Lance McCullers Traded to Brewers, Astros Next Moves, Ten on the Texans, LeBron Watch

Wednesday on The A-Team, Adam Clanton and Adam Wexler reacted to the Astros' trade of Lance McCullers Jr. and broke down what the move means for the team's outlook in both the short and long term. Wex also unveiled his first "Ten on the Texans" segment of the season, and the guys also discussed some potential landing spots for LeBron James.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in to a Wednesday edition of the A Team
Sports Talks seven to ninety. He's wex I may see.
Josh Jordan is our producers. We take you until six
o'clock tonight. The drought continues for Astros baseball that matters
or that counts, although there is an All Star game
in the book. And how about your Don Alvarez scoring

(00:21):
a run last night? That was fantastic to see, as
well as him getting on base with a hit not
a home run. But I'm like chopping at the bit.
Maybe it was because I was on vacation last week
to get back to Astros baseball already. But in the meantime,
there is a lot to get to before Friday, and
that would include just one original member of the twenty

(00:44):
seventeen Astros World Series Championship squad is now.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Left that hasn't left and come back. That's true.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Yeah, I guess on a technicality, I'll give you Carlos Korea.
But on the active roster, I mean Lance McCullers Junior
was only one on the active roster when you woke
up today. That's true, and now there's still one. I
have mixed emotions about this and I think a lot
of Astros fans do because he's He was such an

(01:14):
intricate part of especially that twenty seventeen team, but he
was a big part of getting you to other World Series,
even if they didn't necessarily go the way you would
have liked. I mean, he was the ace of the
staff in twenty twenty one. That should tell you about
how injured the pitching staff was that season.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
In case you missed it, Lance McCullers junior reportedly traded
to the Milwaukee Brewers along with Colton Gordon for cash considerations.
Brian McTaggert the first earlier today to report that, and
the Astros have yet to acknowledge it, but it obviously
is happening.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
As few are following along on social media.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Lance's wife has taken a lot of her day, obviously
to think about things and post some things on social media,
a lot of unbelievable memories. This is someone who has
spent his entire professional life with the Houston Astros, and
their family has become a family and two kids while
they were here Milwaukee for what probably is the remainder

(02:11):
of what could still be the last contract he has.
When he spoke before spring training this year. It sounded
like he didn't intend to necessarily play baseball after this
season unless there was a really good baseball reason too,
Like he went out there and started to really help
a team win.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
This particular team help win.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
So there's a lot of great memories out there on
social media from Karen mccullor's AC has posted a few
things from there as well. I found a couple of
things to get out there. We're going to discuss a
lot of those things. Yeah, there's a lot of emotion
when you win, and you have two World Series championships,
and both of them have come while Lance mccullor's junior
was throwing pitches for you in twenty seventeen. We will

(02:52):
discuss a lot of those memories. We'd love to hear
from you. I was here when it happened. I remember
this and we did that, and it was the first
as well for the Houston Astros when they wanted again,
he was back on the mound doing things to help
them win, especially at the beginning of that postseason. In
some of the postseasons in between, during this Golden era
of Astros baseball, when he was available, he was out

(03:13):
there helping this team. Even when he probably shouldn't have
been available, he was out there trying to help this team,
and that's why there's a lot tied to him. Obviously,
bury me in the h is something that's never going away,
and I do think he will see We will see
him back here in Houston in some former fashion, whether
it's as a family man living after his baseball life.

(03:34):
I'm sure there's some time in Florida, back home also,
maybe where he will and the family decide to go.
But he meant a lot to this organization. There has
been a tremendous amount of discussion about his career here
in Houston for other reasons. Clearly, the last two seasons now,
part of this year, part of last year rather unsuccessful
after an enormous amount of time spent trying to get

(03:55):
back on the field, and that unfortunately took up the
vast majority of his most recent contract and the fact
that it was a very lucrative one.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
The fact that he was unable to get on.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
The field has obviously had the fans caring certain opinions
about that. Again, players don't intentionally do that, and players
don't sit around and count their money and not rehab
especially him, but definitely created a lot of emotions about
him for other reasons. But this team has two World
Series championships and the best era of Astros baseball. He

(04:26):
played an enormous positive role in that, even in the
twenty twenty two season, when his World Series appearance was
obviously not particularly good. Well, the beginning of that twenty
twenty two postseason was him helping the Astros clinch their
Wild Card series. He only managed to give them six
shutout innings when they actually needed twelve more, but he

(04:47):
started and shut out the Mariners for the first of
those eighteen innings worth of baseball. They won a one
nothing game in eighteen innings in a clincher in the
first game in Seattle in the postseason. In Forever and
we'll play some of the audio surrounding that game, he
talked to the media before the series started about all
the Astros experience. He talked to the media in Houston

(05:11):
the day before they left for Seattle for Game three
about getting the ball in a clinching situation, which he
had done many times before in Astro's history. As he
gets into and then, there are some highlights from that game.
Some highlights from his career. Some highlights from conversations he
had with his teammates, like when they won the twenty
twenty two World Series and he gave the fiery we

(05:34):
won it all speech, which I'm sure many of you remember,
but even if you don't, we're gonna bring it back
for you here this afternoon.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Whilst throwing shade at their opponents.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
The whole speech, the whole speech is nothing, but he
was throwing shade at anybody that's not shade.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
That is a direct.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
I'm pulling back the arrow and firing it through your
chest and it's on fire arrow.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
He took their I don't know if it was all
of their hashtags, but it was something a.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
Lot that I mean, I mean, you do want to
hear it now?

Speaker 4 (06:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (06:02):
I do? Actually, man, what about well, I'll say this
going back to something you mentioned, the whole burying me
in the h thing. That was a T shirt. It
was a moniker, it was, but it was a way
of life for him, and I think that's why, even
as his time in Houston came, you know, comes to

(06:23):
an end and has just not been what anybody would
like it to be, least of all him. I think
you know, it's easy to forget what he was, you know,
at the front end of this whole thing, and how
Houston and how how embracing of being a Houstonian and

(06:43):
being a member of this sports community in Houston. Uh,
he really did. I think that's easy to forget sometimes.
But you know, I had some dealings with him away
from baseball. I mean, it wasn't but it was. And
I think I've told the story a lot it just
to kind of show the character that he has. Again,
I know it was easy to get down on him,

(07:04):
especially he had to wave his no trade clause for
this to happen. So it wasn't just that the deal
in hindsight doesn't look like it was a great investment
because of all the injuries, but it also had a
no trade clause that he had to wave to make
this happen. So there's a lot of layers that go
into this story. It's a complicated one. But like you said,
I think it's just a matter of time until he's

(07:24):
back here again in a very regular capacity.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
Lance McCullers Junior again reportedly traded to the Brewers along
Colton Gordon. We talked about what the Astros pitching staff
probably will look like when they resume play on Friday.
They made a move earlier this week, rescinding the trip
to Triple A for Mike Burrows and instead citing the
injury to his right elbow and put him on the
fifteen day IL. Opened up a roster spot on the

(07:52):
active roster with the move with Ali Bersonta to Triple
A and the expected return of several pitchers sometime in
the next two weeks, Lance included were likely to be
healthy and ready to pitch for the Houston Astros or,
in his case, now a different Major League Baseball club.
He was on the fifteen day IL, so a forty
man roster spot was not needed to open up for

(08:14):
him to resume pitching, but it is needed for Bennett Susa,
Hayden wasz Nesky, and Renel Blanco. Well, two of the
forty man roster spots were opened up today with this trade.
Colton Gordon was on the forty man and you also
obviously had Lance on the forty man. So these are
some of the things we're discussing. What are some of
the ways the Astros can start to make this happen,

(08:35):
Even though I can't guarantee you success for any of
the pitchers I just named, and could probably add Christian
Javier to that list. Not sure where I put Spencer
Arighetti on that list, but I can say they have
a surplus of it. They have more starter pitchers by
trade than they can put into a major league starting
rotation or even on a major league pitching roster active roster.

(08:58):
So things like this, whether it was this or DFAs,
were almost assuredly on the horizon, and there may be
others and there probably should be.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah, No, I mean it's it's a juggling act at
this point, and I think the craziest part of all
is in the midst of all this. This is the
latest move. I think there will be others, and I'm
talking about like actual transactions, maybe involving people who don't
work for the Astros currently, you know.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
I mean, nothing about this deal makes the team better
unless they utilize the clear money implications. To me at
this point, not knowing exactly the finances behind it, this
is very similar to what they did prior to the
season starting. They needed to open up space to do
something different with the roster spend it elsewhere, so they
moved on from Jesus Sanchez, they moved on from Muricio Dubon.

(09:45):
There were some cost cutting chas McCormick not being back
at what it would have been a much larger salary
than some of the players who are now poorly taking advantage,
not taking advantage of their opportunities, all in an effort
to give them a little bit more space between the
cell imposed cap to the CBT and this is no different.
This is a very similar move. There will be money

(10:06):
saved that hopefully and almost assuredly will be spent again
over the next two and a half weeks on whatever
it is they look to acquire, which is part of
what shows. Today's show will be about what is it
that we think they are looking for by making this deal.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, and going back to what this all comes down
to at the end of the day, it is a
business and that can make for some difficult situations, and
I think this is probably one of them. Because I
don't think the mccullar's family ever saw themselves leaving the
ASTROS organization, not on their own accord.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
I guess they probably had some sort of an idea. Yeah,
well not even just now, but you know, as Chandler
Rome reported again today the idea that the Astros third
basement was going to be Nolan Aaronado. A year ago,
that was a possibility with a fan that he Lance
mccullor's junior would be a part of that deal. He

(10:58):
didn't have to veto that deal. Nolan took care of
that and to Lance, not only the contract that he had,
also being a you know, ten years with this organization,
five years major league experience with this team, he was
a ten and five guys. So essentially any deal was
one that he would have to approve and veto. Is
no trade clause because he had that over any deal.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, and I think that, you know, but I'm talking
about when he signed this contract. There's no way he
envisioned not finishing it here correct five years ago?

