chiefs won the AFC,
they advanced to play in the NFL Final.

Speaker 4 (01:03:05):
Why don't you call it the NFL Championship.

Speaker 5 (01:03:07):
Well, the NFL Championship is acceptable. We do actually say that,
and it was literally called that championship weekend. Yeah, but
nobody calls it the NFL Final, just like they don't
call it the NHL Finals. But yeah, we'll talk a
lot of oilers. Hockey never.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
On the eighteam the eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (01:03:37):
It is Thursday.

Speaker 5 (01:03:37):
It is three point thirty here on the A Team,
I'm gonna talk a little Astros baseball with the co
host of the Crawford Box Cast are Astros Insider here
on Sports Talk seven ninety Chris Gordy joining us here
and obviously, the Astros are enjoying their finest homestand of
the season to date. They're five and one through six
games for more to go, beginning with tonight's tilt with
the Rays in each of the next three days. Pitching

(01:03:59):
has been at the forefront of so much of what
this team has been able to do, even with their
offense absolutely coming around here in the month of May.

Speaker 6 (01:04:06):
Let's start with yesterday.

Speaker 5 (01:04:09):
Lance mccullors, how would you describe yesterday and how would
you project what's coming next?

Speaker 6 (01:04:15):
For Lance?

Speaker 11 (01:04:16):
The proverbial turning the corner, the proverbial, I don't know.
He is hitting his stride, he is finding himself. I
get it's Oakland. I had somebody tell me that yesterday.
I said man Astra was a point. Well, yeah it
was Oakland. Okay, but what about three out of four
aginst Seattle. Can we give them credit for that? So
they did what I expected them to do against a

(01:04:37):
bad baseball team, and that was beat them. But that
was much needed for Lance. Look, I didn't think when
he came back, I didn't think we'd ever see him
hit a performance this year where he would hit over
one hundred pitches. I just thought that that was going
to be out of the question. I thought there was
going to be this constant building up of workload, and
you know, if he could get through five, great, But
for him to get through six yesterday, and I just

(01:04:58):
wish he would have.

Speaker 12 (01:04:59):
If he he just could avoid.

Speaker 11 (01:05:00):
That third run, it would have, you know, it would
have been a flawless performance, but nonetheless really really good
six strong innings with Tiger Kruerr hide and strikeouts. That's
I just all these things you're telling me, and I'm like,
I just never thought this was gonna happen from Lance.

Speaker 12 (01:05:16):
So again, the pressure is still on him.

Speaker 11 (01:05:18):
He's got to be he's the number three guy now,
like he's got to be steady and reliable. Gusto and
Colton Gordon are kind of whatever. They're your four and
your five. You hope they give you good performances. But
for Lance, it's, dude, we need more of that, Like,
he's got to be more that.

Speaker 12 (01:05:33):
Than the one we saw against Cincinnati a few weeks ago.

Speaker 5 (01:05:35):
Yeah, nasty is a good word to describe as pitches.
You know, the more you looked at it, I think
you'd realize, well, it was hard to lay off pitches
that looked that good for that long, and that's why
they looked as bad as they did in the batter's box.
They'll have the next four and two of the next
four Ryan Gusto tonight, Colton Gordon on Saturday, and it's
going to continue to be that or something like that

(01:05:56):
until Spencerraghetty returns, with Blanco going on the I L
and being out for the remainder of the year. Do
you have any kind of vibe on what you think
you've seen from Gusta, what you think you've seen from Gordon?
I have a thought curious what yours is. As they
continue to make starts.

Speaker 11 (01:06:12):
Gordon's basically give you exactly what I thought it would be,
five innings of three run ball. That's basically what he's become,
you know, synonymous for in this small sample size. So
and that's fine. You'll take that from a starter. It
gives you a chance to win. The only thing I
don't like is Ross said this yesterday. You know, you
look at this four game set against Tampa, and he
was like, Okay, well, look the Gusto Gordon are kind

(01:06:33):
of whatever. You could split those great, but you know,
I expect them to win the Valdez and Hunter Brown game.
And I said, and that kind of not fair to
those guys. I mean, Hunter Brown's been incredible. He had
one hiccup and that was down in Tampa where that
you know, with the Mickey Mouse Ballpark down there. But
I think also, like Fromber is allowed to have a
bad outing every now and then. He can't be flawless.

Speaker 5 (01:06:53):
Of course he is, because then people can't call him bad.

Speaker 6 (01:06:56):
Fromber, do not.

Speaker 4 (01:06:57):
Be mad because I was right.

Speaker 11 (01:06:58):
I just think it's like, it's unfair to those guys
now because of all the injuries. You have to look
at them and go, you better be on dude. If not,
we're gonna lose a series. So it's just a little
bit of added pressure for them. But Gusta's been pretty good.
Interviewed him, had him on the pregame show on Sunday.
He's keeping himself very grounded, very level, headed. He understands

(01:07:21):
the situation, what it calls for, but you know, starting bullpen,
starting bullpen. Kind of the roller coaster he's been on
this year, I think he's been fine. I'd like to
see him go a little bit deeper because it just
does put a little bit more taxing on your bullpen
with Gordon and Gusto having to go to the bullpen
earlier and again pressure on Hunter Brown and Frombert. Hey, dude,

(01:07:43):
if you can give me seven to night, awesome because
we had to use six different arms the night before
or whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:07:48):
Well that's why Lance pitching north of one hundred was
such a pleasant, lee shocking surprise. I don't really know
how to exactly describe that, but I was talking with
Wex about this last hour. Do you feel like there
was more consternation this year early on than there was
last year when the Astros were clearly worse off record wise.

(01:08:11):
Clearly I think had a better on paper lineup and
maybe that was why. But like, I feel like we
were hand ringing so much more this year out of
the gate. Maybe we were all, like you know, sticker
shot because of the loss of Bregman and Tucker, But
I felt like there was just and believe me, there
was lots of hand ringing last year, but I just

(01:08:31):
feel like there was more this year before they kind
of turned the corner, as you said to start the
segment here of late.

Speaker 12 (01:08:37):
No, I think there was more last year.

Speaker 11 (01:08:39):
Less we forget April of last year, we were getting
fired Joe with spot of calls, we were getting you know,
Kyle Tucker stinks, Bregman stinks. Trade them all, what can
we get for? I mean, there was way more of
that last year. And then like do you remember that
series against the Cubs up in Chicago. JP France got
rocked and like it was bad, Like it was really bad,

(01:09:00):
and and you know, Joe Spotta was trying to tow
the line, oh, we're gonna come out of this, but
a lot of us did not believe they were gonna
come out of that. Like it felt like they dug
themselvesselves such a massive hole. We're like, God, it's gonna
take Seattle and the Rangers just absolutely collapsing. Oh that happened,
and that helped. But but yeah, I feel like this year,
you're you're you're right there. I mean, really, they're only

(01:09:21):
a couple of games out from being the best record
in the American League. I mean, Detroit goes on one
slide for a week and you're right.

Speaker 4 (01:09:28):
There, maybe you help them slide. You never know. Well
I just uh and and by the way, just because
it came across my timeline, Julian Morales tweeting that it's
good to see jord On Alvarez hitting on the field.
He's in the cage. Yeah, that guy can't come back
soon enough.

Speaker 11 (01:09:42):
Well, I mean, whatever he's gonna do, it's just it's
it's mind boggling to me.

Speaker 12 (01:09:47):
I'm like, what is the issue here?

Speaker 11 (01:09:48):
If it's you know, they keep saying they don't want
to bring him back too soon, and then there's inflammation
in the hand, But like, isn't that going to be
anything you do with your hand that's strenuous, it's going
to cause inflamma. Like I almost would rather than just
bring him back for a game and then let's ic
it down that night, let's see what happens. Like, I
don't know if you're ever going to get to a
point where he goes, yes, I'm one hundred percent ready

(01:10:11):
to go in the hand is one hundred percent let's
play baseball. So that's a great sign seeing him on
the field hitting. I know. Brian mctagger tweeted out the
video a little while ago of him hitting on the field.
But yeah, I mean, the lineup's alreadyut for tonight. He's
not in there. I made the prediction on Monday he
was going to be back by the end of the week.
So we're running out of days here.

Speaker 4 (01:10:28):
Tomorrow's the end of the week.

Speaker 11 (01:10:29):
It's fine, it is, but yeah, I mean, it feels
like he's They keep selling the line.

Speaker 12 (01:10:34):
He's close, he's close, he's close.

Speaker 11 (01:10:35):
Well, I don't know how much closer you can get
with he's hitting on the field, he's running, he's doing everything.
Let's see him pick up a bat in a game
and hit and see what happens.

Speaker 5 (01:10:45):
He is hurt, He's going to be hurt. Yeah, point blank,
end of story. In my opinion, he's going to play
the rest of the season as an unhealthy player. Whenever
he comes back. He did not have a procedure. He
is going to have sore hands. How easily can he
deal with it? How many games in a row can
he play? How many swings in a row can he
have without a day off? My opinion, only that's what

(01:11:08):
we're dealing with the rest of the year. Probably maybe
maybe it's not a huge deal. Maybe he continues to
play through it. What was he playing through it for
the first six weeks, Probably.

Speaker 12 (01:11:16):
Why the numbers were suffering.

Speaker 11 (01:11:18):
Yeah, I mean, but but here's he's just too important
of a piece Wax like to know.

Speaker 6 (01:11:22):
There's still no reason to sit him on the sideline.

Speaker 11 (01:11:23):
He's got to play like and if he stinks, he stinks.
But to me, I got to see him out there.
He's too important of a hitter, and you know, hopefully
his other guys will pick him up. With the numbers
starting to come up pain you as one of your
best hitters. Jake Myers having a great year now two
veays uped his batting average almost thirty points in a week.

Speaker 12 (01:11:39):
So let's see what they do.

Speaker 5 (01:11:41):
They'll be on the field tonight right here on Sports
Talk seven ninety, first of four, last of the ten
at home for the Astros. Chris Gordy, our Astros insider,
joins this weekly here on the program, and we always
appreciate your time.

Speaker 12 (01:11:52):
Thanks.

Speaker 1 (01:11:53):
Jents the eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (01:12:05):
So I thought you were going a completely different direction
when you said Jordan is going to be hurt. I
thought you were saying forever, like he's injury prone, but
you're talking about just this season.

Speaker 5 (01:12:17):
I mean, why, why is why is anything? I'm being
totally serious. I don't know why is hand's going to
be any different anytime in the future, and even five
years in.

Speaker 4 (01:12:24):
This not tell me this And I could be wrong
on this, or I could be misremembering. Was this not
his knees before he got surgery on both of them?
I mean, I don't kind of knees or creaky he's
you're keeping him out for a game or two and
then he got him fixed.

Speaker 5 (01:12:39):
To me, the way I will say it's probably the
same is because why why is it no longer an issue.

Speaker 4 (01:12:44):
Because he had surgery? So but look, do a preemptive
surgery on every limb on him and he's going to
be the best play every one.

Speaker 5 (01:12:51):
You just have to acknowledge that, you know, I get
both sides of it. Let's say, how much of his
season can we have him play even though we know
something needs to be done, because if we do that something,
then now he's out for X number of months. Maybe
I don't know the severity of the injury, or what
surgical procedure is even being pushed aside, or if there

(01:13:12):
even is one. To me, I'm playing I hate it,
but I'm playing it right here on the radio, the
amateur doctor. If your hand's hurt when you swing the
back to the extent that they've put you on the
sidelines for forty games, then it seems like there's something
significantly wrong.

Speaker 6 (01:13:29):
If they haven't found it.

Speaker 5 (01:13:31):
Is it for a lack of looking? Is it for
I mean, now practice a pretty strong word, so I
won't use that. But it's hard to believe at this
level of medicine where they have access to everything, and
things aren't missed often. And that's why second and third
and however many opinions you want, that's why you go
out there and get it. You know, A power hitter,
a singles hitter, a major League baseball position player. I'm

(01:13:54):
not sure how this can be a multiple time in
a several season occurrence where he just can't continue playing
because his hands hurt too much. His hands hurt too
much to swing the bat with the regularity that it
takes to you know, take your rounds in the cage,
stay up to speed from a I need to have
my timing down and taking you know, five to twelve, fifteen,

(01:14:15):
twenty swings in an afternoon, depending on how many foul
balls you make, and you know, can you swing for
one hundred in row, twenty days in a row, as
long as none of those swings are check swings, as
long as none of those violent stoppages occur, as long
as you don't have one, you know, a pitch saw
one off right at your hands.

Speaker 6 (01:14:33):
I mean, what is it?