Speaker 3 (11:25):
Yeah, he signed again eighty five million dollar years ago,
a likely continuing ace of this staff. Yeah, I bet
you he thought he would be here through the for
the five years of that deal.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
But even if he wasn't, I don't think he would
even envision things have gone, you know, going the way
they did leading.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Up to why he was you know, traded today.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
So I just think that it's I just don't wanted
to get lost in the shuffle, and I don't think
it will in hindsight. You know, it's funny his last
real season where he contributed talking about twenty twenty two.
That's how I look at it. Maybe you look at
it differently. I just look at it as twenty twenty
two was had some good moments in that postseason. The

(12:05):
postseason is kind of a microcosm of his entire Astro's tenure.
It started off really well. He got a little shaky,
but you know, you got through it, and then he
had a disaster in the World Series.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
He pitched three times that postseason because they were destroying everybody.
He pitched once in the series that they opened with
three games to none, and they won that game. He
pitched one time in the Championship Series, which they didn't
lose any games. He pitched one time in the World Series.
One of their two losses was his start.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
And it was completely because of his start, because they
were hitting like five home runs against cem or whatever
it was.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
They had already the Phillies. If you weren't aware of this,
they had you know, everybody. He's got a whiteboard in
there and manager, you know, write some things on their
give speeches. He said, we've made the decision that we
are going to save all of our hits for this game,
and we're actually get any hits in the other game,
and we're gonna hit the ball over the fence pretty
much every time we swing, probably five times or so
against the whoever's starting today, and we'll go ahead and

(12:59):
do that. It's what his performance, in a sad kind
of way, makes what they did immediately after that even
that much more impressive.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
The Phillies could not.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
It was home run derby at Citizens Bank Park in
Game three the World Series, and the very next game
it was with Christian Javier hitless. They got no hits.
They didn't get any hits. This is the World Series.
They got no hits, not just against him, but against
those that followed, and the Astros took the series back
from them basically right then and there. Oh my god,

(13:31):
nobody's gonna be able to win in this ballpark.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
Wait till you hear how loud it is. The Astros
are in for it.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
It is on.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
They are finished going to Philly and trying to win
games there to stay in this World Series. Forget it,
it's over and then they said it even more after
Lance's start. Then they never got a chance to even
pretend to say it again.

Speaker 4 (13:53):
Treat that was the big thing.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
He was tipping his pitches. He texted me that night
saying as much. I was shocked to he even sent
that text to me. He was like, they were all
over me, and I was like, yeah, it sucked, but
yeah it was again on the whole. You would have
liked some of that back, but he had. I think

(14:16):
the good far out weighs the bad. I just do.
When you win two championships in his tenure and he's
on the mound to start Game seven in that first
championship year for the last two series, that's not bad.
That's not bad at all.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
That is a point, especially the way you put it,
I don't think is very debatable. And we'll take that
into the next segment. The good outweighs the bad. Among
other things. Obviously those things I mentioned, we'll hear a
little bit about have our signature segment as we usually
do each and every weekday afternoon that comes your way
at four thirty. Today is Wednesday, so that will be
Wednesday's BS. An actual look at the incredibly exciting All

(14:51):
Star Game from last night.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
So much happening in between the.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
Lines during the nine inning game we were all treated
to last night in Philadelphia. The NBA continues to wonder
what's next because the things that are supposed to be
happening are at a standstill. And obviously, today, now being
that it is Wednesday, we are exactly two weeks out
from the opening of training camp for your Houston Texans.
There are other training camps even sooner than that that

(15:17):
will be opening up. So a couple of other NFL
notes for us to enjoy this afternoon as well. Lance
mccullor is moving on to the Brewers, the overriding topic
as we get started here on a Wednesday edition of
the eighteen.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
Oh why that's so funny to me? Has that ever
happened to you during your show? Have you had a
co host do that or somebody? We're talking about breaking
wind on air, let's put it that way.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Well, usually it doesn't hit air on the radio. It's
harder to do that, right, He's got to be loud.
But it's really unfortunate. It's not like when you do
that in another setting, like a public setting, everyone's like ey.
But in this setting, it's only bad for one person.
The other person, the only other person in this air

(16:03):
tight room. That's what it's bad for. Yeah, that's the
thing our old studio was. We were in more closes.
And by the way, this of course comes from a
conversation that was held during off the air. Yeah, and
it has nothing to do with either one of us
or Josh or anybody else that works here today.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
This is what I do. There was a public figure
who broke wind on camera in a very public setting,
and everybody that's Welex's impression of it. That's just it
just made me think of it all right. Back on
a task. So obviously you had mentioned this. Lance McCullers

(16:41):
Junior with I'll say this two things about this when
he gave that speech inside the Astros clubhouse after they
clinched the twenty twenty two World Series Championship over the
Phillies following Game six, after Jordan turned the game upside down.
It's somewhat ballsy when you consider that a lot of

(17:03):
people judge you based on your last performance and his
was Hugh as a Wax would call it stinky mentioned
the was it seriously five home runs? I can't remember. Honestly,
I know it was four for sure, might have been five.
He gat up a lot of home runs in his
Game three start in Philadelphia, but he got up there
and basically gave a speech highlighting, among other things, what

(17:29):
they did in that postseason run. And his first game,
like you said, was Game three, the eighteen affair, in
which he went what six of those and obviously didn't
give up a run because nobody did in that game.
That pitched for the Astros, and that's about as high
as of a high as you can get without it

(17:49):
being a no hitter. And then it was kind of
I don't I know that he probably wasn't as sharpest
in the Yankees game, but they didn't lose a game
in that series. They didn't lose a game until Game
one of the World Series that host season.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
It's pretty nice. Yeah, so you said we could hear
the speech though.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah, And what did I say the last segment?

Speaker 2 (18:06):
I don't remember. I said no.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
I think I might have muttered it's not ready yet?

Speaker 1 (18:11):
Is it still be ready?

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Automatic? Let's see.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
Instead of spending the time during the breaks talk about
the show, and I want to talk about I want
to play this audio, so let's make sure that's ready.
He waits until the segment starts, and then gets into
the segment and just pretends it's definitely going to be ready,
so we'll just play it then. But it isn't, so
we're not gonna hear yet.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
I was so sure.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Why, I don't know. Did you do it? Did you
put it in the system? I can't do that. Oh
well then it's not there, so it's not ready yet.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
All right, Well, we'll listen to it later. But going
back to what I said about it, would you have
had any reservations about giving that kind of speech given
your last performance?

Speaker 2 (18:46):
If you were Lanceman Colors?

Speaker 3 (18:47):
What about if I was considering my last performance and
my injured elbow? Would I have given that speech? I
forgot about that aspect of it.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Well, isn't wasn't that always the case when things went
south for him as a picture?

Speaker 3 (18:59):
I mean, this was was a literal, potential, huge issue. Yeah,
and that uh oh, there's something wrong with with with
my elbow?

Speaker 1 (19:08):
Yeah, and that he wasn't going to pitch the next
two years basically.

Speaker 3 (19:11):
Well, no, he got remember he got hurt in a
celebration prior to that Oh, I forgot about that. That's
what I'm talking about. I'm not even being a jerk
when I say this. It all runs together.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
He had so many issues injury wise, after he was
relatively very healthy the first few years he.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Was all right, all right, all right, do you want
to hear it now? Yes, they're scrambling. Why is this
the why is the system suck so badly? So badly?

Speaker 1 (19:38):
It's the worst system we could ever hope to have,
and they just keep putting it back.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
Oh, let's just load it up again.

Speaker 5 (19:46):
First.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
Now we'll find out.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
Foreshadowing.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
I don't want any want to take this for granted.

Speaker 6 (19:58):
This well we've been able to do in this clubhouse
and hasn't come.

Speaker 7 (20:01):
Around very often.

Speaker 4 (20:02):
It's special.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
And we started this journey.

Speaker 4 (20:05):
Sent us out west were plug Electric factory? Have you
sent us up northeast? We had to remind everyone who
the real savages are?

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Have you sent us to Red October left him in
a pull, But.

Speaker 4 (20:20):
He was one of the worlds.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
So good.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
And here's the thing, like at the very beginning of
that well, after the part where he mentions his elbow,
which was legit foreshadowing, like he's right, he was saying
what we've now been saying for years, this kind of run.
He's not just talking about that season, he's talking about
going back to really twenty fifteen. I guess when the

(20:47):
Astros made that postseason appearance for the first time, and
forever they would I mean this run that they had
been on leading up to really it extended to the
next year where they played seven games in the ALCS
and then ultimately lost to the Rangers. It just doesn't
happen like the Braves were the last team to really
do this and they only won one World Series. They suck.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
What are you doing over there?

Speaker 1 (21:09):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (21:10):
That'll do it for this segment. Best of X is next.

Speaker 4 (21:15):
The eighteen on Sports Talk Seven.

Speaker 3 (21:18):
Of X, And before we jump into that, it's official
the Astros have traded Lance McCullers, junior Colton Gordon and
cash considerations for outfield prospect twenty one year old Jaden Fielder.
If the last name is familiar, it should be his
dad is Prince. He is part of the Fielder baseball family.

(21:39):
He's an a ball player in this case, and you
will not find his name on the top thirty of
the MLB pipelines. Brewers Prospect lists, and it's not because
of semantics since he's no longer a Brewer. He wasn't
on it twenty minutes ago either, So.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
He's a third generation superstar I mean not really.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
His dad had a nice major league career, clearly except
for the part of it that was spent in Arlington,
and his Cecil fielder obviously did some amazing things at
the plate.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
Including pronouncing his name Cecil when it's spelled Cecil.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
More than happy to have people do whatever it is
they like to do with their own name. It's it's
their name, after all. Well, I'm gonna start going by
Adam from.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
Here on out.

Speaker 3 (22:25):
A Jayden coming to Houston, Yeah, it definitely makes sense,
and it even still is yet another different spelling of
the name Jayden for a new.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Concused with Jalen exactly ja.

Speaker 8 (22:42):
Hy N.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
Like I said, a ball player for the Brewer has
been a pro since twenty twenty four and probably slots
in right in that area. This is the time of
year where you will often see prospects get promoted the
break in the schedule for performance. A couple of Astros
prospects will that happen with the Anthony Cuezo Xavier Ninons
who participated in the Futures Game, and Chase Call each

(23:08):
getting promoted from Low A to High A for the
first two that I mentioned, and from A ball to
double A for Call and we'll see where they slot
in fielder as he being against his Astros career, but
that does become official in the last few minutes. The
Astros have announced that mccullor's junior Colton Gordon, and cash
considerations are what is headed to the Milwaukee Brewers. It

(23:28):
is a cost spending savings move for the Houston Astros
quite obviously, and Colton Gordon in the two seasons last
year in this year, where he's been given the opportunity
to make a difference with the Major League Baseball club,
he just simply couldn't get guys out often enough. I
believe he is still currently the reigning Player of the
Week in the PCL for his one outing that was excellent.

(23:50):
He's had a really good year again in Triple A
and something I posted earlier today twenty twenty four Astros
prospect list, he was fourth on that list, right ahead
of Jake Bloss right there with Flury right behind aj Bluebaugh.
In several spots behind Spencer Araghetty. Those five names were

(24:11):
the top five pitching prospects in the Astros organization. All
but Flury have made their major league debuts, and only
aj Bluebaugh is currently enjoying what you'd call a plus
level season. Sorry that I didn't include Spencer Araghetty in that,
but the season's more than one month long, and all
of the other months other than May he struggled.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
All right, So the details are out there now, best
of x okay. KD involved in not one but two
social media I don't want to call him dust ups now.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
There's no dust up from the first one.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
It came out a couple of days ago, a couple
of weeks ago, Purple Candy came out where Drake was
delivered to his house and wrapped his way through coming
out of the delivery box and giving KD is purple shoes,
and KD said, man, you're crazy, And it was pretty
simple entertaining dumb exactly what they were hoping for with
a new sneaker release. Well, there's KD threes, KD five's,

(25:12):
KD twelves.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Where are we at?