Speaker 5 (01:14:34):
And are there specific swings that just cannot be handled
with whatever it is that's ailing his hands? Because if
this were the first time, I probably wouldn't be saying this,
But it is not.

Speaker 4 (01:14:47):
It just like his story is so unique too, because
I remember, I think it was Smoltz during the World
Series talking about how he traded here from the Dodgers.
But what his odyssey, what his journey to the majors
was like, how he had changed his diet, didn't have power,

(01:15:08):
believe it or not, when he started playing baseball, and
you know all the things that he went through to
transform his body and his game to being one of
the most win healthy, feared hitters in the game. I
think that's what I hate about you know, Aaron Judge
doing all that he's doing right now, He's not gonna
do it in the playoffs. I don't know, Like Jordan Alvarez,

(01:15:31):
if you knew he was gonna be hurt off and
on pretty much every single year, some issue issue or another.
But you know, when the brights, the bright lights are on,
the lights are the brightest. If you will, he's going
to perform, because that's what he does. I mean, take it,
he's already like right now, he retires today, he's his
He has cemented himself with multiple like top ten type

(01:15:55):
moments in the franchise's history. He hadn't even played that
long relatively speaking.

Speaker 5 (01:16:00):
And the other guy dropped a ball in center field
one of his most memorable postseason moments. Two hundred and
sixty two play appearances in the postseason for Arson Judge.
This season two hundred and forty eight played appearances. So
in a couple of days, he'll basically have the same
number of trips to the plate in this regular season
that he's had in his entire postseason career. This regular season,

(01:16:21):
when slobbering Jeff Passon is writing articles about him, will
you have to say it the way he's he's writing.
He's not talking the way he writes it. Definitely not
doing that. We'll be here all day and you will
not be excited, entertained, or hardly informed. He's basically running
away with every possible offensive excellence this year.

Speaker 6 (01:16:43):
He's going to win the MVP again if this continues.

Speaker 5 (01:16:47):
Three ninety one batting average, twelve twenty seven OPS, got
eighteen bombs, so OPS plus is an absolutely preposterous to
forty five his postseason career go. He does not have
eighteen home runs, surprisingly as sixteen, he's not hitting three

(01:17:08):
ninety one. Unsurprisingly, he's hitting two zero five his twelve
twenty seven regular season OPS. If you go down one
hundred points, then you only need to go down another
three hundred and.

Speaker 6 (01:17:20):
Fifty to get to a seven sixty eight.

Speaker 4 (01:17:24):
Nobody can breakdown numbers sarcastically, quite like this guy.

Speaker 5 (01:17:28):
I think this might put that put it in some perspective.
He's got ninety nine total bases in the postseason in
those sixty four plate appearance or excuse me, two hundred
and twenty plate appearance, he's got ninety nine total bases
and this year and roughly the same number of plate appearances.
He's got one hundred and fifty three total bases, so
fifty So yeah, he probably won't do it. But to

(01:17:52):
Jordan and where he is this year tonight, he's obviously
not been activated, so he will miss tonight's game. I
think it's safe to say he'll miss tomorrow, but we'll
stick with today. Alvarez will miss game number twenty five tonight.
So as you push into the final one hundred and
six games after that, let's say he plays in one

(01:18:15):
hundred of them. Let's make him healthy almost immediately and
give him a couple of off days the rest of
the way. As one hundred games played this year moving forward,
and in what could be described as a very close
to best case scenario for Jordan moving forward, and it's
going to put him in the neighborhood of one of
his least available seasons. Now again, the COVID year was

(01:18:39):
the year he was out for the year because two
games end of the year he was done, so he
would have been technically didn't miss much.

Speaker 6 (01:18:44):
Because there wasn't much of a season.

Speaker 5 (01:18:46):
But in the seasons that have followed one forty four,
one thirty five, one fourteen, one forty seven, so missing
forty eight games, that's the most he's ever missed in
a full season. He's going to be around thirty neighborhood
of plus the games he just didn't play in earlier
this year, when and if he's about to come back,
So if he stays, he's gonna almost have to stay

(01:19:07):
healthy the rest of the year not to be in
that same he ended up missing quite a bit of
this season. He's nowhere near what Kyle Tucker missed last
year at this point. But I just wonder, if I
totally understand what they're saying, well, I would want to
approach the get him past the injury the same way.
Why would we bring him back two weeks ago when
we know he's gonna need more time. After he hits
on Tuesday and Wednesday, will he can't play Thursday, he

(01:19:29):
and then he might not be able to play Friday.
I get that let's get as far away from the
injury as possible, but it sounds like when he plays
in his first game, guess what's going to come back
his hands the injury because he's he's only fully healthy
and that he's not swinging the bat well, then every.

Speaker 4 (01:19:45):
Day If that's if that's the case. Have they explored,
have they explored any sort of operation? And why not
just do it? You're winning without him?

Speaker 5 (01:19:55):
Well, now you be really upset if you did it
and he was going to miss the next three months,
if you could have had a miss just the next
two months, I would And yet I would say, but again,
we're throwing so far down the hypothetical line. We don't
know that there's a procedure needed. We don't know that
he's going to remain unhealthy with his hands the rest
of the way. Totally hypothetical. Yes, some doctor guesswork. As

(01:20:17):
we move into the four o'clock hour here on the eighteen.

Speaker 1 (01:20:21):
The A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety two lifelong
Houston sports guys named Adam talking your team, Adam Clinton
and Adam Weckler.

Speaker 2 (01:20:37):
The eighteen.

Speaker 4 (01:20:43):
Four o'clock hour underway here on a Thursday edition of
The A Team, It's Sports Talk seven ninety the month
of May winding down, Space City Home Network simulcast by
the way, and Astro's looking to I'll play it this way.
By the time the calendar flips to June, will be
in first place in the Al West. I mean they're
a half game out going into tonight. Technically, wex all

(01:21:08):
it takes is beating the stupid Rays and having the
stupid Nationals beat the stupid Mariners, and you've got a
first place baseball team before the month of May is
even over.

Speaker 6 (01:21:20):
Yeah, that is accurate.

Speaker 5 (01:21:21):
That is what is on tap tonight, Light night of
Major League Baseball, Nationals at Mariners, hours after the Rays
are here to take on the Astros. It's Ryan Gusto's
start tonight. Hancock gets the start for Seattle. Actually, in
a brief conversation about the Nationals earlier, I mentioned they
had one of the best starters in the National League.
He throws tonight Mackenzie Gore, among the best in baseball

(01:21:42):
in terms of strikeouts. Shane boz Is, the pitcher opposite.
The Astros, did not face him when they were there
of some Houston ties for him, talking quite a bit
about your Don Alvarez throughout this last month. He's been
off of the roster since the fifth retroactive who the
third was in the cage today did indicate. As Chandler

(01:22:04):
Rome notes on the Socials, he's set to face live
pitching tomorrow, and that's usually the kind of final step
you face live pitching, you not only see how you did,
you see how you feel later, either in the day
or really the next morning. And I would imagine if
all goes well there. Tomorrow is Friday, the Astros leave

(01:22:28):
town after this homestand concludes on Sunday Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Await,
if everything goes well when he faces live pitching, he'll
be playing baseball for the Astros on the upcoming road trip.

Speaker 4 (01:22:42):
That's good.

Speaker 6 (01:22:43):
Meanwhile, best guess says.

Speaker 4 (01:22:48):
Meanwhile, we didn't get a chance to talk about this yesterday.
The number one most interesting thing that Damiko Ryan said
following texans Ota debut twenty twenty five.

Speaker 6 (01:23:03):
Are you asking me?

Speaker 4 (01:23:04):
Yeah, And it's kind of tongue in cheek, but I
just want to see what you say.

Speaker 5 (01:23:09):
I figured it would it would come up at some point.
We have more opportunities to talk with him. Didn't know
if it would be something for him yesterday, but it was.
The owners voted on it. This was a league wide decision,
and everybody else is, by virtue of that decision, kind
of supposed to fall in line. There's really not much

(01:23:29):
else you can say or do about it. Flag football,
I don't know what this will turn into over the
next three years as we get to twenty twenty eight,
and the team that has no NFL players on it,
that's already the best in the world, has to succumb
to the idea that these NFL players have to come
in and take their jobs. Maybe I don't know what's
going to transpire, how many NFL players truly will want it.

Speaker 6 (01:23:49):
But Tomiko Ryans was asked.

Speaker 5 (01:23:51):
About the possibility of Texans players participating in flag football,
and so I think he gave part of the answer
he kind of has to give no matter what he feels.
Whatever the guys want to do, it's up to them.
If they want to compete in the Olympics, they're allowed to.
It's a personal choice. And I really don't care. I
only care about the Texans winning games. He's certainly not going,

(01:24:12):
and I was there when he said this. He's not
going to be promoting it. I'm sure if asked by
a player, hey, what do you think, coach, I'm sure
he'll be honest with him and say I think it's
among the worst ideas I've ever heard. But by all means,
we've said it's okay. So I didn't tell you not to.
He might not even wink when he says it. He's
being diplomatic. He can't say I don't want any of

(01:24:35):
my guys playing. He can't say that the league told
him not to without telling him not to.

Speaker 4 (01:24:40):
Like for example, because again I know it's not exactly
the same, but I do like in this to the
World Baseball Classic, I don't remember a any availability of
managers being asked about this sort of thing.

Speaker 5 (01:24:57):
Well, think about the Astros involvement. Christian Javier, Luis Garcia,
fromber Valdez, Kyle Tucker, Ryan Presley, Jose Altuve.

Speaker 4 (01:25:04):
It's like.

Speaker 5 (01:25:06):
Jose Orkati. All of these players had opportunities. All of
those players participated, except for from ber Valdez.

Speaker 4 (01:25:14):
All of them are dealing with ailments or dealt with
ailments like everybody on that list. I'm pretty sure even
Jose al Tuveu And though it was a fluke, didn't
happen in a baseball game, in a regular in then
Major League Baseball sanctioned event.

Speaker 5 (01:25:29):
Hale Tucker fouling a ball off his leg as a
result of the World Baseball Class.

Speaker 4 (01:25:32):
Because Shin was weakened by the WBC.

Speaker 5 (01:25:36):
Well, I would say It's similar to that if the
World Baseball Classic was wiffle ball or home run derby
the flag. Football is not football. It's a totally different
sport that these guys don't play.

Speaker 4 (01:25:54):
Right, But it is football in the sense that it's
it's still the game.

Speaker 5 (01:25:59):
It's yeah, I hope they don't get tackled wrong, except
they're never going to no.

Speaker 4 (01:26:03):
But there is planting, there is no explosive plays. There's
plenty of opportunity for non contact injuries.

Speaker 6 (01:26:11):
It's all non contact injuries.

Speaker 4 (01:26:13):
Well, yeah, technically, I guess in that case. Point being like,
even if I was just like not being over the
top about the World Baseball Classic thing, and you go
down those list of names again, just limit it to
the pictures that you mentioned. I don't think there's a
single picture you mentioned that that's not dealt with some
sort of injury.

Speaker 5 (01:26:31):
But you're so far removed from it you could almost
say that about every picture.

Speaker 4 (01:26:35):
Period, but the timing of when that event was relative
to spring training and then how your season goes, and
how much more you were exerting prior to spring training
and then going into that season. Ryan Presley was not
particularly great last year. I think it's one of the
main reasons he's not here anymore. We're not gonna pay
you this much and have you not be as good

(01:26:56):
and have Josh Hater And he's making that much money.

Speaker 5 (01:27:00):
I mean it made sense. It was one hundred percent money.
If he made five million dollars, he'd be here.

Speaker 4 (01:27:04):
But what if he was lights out? And that one
two three punch it's not really a thing. It's usually
I wont two punch, but you know the one I'm
talking about.

Speaker 6 (01:27:12):
Well, if you're any good, if you need a third print.

Speaker 4 (01:27:13):
A bray you and hater? What if it really was
as dominant as it looked on at the time, It's
no king of bray, you hater. And I'm going totally serious.
They are absolutely destroying teams in the seventh, eighth, and
ninth nine. Now ye much better, like light years better.
If I want to make you have your blood boil,
Here we go. What Tomiko said was fine. What Nico

(01:27:37):
said was I was again. I was there when he
said it. I'm hopeful it was.

Speaker 11 (01:27:42):
Ah.

Speaker 5 (01:27:43):
This stare just asking me. This is fun to say,
and I'll say it and we'll move on and we'll
never think about it again. What about participating in flag
football NKO. What do you think? Oh, yeah, for sure,
get a gold medal. I mean, who doesn't want a
gold medal. It's a blessing, something I want to be
a part of. But if it happens, and it happens,
if it doesn't, it doesn't, it's goal. It would be fun.

Speaker 4 (01:28:05):
Okay, I'll talk to him, I'll talk some sense into him.
He does not need to be out there.

Speaker 5 (01:28:11):
Nobody that plays for a team that you'd like to
see as healthy as possible needs to be a post.

Speaker 4 (01:28:17):
Especially a guy who missed a month with a hamstring
injury last year.

Speaker 5 (01:28:22):
I'm to me, there's nothing especially about any of it.
This roster of the team USA sends to the twenty
twenty eight Olympics should be quarterbacked by Trevor Lawrence. The
backfield should be at TN throwing passes to Brian Thomas Junior.
And I'm trying to think of some good Colts players
that I argue, I'm a struggling and maybe you get

(01:28:43):
Cam Wore to play a new position.

Speaker 6 (01:28:45):
You send the whole AFCs out there in the text,
you do what he run.

Speaker 4 (01:28:48):
Game and have Anthony Richardson out there. Yeah, he's not
gonna be doing anything of consequence for the Colts.

Speaker 5 (01:28:52):
And Nico did say he thought Sting would be very
very good, so would see j Of course.

Speaker 4 (01:28:56):
Sting would be good. He's awesome at everything. He should
be a receiver for this. For being honest, they're full. Ahh.

Speaker 5 (01:29:04):
That's something that was either going to put in best
of X or somewhere else in the show.

Speaker 4 (01:29:08):
It fits here down for more guys that can catch
the ball.

Speaker 5 (01:29:11):
So we were obviously watching and at this point in
time able to video practice yesterday and normal drill work
at a practice OTAs even in camp. They'll do this
at the beginning of their practice during camp. It's very
normal stuff. You put your quarterbacks out there under center.
You have two centers, you have two quarterbacks, You have
receivers on the left, you have receivers on the right,

(01:29:32):
and just in succession, you know, the ones are usually
on opposite sides. Nico's on one side, Kirk's on the other,
and then you just keep going on down the line,
the number twos and threes and fours, et cetera. You
had Jalen Noel on the same side as Jayden Higgins
and so as that drill is happening. Nico's running his
routes very close to me. So I shoot a lengthy
video with each of these six or five throws, and

(01:29:53):
it's Nico on this close side, so I missed the
Kirk because he's on the opposite side.

Speaker 6 (01:29:57):
And then I went to the opposite side.

Speaker 5 (01:29:59):
And just kept shooting video of each throw and presumed
catch being made. And then when I posted the video,
I just ran through who they were wide receiver drills, Nico,
Noel Johnson, Metchi, Higgins, Johnny Johnson, excuse me, Xavier Johnson,
the Johnson of note. So that's five receivers, that's five passes.

(01:30:20):
And I've sent out a bunch of videos yesterday. This
is the only one that has one hundred and sixty
seven thousand views.

Speaker 4 (01:30:28):
Humble Brag.

Speaker 5 (01:30:29):
One run of the mill, run down the field, catch
a ball from a quarterback that I didn't even put
in the video to Davis Mills on every throw because
I was just showing the wide receivers running their routes
and catching balls. There were four receptions and one non reception.
The non reception was a pass over the middle of
the field to John Metchi stuck his right hand up

(01:30:51):
only to attempt to make what would be a one
handed catch and he did not come down with the
football at a run of the mill drill five months
out from this season. What do you think that was
met with in the comments?

Speaker 4 (01:31:03):
It's unbelievable, this guy's a bum something to that effect.

Speaker 5 (01:31:09):
Over and over the heck is Mechi's still doing on
the team? Mechi is so bad? Brolyn.

Speaker 4 (01:31:16):
Let me ask you this about him in particular. Do
you think all of this that other things that have
been said, uh, just any just the general consensus of
the fan base. His feelings towards that particular player have
more to do or are more prevalent because of the
fact that he was traded up for than if he

(01:31:39):
had just been I don't think fans are They don't
care about that. It's just he's not catching the ball
in this drill. So I'm mad.

Speaker 5 (01:31:46):
It's total lunacy. But that's what I get first giving
it to them.

Speaker 4 (01:31:50):
Now when I said the other day and Cole almost
fell out of his chair because I could hear it
in my headset that he's the odd man out.

Speaker 6 (01:31:57):
Why would he be the odd man out.

Speaker 4 (01:31:58):
Because of all the talent they've brought in at that position. No,
we'll address this had a no two syllable version. Yeah,
we'll address that when we come back. The odd man
out of wide receiver.

Speaker 5 (01:32:08):
I'm not sure how many people they think they're keeping,
but we'll address next.

Speaker 1 (01:32:14):
The A teen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (01:32:23):
Continuing here on the A team next segment, of course,
signature segment time on a Thursday.

Speaker 6 (01:32:29):
What's up with that?

Speaker 5 (01:32:31):
You could ask that about every single segment throughout the program,
but specific to what we teased into this, the odd
man out? How many Texans wide receivers are going to
be on the team when they open up the season
and when they try to get through the season. How
many more will they carry on the practice squad, most
of which are probably already on the roster. They got
enough of them, you would think. And the idea of

(01:32:52):
where John Metchi fits into all of this. I teared
up the receivers before they began their offseason workouts. I
think it's pretty clear where everybody is. They got a
Tier one. They're obviously not in any jeopardy of missing
the team's opener due to being cut, and they're your
top two. Nico Collins and Christian Kirk. They're on the team.

(01:33:13):
They're gonna be starting, They're gonna be big factors this year.
You could take the next tier from a roster perspective,
the two rookies Jayden Higgins and Jalen Knowl. There's no
threat of them not being here. They'll make the team.
They'll be a part of their useful group of receivers
most likely. And that gets you to four. You got
two players who were on the field for this team

(01:33:35):
last year in a reserve role and different capacities a
different point in the year, and both former Nick Cassario
draft picks Xavier Hutchinson and John Metchi.

Speaker 6 (01:33:43):
I'm already at six.

Speaker 12 (01:33:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:33:46):
Braxon Barrios signed as a free agent, not seen yesterday
on the field to find out tomorrow if he is
participating when we get there tomorrow. He had an opportunity
for him to potentially be a part of your return game.
You signed Justin Watson, a free agent from the Kansas
City Chiefs, didn't play a huge role with them during
any of his seasons there. And then a bunch of

(01:34:07):
guys that you've had here, plus one other undrafted rookie
and Daniel Jackson, both of the Johnson, Xavier and Johnny
and Jared Wayne, who unfortunately is still more well known
for a play that was not made by him, but
a play that unfortunately ended up with the other receiver.
I did not mention because I don't consider him a
factor until we get to see Otherwise, Tank, Dell, so

(01:34:30):
Collins and Kirker on the team.

Speaker 6 (01:34:31):
The two rookies are on the team. That's four.

Speaker 5 (01:34:35):
You guys tell me how John Mechi's the odd man
out and not making the Texans in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 4 (01:34:44):
Well, I'm just and Cole can jump at any time
as well. I just the names that you listed there.
Maybe what it comes down to is that I am
that hopeful about the influx of talent they brought in
via the draft, specifically, like forget free agency and all that.

Speaker 5 (01:35:03):
I'm not putting him on the field over them. I'm
just saying, why is he Maybe in case I misinterpreted
the odd man out statement, mean, why.

Speaker 4 (01:35:10):
Does anybody have to be out?

Speaker 5 (01:35:12):
You gotta get him If you're telling me he's the
odd man I heard it as he's not making the team.
If you meant only he's a part of their reserves,
that's different. But yeah, I don't see how how does
he not make the team?

Speaker 4 (01:35:21):
Maybe that was more, Maybe that was too strongly worded.
I'm not saying that they necessarily cut him, but I'm
not saying they don't. I just mean the freedom, well
for what though, guess a seventh rounder, Yeah, that he
can then flip in another deal.

Speaker 6 (01:35:35):
Inevitably he's gonna do it.

Speaker 7 (01:35:36):
He's gonna bring in another veteran wide receiver or defensive
tackle next year from another team and use that seventh
round pick.

Speaker 4 (01:35:43):
Yeah, like I guess at this point in his career,
not Mechi, I would have liked to have seen more.
I understand he missed the year because of the treatment
and all that kind of stuff. That's a completely separate,
and honestly no better way to put it, flukeish thing.
When it comes down to the grand scheme of things,

(01:36:04):
nobody expected that, at least of all him. But all
of that aside, I guess I just expected to seem
more for a guy who was taken where he was
but also traded up for all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:36:17):
Is it possible to not care about that or just
think without using that like he is what he is?

Speaker 4 (01:36:22):
I know, and it's my way, and I would have
said this for any position, any player. If you trade up,
you give up whatever draft capital capital, big or small
for a guy, then I automatically have greater expectations for him,
no matter what.

Speaker 7 (01:36:38):
So do you have greater expectations for Tayer Sie because
they traded up for.

Speaker 4 (01:36:41):
Him, Well, I have greater expectations for him because he's
an offensive lineman, Okay, And then then that's probably not
fair to him. But that's that's that's just part of
being on the Texans right now.

Speaker 7 (01:36:52):
Here's the reason why I'll push back on the when
you trade up for a John Metchi type because of yes,
the fluke was of course, he got caught and he
had a missing hire year going through treatment for leukemia.
But keep in mind that when Nick Caserio drafted him,
he was coming off of torn acl suffered in the
SEC Championship, so he was not going to be ready

(01:37:13):
to go, probably for the first several weeks of the season,
if not the entirety of the season. Because his teammate
Jamison Williams, who was drafted twelfth overall, he didn't play
throughout the entirety of the twenty twenty three season twenty
twenty two season.

Speaker 5 (01:37:28):
Well, what I would actually say keep in mind is
keep in mind what was given up and where he
was picked and all that, like the day that it
had happened. Just focus on who he was, what he
was coming out. It's very important to bring up the
injury situation he was in and he ended up giving.
You know, you swapped basically the pick you moved up

(01:37:50):
from at sixty eight, but you also gave two additional
picks to make that move. John Metchi should not have
been the forty fourth player picked in the twenty twenty
two draft, point blank, end of story.

Speaker 6 (01:38:05):
I'd agree with that.

Speaker 5 (01:38:06):
I couldn't didn't understand why he was the forty fourth
player off the board.

Speaker 4 (01:38:09):
Oh you said that at the time.

Speaker 5 (01:38:11):
I remember when you add in what was utilized to
move up to go get him, especially in a draft,
this draft in particular, And I do think we're starting
to see a lot of drafts like this because we're
talking about wide receivers like how could you be? How
could you go through all your scouting and listen to
what your you know on site, people have to say,
and your relationship with people at Alabama And clearly I'm

(01:38:32):
going to take a leap here and say that Nick
Cassario probably has a reasonable connection to Alabama because Bill
Sabin and Nick Belichick are very close friends.

Speaker 6 (01:38:43):
Yes, I said that on purpose.

Speaker 5 (01:38:44):
I do think there's probably an internal information pathway between them.
The next, you know, couple of picks within the next
fifteen picks, George Pickens, who had baggage still does Alec
pierceon plays in Indianapolis sky more later on in the draft,

(01:39:05):
Romeo dops Calvin Austen Khalil Shugar And this is way
later on, like what it was it that he saw
in John Mechi clearly made a bunch of plays as
a college wide receiver. But I just even then, even
at Bama, even with the highlight reels worth of plays,
because there were so many of them, I just wasn't
looking at this probably undersized, six foot less than two

(01:39:30):
hundred pound receiver. Was why is he getting drafted at
forty four? How did you lock in on him and say, well,
we're never gonna get him at sixty eight, so we
need to trade up to go get him.

Speaker 7 (01:39:39):
Well, here's the thing that also I would like to
throw out there, because you only mentioned wide receivers.

Speaker 5 (01:39:43):
Yeah, clearly, there's ny of other talented players at forty
four first that were.

Speaker 7 (01:39:47):
Taken literally in that same span that were positions of
me that year.

Speaker 5 (01:39:52):
There, I I gotta stop you before you even say
who they are? What do you mean positions of need?

Speaker 4 (01:39:58):
Don't hey? You know what, Nick, we don't need that
GM speak right now for the purposes of this segment.
Go ahead, cold.

Speaker 5 (01:40:04):
The very next player was a little bit like Metchi
and the injury capsule, right, Yeah, And that's the kind
of player I would have taken a chance on, even
though there was a major injury concern.

Speaker 7 (01:40:17):
But you were going to say Cam Jurgens, who has
becoming a pro Bowl center.

Speaker 6 (01:40:21):
Try to hold off Kenyon Green this year?