Speaker 2 (25:14):
Now? Come on? You know this?

Speaker 4 (25:16):
Well?

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Actually I wanted to make sure, and I'm almost saying
it in jest nineteen, Yes, KD nineteen's.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
So there's a red version that was released the last
couple of days, and this is one of those things
we're stuck with pretty much permanently in twenty twenty six,
and I don't know for how much longer, but you
never can tell. So the kicks come out and there's
plenty of social media around it, and everybody's got the
picks of the.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
Two bright fully red shoes that.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Obviously the Rockets will have to pay fines on every
game that he wears them because there's not enough white
in them. See air Jordan, uh joking of course back
in the day, back in the day. So the red shoes,
and there's KD and his red and KD because they
are candy red. Those were purple candy, but these are
candy red. They've decided to pose him in this picture

(26:09):
where there's a red candy apple and then there's also
a red candy apple that is on a stick that
he is in the process of biting into. This has
got a red candy apple on a stick in his mouth, basically, right, Yeah,
And what I was alluding to that I think we're
stuck with here in twenty twenty six because I saw
it posted by a bunch of different entities, some more

(26:31):
sneaker heads than others, and then it was on Instagram
as well, and I can't tell if which part of
it I want to question first? Was the actual picture
even ever taken?

Speaker 4 (26:46):
Is it?

Speaker 2 (26:47):
Ai?

Speaker 3 (26:48):
What I saw easy money Sniper comment on where he
only competented on the post on ig and only said
AI like, is it real?

Speaker 2 (26:59):
I guess it's real? Is it not real?

Speaker 3 (27:01):
Is it worth making fun of? But you've ever agreed
to this? Did someone think this was a good idea?
Was there no better way to promote it? All of
these things are rattling around in my head.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, and the post that I actually sent this was
on x now the picture of him says media not
displayed and when it originally had the picture? Of course,
this image has been removed in response to a report
from the copyright holder.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
What has it been? Community tagged? O? There's some community
guys and say that.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
But I did see this comment that said, come on, Katie,
you could have sat on a candy red slab in Houston.
You really let the marketing team convince you this was
a good look. That's the thing, like did he or
did it actually not happen?

Speaker 2 (27:45):
Katie? I can't prove it, but I'm onto you, sir.

Speaker 3 (27:49):
Obviously a picture like that, and I'm sure most of
you saw it, those of you that spend your time
like we do, all over social media because our lives
are hollow and shallow and empty, you've seen it, and
you've seen the many many comments like how could you
kd or uh huh that's what I thought?

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Or who knows what?

Speaker 3 (28:06):
And like I said, he even commented allegedly, apparently possibly
because the person who posted that with his comment, the
actual handle of the Instagram account is blurry enough that
I can't quite make it out to figure out where
to go look for its authenticity.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
It's it's unfortunate no matter what, even if it is
AI he found his way back to social media.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
Shocking league in today and this was posted a few
different places, not necessarily looking for Kevin Durant. It's something
we might have honestly discussed ourselves. I mean, we like
media on media crime, We're in the media. Why not
comit a crime? There's a picture of nine talking heads.
Presumably we could lump them all in his basketball talking heads,

(28:48):
I guess because some of them are specifically that. But
the nine people in the media that are on this
graphic that is titled one has to Go? Who, Charles Barkley,
Shack and Sharp and ski It, Colin Coward, Max Kellerman,
along with Kendrick Perkins, Nick Wright, and Steven A.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
Smith.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Anybody's more than welcome to send their own comments on this.
Reply to this if it's on X, find a comment
on Instagram, or you can be Kevin Durant and decide Yeah,
I want to comment on that. So he posted it
on his own story and he said, Paie, well, the
first one says pack that lame Colin cow Herd up.

(29:29):
So of those nine, he said, who has to Go?
Colin Cowherd, And then just a couple minutes later, maybe
when he really studied it, he said whoa WHOA basketball
would actually move forward if Nick Wright wasn't involved. Hold up,
So he's already torn between two. I don't I haven't
checked his account in the last thirty seconds. I don't

(29:50):
know if KD has now had seven more posts on
his story implicating all of them for bad NBA takes
or not.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
Well, I think they all have bad NBA takes, even
Charles and Shack. But I think he initially settled on
Colin Coward because of what Coward said about him. Katie
is like buying a boat, the first day you have
it the first day you sell it are the two
happiest days. That's a cheap shot. Probably, I would say definitively.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
That's not accurate for one team, and the Rockets are
somewhere in between. It's not accurate for Oklahoma City. The
things that have happened since then, and the perception of
Kevin Durant since then, I do think changed. At that moment,
you could definitely make a case for Golden State. Let's
go get Kevin Durant. Okay, we've got him here, come

(30:41):
winning two titles. Whether it was his fault or not
his fault, and I tend to think it wasn't his fault.
The team did not get along with each other. It
was not a very cohesive, chemistry filled, positive chemistry filled
team with Draymond and everything else that went on. So
off he went, Yes, that's selling of the boat day,
very happy. I totally get it, And then through each

(31:01):
of his last stops before Houston, you could make an
argument the same exact thing. For however, it did unfold.
It did in and out of Brooklyn, in and out
of Phoenix. He's not out of Houston yet, so I'm
putting pause on that. But some of the things that
didn't happen upon his arrival in the basketball sense are
why you get that commentary. Right up until they didn't

(31:24):
turn out to have a great regular season, everything was fine,
and again it's not on him. He also didn't play
in the playoffs but one game, So there's that. But
I could see the two years from now or sooner. Yeah,
I could see it again.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
I look, the script hasn't been finished obviously here in Houston,
and there's a lot that to left to be determined.
I think, just based on the fact that his point
guard he was coming here to play with in that
trade didn't play all of last year. That's just for sure.
I was there there, he was there. Don't do JD.
Davison like that. That's not saying he was on the

(31:58):
bench more than King.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
Throwing shade at Aaron Holliday, I don't understand, man, guy's
a break. Oh you met Fred? Okay, I'm sorry. I
shouldn't have been talking.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
But anyways, we'll have to see. I don't I don't
agree with Colin Coward. But that's like every day on
this only just this time. There's plenty of other great
comments there.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
We'll leave them to you, or we'll readdress them later
as we continue a little bit of NBA talk. There
has nothing to do with the season, of course, a
few other things to get to. I mean, we never
really got to it yesterday. I imagine we won't again today.
But everything in the NBA going on right now is
essentially off the field, so we'll probably drive back into
a little astros conversation when we come back next.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Wait, we didn't ask each other that question? Who has
to go? I mean, if you're gonna choose from Barkley, Shack,
stephen A, Scoop, Skip himself, that idiot who used to
work in this city, Colin.

Speaker 3 (32:57):
As usual, I have to ask questions before I can
answer questions. So run through the list of nine again, all.

Speaker 1 (33:02):
Right, Barkley, Shack, stephen A Smith, Shannon Sharp, Skip Bayless, Gonzo,
Colin Coward.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
Everybody doesn't know who that is?

Speaker 1 (33:15):
Oh, I'm sorry, did I not say Nick? Right? I
mean the guy who looks like a muppet, all right,
Colin Coward, Max Kellerman.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
And is it.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
Beaumont's own Yeomanto's end superstar and first round pick and
NBA champion Kendrick Perk former.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Friend of the show. We don't say that also, but
it's true.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
Do I have to include Skip and Max in this
conversation because they're listed, because I don't really think I
should consider them, because I think they've already gone well
where their current rights for their nonsensical takes exist is
so far out of anyone's attention span. Skip probably says
stuff these days, I don't ever hear about it, thankfully.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
And ironically, thanks to Stephen A. Smith, same can be
said about Max.

Speaker 3 (34:03):
So, yeah, Max is in a similar boat. They're still
doing what they do, and Max obviously has an affiliation
to boxing and some other things that might make more
sense he ever talk about it. So I almost I
don't want to say that either of the two of
them for that reason, because I think that's like a
non answer.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
That this is easy, This really is easy. What's your answer?

Speaker 1 (34:24):
The idiot who looks like a muppet, he's so bad
and he worships it. The altar of everything wrong about
the NBA and specifically Lebron.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yeah, that's it was an easy answer for you. Yeah,
because he's a moron.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
One long line and there's you know, like when you
go on a three sixty, it's one eighty to be
on the opposite ends.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
That's where the two of you are.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
Well, he's also a complete cowards, specifically in relation to
me in that.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yes, so it's all okay.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
It's personal, it's absolutely personal.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
Well, that's exactly what KD is all about in this
particular situation. He does seem to hear and see everything
if it's about him, which is fine.

Speaker 1 (35:05):
Which is ironical, also very much to it. If what
happened last year really happened with his burner, you cannot
be You have to pick a lane. If you want
to be sensitive, because that's what it comes down to,
then that's fine. I don't look you want to put
up thirty a night for the Rockets and be sensitive
about everything everybody says about you on social As long
as you keep putting up to thirty, I don't care.

(35:27):
But you can't turn around and say stuff about your teammate,
not opponents. I'm sure he's done plenty of that. You
can't say that kind of stuff about your teammates and
make it a thing in the locker room and also
be sensitive.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
You just can't.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Of course he does allegedly.

Speaker 2 (35:45):
Otherwise.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
I mean, if you leave me with only those seven,
I think it's tough. There's guys I definitely want to
get rid of, and they're on the top line, right
Shack Barkley. I have no reason to get rid of
stephen A, even though he yells too much for my liking,
and it's very easy.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
To turn off the program for that exact reason.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
Does usually takes bad idea if you're trying to get
people to watch and be entertained by you. Yeah, he's
not so far so far out there that it's just
one after the other of things. I just I would
probably say Colin as well, for the overwhelming number of
mistakes that he makes not paying attention and then he

(36:23):
tries to gloss over it.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
I mean, he just did it.

Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yesterday, Derek Jeter was on as a guest from the
All Star Game, but before the conversation even started, Jeter said,
I just want to make sure we're all on the
same page here.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
Last time I was here, with you.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
You're asking me about facing Nolan Ryan, and you know,
I just want to make sure we're good and you know,
basically you know anything about what we're about to talk about.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
And he did it the other day.