Speaker 7 (01:40:23):
Yeah, Trey McBride, who is arguably the best emerging young
tight end in the NFL.

Speaker 4 (01:40:29):
That just got Texans could use.

Speaker 6 (01:40:32):
Let me ask you about McBride real quick.

Speaker 5 (01:40:33):
Yeah, And for those that have listened to the show,
I'm sorry you've heard this many many times before. I
think I already know the answer. Personally. I know Trey
McBride is talented. Is different? Is he is the reason
the numbers are where they are? Or is he super
productive as a tight end because they throw them the

(01:40:55):
ball a lot, Like I.

Speaker 6 (01:40:57):
Know that's it almost sounds dumb even hearing it, saying it.

Speaker 4 (01:41:00):
Wouldn't the Texans tight ends be more productive if they
threw them the ball more?

Speaker 5 (01:41:03):
Okay, of course they would, So why do you need
Trey McBride. He's productive because Kyler Murray won't throw the
ball to anybody else. He throws him seventeen times a game,
twelve times, and I know it helps. I know it
gets him down the field. I know he catches most
of them.

Speaker 4 (01:41:16):
I'm totally over selling this idea of a tight end
is productive because you throw him the ball And yeah,
I guess you could say he's open all the time,
although going back and watching all of Kyler's throws to him,
he probably wouldn't say that.

Speaker 6 (01:41:27):
I'm selling it.

Speaker 4 (01:41:28):
I'm over selling.

Speaker 6 (01:41:29):
This ridiculous idea.

Speaker 5 (01:41:30):
But is Trey McBride special or this was smart in
the second round to take a guy you thought was
a little bit better than every other tight end, Like
I'd rather draft Trey McBride one hundred times in the
second round then draft Brock Bowers in the top ten.

Speaker 7 (01:41:45):
Ever, no Trey McBride in my opinion of special coming
out that year. There were two things that were always
going to be against him. Number One, where do he
play in college?

Speaker 6 (01:41:53):
Colorado?

Speaker 7 (01:41:53):
So he played at Colorado, Colorado's state, So he was
never gonna be in the running because he's at Colorado State.
Number Two, I think that the fact that he played
against such inferior competition in the Mountain West that year,
he was never gonna be viewed as a player that
could transcend. Even though to every single scout that I
spoke to with the Singer Bowl, the number one player

(01:42:14):
at the Singer Bowl, not position number one player.

Speaker 5 (01:42:16):
Last thing, with only five seconds to respond, Cole, the
player that actually was drafted with the first of the
picks they traded was Martin Emerson. Corner, Cleveland, You like
Martin Emerson as a corner corner. It's a very good corner.
The Texans are fine at corner stick. They're more than last,
They're fine the best.

Speaker 6 (01:42:36):
They're very very, very very good than the Jets.

Speaker 5 (01:42:40):
Uh yeah, better than the random team the Jets.

Speaker 4 (01:42:43):
I said that because of Sauce.

Speaker 5 (01:42:44):
Yeah, well, he's got a really good corner. On the
other that actually is a very good duo, but not
the goodest duo.

Speaker 6 (01:42:50):
What's up with that?

Speaker 2 (01:42:51):
Next the AE on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (01:42:58):
Now a new signs or seven called What's up with That?
What's up with that?

Speaker 11 (01:43:09):
What's up?

Speaker 12 (01:43:11):
Less?

Speaker 4 (01:43:12):
Say?

Speaker 6 (01:43:12):
What's up do that?

Speaker 5 (01:43:18):
So last night, as we get into our signature segment
here on a Thursday edition of the A Team, Wexac
and Cole here what's up with that?

Speaker 4 (01:43:26):
Last night?

Speaker 5 (01:43:27):
The Western Conference playoffs ended. Next series the Oklahoma City
Thunder playing will be the last series of the season,
and it's not Western Conference exclusive.

Speaker 6 (01:43:37):
They have to wait for an Eastern Conference team to
join them.

Speaker 5 (01:43:40):
May happen tonight the Indiana Pacers joining them, or it
may happen later this week with the Inana Pacers joining them.

Speaker 6 (01:43:48):
Nick sar gonna win through in a row, but it
doesn't happen to end tonight.

Speaker 5 (01:43:52):
Nonetheless, the TNT portion of our lives, it's coming to
a Yes, the inside the NBA TNT portion of our
lives is coming to a close. Everyone went berserk on
social media for sure, and maybe even beyond that when

(01:44:13):
the NBA put their deal together and TNT was not
a part of it at all, and they were We're
never gonna see Ernie and Shaq and Kenny and Charles
together again in their current state that since been rectified,
those four all have the opportunity and all will likely
be seen together on a program on ESPN in the

(01:44:35):
future covering NBA games in much the same fashion that
they have for the years to precede this. But every
single time these guys are on TV together, and every
single time we get close to the end of the line,
and last night was a big one, they're talking about
it like it's not going to be the same to
such a degree that I'm struggling to understand why not.

(01:44:57):
I know the people will be different behind the scenes
to a great degree, and I think that's a shame.
And I don't want to discount their involvement and ability
to make the.

Speaker 6 (01:45:06):
Show what it is. That's a huge part of how
the show is what it is.

Speaker 5 (01:45:10):
The leeway they give Ernie, the manner in which they
utilize Shaq and Kenny and Charles, the people behind the
scenes do more than you could ever believe to make
non traditional television people, which is.

Speaker 6 (01:45:21):
Basically just athletes stars.

Speaker 12 (01:45:24):
Now.

Speaker 5 (01:45:24):
The athletes put a lot of effort and time into it,
and Charles, Kenny and Shack have been at this game
for long enough, it's pretty clear that even though they
mock each other, especially Charles and Shack about how little
they put into it, they can't do what they do
without putting into it to get out of it what
we're all enjoying. But aren't they basically just saying, Hey, look,
they're going to keep paying us and we're going to

(01:45:45):
be following NBA games in the future with our show,
but you're not gonna like it.

Speaker 6 (01:45:51):
It sounds like that to.

Speaker 4 (01:45:52):
Me what I've worried about from the time that even
before we got to the oh, they aren't going away,
it's just an ESPN version. The minute it was not
going to be a T and T property. You knew
it wasn't going to be the same, whether that Minute
was going away forever like we initially thought, or later

(01:46:13):
ESPN's going to take it over. Well, ESPN ruins everything
it touches on TV these days, so.

Speaker 5 (01:46:17):
But everything they touch other than McAfee basically, and that
might be a good comparison.

Speaker 4 (01:46:23):
It is a good comparison.

Speaker 6 (01:46:24):
Everything was just original program. Here, our guys.

Speaker 5 (01:46:27):
We've hired him and we've paid him a billion dollars,
and then we paid Steven A. Smith even more than
a billion dollars. It's all their own shows.

Speaker 4 (01:46:32):
Also, I'm going to do this show, be it Pat
McAfee or inside the NBA, my Way unfiltered without you
meddling or else, I'm not doing it right.

Speaker 5 (01:46:43):
And McAfee is doing exactly that. Yes, that's why they're
acting like. The TNT side is acting like, well, we're not.
We're going to do whatever it is you allow us
to do. And that's I think where this might not
be what we want. And I do think there's and
I don't really care about the actual specifics of what's
been said, but the way things have gone with who
who is, especially ESPN because this is where most of

(01:47:04):
our yaki yak comes from, that we care somewhat about.
I know there's another network with a number after it,
two different numbers depending on which network you're watching, and
they have people that make some unbelievable mistakes. We don't
pay as much attention to that for obvious reasons. But
just in the last ten days, two different voices about
two different sports that are on the Worldwide Leader as

(01:47:27):
analysts had to apologize for something they said, and in
neither case was it sports related. I mean it was
it stemmed from sports, obviously, but it wasn't really an
opinion about the basketball or an opinion about the football.
And Charles and Kenny and Shack have done all. I mean,

(01:47:47):
the apology for san Antonio is like a joke apology
and everyone's.

Speaker 4 (01:47:52):
All about it because it and everybody knew that.

Speaker 5 (01:47:55):
And yet I just I'm not sure what they can
do because if the show's there, it has to be
this or it is pointless. Then it's it's not that
we're missing on them, it's that it's every It's like
every other show then, and that's not what everybody wants.

Speaker 4 (01:48:09):
Great, we have enough of every other show. We don't
want every other show. Yeah, I mean, like I said,
I I won't. I'll reserve final judgment until I see
the finished product. The best thing they have going for them,
them being ESPN, is that they have finally given me
a reason to turn them on again. That's not a
game that I have to watch because they're the only

(01:48:30):
network broadcasting it.

Speaker 5 (01:48:31):
And the other part of what's up with that also
NBA related. I think I smartly decided not to take
a screen cap and send you what was in my
text thread with my bros from Dallas and San Antonio,
my sports crew from college. But rather tell you about
it right here on the air. Oh good, you want
to get our FCC in the midst of them lamenting

(01:48:53):
all sorts of Dallas negativity and you know the Dirk
and not you know, winning then and not being able
to do it now. And Rick Carlisle's doing it for
Indiana and Jalen Brunson is doing it for the Knicks
and not for us. They're also lamenting the Rangers. Rangers
had a hit last night, first hit, and they went

(01:49:15):
over for twenty seven. But then they really, I'm not
trying to Your blood is not gonna boil at all.
It's gonna not even be on a simmer. It's gonna
be calm, flowing as it should into and out of
your heart.

Speaker 6 (01:49:28):
So relax a little bit.

Speaker 5 (01:49:29):
They said Oklahoma City would sweep New York, would be
a joke Indiana, Oklahoma City will be the lowest rated
finals in history, and that was met with the twenty
twenty three Rangers Diamondbacks of the NBA, who said that
Adam Wexler I did not participate in any of these comments.

(01:49:53):
Oh you were just every comment I read to you
came from Dallas. I mean, at least they know they
know who was that person. Jason made the NBA reference
to the World Series.

Speaker 4 (01:50:03):
What up, Jason?

Speaker 8 (01:50:04):
I like that.

Speaker 12 (01:50:05):
That's good.

Speaker 4 (01:50:05):
That's good self deprecating humor right there, Like they know, well, okay,
you know how they really know.

Speaker 5 (01:50:13):
The Rangers of twenty twenty five? Like, what do you
specifically single out one ranger?

Speaker 4 (01:50:19):
Yeah, Nate a Doulas Garcia, Oh, the cycler who doesn't
cycle anymore? You surebody else?

Speaker 6 (01:50:25):
You sure there's nobody else?

Speaker 4 (01:50:26):
Well, because his soul turn down me.

Speaker 5 (01:50:29):
Something has to be done about Marcus Simon. There's only
so many spots in the order where you can bump
him down anymore.

Speaker 4 (01:50:36):
Listen, that's your that's a you problem. That's a what's
his name, Chris Young whatever, Yeah, that's a you problem
for giving him that money. Adolas Garcia, I mean that's
basically Sammy so so light for that year in ninety eight.
And you know, good for you. You cheated to win a championship.

(01:50:58):
We can relate, But more people watched ours. But what
the funny thing about that is you were playing the
Arizona Diamondbacks.

Speaker 6 (01:51:07):
Twenty twenty three.

Speaker 5 (01:51:08):
Marcus Simeon, MLB Leader in War twenty twenty five, Marcus
Simeon he's a negative war player.

Speaker 4 (01:51:16):
Yeah, it's funny like that is lightning in a bottle
type stuff. And just like the Mavericks in twenty eleven,
you'll always be looking at your championship just like that,
and there's no consistency. They didn't go back, they didn't
flirt with it again. I mean, Rockets won back to back.
At least you can't even do that or go to
another World Series soon, saying.

Speaker 1 (01:51:39):
The A team on Sports Talk seven ninety, I'm fascinated
by this Dallas text thread.

Speaker 4 (01:51:51):
By the way, is this the daily thing like this
for them? Okay, I'm on all right, that's actually funny.

Speaker 5 (01:52:00):
Once every three or four days, I'm tempted to text
back all you guys have jobs, right.

Speaker 4 (01:52:08):
Well, okay, I am on a text thread that is
that is similar to that in which everyone else participates,
not all day long, every day, but whenever there's participation,
they are like, I muted it. I see that there's
a new message, But my phone's not gonna go off
every time I get a message, because if that were

(01:52:28):
the case, then my wife would be like, hey, he's
texting you one o'clock in the mine, that kind of thing.
That's how she sounds at one o'clock in the morning.
And so. But like, there are text threads like that,
and you peek in on it, you know what's going on,
and they're usually sports slash guide talk related. At least
that's how mine is.

Speaker 6 (01:52:49):
Text thread has a name. It's called food and Sports.

Speaker 4 (01:52:52):
Okay, what's the picture? Uh, it's changed so.

Speaker 6 (01:52:55):
Many times, I don't even know what it is today.

Speaker 4 (01:52:56):
I mean, you and me and some other people that
we know are on another text thread. I can't share
the name of that one. No one I'm talking about.
I don't three little letters.

Speaker 6 (01:53:11):
I don't know what those are.

Speaker 4 (01:53:12):
You are a lying man. I love when he does
the plausible deniability and I scrolling through my recently received texts, Well,
it's been a minute since you've got a text from
that one. Because the interesting thing about that is that
everybody on it. I'm also in either another individual or
group thread with some of the people on the on

(01:53:33):
that thread very popular. Well, no, it's just you know
who's responsible for like ninety five percent of this mess
in my life, Matt Thomas.

Speaker 6 (01:53:41):
Not a mess.

Speaker 4 (01:53:42):
It's a good mess, but it's a mess. It's concluded
like you and me are on a text thread, and
you me and coloran a text thread. Yeah, and that's
the one that's bouncing.

Speaker 6 (01:53:52):
It's right there at the top, the eighteen.

Speaker 4 (01:53:55):
Oh do you have the preferred ones?

Speaker 5 (01:53:57):
Just there's Those are the ones I get the most
messages I have. Notice if I have three people in
my family, right, I have individual text threads with each
of them, and I have separate ones for all possible groupings.

Speaker 6 (01:54:08):
How about this, They're not in my favorites.

Speaker 4 (01:54:10):
You want to really get in the mud about this.

Speaker 6 (01:54:12):
Sure, I know you do. I know everybody wants to
hear about it.

Speaker 4 (01:54:15):
Shut up. They all agree with this. And I'm about
to offend like thirty percent of our audience, and then
I'm about to get like fist prompts from the rest.
If you don't own an iPhone at this point, you
know where I'm going with this. You third world participants,
you lesser peasant citizens who have the green text that

(01:54:38):
comes in that I can't. I can't even properly text
somebody that has a droid from my laptop because they'll
just bounce it back like iPhone flawless. And you know what,
don't get mad at me because my parents are two
of those people. They refuse to lean into the iPhone revolution.

(01:55:00):
It's the most user friendly phone on the planet. Why
wouldn't you get it. Maybe they like the challenge, they don't.
Maybe they like being different. No, none of that. So
their BlackBerry still works. It's not that it's a BlackBerry.
It's just that it's not an Apple phone. And so
therefore everything we try to do, and my sister's the
same way. She and her husband, who does very well

(01:55:20):
for him yourself, So there's your parents and the siblings.

Speaker 5 (01:55:23):
I'm the outlier. You're exactly, they're the outliers. Not in
your family. Stupid sheep, that's black is you.

Speaker 4 (01:55:31):
I should have my dad call in, because the thing is,
we get into arguments about it. I go, Dad, He goes,
I'm not giving my money to Apple. Well, you're doing
it to Google. So now he has his reason. They're
giving it to Google. I said, why, Dad, what's so
bad about it? Because this one's made in this kind
of sweat shop and this one's made in this other sweatshop.
It's the same thing, So that's out. That's not an argument.

Speaker 5 (01:55:51):
If we were getting rid of all Sweatshop created items,
I'd have to.

Speaker 4 (01:55:54):
Sell all my Nikes. I'm not getting rid of my Ja's.
I love my Jordan's. I don't like how they're made,
but there's nothing I can do about that, and I
like them, So I'm not getting rid. But this is
more practical, Like I can't send you a video or
even a picture without an Act of Congress because you
have this lesser phone. So everybody out there that texts
me with green instead of blue, and you know who

(01:56:16):
you are. You're not above the criticism, just like my
own parents and family aren't.

Speaker 6 (01:56:21):
So just don't start a group chat with them.

Speaker 4 (01:56:23):
I don't want to talk to them because of it.
Oh you don't want to go even talk to them.
I don't want to text with them. It's like it's
easier to talk to them over the phone than texting
because of all of the issues.

Speaker 7 (01:56:33):
See, we have our own group chat and one of
our friends is the exact same way. He refuses to
get rid of his black not BlackBerry, whatever, droid whatever
it is. Yeah, but like we privately text him like
he is not in our group chat because we're not
ruining the thread and not being able to add other
people because if you're just too lazy to go yeah
and give money there.

Speaker 4 (01:56:52):
And that's the thing that thread that I was telling
you about where I kind of I mute the notifications,
but I see them all.

Speaker 5 (01:56:58):
They all have iPhones like adults. Like adults. Yes, but
everybody you're talking about is an adult.

Speaker 4 (01:57:04):
No when to come through this.

Speaker 6 (01:57:06):
And the people that are older than you, that raise you.

Speaker 4 (01:57:08):
Are not a species. They're regressing as a society. Okay
they are, and it's not I don't want it to
be this way. I take no pleasure in saying this,
but it's the truth. It's a hard dose of reality.
If you're not using an iPhone, especially in a group
ta text thread setting, you're just a lesser person. You

(01:57:29):
are in the phone realm, not in real life. I
love them, They're my family. Can't you tell you're a
lesser person? I heard that part. I heard that part.

Speaker 6 (01:57:41):
We all heard that one.

Speaker 4 (01:57:42):
Listen. If my dad's listening to the show, which she
sometimes does in the fiverbody, he knows how I feel.

Speaker 5 (01:57:47):
Everybody out there on the roadways get ready for me.
I'm going to say something I don't mean, but I'm
going to say it and then pretend like I don't
mean it right after I say what I don't mean,
that's what you just did.

Speaker 7 (01:57:57):
And then make sure that right afterwards, Oh, you know,
just in real you're not a terrible person, but if
you have that BlackBerry, you're poor as hell.

Speaker 4 (01:58:03):
I'll tell you what it's not even about. No, no,
that's not true. This is not a financial thing. Those
stupid Samsung Galaxy galaxies that actually have better cameras, in
my opinion than an iPhone.

Speaker 6 (01:58:15):
Does they really do? Maybe that's their reason.

Speaker 5 (01:58:18):
If that's your reason, aren't your parents creating content with
their awesomer phone?

Speaker 4 (01:58:23):
I mean, neither one of my parents cut up their.

Speaker 5 (01:58:25):
T shirts to give out their TikTok handles. But you
can if you want.

Speaker 4 (01:58:30):
The day, Brent or Darlene, get on TikTok. I'm ending it.
I'm ending it all. I mean my life. I'm not.

Speaker 6 (01:58:38):
This is not one for the vault.

Speaker 4 (01:58:40):
What do you This is a great segment. This is
the best segment we've done today.

Speaker 6 (01:58:45):
You need to talk to somebody.

Speaker 4 (01:58:46):
Here's the thing. Seven seven ninety I guarantee you we
can line up five people and at least four would
agree with me. It's in a superior way.

Speaker 5 (01:58:54):
Parents go on social media while they're not using Apple,
then that's it. Yeah, it was a good run. We
had some good times. That's some bad times.

Speaker 4 (01:59:06):
The lights Scot Stugie, you don't believe that this is
actually better. Don't hate me, No, I do hate you,
and it's not better. Blocked, Yeah, blocked and reported is
more like it.

Speaker 5 (01:59:18):
To the FEDS sports man, he really does this whole
segment not realize, make you realize why sports are awesome.

Speaker 4 (01:59:25):
But seriously, okay, don't have to worry about these since
you brought that up sports to the Yeah, but okay,
say there's something going on in the sports world that
is absolutely always something going life changes, altering Houston sports
even Hey, look at this home run you're on AVAA
is just hit in the World Series. I can't send
it to you because you have a stupid droid and

(01:59:46):
you're overseas and it won't accept it, whereas if you
had an iPhone it would go right away.

Speaker 6 (01:59:51):
No problem. I have social media. I can find it.

Speaker 4 (01:59:55):
Android sucks a. That's from Eric. See he gets me
after the break find out what comes after A sucks?
So what I don't there obviously was a couple of
crooked letters fill in a blank statement to come five
o'clock means football at five?

Speaker 6 (02:00:09):
Android Talk next.

Speaker 1 (02:00:13):
The eighteen On Sports Talk seven ninety, Adam Clinton and
Adam Wexler are the eighteen.

Speaker 6 (02:00:27):
Oh man.

Speaker 4 (02:00:29):
Football at five is gonna be a razer today, wex
I'm just gonna read aloud from all of the blue
texts that I got during the last five minutes of
that segment. After Eric texted in, he said he wanted
to text wex By the way, he's the one that
said android sucks. A Drew one of my favorite guys

(02:00:55):
in the service department of a certain dealership that I
can no longer mention. What up Drew? Our family group
chat had to be moved to Messenger all because of
one person with a stupid Android. You fight the power, Drew.
You don't let those third class citizens mess up your
family group trat. Good on you, Stugie says, I bet

(02:01:17):
the Clinton's use an iPhone that's not nice and far
too political for the show.

Speaker 6 (02:01:22):
Yeah, definitely none of that.

Speaker 4 (02:01:27):
Our boy, Jared, I have stopped talking to longtime friends
due to green bubbles, He gets me, these are all
people in my wheelhouse. Well, Christine Johnson of Walton and
Johnson Fame, this is actually different. She says. I'm sitting
waiting on my food to go at a Vietnamese restaurant

(02:01:50):
in the Heights. We don't give out names unless they
endorse the show.

Speaker 5 (02:01:53):
And I look at what you can do if you'd
like to become a partner of the eighteen Yes, hit
Adam or myself with an email.

Speaker 6 (02:01:58):
Your email address.

Speaker 4 (02:02:00):
Adam Clanton at iHeartMedia dot com.

Speaker 5 (02:02:04):
I can be found at Adam Wesler at iHeartMedia dot com.
You can feel text me though, if you have a dream,
feel the passion from us, right, we could be giving
you that very same passion, by the way, for your company,
your product, your establishment, and we'd love to do so.

Speaker 4 (02:02:18):
So hit us up, particularly if you would like me
to endorse Apple iPhones or a phone company that sells them,
or anything of that nature that has nothing to do
with Samsung galaxies. So Christine says, I'm sitting waiting on
my to go food at a Vietnamese restaurant in Heights
and I look up because it's really offensive, bright orange.

(02:02:38):
They call it burnt in some places, but I just
say offensive, bright orange color was blinding me from the
television directly above the bar. Hope y'all are well hook
them and she had a picture of me on the TV.
That's a spacey home network. Let us know you're watching.

Speaker 5 (02:02:54):
We know you're listening because you're texting Adam, But yeah,
have you see us when you're out and about, hanging
out at your favorite establishment, maybe waiting on some to
go food. Yeah, we know we're on the TVs, but
you got to prove it to us. Take a little
pick every time you see us. Maybe when you're at
the house watching us wandering around doing you know, your
odd jobs or just that's your work from home. You
got space sitting home network on as you're listening to

(02:03:15):
us on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 6 (02:03:17):
We'd love to see those picks.

Speaker 5 (02:03:18):
And you can find us at that email address I
just mentioned or on social media.

Speaker 6 (02:03:22):
You know where to find us.

Speaker 4 (02:03:24):
And you're ready for me to be completely candid and
transparent about what I was saying and consistent.

Speaker 5 (02:03:31):
Finally, three hours of three minutes and several years, and
I am ready for you, for the first time ever.

Speaker 4 (02:03:37):
To be candid. I responded on my computer to Christine,
and I forgot yep. There it was a green bubble
response that will now fail to send because she has
a stupid droid.

Speaker 6 (02:03:52):
Why is it failing to send?

Speaker 4 (02:03:54):
I hope she's reading the closed captioning on the bar
TV so that I can tell her you are a
Third World citizen for owning a droid. Get an iPhone,
be an adult droids forever, dude. I just I don't
know how people live like that. After I've had one
and somebody made a crack to cole via the phone

(02:04:15):
lines about blackberries. I had a BlackBerry.

Speaker 5 (02:04:18):
There's definitely a BlackBerry at the house of mine. I
had one or two at the time.

Speaker 4 (02:04:22):
It was somewhere. But yet that was two thousand and eight,
two thousand and nine.

Speaker 6 (02:04:26):
Things times have changed.

Speaker 4 (02:04:28):
Living in the mix. Turn the page. So it's okay
to have an iPhone and be an adult. All right,
football five Football at five? Here, you got some options.