Speaker 3 (36:48):
Jason McIntyre, who does a lot of programming with him,
basically had to correct him when he just flat out
made something up that clearly was untrue. And he had
said it in a way like, oh, yeah, I read
this earlier and I saw this there.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
No, you didn't. It's literally made up. It's wrong. When
Jason McIntyre's correcting you, you know you have a problem that That's.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
An hour in the books. We got another hour to go.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
Three o'clock hour begins with what the astros are up
to with the Lance mccullor's junior deal.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Beyond the obvious Lance mccullor's junior deal. That's next.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
It is a Wednesday edition of the program. It's straight
up three o'clock on a day where Lance mccullor's junior
it was reported, was being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers,
and in the last hour it's become official via the
Astros actually sending out a.

Speaker 3 (37:30):
Release Lance mccullor's Junior is a Brewer along with Colton
Gordon and Cash and Jaden. Fielder, outfield prospect for the
Brewers is an Astro. He's a single a player, and
yes his dad is Prince, and yes his granddad is Cecil,
and no he is not among the Brewer's top prospects.

(37:54):
They're loaded, which actually might mean this player's reasonably worthwhile
to continue taking a look at. And that's what the
Astros are doing here. This is a more of a
major league cost cutting move. The salary exactly, The figures
a little bit hard to calculate, but it will should
allow them a little bit more room to operate under
their own constraints. There's no salary cap in baseball, but

(38:17):
there are figures that certain owners like to stay away from.
Some owners like to not spend any money. This particular
owner spends plenty of money, but there are still constraints
with which he likes to operate under. In Fielder's case,
he's only been a professional since they signed him twenty
twenty four, has played two seasons of minor league baseball.

(38:38):
This year, he was an a ball player an eight
thirteen ops with three home runs and one hundred and
thirty three at bats, so slugging percentage of.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Just under four hundred. He's not excited. OPS of eight
thirteen is fine.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
Most of that comes from extra base power that's not
really home run power. He's not impossible to hit the
ball over the defense, and he is a little bit
more of a speedster than power hitter. But yeah, a
professional eight forty two OPS and you know, short season
and a ball that's perfectly fine. Again, he's not what

(39:13):
I would call a prospect. He's a minor league baseball player,
has a chance to advance in the system.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
Yeah, look, this is about Lance McCullers junior. We knew
that this was I'll put it this way, and I
don't even think I've told you this, but right before
the season started, I had a conversation with somebody who's
in the know, and they were basically trying to figure
out how Lance McCullers Junior wouldn't finish this season on
the Astros roster. It was just a matter of whether

(39:38):
they would trade him, you know, in this scenario where
they find a you know too basically two dance partners
to get together, or just outright cut him.

Speaker 3 (39:50):
Well, the thing that had to happen first was him
not succeed And that's the unfortunate part about it, because
that's been who he has been since he returned last
year and this year it's just been a little bit
too difficult for him to consistently get major league hitters out.
This is someone who during the first seven years he
was an Astro, didn't play in twenty nineteen, but saw

(40:11):
action in the seven other seasons from twenty fifteen to
twenty twenty two. You would regularly look forward to Lance's starts.
You would expect the Astros to have a chance to win.
You'd peer over the Astros game notes and see if
he was still first in Astro's history in earned run
average at Dykin Park then Minute Made Park, and he was.
He was a very good starting pitcher, and he was

(40:33):
even more exceptional pitching here in Houston, and always was.
And that pretty much came to an end in twenty
twenty two. He only played a partial season that year.
He was a part of their postseason. We ran through
that quite a bit in the opening hour of the show,
and we'll continue to do that here. Huge start against Seattle,
only made two more starts because they barely played any games.
They only played thirteen postseason games that year, and he

(40:56):
obviously was in the back end of the rotation, which
they got to restart every Sea series because they had
time in between every series. Great against Seattle, not as
great against New York, and not good at all against
the Phillies, but still good enough as a pitcher to
give him eight starts that year second part of the season,
which were exceptional. He did not have any other season

(41:16):
in his career where he had a lower ERA and
than that it was a two two seven ERA he
had in those eight starts that season, and then he
didn't play in twenty three or twenty four. His work
since then, like I said, his return from that long
period away, and it was awesome that, you know, nine
hundred days later he's pitching, and you know what he
was able to do and go to spring training healthy

(41:38):
this past spring training, all those things that went into it.
But he couldn't get guys out anymore. He couldn't throw
enough strikes, he wasn't missing enough bats. He just wasn't
a successful pitcher as six sixty five ERA in twenty
four games since he returned from that extended period away.
And that's how he reopened the door for he's not

(42:01):
going to be here throughout the remainder of the season
having enough healthy pictures, which is finally now the story.
They finally have more than enough healthy pictures, and that's
even with tang Done not available and with Burrows not
quite available. But Blanco is, like I said, they haven't
announced this yet, and I don't know that they will,
but I imagine it happens when the pitching probables come out
for the series against the Orioles. I'm hopeful that Hunter

(42:23):
Brown gets the Friday start, Peter Lambert gets the Saturday start,
and Renel Blanco gets the Sunday start, and you figure
everything else after that when the Marlins come to visit.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
By the way, this is the first time since we've
gotten back together that we've mentioned Peter Lambert's name. It
was just how yesterday's show and the first hour of
today's show went another fantastic start.

Speaker 3 (42:43):
I called him the astros first or pre All Star
Break pitching MVP, and I mean, there's nobody here sitting
in this room to tell me I was wrong. So
I was met with no debates, it was met with
no pushback, but it couldn't have been. No, there's not
unders there were more other pitchers to discuss and saying no,

(43:04):
I don't think it's It absolutely was him and he
just keeps doing it. I don't know what it is
that has changed specifically, and it's hard to really even
get into that with the pitcher the pitching coach. The
results are what they are, and they're very, very good.
Absolutely front end of the rotation pitching from him this year,
and he's been able to take every start they've asked
from him. Remember, he was, like Spencer Araghetty, not a

(43:27):
part of the rotation at the major league level when
the year began. Each of the first four starters for
the Space Cowboys when the year began pitched for the
Astros within the first sixty days of the season. Lambert
and Aragedi were here in just two weeks. Alexander has
made a couple of appearances and then now departed Colton
Gordon did the same. He was part of the Lance
mcculors deal along with cash to Milwaukee, but the expected

(43:50):
healthy return of Vernel Blanco I do.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
That's why I would put him there.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
Imagine if you do that, then you go Aragedy in
Game four after the All Star break, which would be
Game one against Miami, and presumably you hand the ball
to Javier after that and hope, expect, believe he can
throw more than sixty pitches and get more than nine outs.
That's one of the other things you really didn't talk
much about the series this past weekend with the Rangers,

(44:16):
you actually got two quality starts. Spencer Arraghetty was not
pitching there and Doun wasn't pitching there, so it was
just what you have this weekend. I hope Brown to
Lambert to whoever's third Brown gave you six innings three
runs in a game you absolutely had a chance to
win because of the starting pitching. Lambert essentially pitched you
to a win, which is what you do when you

(44:36):
only give up one run and give the team six
innings and then you got a bad, untenable start from Javier.
You can't have him doing that repeatedly because he's just
like em I. You just need more out of your
starting pitchers. I didn't even know another guy when I
went through the first five Stars.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
I'm about to say another guy that we didn't mention
all of yesterday's show, But then why would we. It
just makes us sad when he pitches, not because of him.
Eight and five when he starts, that is the most.
That's the most Tim Tebow stat ever.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
He leads to the majors and run support. Oh my god,
it's just incredible. Won his last start, he didn't get
out of the fourth inning. So why are they looking
for starting pitching again? Yeah, that's where you get.

Speaker 3 (45:19):
You gotta believe in what you're seeing in an ERF
six is not a winning pitcher.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
We all know that.

Speaker 3 (45:23):
But technically, yes, they win his games, and that's not
likely to continue for a long period of time. His
own personal situation is always worth discussion because of his
contract and because of what he hasn't been able to do,
because he's put himself in the conversation of who do
we take out of the rotation? Burrows did that, so
he took him out of the rotation. Finally, after eighteen starts,
the standings tell you and the math tells you, you

(45:45):
are absolutely positively in the race with sixty four games
to go. But you could say that about almost every
team in the American League. There's probably the Royals, the Athletics,
and the Angels might be the only three teams you
don't because two of the teams you were saying that
about started winning. Boston is ahead of Houston right now
in the standings because of the fact that they've won

(46:06):
nine games in a row, and the Tigers aren't necessarily
sellers anymore because they started winning.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
Can we, by the way, speak since you brought the
Tigers up, can we just stop with the oh, the
Astros are gonna be in the market for Tarik School,
stop it. He's not coming here, and it's not even close.

Speaker 3 (46:24):
The same thing I would say about any name we're
going to bring up. I don't think it's wrong to
suggest the Astros are making calls about Tarkscure. I can't
imagine the Tigers are saying, yep, that's.

Speaker 2 (46:37):
The best we can do. We will accept your offer.
Dana and Jim.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
They don't even have a top fifteen offer.

Speaker 3 (46:43):
I mean, you could have the only you could trade
somebody off the major league team, and you could trade one,
if not both, of your top two prospects, which I
think would be team suicide.

Speaker 1 (46:52):
Yeah, because they're not going to do that. You're not
gonna win the World Series this year. And if you're
not gonna win the World Series this year. You don't
need to be doing stupid things like that.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
I do think they're top two prospects are different than
the other twenty eight in their top thirty. They're the
types of players you want to attach untouchable to. Some
people frown on that period. They're well, I don't want
if they're not playing for this team and they're two
years away and nobody's a can't miss. If they can
help you go get this player, then do it. I

(47:20):
wouldn't in this case, considering where this franchise is, and
many people just flat out or sitting here trying to
tell you as loudly as they can from their couch
or from social media or from our phone line, saying
wake up. You're forty seven and fifty one. You have
no clear future with Hunter Brown, you have no clear
future with Jeremy Panya, and all your past history says

(47:40):
you have no future with those players.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
So be sellers, be smart.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
Yeah, and again I'm going to ask you this question,
and I'm just gonna put out the question. You can
give me an answer if you want, since you're the
one sitting here that I've been asking a lot this
year just like the draft that they just had. Is
Dana Brown you want responsible for these decisions? And I
know they're not. This kind of decision is not all Dana.
In fact, rarely has it ever been just the GM

(48:09):
in recent seasons because Jim Crane's.

Speaker 3 (48:10):
Involved, Well, trades are all Dana for the most part,
contracts and free agents and extensions.

Speaker 1 (48:16):
Not the second Verlander trade, that was all Jim Crane.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
YEA, I guess it was.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
You think that James. Was it James clickeror was it Dana?

Speaker 2 (48:26):
No? I mean that's fair.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
I mean that's a pretty big because you gave up
what we're talking about, your two best prospects at the time.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
Was it three, No, it was two, and in my opinion,
nowhere near the prospect that these two guys are. Yeah,
Drew Gilberts made it to the majors. He's okay. And
Ryan Clifford is still not necessarily going to be a
major leaguer.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
He probably is.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
He's been okay eight hundred ish ops still strikes out
a ton. But that was you still gave up too much.
That's why I would never never touch Alvarez or Nines.
They got a their major league career starting here in Houston,
I would say definitively. And you asked the question, I've
got the answer for you, specifically of do you want
Dana Brown in charge of these decisions when we come back.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
Well, I hope you guys made it through that commercial
break without pulling your hair out in anticipation of the
answer to the question that wex asked.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
Well, you've left yourself with no choice, and that's the
answer to the question do you trust doesn't matter if
you trust him now there's nobody else in charge.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
You're too far into the season now.

Speaker 3 (49:29):
If there was a move to be made because you
felt like this season would be that important to your
decision making, then the move would have been made already
with somebody else in charge.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
And it wasn't.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
Somebody else wasn't in charge last weekend when they plucked
all the high school and college talent to the ball club.
I don't think anybody has much of an issue with
who they selected. And quite honestly, we know how the
draft process works. And you know, Campendino was on the
air here and we've heard from a few of the
other people in the department along with Dana. We heard
from on Sunday. It's a more of a group effort there,

(49:58):
and he's not scouting all these players individually.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
He's taking the advice of the scouts that are No.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
It's really no different in football, except the process is very,
very different. If Dick Cassaria wants to watch a prospect
for the NFL Draft, he doesn't have to do much
of anything other than sit on his couch because he
can watch anybody at any time over the air. He
can get cut ups, he can get whatever it is
he wants. He can go there if he'd like to
a little bit different in baseball for the general manager

(50:25):
to get all the on site or televised activities. For
somebody who just finished their high school baseball season playing
twenty six games against nobody's and hitting seven to sixteen,
it's a little bit different, but nonetheless that's part of
the process. The process that's now two weeks away and
change August third, the trade deadline of this move to

(50:48):
me screams they're going to do something that you're probably
not expecting and hopefully will be good.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
What do it means by that, though?

Speaker 3 (50:57):
Why would you make this move unless you're trying to
save money to spend money. You're not saving this money
to save it to put it in your pocket. It's
the same thing with Dubon and the same thing with Sanchez.
This past off season. You didn't think Nick Allen was
going to make you better than Mauricio would, and I
doubt you thought that Joey Lo Perfito initially he was
going to make you better. Granted a little bit different.
Sanchez was awful as an astro.

Speaker 1 (51:18):
You also probably didn't think that Mauricio was going to
be having a career year in Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (51:22):
True, but but that's Nick Allen's not a good offensive player.
You knew there was a difference. You got the worst
player in the deal, but you spent a lot less
money to do it, And the same thing in the
low Perfito situation. A tremendous amount of money was saved there.
But it only matters if you use it, and they did.
They did spend money this offseason. The fifth highest paid

(51:42):
starting pitcher contract was theirs, the one they gave to Emi,
and it was nowhere near some of the other deals.
Was far less than all of those guys in front
of him got, you know, twenty million dollars less than
from Bravalde's got twelve million dollars less per season than
Dylan C.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Scott.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
And you saw Dylan Ceeon yesterday with a very very
cease like performance in the All Star Game. He struck
out the side, struck out three batters, I should say
to only took in twenty five pitches to do it.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Now.

Speaker 3 (52:11):
To his credit, he did take a no hitter into
the ninth thitning while you were out, But he usually
does what he does yesterday, one inning, twenty five pitches. Well,
I might as well call down to the bullpen already
because we're gonna need at least twelve outs from him.
The All Star Game will get to when we get
to it. But the astros have to me. They are screaming,
we're we're going to buy, not we're going to sell.

(52:33):
We're going to buy now. I'm not sure what other
moves are that entails or specifically the players that they
might want to get, but they can't be watching what
we're watching and not coming to the same conclusion. No
matter how many times up until this point Dana Brown
has said, otherwise, what are you all doing?

Speaker 2 (52:47):
Oh, we need a left handed back. We need to
add to the bullpen.

Speaker 3 (52:49):
We need a left handed back, we need a left
handed back, we need a left handed bat. Our outfield stinks.
He never said that, but they clearly need starting pitching.
You can hope it's Blanco, you can hope it's was Nesky.
You could hope it's a combination of who's already in
the system, but that is not what it seems like
they're planning on doing. I think that that is specifically

(53:10):
what they are going to try to add, because there's
almost nobody in their rotation they can count on, and
currently that does somewhat include Hunter Brown.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
Well, I was about to say, if they are setting
themselves up for this transaction or transactions you're talking about,
is it for pitching or is it for outfield, right
or left handed bat because we've heard all of those
things from Dana Brown.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
It's pitching, starting pitching.

Speaker 3 (53:38):
The Astros are not going to accomplish what I've said
repeatedly they will, based on what I've now seen. Without it,
I don't think this team again, if Blanco starts on
Sunday or Monday or Tuesday of next week and gives
them five innings of two hit, one run baseball and
then continues to do things like that.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
That'd be awesome. It still wouldn't.

Speaker 3 (53:57):
Preclude them from adding an army. Would just enhance their
ability to win games more regularly. They're four games under.
They don't need to win thirty four times the rest
of the way and go thirty four and thirty. They
need to be much better than that, I would imagine
because winning the division at eighty one and eighty one,
while mathematically still a possibility and the way the Rangers

(54:20):
and Mariners have played certainly a real possibility, I still
doubt that that's likely how things are gonna play out,
because the other teams are looking at the very same thing.
These players are getting moved at the deadline over the
next two weeks. Also, I should say this, I'm ecstatic
that the Astros have made a move two weeks out
from the deadline.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
Now.

Speaker 3 (54:40):
It's not the type of move I've been talking about
where you're maybe beating the rest of the market and
so you're not competing with other teams because they didn't
get anyone. But I think this does indicate a desire
to be much more active than their asset pools suggests,
because all these deals that are gonna get made the
last forty eight hours before the deadline. They're gonna have
a hard time being involved because every almost every other

(55:02):
team who wants the same player they're talking about can
beat them in an offer.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
It's going to be difficult.

Speaker 1 (55:10):
One thing we haven't talked about is the because whoever's
on the roster going forward for these sixty four games,
that strength of schedule is very interesting when you consider
that the Rangers in the Astros basically have the same
strength of schedule moving forward. I think they're actually one
spot from removed from the other when it comes to

(55:30):
that aspect of their of their remaining schedules. But the Mariners,
I think is a little bit tougher.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
They're all the same.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
Yeah, well in a division, I should say the division
of the teams in their division, and those two specifically
the ones they're competing with.

Speaker 3 (55:47):
There's not enough of a difference on who's left to play.
If you had your entire season series two series against
Tampa left, if you had your both of your season
series left against say the Dodgers and the Braves, you
know you would. It would take a really extreme group
of teams on your schedule that doesn't exist on the
Astros or the other team schedule for there to be

(56:09):
much of a difference in what's really left, because the
American League has told us that these teams are all
the same. Yeah, today, you're playing a team a game over.
Tomorrow you're playing a team three games under, and then
flip it for the next week, and then flip it
for the week after that. That's who plays in the
American League. And that's why the Astros at four games under,
are completely in the race, even after they just lost

(56:31):
three out of their last four series. All the good
vibes about winning three out of four and five out
of six and six out of seven, that's right back
in the other direction. And it's compounded by the fact
that one of those four series losses is to the
team in front of you, right the team that you
win the season series against. If you win one of
the other two games this past weekend, you beat them
five out of seven before this past weekend talking about

(56:53):
the Rangers, and then you lost two out of three.
You're now you could win the season series. You could
catch up to the next time you meet, and that'll
be in Houston. But now you almost have to You
clearly can't lose the series to them. I know the
math says, you're only one further game away and the standings,
but you gotta sweep now, Like this is what I've

(57:15):
been begging for them to do, but they're not built
like that. They're not good enough to do. They haven't
had a season or a series sweep but.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
Twice all year.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
That's crazy.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
They beat the Red Sox in the opening week in
three games to close out their seven game homestand and
then in mid late May they won three games in
Chicago against the Cubs.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
That's it all year.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
I didn't even realize that that that was the only
two sweeps of the season, and I don't even I mean,
it sounds bad, but I don't even even count the
first one because the Red Sox are not that team.

Speaker 3 (57:47):
Now, well, that's what the Red Sox have done that
the Astros can't do. Why have the Red Sox won
seven games in a row because they fired their manager?
Obviously that's not correct, but they did.

Speaker 1 (57:57):
It is accurate, and it's also around the time they
started turning things around.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
Because their pitching is unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (58:03):
Yeah, because every single day they go out there and
their pitcher gives them the chance to win, if not
flat out winning the game for them.

Speaker 2 (58:09):
One run here, two runs.

Speaker 3 (58:10):
They're still not scoring a whole lot, but they're not
giving up anything at all. They have the best pitching
staff in baseball during this winning streak. The Astros they
don't have the personnel to do that. The Red Sox,
as it turns out, they do, and a lot of
it is young pitchers, and clearly one of their offseason acquisitions,
a more expensive one that worked Sonny Gray.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
Maybe as a result of today's transaction, the Astros will
start to have something like that on their roster. I
still know what it is. That's the thing. Okay, great,
you made this deal and you've rid yourself of the
Lance mccullor's money aspect. Who are you going out and getting?

Speaker 3 (58:50):
Still there's there's a handful of I don't know why
the Royals would keep Michael Waka. He just pitched in
the All Star Game yesterday. He's not an ace, even
though he was an All Star.

Speaker 2 (59:02):
But he's very good.

Speaker 3 (59:03):
He's a front end of the rotation. He's a below
four three five r a type of pitcher maybe a
little bit better when.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
He's here, better than your two offseason acquisitions at pitching.

Speaker 3 (59:12):
Yes, if you're not including Lambert, you're obviously talking about
Burrows and Emi, and that's no question about it. That's
someone who Again the Royals there, I don't know what
they're thinking because they're awful and if they're not selling,
they're making a huge, huge mistake in my opinion. And
then you you know, there's a guy like Robbie Ray
pitching for a team that's probably not going to win
and probably should be selling and.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Hurt him if he's playing with him.

Speaker 3 (59:36):
Well, it's been a while since he heard him. But
those are just a couple of the pitching names the
Red Sox were all. They'll be shopping a role as Chapin,
They'll be shopping Sonny Gray well not anymore.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
No, No, that's not going to be one of the
talent pools you'll be able to draw from. So a
lot to still get to him. We'll keep our eye
on it as we get into the midpoint of July. Michigan.
How did you describe it? They don't give an f uh.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
They do some things really well, and none of them
are good.

Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
The eighteen Sports Sox seven ninety Space City Home Network
Michigan having a renegade program is not exactly a shock
mean meaning what I say when I say that any
college program being a renegade program in some way, shape
or form, that's like the least shocking thing in all

(01:00:30):
of sports. Right at some point or another is going
to be a renegade program or ten out there.