Speaker 5 (02:04:37):
Obviously we had some Texans, but we'll kind of table
a little bit of that as we get out there tomorrow.
I'm gonna give you a full picture of the three
days worth of mini camp activities. OTAs technically is what
they're operating with. They were out on the field today
though the media was not present. I have seen some
of the h in house footage there. You'll like it
if you like Jalen Knowl and the work that'll put

(02:04:59):
on film for you this year.

Speaker 6 (02:05:02):
Which story should we talk about?

Speaker 4 (02:05:05):
First?

Speaker 5 (02:05:05):
Regarding the NFL, I've got one for you. Okay, I
did have four options, but I'm I'm happy with others.

Speaker 4 (02:05:12):
Well, does yours involve the London games and Ticketmaster?

Speaker 6 (02:05:17):
Now I'm going to give you the list.

Speaker 5 (02:05:21):
Apparently, I'll just give you the option team only you know,
I'll be brief. Are we talking about the Patriots, Ravens
or Titans?

Speaker 12 (02:05:31):
Three?

Speaker 4 (02:05:32):
Is something bad happening to the Titans?

Speaker 5 (02:05:34):
I'm not giving you an Just which one we're going
to get to all of them?

Speaker 4 (02:05:38):
Which one would you like for Patriots the Ravens of
the Titans? All right, we'll start off in New England.

Speaker 10 (02:05:44):
Well, it's something that we're aware of, and obviously we
want to make great decisions on and off the field,
and we're hoping that with our time here on the
field today and that when we don't have a script
and we're on the called periods, that we're making great decisions,
and so the message will be the same for all
our players that we were trying to make great decisions

(02:06:05):
and any conversations that I've had with Stefan or between
him and I and the club.

Speaker 5 (02:06:10):
Now, you guys probably know what our android computer was
just playing. Obviously with all those hiccups, we're working off
an android here. That was the new head coach of
the New England Patriots, Michael Verbel. Michael commenting that, as
the headline states, coach Mike Vrabel says, Patriots aware of

(02:06:31):
Stefan Diggs video?

Speaker 6 (02:06:34):
Are you aware of Stefan Diggs video?

Speaker 4 (02:06:36):
Okay, I think I am, because this is the whole
Cardi B situation.

Speaker 5 (02:06:41):
Well not kind of yes, but pretty much no Cole
let Ac and our other android pro listeners know about.
Oh look, message send failure to Christine. The Stefan Vig
Diggs video in question. Can you describe it please?

Speaker 7 (02:06:55):
So imagine if, like the OBJ boat scene, took a
turned down things alley because of a right in front
of Cardi B on the boat.

Speaker 6 (02:07:05):
We see, fine, fine young ladies were.

Speaker 7 (02:07:10):
Indulging in conversations with stef Hon Diggs and then of
course the former Houston, Texans body deceiver decided to pull
out a little ziplock bag on camera.

Speaker 6 (02:07:19):
And what was in that ziploc bag we don't know.

Speaker 4 (02:07:22):
We don't know why not what what? What was the
color of the contents.

Speaker 5 (02:07:28):
We don't know. It's hard to say. They I believe
hip blocks are clear, yes, but within the bag there
were were substances that could not be determined based on
the additional protection. What's he's something I couldn't tell what
it was for sure.

Speaker 4 (02:07:42):
Was it light colored or dark colored? It was pink?

Speaker 6 (02:07:44):
It was it was a pink.

Speaker 4 (02:07:46):
Oh no, that's the option. See, so all sorts of
I'd prefer not to have this going on. I'm not
really going to call it a distraction.

Speaker 5 (02:07:57):
He's obviously trying to get on the field post injury,
so it's not like he's working his butt off every
day at the facility and a part of the team
and he's been and then he's doing it is pushing
towards becoming that. He got an extremely pleasing contract. I
would think the opportunity to make sixty nine million over
three years. I don't imagine he'll play all three years

(02:08:19):
of it there in New England, but that's a typical length,
but very coming off the year he had at the
age he's at. That's I thought it was an exceptional
contract and one that the Texans would never have been
to the ballpark for paying it. Initially I thought it
was just a well, he's clearly with this woman Cardi

(02:08:40):
b who was also on the boat.

Speaker 6 (02:08:42):
By the way, who was on the boat.

Speaker 5 (02:08:43):
And I'm not saying it's not okay if you have
a wife, girlfriend, significant other. It should be okay to
speak with other people, whether they're of the same sex
or not, whether they're you're on the boat with your
partner or not.

Speaker 4 (02:08:56):
I mean you're you're just boat talking. You're just talking
to them right about how much you're wearing where you're at.

Speaker 5 (02:09:01):
You're on a boat, so what you're how much you're
wearing is relative to the activity.

Speaker 4 (02:09:06):
Well, you went on that boat with that person, So
you would like to wear a three piece with nice
shoes and all that, go right ahead.

Speaker 5 (02:09:12):
But you're on a boat. Why not wear swimwear? All
four people in the video are wearing swimwear. They're going
to get wet, they're on a boat. That's all fine.

Speaker 7 (02:09:26):
Please stop saying I'm on a boat all on the island.

Speaker 6 (02:09:29):
Why I don't want to stop.

Speaker 5 (02:09:31):
It's it's among their all time greatest hits.

Speaker 6 (02:09:34):
It's some some.

Speaker 4 (02:09:38):
Like whole album by the way.

Speaker 5 (02:09:40):
Some people like songs that include Meadow and Molly Simms
and Jessica Alba now mixing some of their songs, Mike's
and one of them.

Speaker 6 (02:09:51):
Acon has contributed.

Speaker 5 (02:09:52):
Few are aging as well as Jessica by the way.
Quite well, yes, no question. So there's your there's your story.
About the Patriots, I wouldn't exactly say they're dealing with it.

Speaker 6 (02:10:01):
It's the off season.

Speaker 5 (02:10:02):
It's of no real super consequence anyway, they'll get to
the season. If he's healthy, he's going to help them,
and Drake May will probably not throw four interceptions at
all of their off season practices, but some of them.

Speaker 7 (02:10:16):
Can I ask you if this happens in February, is
anybody even talking about it.

Speaker 5 (02:10:20):
Because the team's not gathered basically, yeah, no, probably not.
All right, we'll go Ravens next, and again we'll start
with the headline and take it from there. Raven's harboss
says cutting Tucker was complex decision. I mean, if it's complex,
that means more than one thing was considered. Yes, yeah,

(02:10:41):
I'll give you the one thing. On the field, he
was kicking worse than he'd ever kicked in his life.

Speaker 4 (02:10:46):
And the off the field, what you get?

Speaker 5 (02:10:47):
You tell me what the The other part of the
complex decision was well, one part was he's not as
good as he used to be, and the complex part
was what.

Speaker 6 (02:10:55):
How many counter against him right now? Well? One is
too many. That's just saying because anything pass one, I'm
not I don't.

Speaker 5 (02:11:02):
I won't want it to be heard like, oh my god,
somebody charged you with something you're guilty.

Speaker 6 (02:11:06):
That's not fair.

Speaker 4 (02:11:07):
That's not how this works in the NFL, and particularly
in Baltimore. If you can still play, they find a way.
If you can't, you shan't.

Speaker 5 (02:11:18):
I'll I'll read you part of his comment. So in
that sense, it's a football decision.

Speaker 8 (02:11:25):
There you go.

Speaker 6 (02:11:26):
I'm not telling you what he said before that.

Speaker 4 (02:11:27):
But how easy it is to put a bow on
things when the guy can't do what you've hired him
to do anymore.

Speaker 6 (02:11:33):
Okay, I'll say a little bit of what he said next.

Speaker 5 (02:11:34):
We have to have a kicker out there making kicks,
and what's the best way to get that done?

Speaker 4 (02:11:39):
All you've got to do is stop talking at that
point if you're him, because all the other stuff is
not having to be addressed because he can't play football anymore,
according to your standards.

Speaker 5 (02:11:48):
According to your standards, football, androids and whatnot. At five
one time segment only question mark.

Speaker 2 (02:12:00):
On Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 4 (02:12:01):
Ninety something called Tucker's swollen wallet has tweeted me with
not one the two screen caps involving messages between Android
and iPhone users and the second one. And this is

(02:12:22):
where he thought he had a real gotcha moment. It's
my favorite. Wex loves this by the way that this
has now gone into three segments. Globally, there are significantly
more Android users than iPhone users. Android's market share is
around seventy two percent, while iOS is is around twenty
eight percent. This means that approximately three point nine billion

(02:12:45):
Android users exist, compared to around one point four to
six billion iPhone users, to which I say, hey, how
many geniuses are in the world, not as many as
the problems.

Speaker 6 (02:12:56):
Three point nine billion?

Speaker 4 (02:12:57):
Apparently, No, that's not how that works.

Speaker 5 (02:12:59):
I can totally appreciate Kyle going to the data. Kyle,
he said, what was the handle again? His swollen wallet.
That's that's smart. His handle is at trace underscore a bear.
Going to the data is a great way to not
settle necessarily, but making.

Speaker 4 (02:13:20):
Googled number of iPhone users versus Android.

Speaker 5 (02:13:23):
Oh well, as long as AI generated that information, I'm
sure it's great.

Speaker 4 (02:13:26):
But the first the first thing he sent the the
query was whose fault iPhone Android text messages? And I
can't read the whole thing.

Speaker 12 (02:13:37):
OK.

Speaker 4 (02:13:37):
Kyle is such a stupid name. By the way, Yeah, bro,
By the way, he did all this as he was driving.

Speaker 6 (02:13:45):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (02:13:45):
So that's just proof right there.

Speaker 6 (02:13:47):
You know what that sounds like my brother Kyle.

Speaker 4 (02:13:50):
Well, this is Tucker's swollen wallet.

Speaker 6 (02:13:54):
I just want to probably, I just want to make
fun of my brother.

Speaker 5 (02:13:57):
A couple of extremely important pieces of information, not to
take us away from Android versus iPhone user talk, which
is more than welcome to be on the part of
the programs. It gets the people. Every single day. We
got sixteen segments. I don't say it can't be a
part of at least three of them on any given
day like today. Pedro Leone not yet played for anybody

(02:14:19):
of consequence this year.

Speaker 6 (02:14:20):
We'll have that opportunity tonight.

Speaker 5 (02:14:22):
He spent little less than a week at the Astros
Florida Complex League.

Speaker 6 (02:14:27):
Remember he was hurt during spring training.

Speaker 5 (02:14:29):
He played three games there, he hit three home runs there,
and now is beginning his rehab assignment with the Shereland
Space Cowboys. I don't think when they deem him supremely healthy,
which should be in a few games, he'll be making
a trip to Houston anytime soon. But it does at
least allow potentially for an option, both for them or

(02:14:51):
anybody else that might come looking for something. The Astros
as a team are taking on the Raised four games
with the race. We mentioned the lineup a little earlier
and it will not include Christian Walker, though Joe Spott
it did indicate he was available if needed tonight, but
not in the starting lineup for the Astros. It will

(02:15:14):
be Victor Carrattini at first base and in the cleanup spot.
Paying your parentis al two, Ve Carrotini, Myers, Jiner Diaz,
cam Smith, Dac Decenzo and Mauricio Duban al Twove's the DH.

Speaker 6 (02:15:25):
Mauricio is playing second.

Speaker 5 (02:15:28):
Earlier today, Brian McTaggart made a visit to the station
as he always does, as part of the Matt Thomas
Show with Ross. His interview in its entirety can be
found at sports Talk seven ninety dot com, or even
more simply at via the iHeartRadio app, which you should
already have downloaded on your phone.

Speaker 6 (02:15:44):
You've long since updated it.

Speaker 5 (02:15:46):
Thus, you know the preset function is available to you, Mike,
Sports Talk seven ninety number one on your presets, that
much easier to get anything we give you on any
of our programs early in the morning on the Sean
Salisbury Show, the Matt Thomas Show with Ross, our program here,
the A Team, the Nightcap, and everything else you hear
on Sports Talk seven ninety. Our portion we'd like to

(02:16:06):
provide to you from Brian McTaggart's conversation begins with his
thoughts on the injury to Christian Walker after getting hit
by a pitch last night.

Speaker 13 (02:16:14):
Yeah, we talked him after the game last night and
he said it was really sorry. He said he couldn't
grip the bat X rays were negative, but he said,
I'm good to go, so you know, we'll have to
see when we get to the park later today how
it feels it. He said, it's just going to be
a matter of handling the inflammation, which immediately, I was like,
uh oh, because we know Jordon Alvarez has had inflammation
for like three weeks now. So but if you remember

(02:16:37):
in the College World Series a few years ago, Walker
got hit by a pitch in the hand I believe
broke a hammet bone and played the next day.