Speaker 3 (01:00:35):
I mean, you're being awfully nice to Michigan and awfully
mean to everybody else. Which which of these other schools
you're lumping in with them has had a cheating scandal,
a sideline cheating scandal.

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
Well, I'm just saying that corruption in college sports is
this is this is this is way, way, way, way
beyond making doing whatever you want and winning because of it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:59):
That's what Michigan is doing. You know, I'm a Michigan fan.
I have been pretty much my whole life. I've got
people who went to Michigan, and I think what they
have done over the last couple of years shows you. Unfortunately,
what college athletics rapidly beyond belief, rapidly became. Yes, people
were getting paid under the table for years in many
sports and an attempt to win kind of at all costs.

(01:01:20):
But what they're doing there is way beyond what everybody
else is doing, in my opinion, And of course it's not.
They're not going to get hit with anything of any significance.
They're going to have their own internal stuff and we're
going to see the ad gone. Ward Manuel is going
to be gone, but he's going to have basically taken
a ton of their money. And what has he done?
They won two national titles. They love him. This is

(01:01:41):
what we don't care if there are scandals, We don't
care if we do things wrong, we don't care if
we have zero integrity.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
Did we win or did we not win?

Speaker 3 (01:01:50):
They won the national title in football right here in
Houston with Jim Harbaugh. Just an unbelievable, bad, bad person,
and nobody wants to say it for some reason because
he's fun at the podium and he pretends to have
these beliefs which clearly are not accurate, and then he
tells everybody else they're wrong, and he doesn't fight about it.

(01:02:13):
He just says it, moves on. It doesn't really answer
anything about it. Why is he not a college football
because he just won the national title? He's never going
back to college football? And punishing him with a show
cause violation if he ever does is comedy. He's never
going back. He was never going to go back. He's
not interested in going back.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
Why well, it has nothing to do with why the
penalty is an absolute positive nothing.

Speaker 3 (01:02:36):
There is no penalty whatsoever. Cheat, cheat, cheat, win the
national title. Obviously, people watched you win, so they want
to hire you.

Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
You leave.

Speaker 3 (01:02:46):
He could have left any other time. He never did.
As soon as I win. If I do, I'm gonna leave.
He's lucky that they did win, and it was awfully
easy because unfortunately Texas couldn't keep Washington out of the
title game, and Michigan kind of manhandled them.

Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
Pennix was a miracle.

Speaker 3 (01:03:00):
Worker against the Longhorns and then pretty pedestrian against Michigan.
I don't think it was had a whole lot to
do with the opposition, but nonetheless, so he went to
the NFL. He was never coming back.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
It was never.

Speaker 1 (01:03:11):
It's never.

Speaker 3 (01:03:11):
He he coached at Michigan only because it was Michigan.
He wasn't gonna go call coach college football ever again,
and now he definitely won't for the penalty. That's one
national title they won through who knows how many different
scandals that basically nobody seems to care about anymore. Who'd
they replace him with? Somebody on staff? And what did
they do? And again I talked to him right there

(01:03:32):
at the national title game, Charon Moore, and not long
after that, the scandals that he's been involved in and
the seemingly very I mean, at the lowest end a
bad decision maker.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
Did he seem like a scumbag when you talk to him,
like a scumbag?

Speaker 3 (01:03:47):
Is like, honestly, I think the word fits Harbaugh much
more than more more is the people in his life,
in his life not cheating the system and skirting the rules,
but he treated the people in his life insanely badly.
And I don't mean the person that worked there only

(01:04:08):
I hope you know that. I mean his actual family,
the wife and kids that he goes home to every
night after football practice and game film watching when he's
not you know, looking over Instagram accounts of students at
the school and otherwise just some insane, just troubled person.
And that has nothing to do with how he ended
up getting arrest. That's really not what I mean. They

(01:04:30):
knew about it, and that's what this comes Why does
it even come up today? Eleven million dollars is what
Michigan is alleged to have spent on this investigation with
zero paper trail. They're talking to people, they're interviewing people,
They're they're gathering information, they're coming up with a conclusion.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
They're gonna offer that to Michigan.

Speaker 3 (01:04:45):
And here's what we found out, and none of it
is going to include any written documentation for this.

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
Most in the legal world.

Speaker 3 (01:04:53):
Think that's a bit odd and it's gonna cost the
athletic director's job.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
But again, that's one national title.

Speaker 3 (01:05:01):
Dusty May's departure from Michigan right after winning the national
title again this time in basketball, has more to do
with college athletics as a whole, most likely than necessarily
what's happening at Michigan.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
He was there a very short time.

Speaker 3 (01:05:14):
He was able to spend the necessary anil money to
put together a super unbelievably talented team, many of whom
went with him to the NBA this year, but he
didn't want any part of college. He might not want
any part of Michigan either because of all this. But honestly,
the cheating scandal with Connor stallions the more stuff, the
fact that they win and then the coach immediately leaves. Again,

(01:05:36):
it's not going to matter. That's the troubling part of it.
The money that's involved, and when they knew and when
they did you know, we talked about it with Sowersby.
Well did Cincinnati know? And I think we think they
did and didn't do anything about it. But I don't
know that they thought he was betting on their games.
I don't think they thought they needed to be looked
at for a gambling addiction. And here in Michigan, over

(01:05:56):
and over and over, we're told through investigations and reports
that the ad did know. Everyone thinks there's an improper
relationship between the coach and a staff member to the
point that he told him the coach, I don't think
this staff member should be traveling with the team anymore.
Why because they knew. Yeah, But we interviewed them, We

(01:06:20):
had this big internal investigation. We interviewed Paige and we
interviewed Sharon, and they told us there's nothing happening.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
So you just said, Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:06:28):
Basically, they knew, they sat on it, and then when
they needed it, they fired him with costs.

Speaker 2 (01:06:34):
Why they saved all this money.

Speaker 1 (01:06:35):
I know that this might be a stupid question, but
I'm going to ask it anyway. What costs eleven million
dollars to the point where you don't even file a
physical report after you've spent all that money, That's what
I want to know.

Speaker 3 (01:06:50):
Well, everyone's first that written stuff, and the NFL did
this too. If you were I wish I could say
with exact certainty which report that it was about. But
the NFL that we need to do an investigation on
this and when we will get to conclusion, we'll issue
this and we'll see about the personal conduct policy. And
there was no written documentation. The league listened to what

(01:07:13):
they had to say after they delivered their report, but
there was nothing to read over. Yes, it seems a bit.
The protection of people involved here is what it all
comes down to. Everybody's trying to protect themselves. Nobody wants
to be linked to this and written up for that
and kind of makes you realize, even though they spent
that money, which is just how much money?

Speaker 1 (01:07:35):
Do you have a never ending supply at Michigan like
many other schools, Because all that's going to happen is
the ad that was on board for two national championships
in the two highest revenue sports.

Speaker 2 (01:07:48):
It's just can you move on and take your money
with you?

Speaker 7 (01:07:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:07:51):
Sure, no problem, Michigan they're the best, all right. Listen,
there is a couple things we need to get to
next segment. Number one is if you comped to Rodman,
is that a compliment or is it shade? And also
Robert Nightingale was at it again with regards to this
Astros trade, and you're gonna want to hear this when

(01:08:12):
we come back.

Speaker 4 (01:08:15):
The A on Sports tell you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
That if you were looking at X when this Astros
deal involving Lance mccullor's junior went through, and you just
happened to see Chandler Rome's tweet and Bob Nightingale's tweet
within thirty seconds of each other, and they completely contradict
each other, would that even surprise you a little?

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:08:44):
So Bob Nightingale tweeted his own tweet saying the Astros
trade playoff hero Lance mccullor's junior to Brewers in salary
dump with the following The Milwaukee Brewers are not sending
anyone to the Houston Astros and the mccullor's trade, they
are just picking up part of his remaining seven million

(01:09:05):
dollars in salary. Thirty seconds later, Channel of Rome tweets
Jaden Fielder, son of Princefielder, is coming back to the
Astros and the Lance mccullor's junior deal sources tell the Athletic.

Speaker 2 (01:09:18):
And then he goes on to give his numbers. Well
he's close.

Speaker 3 (01:09:23):
That's mean, I mean earlier in the day, I was
appreciative of Bob for letting everybody know that in a
deal that's sending a pitcher who's hurt or on the
IL and as an era over six along with the
minor league pitcher who can't get major league hitters out
and cash sending to the Brewers that the Astros were not.

(01:09:45):
He let everybody know his followers at least he let
them know they were not going to be receiving one
of the Brewers prized prospects in return that it was
a very good information from Bob. When the Astros trade
unhelpful players away from their losing team, the team that
is attempting to win their division yet again is not
going to have to part with any of their prized

(01:10:07):
prospects in order to get these pitchers for depth. Thanks, Bob,
Well said, really helpful. To lay it out there for you.

Speaker 2 (01:10:17):
I mean, it's incredible.

Speaker 3 (01:10:19):
Yeah, there's plenty of people out there that are like,
oh my god, they traded Lance McCullers junior and they're
paying for some of his deal. Well, I can't wait
to hear what they got. They must have gotten. And
Milwaukee's got a great group of prospects. This is going
to be huge for Houston. Come on, man, Yeah, that's
not the kind of deal it was.

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
No, it definitely was a salary dump though. Yeah, and
this is not.

Speaker 3 (01:10:38):
The first move that the Brewers have made from a
pitching standpoint this year. The back end of their very
good team's rotation. It does need help. I mean, I'm
sure they hope that this gives them some, but the
major league results for the two pitchers they acquired say
otherwise for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:10:55):
All right, let's get to what we were going to
talk about here. Anyways, The executives and the coaches continue
to rank position groups in the NFL as far as
top tens.

Speaker 3 (01:11:06):
Go, as per request of Jeremy Fowler. Right, It's not
like they go to work every day and say, hey, hey, hey,
I'm not working on any game plans today and I'm
not looking over the waiver wire. I'm not looking at
a roster. I've got rankings to put out. I got
to look it over the linebackers that we don't have,
and I'm gonna rank them.

Speaker 1 (01:11:20):
Do you think Jeremy Fowler calls these people and says, hey,
let me add a little bit more to your play today.

Speaker 3 (01:11:25):
I mean, this is a yearly thing that he does,
and so I hope he goes to different people, and
you know, every year it's not the same group, because
then you're really getting the because it's a small group
that you're talking to and get their ideas.

Speaker 2 (01:11:37):
I think it's very good.

Speaker 3 (01:11:38):
I still am amazed you write a story like this
that barely includes any of your original words, and people
still respond to Jeremy like, I can't believe you're doing this.
Why are you writing such garbage? How could you possibly
think this player is the seventh best at their position?
And he doesn't respond by saying I might think that.

(01:12:00):
I might not think that, but I haven't written anything
that suggests I do.

Speaker 2 (01:12:04):
These aren't my rankings.

Speaker 3 (01:12:05):
These are no information pooled from people who probably should
know more than I do.

Speaker 1 (01:12:10):
Now I know you know the answer to this, but
I'm gonna ask you, anyways, if you could compare Aziz
al Schier Texans linebacker, of course, to any former athlete
out there, who would it be. Well, it'll probably be
a football player. M hmm.

Speaker 2 (01:12:26):
If you're asking me, that's who I would compare him to.

Speaker 1 (01:12:29):
Well, that's not what one NFL personnel evaluator, as he's described,
compared the number six ranked linebacker on this list of
top ten, who, by the way, was unranked a year
ago after he had taken off the head of Sunshine
in Jacksonville.

Speaker 2 (01:12:50):
Correct, I have my timeline that happened during the twenty
twenty four season.

Speaker 1 (01:12:55):
Yeah, so unranked last year, even though I thought he
had a heck of a season for the Texans. Now
he's the number six overall linebacker according to this list,
and he's the Dennis Rodman of linebackers.

Speaker 2 (01:13:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:13:10):
I almost wish nothing else was said there because there's
more to the quote. But if that's all that's there, man,
it gives you a lot of rope and a lot
of different directions you can go with that. I read
that line, and I even knowing the great success that
Dennis Rodman had winning basketball games and rebounding at a
level that obviously no one in this day and age does.

(01:13:30):
I still feel like when I read it, it's negative,
It is a shot is you don't want to be
this well?

Speaker 1 (01:13:38):
Isn't it a very apropos description when you consider that
he brought a lot to the table, and by a lot,
I mean both talent and baggage, because I don't think
Aziz au Schier brings the amount of baggage that Dennis
Rodman does to the table. But I do think his
reputation precedes him. And that's also something you could say Dennis.

Speaker 3 (01:14:00):
I don't think Azz bringes any baggage whatsoever. Zero percent.
He brings football player baggage. He brings Dylan Brooks baggage.
Dylan Brooks is possibly going to rise to sixteen technicals
in a year, and thus he might be on the court,
not be on the court because of it. Aziz has
so much fine and suspension history. That's the only baggage

(01:14:21):
he brings, because it's legitimate. He might not be on
the field baggage if they hit him with another one.
If they do this, and I mean nobody the team
doesn't care about the fines. If he has another eight
personal foul penalties. Maybe the league will decide to do
different than just increasing his fine. But the fact that
he's been suspended for football activities means the next time
they happen, they could dock him even more games. And

(01:14:43):
that does matter. But the statement, the quote from the
personnel exec continues with after he says he's the Dennis
Rodman of linebackers. He gets in everyone's head. He can
run all day and play every down. That part of
Dennis Rodman comp is Dennis Rodman. As a rebound was
absolutely relentless.

Speaker 2 (01:15:02):
It was awful.

Speaker 3 (01:15:03):
Bigger, stronger players were losing rebound battles to his relentlessness,
and really talented offensive players were frustrated by his incredible
ability to defend players of many different sizes and talent levels.
And that's what that's how he got in their head.
From a basketball standpoint, that's how Azis gets in their head.

(01:15:25):
He gets in their head because he's a physical player,
Like I don't think he does anything football wise beyond say,
Jalen Petrie is Jalen Petrie and wide receivers heads like
how he hit Rashid Rice. And he's been penalized before
he was pedalized. I mean, I think you're in players
heads because you hit the way you do usually within
the realm of the rules. I mean, does he get

(01:15:46):
in somebody's head because he threw a punch on the
sidelines in the Bears game. Does he get in somebody's
head because he didn't let other teammates get taken advantage
of in an altercation and he came over there and
protected him. I mean, he's not going out there and
just illegally hitting everybody over and over again. That's the perception.
But in this case, I do now reading the full comment,
I think it's a compliment. I don't think that's ideal

(01:16:09):
for the actual comp but it's meant as a compliment.
It's a good thing, and I do think this is
a very, finally, a nice recognition of the kind of
football he's The Texans recognized it. They said, how would
you like a tatsu Emi contract? Three years, fifty four million,
no player option. Though he just gets it because he's
going to be here for three years.

Speaker 2 (01:16:30):
And he's also going to perform better than Tatsuma. He's
playing at a Pro Bowl level, all Pro caliber player.

Speaker 1 (01:16:35):
Do you think there are five linebackers that are clearly
better than him in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (01:16:40):
In this group because it's not all linebackers, it's you know,
off ball, so to speak. Line But that's probably about accurate. Yeah,
I don't think there's a there's too much to complain about.

Speaker 1 (01:16:49):
No, I wouldn't either. All right, Lebron watch it's kind
of slowed to a crawl. Could he be going to
maybe an unexpected destination. There's a lot about that, as
well as some other NBA news and notes as we
get the four o'clock hour underway. Next, it's straight out
four o'clock here on the A Team Sports Talk seven
ninety s h N Wednesday edition of the show. Rolling

(01:17:11):
along here Wex and AC along with Josh Jordan with
you were taking up until six o'clock.

Speaker 2 (01:17:17):
We've talked a lot about.

Speaker 1 (01:17:19):
The fact that Lance mccullos Junior was traded away to
the Milwaukee Brewers today and the last year of that
contract that looked like, by the way, remember when the
Astro signed him to that deal.

Speaker 2 (01:17:33):
I do do you feel did you feel at.

Speaker 1 (01:17:35):
That exact moment that it was actually a decent deal
like value wise, or did you think it was bad
even then?

Speaker 2 (01:17:41):
And there I thought it was way too much money.
Thought it was a bad deal.

Speaker 3 (01:17:45):
So it only got a pitcher, right, and I thought
he would pitch well for them, But I thought that
was too much money to be paying.

Speaker 1 (01:17:51):
Okay, well, it's the last year of that deal. It
felt like it has felt like to me that it
was a much longer five years, I guess than it
has been.

Speaker 3 (01:18:02):
It's a long time when much of that time has
been away from the field, since the early stages of
his career, when he was on the field pitching more
often than he was off the field unhealthy. It's just
a total shift in the viewpoint and the perception of
who this pitcher was. He spent four years as an
astro before his first injury, and two three of those

(01:18:23):
four seasons were basically full seasons. Injured for all of
the twenty nineteen season, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty twenty one,
twenty two, that's four, twenty three to twenty four, that's
five and six, and this year in last year, that's
eight seasons that took place after that. He had won
full season in those eight years as an astro, so

(01:18:45):
the contract was obviously signed during that time, so there
were already some injury storylines and parts of the concern.
In twenty twenty one, he had basically a full season
and he was awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:18:59):
That's it.

Speaker 3 (01:19:00):
That's where his career of seasons ended. He was part
of a playoff team, a World Series winning playoff team.
But since that time where he started twenty eight games,
he has made thirty two starts over five seasons. That's
crazy and that's just unfortunate. And then these past two years,
as we've pointed out a couple of times, they were

(01:19:20):
just very unsuccessful.

Speaker 2 (01:19:21):
And that followed the two years where he was away.

Speaker 3 (01:19:23):
So he's been back from injury, even though he suffered
a bunch of other minor setbacks not arm related, you know,
the weight room injury and the things that he's dealt
with this year, but he hasn't been successful. His the
area is well over six since he returned in twenty
twenty five.

Speaker 1 (01:19:39):
Yeah, well, he is gonna be a member of the
Brewers now for the duration of the rest of this contract,
which is just this season, and we'll have to see
what the Astros do in relation to that transaction today
as it pertains to getting their team better able to
make up those three games, and then some that they're
trailing in the ao Wes somehow, some way still within

(01:20:02):
reach even though they are what four games under five
hundred here at the All Star break should be interesting,
as will be to at least for no other reason.
Then will it be a new team that he's never
played before that Lebron James lands with It's about time.

Speaker 3 (01:20:19):
What do you mean that you've wanted to talk about Lebron.
I've been waiting forever.

Speaker 2 (01:20:24):
His name is prom James.

Speaker 7 (01:20:37):
Ron.

Speaker 3 (01:20:38):
Lebron watched twenty twenty six finally underway here on this station.
It's been underway in other NBA cities for quite some
time now. No, he's not going to become a Rocket,
and yes he probably is a sports fan like the
rest of us, is entertained by the fact that we
have a World Cup final now as Argentina has beaten
Spain to won to two late goals.

Speaker 2 (01:20:57):
Again for Argentina. But back to Lebron. We're on Lebron Watch.

Speaker 3 (01:21:03):
Everybody in the NBA, including probably the league office specifically
the schedule makers, Lebron is national TV worthy and they
don't know what team he's playing for next year. The
only thing they know is he's not playing for the Lakers.
He's not going to be a Laker next year, and
there's a handful of teams that are going nowhere that

(01:21:23):
he's probably not going to be a part of either.
There are teams that are tremendously talented that he still
could join, and there's probably maybe six teams.

Speaker 1 (01:21:34):
That should be in this conversation. So where do you
want to start with Lebron watch today? Well, I guess
let's just start with the latest news of who's recruiting him.

Speaker 3 (01:21:44):
Yeah, I missed that story last week. Teams were, I
guess told to and then they complied with Rich Paul's request.
Go ahead and send us some recruiting information, give us
some information about the team.

Speaker 2 (01:21:56):
Absolutely would love to.

Speaker 3 (01:21:57):
I will what I've got your email or Paul at
Clutch Sportsgroup dot com. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no,
send me voice notes. We want voice notes from your
personnel side to tell us what you want to tell
us and.

Speaker 2 (01:22:12):
Send them to me.

Speaker 3 (01:22:13):
I'll get them and I'll make sure Lebron hears them.
But let's go with voice notes this year on what
you want to let Lebron know about your organization. Hey, man,
I don't know if you heard we resigned Kristaps Porzingis. Hey,
I don't know if you heard we traded for Jalen Brown.
Hey man, I don't know if you heard, but LaMelo
Ball is going to be our point guard this year.

(01:22:33):
Stuff like that I'm sure was sent from relative respective
teams around the league, But the Sixers, specifically, the team
that did acquire Jalen Brown, Jalen Brown, Tyre Spaxy, Joe
l Embiid not enough to win the East, apparently, as
each of the three of them reportedly individually they've reached out. Well,

(01:22:55):
I think, may can you get me a phone number
so I can text this person?

Speaker 2 (01:23:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:23:00):
Sure? Who do you need?

Speaker 2 (01:23:01):
Can I get the Lebron James number? Do you have it?
I don't have it? Do you have it? Can I
get it?

Speaker 3 (01:23:05):
I want to text him. I want to recruit him.
I want to give him a message. Yeah, yeah, well
we've got it. Hey man, how'd you get my number?
Maxi Embiid and Jalen Brown are in the process of
recruiting Lebron James.

Speaker 1 (01:23:17):
If you're a Clutch Sports client, isn't that like a
mandate right now?

Speaker 3 (01:23:23):
If you play for a team that could legitimately land him.

Speaker 2 (01:23:26):
Absolutely. Yeah, I mean I think that's a big part
of this.

Speaker 3 (01:23:29):
It probably matters where you are on the list. Hey, man,
I know you probably don't know me, but I signed
a two way deal with the Warriors, and man, it
would be awesome if you would come play with us.

Speaker 2 (01:23:38):
I'd love to have you here.

Speaker 1 (01:23:39):
Well to the point where I'm actually this is why
it was so amusing to me that both Byron Scott
and Olden Polonies got together on a podcast and essentially
is enough to make you laugh no matter what the
conversation was about, first and foremost, but the fact that
Iron Scott and Olden Polonies on a podcast. Man, how

(01:23:59):
can you not love this age we're in right now? Well,
Byron Scott and Olden Polonies, to their credit, I think,
said what a lot of people are thinking right now.
We'll start with Byron Scott who basically said that, uh,
this is artificial, this market for forty one year old Lebron.

Speaker 2 (01:24:15):
James, they're scrambling right now. You know, it's not like
ten years ago, but you're talking about did that sound
like Byron Scott?

Speaker 4 (01:24:23):
No, it wasn't ten years ago.

Speaker 7 (01:24:26):
Yes, every team was called yeah to get Lebron James
on their team.

Speaker 1 (01:24:30):
That was ten years ago, No kidding.

Speaker 7 (01:24:32):
Now, Rich Paul and company they making all the calls
to see who's interested in having Lebron on their team. Again, Guys,
we got to understand that the guy's forty one years old.

Speaker 2 (01:24:41):
Yeap.

Speaker 7 (01:24:41):
As far as teams that are looking at him right now,
the teams are also saying, all right, we're gonna take
you for one year, maybe two, and do we want
to take all other that goes along with it.

Speaker 1 (01:24:51):
I'm sorry, but that is one thousand percent accurate in
my opinion.

Speaker 2 (01:24:56):
What is the other stuff? If he's on the s
what's the other stuff?

Speaker 1 (01:25:02):
The stuff that probably people that want to not excuse
but say, well, this is the same thing that you're
gonna get with any NBA superstar. Just the headaches. What
are the headaches? I'm not dealing with Rich Paul is
a headache?

Speaker 3 (01:25:20):
Well, you're he's already signed, he's on the team, the
contract and negotiations are over.

Speaker 1 (01:25:24):
Well, that doesn't that's partly the only thing that dealing
with Rich Paul entails.

Speaker 3 (01:25:29):
So he's on the Sixers. It's September. What's Rich what's
the Rich Paul headache. It's November. What's the Rich Paul headache?

Speaker 1 (01:25:37):
Him being around, meddling in team whatever all the time, NonStop.
I mean, listen, you can say that I'm being a
little too whatever I'm being because I'm anti Lebron, whatever
you want to call it. But it is a known
fact that the term de facto GM of everywhere he's

(01:25:59):
been basic has been earned. And it's not just Lebron,
it's his it's his whole inner circle, it's his camp.
I've spoken with pr people that want nothing to do
with him, can't wait because of that aspect.

Speaker 3 (01:26:11):
I mean sure that I could care less about non
NBA teams what they think about him, even though I
think it's reasonable to bring it up. It doesn't make
any difference to the NBA team. But once Luca was
traded for did that not it indicates to me that
that's not that's no longer the case. Lebron is the
best player in the league. He does run these teams.

(01:26:34):
He is the de facto GM. He is the guy
firing and hiring head coaches. You're one hundred percent right
on that, But hasn't it have when we jumped over that.

Speaker 2 (01:26:43):
I don't want to say we jumped the shark.

Speaker 3 (01:26:44):
That's the part beyond that, because of who he is
as a basketball player now still way way better than
these people Byron Scott included, are talking about him like, yeah,
he's absolutely still good at capable of helping you win,
especially when you're playing with these caliber of players.

Speaker 1 (01:27:01):
That's the other aspect of this that I also think
is a thousand percent accurate. It also means that that
is a artificial market for him everything. I mean, look,
do you think Lebron James is the missing piece to
a championship team? You could say yes, but it depends
on who the team you're talking about. I don't think
that happens to be the case in Golden State, not

(01:27:22):
if everybody else is his age.

Speaker 2 (01:27:24):
They don't.

Speaker 3 (01:27:24):
They don't have anything else to do, is their problem.
There was really nobody else to get. They know they
might be able to get him.

Speaker 1 (01:27:31):
Good Morning America openly recruiting him right now and talking
about how they know how to win. No, you don't.
You don't know. You might know how to win, but
it doesn't mean you can. Now you're older than dirt.
I mean, you're not going to hurry to say they
know how to win. They're clearly they're not in the past. Yes,
but no, who's in the who in the league has
won more than Steph? Nobody, not a single player Lebron

(01:27:53):
more than Steph?

Speaker 2 (01:27:54):
I think so. Don't they have four titles each? That's
the same.

Speaker 1 (01:27:59):
Yeah, but all those ron sexuals out there are going
to say, look at all these conference finals he made.

Speaker 4 (01:28:03):
That's not yet.

Speaker 3 (01:28:04):
I mean again, it's all relative and I don't I
don't know. I never Steph Curry is saying what he
should say. And we know how to we know how
to win?

Speaker 1 (01:28:12):
Is true?

Speaker 3 (01:28:12):
Do we know how to win with this group? Which
could be you just said you know how to win, Steph?
I got to follow up, do you know how to
win with this group? Perfectly legitimate question.

Speaker 1 (01:28:19):
I'm not even mad at Steph Curry for going on
Good Morning America. If I was in the house with
the IHI I'd wanted to get out to.

Speaker 3 (01:28:24):
Well they went, he went to the golf tournament and
they're asking are you recruiting Lebron? This like, why are
these play are all these rich Paul clients? Hey, Jalen,
Hey Tyreese, Hey, Joel, hey Draymon, Hey, Steph Hey, Anthony,
can you all please make sure the public knows you're
recruiting Labron specifically.

Speaker 1 (01:28:39):
It's really interested specifically, Draymond, can you tell everybody you'll
play for free?

Speaker 2 (01:28:44):
Because he did that you don't have a contract.

Speaker 1 (01:28:47):
There's plenty more of this to get into, not to
mention the fact that there's like a dark horse maybe
involved here, which makes zero sense to me. There's a
ton of NBA stuff to get to here on a win.
The addition of the program Run.

Speaker 4 (01:29:03):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (01:29:07):
Yankees, as we talk about the twenty four straight curveballs
to close out the twenty seventeen ALCS in minute Made
Park at the time against the stupid Yankees. By the way,
Greg Byrd was a starter on that Yankees team.

Speaker 3 (01:29:25):
Yeah, I thought he would basically be what Ben Rice was,
and then Ben Rice got good this year. I saw
Ben Rice on the red carpet yesterday and had no
idea who he was. And then I saw him in
the game last night driving in run number three, and
I rere like, oh, that's I mean, obviously once they
put his name up the day before, Yeah, I realized
who he was not what I expected. His face to

(01:29:47):
look like when not in a baseball cap, he looked
like he was thirteen years old. Well, he's he is,
he's young, and he did participate in the home run derby,
and he did have one of the two Yankee run
scoring singles in last night's first inning. If you were unaware,
a little recap of the extremely entertaining.

Speaker 2 (01:30:07):
All Star Game.

Speaker 3 (01:30:08):
And I've said many times, oh man, they need more runs.
That baseball needs to change. Baseball games that are two
to one in the regular season or in the postseason,
they're perfectly entertaining. I don't need runs to make the
game entertaining. But I definitely got the feeling last night
that once Christopher Sanchez was struggling in the first inning

(01:30:30):
and through thirty plus pitches and gave up three hits
and Jordan scored the first run, followed by two teammates
and it's three nothing, that was basically it for the participants.
I can acknowledged some people looked like they were patient
and waiting for pitches that they could hit. And I

(01:30:51):
do think the pitching was excellent, and I'm not saying
guys were taking stuff off of their heat or anything
like that. Consider this half of the outs made in
the game, half of them were strikeouts. Twenty seven strikeouts
of the fifty four outs in the All Star Game
were strikeouts. But the American League got three hits in

(01:31:11):
the first inning. The National League got three hits in
the game. Nobody got past first base the entire game.
They threatened to score zero times the whole night.

Speaker 2 (01:31:22):
Dominate, dominant.

Speaker 3 (01:31:25):
All this happening in a year where the American League
is getting lapped by National League teams head to head.
I think there's still only one, maybe two teams that
have a winning record American League team winning record over
a National League teams. And they couldn't even score off
of all of the pitchers used Dylan Cease and a

(01:31:45):
bunch of one inning pitchers or less the rest of
the way, three hits for one side, seven hits for
the other, one monster home run off the only pitcher
who threw two winnings worth of baseball, and that was
your Midsummer Classic.

Speaker 1 (01:31:58):
By the way, what you're saying is true and all that,
and it is a I don't know if it's a
true reflection of the actual talent level of these teams
and all that, but like, let's just keep it to
the AL West. I just can't stop reiterating the fact
that I think Seattle is such a fraud team. Like

(01:32:19):
for them to win the division the way they did
last year, squeaking it out over a very injured Astro
squad on basically the final day of the season, give
or take final series of the weekend series of the season,
they should have come back and with especially the state
of affairs with the rest of the division, given their momentum,
how things looked on paper, on and on and on

(01:32:42):
and on and on, they should be lapping the field
in the AL West. They should be right there with
the Rays and to a lesser extent, the Yankees for
the best record in the AL and it shouldn't even
be close. And instead they're barely in first place over
the stupid Rangers.

Speaker 3 (01:32:58):
They've spent so much time there this last week with
them going on the road, losing three games in Miami
and losing the series in Tampa. They're now in between
the Astros and the Rangers, and they're under five hundred.
They played a bunch of games here close to the
break without Hulu Rodriguez because of his concussion. They've played
all of their games this year without a good catcher,

(01:33:19):
because cal Raley has continued to be awful even after
his returns had a few more RBI, A couple balls
have gone over the fence, but he's still striking out
on an alarmingly high rate.

Speaker 2 (01:33:29):
Was doing that before he got hurt. Right, That's what
I mean. Nothing's changed.

Speaker 3 (01:33:33):
He's been just the slightest, tiniest margin more successful. But
it's not like he's hitting three hundred cents his return.
He's still hitting one seventy.

Speaker 1 (01:33:41):
See what is Randy a Rosarina doing in the field
half the time not playing?

Speaker 3 (01:33:46):
I