Speaker 8 (02:16:44):
So I fully expect Christian Walker to be in the
lineup today.

Speaker 14 (02:16:48):
Injuries have been obviously a huge part of this year,
with the ailments to the pitching staff, in particular Renel
Blanco's announcement yesterday that he's going to have the Tommy
John Is anybody doing and we you have kind of
briefly talked about this.

Speaker 6 (02:17:02):
Are the Astros catching this at a bad time?

Speaker 8 (02:17:04):
Obviously there's no good time for it.

Speaker 14 (02:17:06):
Are we finding TJ's hitting every team it feels like,
Or is this the Astros in a situation where they've
got two guys right now already going through it and
then get another guy in arrageda who's out with that
injured thumb.

Speaker 8 (02:17:17):
No, it's a league wide issue.

Speaker 13 (02:17:18):
And I think last week I was on here, I
talked to you about the you know, the study of
MLB did last that came out last December and basically.
I mean, guys are chasing spin and chasing velocity more
and at earlier ages it's just taking tolls on the elbows.

Speaker 8 (02:17:31):
I mean, the Astros aren't unique in this.

Speaker 13 (02:17:33):
You know, haven't gone around and looked at everyone's eyel
to see how many TJ guys, but I'm sure each
team probably has a few. The Astros right now have
six starters on the IL, four coming off or including
Blanco who hasn't had surgery yet, four that have had
TJ surgery, So you know, Garcia and Javier, you know
they're they're quite a bit removed from it, but not

(02:17:55):
back yet. So the Astros maybe a couple more guys
than most teams, but I don't think they're unique to
too much.

Speaker 8 (02:18:03):
Of an outlier.

Speaker 13 (02:18:04):
The Askers have also played way more games than most
teams in the last decade, and and guys like Javier
and Garcia have pitched deep into the postseason for a
couple of years in a row, and I.

Speaker 8 (02:18:14):
Think that's got to be a factor as well.

Speaker 14 (02:18:17):
I know the Askers aren't overly forthcoming with injury updates,
but it sounded like there was some news with Luis Garcia.
What do we know and what do we do interpret
off of what has been said the last to twenty
four hours or so.

Speaker 13 (02:18:28):
Well, he's you know, he's out there at the park
every day and he's throwing some bullpens out of Dana
Brown said on your station that he thought he'd be
back in late late July, early August. So he's still
got a couple of months ago. I mean, you know,
he's he's done this a couple of times. Now, he's
he's two years removed almost from from Tommy John surgery,
so he's had a couple of setbacks. So he's gonna

(02:18:50):
have to ramp up again and do the whole process
of you know, taking some live VP and then you know,
getting in some minor league games and he's you know,
he's gonna need the full gamut four or five starts,
so that whole process is going to take him a while.
But he's done this a couple of times, and he's
had a couple of setbacks. So until I see him pitching,
you know, in a minor league game on a minor
league rehab, I don't think we can, you know, get

(02:19:12):
too excited about Garcia returning.

Speaker 14 (02:19:15):
Brian I spent some time in the first hour of
the show, first of all, plotting what Lance did yesterday
twelve strikeout, six innings, one hundred and two pitches, And
then I was talking to myself about, you know, does
it still make you nervous when he goes out for
that fifth inning or the pitch count gets up in
the eighty ninety now one hundred number range. It's always
the bounce back that you think about the next morning.

Speaker 8 (02:19:36):
How does he feel?

Speaker 14 (02:19:36):
And so far through three turns of the rotation, he
feels obviously very very good when you watch him. I
don't know if he'll ever be all the way back,
But as you watch him now, especially after yesterday, are
you even a little amazed that he's able to go
as deep as he is in games? The strike cut
numbers are astronomical at this point. He's still looking for
a first decision either way. But to give you six

(02:19:57):
after being gone for as long as he has, I mean,
it came in a good time for an astro rotation
that has not been able to give you a whole
lot of link the last three or four weeks.

Speaker 13 (02:20:05):
Yeah, for me, it's not not so much him going
six innings and one hundred pitches I mean, I think
it's just sort of surprising just because we haven't seen
it from him in so long. I mean, that was
his longest start since twenty twenty two. But the strikeouts,
to me were really just really blew me away. Twelve
strikeouts and six innings, I mean, there was a lot
of whiff. I mean, he had those guys really full them.

(02:20:26):
His his his slider and curveball. We're just fantastic. You know,
he's he's throwing what ninety three ninety four maybe with
the sinker. Even after the game he says, I'm not
going to throw ninety seven ninety eight anymore. So he's
sort of figuring new ways to get guys out, and
so you get just you have to tip your hat
to him. I mean, you know, he grinded for for

(02:20:48):
a couple of years to get back, and for him
to go out there and strike out twelve to me
was the biggest surprise. I mean, I think they're gonna
need him to go six innings, throw one hundred pitches
every time out, and but others that one start, I mean,
his results have been been pretty good.

Speaker 5 (02:21:04):
A comment made earlier here on the show by you
about Lance mccolors. Outside of that one start, his results
have been pretty good. You could definitely say the results
have been very good. A couple of starts where nobody
scored off of him. Obviously, this start that was just
completed yesterday was fantastic, and that he gave him a
chance to win.

Speaker 6 (02:21:23):
Struck out twelve batters.

Speaker 5 (02:21:25):
Twelve of the eighteen outs he recorded were via the
strikeout and pitch them into the seventh inning, got the
first eighteen outs. Length is only magnified because of the
other two spots currently in the rotation. Ryan Gusto has
one of them, Golton Gordon has the other.

Speaker 4 (02:21:42):
Well, I disagree with that from the standpoint of length
is magnified in his starts because he hasn't been able
to do it lately.

Speaker 5 (02:21:50):
Well so, I mean, if okay, so what so one
guy can only give you four or five innings, the
other guys are fine, Well, the other guys aren't fine, right, right,
but the other guys are there. Nobody's expecting Ryan Gusta
to give him six innings because he's barely even stretched
out to that point. Colton Gordon, I mean, I'm impressed
that he's I think made some adjustments. I'm very concerned.
Brought it up earlier and never really talked about it.

(02:22:11):
That Gusto throws a ton of strikes and Gordon, prior
to his last start, was throwing too many strikes. These
are major league hitters. Unless your deception, speed other things
are so elite, they're gonna hit you around, and both
of them have been hit around. The batting average against
is among the worst on the team, and it's a
major concern. But all things considered, these guys are in

(02:22:33):
a position they probably did not expect to be in,
nor did the team expect to be in. We're in
month two, the end of it, and three of their
five opening day rotation starting pitchers are not with them currently.
And oh yeah, they have the same number of wins
as a team in first place in their division.

Speaker 6 (02:22:48):
That's a good thing.

Speaker 2 (02:22:50):
The AED on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (02:22:58):
In case you missed it, we had a full show today,
not even done yet. Some items we might have missed
when we were talking about androids and Apple products.

Speaker 4 (02:23:06):
But in the Clintons, and that was still free about
the Clintons. Stop man and their phone usage. He's tying
it into what she and he are accused of a
lot people being un alive to just keep going.

Speaker 5 (02:23:24):
You say it like, that's a typical, normal everybody walking
up and down the street.

Speaker 6 (02:23:29):
Water cooler conversation.

Speaker 4 (02:23:30):
It is. If you watch Norm McDonald go on the
View back when Barbara Walters on it, Hey didn't he
like kill somebody? I love Norm? May he rest?

Speaker 6 (02:23:40):
In case you missed it?

Speaker 4 (02:23:41):
What do we miss it?

Speaker 7 (02:23:42):
A Cole uh Well, probably missed this because he was
at lunch with you. I got to fill in for
Ross today on the Mat Tama Show and we talked
about O. J.

Speaker 6 (02:23:51):
Simpson. So I mean, what, yeah, we did.

Speaker 4 (02:23:54):
Why didn't you call me first?

Speaker 7 (02:23:55):
I thought that you were listening to it and your
ears were perked up conspiracy theories.

Speaker 4 (02:23:59):
You would have gotten a text.

Speaker 6 (02:24:00):
I thought that you. I was honestly waiting for it,
all right. You know what I was missing though?

Speaker 7 (02:24:04):
How college football fans still think that the SCC is
not going to get its way because they know that
they're not going to put the most teams in. So
there's been conversations about what is the future of the
playoff seating now that we're moving to sixteen teams.

Speaker 6 (02:24:17):
The first narrative has been.

Speaker 7 (02:24:19):
Four automatic qualifiers, two automatic qualifiers for the other two conferences.

Speaker 6 (02:24:23):
And then three at large bids.

Speaker 7 (02:24:25):
Well, now, the one that's getting the most traction according
to reports coming out of destined from SEC meetings, is
five automatic qualifiers, the four Power four conference champions, one
at large group of five conference champion.

Speaker 6 (02:24:37):
And eleven at large bids.

Speaker 7 (02:24:39):
Seems to be the notion that college football executives want
going into twenty twenty six. Now, why is this such
a problem. Well, if you're trying to limit the number
of SEC teams that will get in every year, I
probably wouldn't have eleven at large bids when eight are
now going to go to the conference, including the one
that was already going to them as a automatic qualifier.

Speaker 5 (02:25:06):
Anytime now, guys, I'm just trying to count. So six
is probably the maximum.

Speaker 7 (02:25:11):
I would say seven is the maximum, but six is
probably going to be the first time you'll see it.

Speaker 5 (02:25:15):
Bama, Ole, Miss Tennessee, Georgia, Texas I believe would have
been the entrance from the SEC. If you put Alabama in,
even as the seventeenth ranked team in the country, you.

Speaker 6 (02:25:33):
Were missing one. South Carolina would have made the cut.

Speaker 5 (02:25:37):
See, but under what premise they didn't finish in the
top even eighteen.

Speaker 6 (02:25:42):
But I take that back, I forgot. I knew I
was doing that wrong.

Speaker 13 (02:25:45):
There you go.

Speaker 7 (02:25:46):
So when you look at the rankings last year, just
the straight sixteen. Yeah, the way that lankiff and said
South Carolina, Ole, Miss Bama, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, the whole lot.
So who's trying to limit them? Everybody else?

Speaker 4 (02:26:00):
The club?

Speaker 6 (02:26:00):
I'm kind of stating the obvious.

Speaker 7 (02:26:02):
Most mostly Bret your remark and Jim Phillips, the commissioners
of the ACC and the Big twelve don't want them
to have a countless number of teams. But part of
the reason why this has been such a subject of
conversation is the SEC only plays eight conference games and
then they get one more non conference game. Well, there's
been conversations down in Destin. Brian Kelly brought this up yesterday.

(02:26:22):
The SEC might be willing to move to a nine
conference schedule game and throw in one non conference game,
as what we see in the college basketball realm Big
ten versus SEC challenge that became college football. But if
they have that, they want to guarantee that their roster
spots are safe when other teams are playing the seventy

(02:26:43):
eight rank conference schedule, lesser to your names on Friday
nights and really not getting the revenue distribution that you want.

Speaker 6 (02:26:51):
But because if you play in.

Speaker 7 (02:26:52):
A weeker conference, you have a better record in there,
for records mean everything.

Speaker 5 (02:26:56):
Yeah, I don't really there's not too much to say
today right now in this moment about it. They've gotten
to sixteen. There's not gonna ever. I don't think be
under representation from the current SEC. These teams are playing
top sixteen caliber football. It's pretty obvious if you watch
the games, and if you're trying to limit the number

(02:27:18):
of teams that get in there based off of the
fact that they have more losses because they've played a
significantly more difficult weekend and week out schedule than by
all means, can we please see Army and Colorado and
BYU and these Memphis and these other teams in there,
because that's what it's gonna be. That's what's going to
end up as being this team that gets in because

(02:27:38):
you've reached your limit, or that team gets in because.

Speaker 6 (02:27:40):
We just can't have too many of you. And that's
fine if that's what you want.

Speaker 5 (02:27:45):
I don't think those teams are going to have a
whole lot of success, whereas I think a team in
the SEC, as the fourteenth fifteenth, sixteenth seeded team, I
just do believe they could have some such moving forward.

Speaker 4 (02:28:00):
What else do we have?

Speaker 7 (02:28:01):
I'll end with this if it does end up being
that way. I don't want to hear anybody else from
Big twelve or ACC or Mountain West complain when the
SEC has more than half of the lead half of
the pot in the College Football Playoff running, this is
what you wanted, And unfortunately the voter said, Well, the
SEC not only going to bring in the most eyeballs

(02:28:23):
and the most revenue, they're also going to have the
best representation because of their resume. Says so speaking of which,
Texas is in the SEC and Julie Mitchell home or
twice and Tiagan Cava easy yep only allow two hits
in a win today as the sixth seeded Long Horns

(02:28:44):
move past the number three seeded Florida Gators three nothing
to open the Women's College World Series.

Speaker 6 (02:28:50):
Texas now it's in the winner's bracket.

Speaker 7 (02:28:51):
They will await the winner, which is I think, if
I'm not mistaken, Oklahoma over Tennessee tomorrow Oklahoma.

Speaker 5 (02:28:58):
City, Oklahoma with three runs in the bottom of the
seventh to avoid the upset, beating Tennessee for three. So
this is the this is the national Tournament you're talking about, like,
this is a last team standing?

Speaker 4 (02:29:12):
Right? Okay?

Speaker 5 (02:29:13):
So Oklahoma what conference? And the Tennessee who they beat?
And then the other game you mentioned already forgot the
two teams?

Speaker 4 (02:29:21):
What conference? Are they in? The SEC?

Speaker 10 (02:29:22):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (02:29:22):
By the way, there's an Ole miss who's also.

Speaker 4 (02:29:24):
In the SEC?

Speaker 6 (02:29:24):
Okay, just checking, Yeah, you.

Speaker 5 (02:29:25):
Know, but they did have to well, they do get
the benefit of playing a lot of home games on
the way to the College World Series, just like they
do on the baseball side. They played their way into
the College World Series by winning games.

Speaker 6 (02:29:39):
It's okay, what else.

Speaker 7 (02:29:42):
Do we have.

Speaker 6 (02:29:44):
Today?

Speaker 7 (02:29:45):
Eventually year going to half to pay Will Anderson. It's
gonna be something that Nick Cassaria will do probably next offseason,
and I would say get ahead of it because of
you don't want to end up like this is Cincinnati
Bengals with Trey Hendrickson, who is in the final year
of his current contract that is looking to get paid

(02:30:05):
and has recently come out and said my stance is firm.
I will not play for this organization until I get
a new contract or am traded with a new contract
in the.

Speaker 4 (02:30:15):
Works, as it pertains to his situation, and I'm not
this isn't wishful thinking everything like that. But do you
think he says that if he really genuinely likes playing
in Cincinnati. I know that there's hardball negotiating tactics. I
know that agents get involved, but like, I don't know
that if like Will Anderson wants to be a Texan,

(02:30:36):
I don't he might really feel that way too, But
I don't know that he goes about it publicly like this.

Speaker 6 (02:30:41):
Yeah, I don't think there.

Speaker 5 (02:30:43):
I think the time that Will has been a Texan
is all that he knows about the organization, and it's
only been good vibes. He loves his coach, he loves
the people that he's trying to build something with because
for him, he got here in twenty twenty two, twenty
twenty three.

Speaker 6 (02:30:56):
He's building this.

Speaker 4 (02:30:56):
This is all he knows.

Speaker 5 (02:30:57):
All he knows is winning. Never not won the division.
He's never lost a home playoff game. I think they
will not only see it the way he sees it,
be on the same page and negotiate their themselves together
in a very positive way. It's happening next season and
he's going to be signed in advance of CJ.

Speaker 12 (02:31:17):
Strout.

Speaker 4 (02:31:17):
Ooh a prediction about that.

Speaker 6 (02:31:19):
I think it's the smart move.

Speaker 4 (02:31:22):
Yeah, but they both.

Speaker 12 (02:31:25):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (02:31:25):
I have to wait till next segment.

Speaker 2 (02:31:30):
The aight on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (02:31:38):
Denz Android TV. It is the eighteen Sports Talk seven ninety.
Did you get any sort of responses during that segment
to the same subject.

Speaker 6 (02:31:51):
No, I don't have any friends. I've told you that
hundreds of times.

Speaker 4 (02:31:53):
What do you do when you're not on the air?

Speaker 6 (02:31:55):
Same thing I do here?

Speaker 5 (02:31:56):
I got a TV in front of me and my
laptop and other assorted electronic devices here sometimes the families around.

Speaker 6 (02:32:02):
Sometimes not. Maybe I'll eat some food, have a drink,
Same thing I do here.

Speaker 4 (02:32:06):
But you do have friends because they're on that thread.
I mean, yeah, but that's I mean, that's not the same.

Speaker 6 (02:32:12):
Are you Are they really friends?

Speaker 8 (02:32:13):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (02:32:14):
Yeah, Cole's got it. Wow, they just use you for
your status? No, no, no, no, I know that guy
on TV.

Speaker 5 (02:32:20):
You. Food and sports actually originated when we were in
school together. We were eating food and talking sports. Ah,
so they're day ones. Yes, that have evolved with the
Yeah they have. Like when I said earlier, don't you
guys have jobs? They all have real jobs. I sit
here and talk sports.

Speaker 8 (02:32:36):
So yeah, true.

Speaker 6 (02:32:38):
I guess you could say we're friend.

Speaker 4 (02:32:39):
I tell people that all the time.

Speaker 5 (02:32:40):
We don't probably say we're friends because they're regular people.
I'm obviously not.

Speaker 4 (02:32:43):
You're a cyborg. They're talking about this. What did you
think of Pat McAfee's act last night at the game?

Speaker 6 (02:32:49):
You mean on Wednesday night?

Speaker 4 (02:32:51):
No, sorry, Wednesday went. He went to the thunder game
Wednesday night during the last installment of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Speaker 5 (02:32:59):
It's the same as always, like an opinion on it
shouldn't he's how many more times is he going to
be himself?

Speaker 4 (02:33:06):
Well?

Speaker 5 (02:33:07):
And how many other opportunity on his own show, on
a show that's now a part of the worldwide leader
on wrestling events on college game day.

Speaker 6 (02:33:18):
I mean, he's trying.

Speaker 5 (02:33:19):
He's not trying to get in trouble all the time,
but he's trying to be himself. He believes this is
why he's gotten himself into this position of being wanted
from a content standpoint, So he keeps being himself.

Speaker 4 (02:33:33):
Like, for example, now Pat McAfee is like approximately a
billion times more popular than me as far as a broadcaster.
But he's mister Indianapolis. He takes up for Indianapolis. Doesn't
matter the sport, doesn't matter the team. He is in
your face about his support for that city's sports clubs.

(02:33:55):
That's why he did what he did. And like for
those of you who missed it, basically he got he's
on the big screen in the middle of the Pacers
home floor, inside up the people exactly he said, Indianapolis, Indiana.
We've got some big wigs from the big city in
the building. Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Timothy Shallome are all here.
And every time he said one of their names, he

(02:34:16):
would allow for booing. Yes, Ben Stiller got the biggest booze.
By the way, Christy Taylor's husband is in the house,
Kylie Jenner's boyfriend here in the flesh.

Speaker 6 (02:34:28):
Why didn't he say that?

Speaker 4 (02:34:29):
Well, he did finish it up by saying this, let's
send those sobs and he didn't use the letters back
to New York with their ears bleeding, and the crowd
was completely unhinged. Way, whoa, whoa, he played to the
crowd exactly, so there was at least one person who
didn't like that. His name is John Mellencamp. He's a

(02:34:51):
singer guy.

Speaker 5 (02:34:53):
Well, give a little more background on John Mellencamp for
the people that's of relevance to this particular commentary.

Speaker 4 (02:34:59):
He familiar e this with a Jack and Diane.

Speaker 5 (02:35:01):
I don't know if you realize he was born in Indiana.
I don't know if you have.

Speaker 4 (02:35:05):
He comes from a small town.

Speaker 5 (02:35:06):
He set of roots in Indiana. Yeah, he's one of
Indiana's own. Some may say even enjoyed pink houses to
live in.

Speaker 12 (02:35:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:35:14):
So anyways, he I mean, this is somebody that takes
himselves weird too. Seriously. He's like the Bruce Springsteen type.
I'll just leave it at that. He put he put
a picture of him and his significant other with his
statement over it that right there is super ego. Right,
we stand together? Yeah against this. The Knicks slash Pacers

(02:35:38):
games had been very entertaining for anyone who likes basketball
or sports and the Pacers. I attended game four in Indianapolis. Quote,
who's your hospitality? I was embarrassed when somebody, under whose
direction I don't know, called out some of the people
who had made the trip from New York to support
their team and in turn support our team. Let me

(02:36:00):
just stop right there. They did not travel from New
York to Indianapolis, Indiana to support the Pacers in any way,
shape or form, least of all Spike Lee, who is
decked out head to toe in Nick's gear. John, he continues,
the audience booed. These people boo that man. I'd say
that was not who's your hospitality? One could only say

(02:36:22):
it's poor comma, poor sportsmanship. I was not proud to
be a Hoosier, and I've lived here my entire life
on behalf of most Hoosiers. I would like to apologize
for our poor behavior. I'm sure the Pacers had nothing
to do with this SmackDown, signed John mellon Loser Now.

Speaker 5 (02:36:43):
JC was not the only one to comment on Pat's antics.
White Goodman also commented on them, that's Ben Stiller, everybody.
In a response to the video, Still wrote, yes, people
were commenting on it, and he'd comment as well, Yes,
very weird. We were happy to be there and cheer

(02:37:03):
our team, and other than that, Indie fans were awesome.
He hashtagged his post hashtag Nicks in seven. In another response,
he said, it's okay. He must be playing around if
it's an actual point of view, it seems a little
anachronistic or cliche, like we are big city celebs and
we shouldn't be there in the heartland. Again, everyone we

(02:37:25):
met was awesome and incredibly cool, except.

Speaker 4 (02:37:28):
For Pat apparently. Let me just ask you this. Remember
what the guest of honor, who was the guest of
Tyrese Halliburton. You remember what happened to him that facilitated
him being in attendance for Game four in Indianapolis. Oh,
that's right, all of that New York Nick Hospitality where

(02:37:48):
they were throwing literal bags of trash at his head
on the streets outside of Madison Square Garden GTFO. But
they John.

Speaker 5 (02:37:58):
Mellencamp and Ben Stiller, nobody gave them a microphone in
their building.

Speaker 4 (02:38:02):
They didn't need one. Celebrity decided to take gave him
a microphone. The Internet gave him a plaque.

Speaker 6 (02:38:10):
Because all these Android users were filming it.

Speaker 4 (02:38:13):
John Mellencamp doesn't speak for any of those people. I
don't care if he's lived there his entire life in
five lifetimes before that, he's a blowhard. That's what he's
doing right now. He's speaking for other people when they
didn't ask to be spoken for. I'm speaking for them
now when I tell him, shut the hell up. We
don't need you to speak for them.

Speaker 6 (02:38:31):
So you're speaking for all of those.

Speaker 4 (02:38:32):
I'm speaking for all of humanity. Like go away, John Mellencamp,
when's the last time you had a hit? Nineteen eighty five?
He's not trying to be relevant with this.

Speaker 6 (02:38:41):
He's not good.

Speaker 5 (02:38:42):
He doesn't have to be currently making music to comment
on the crowd. Absolutely at like mission accomplished exactly.

Speaker 4 (02:38:50):
So John Mellencamp didn't like it, because it's okay to
say you didn't like it, you know, it's it's okay
for you to not agree.

Speaker 6 (02:38:57):
Mad because everything else.

Speaker 4 (02:38:58):
He's just mad because they didn't of him the microphone,
he probably would have gotten out there.

Speaker 5 (02:39:03):
About Jack and give yourself a second to come down,
collect yourself so you can answer this question.

Speaker 4 (02:39:08):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (02:39:10):
Joining us tonight, fans, as we get ready for the
latest installment of Pacers Knicks here at our field house.
I introduced to you as he will address you, Pacers fans,
Here's John Cougar.

Speaker 4 (02:39:24):
Go uh, thank you everybody for being in attendance, like
it would be crickets booo.

Speaker 6 (02:39:32):
See when did he take cougar out of his name?

Speaker 4 (02:39:34):
I don't know, it doesn't matter, Pat McAfee. He basically
cut a promo right there on the floor before the game.

Speaker 5 (02:39:41):
You mean this person associated with college football and wrestling
cut a promo to hype up the game.

Speaker 4 (02:39:47):
Yeah, in them shock and this old guy was offended
by it, that's okay.

Speaker 5 (02:39:51):
And he made he got to our airways, probably been
all year, probably first time in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 4 (02:39:56):
Wait do you go, Jake, I spend Next time the
Rockets play the Warriors in the postseason, should high the
crowd up? Astros Raise coming your way, nex right here
on Sports Talk seven ninety and Space City Home Network.

Speaker 6 (02:40:05):
We've got the Astros on deck show next

Speaker 2 (02:40:10):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety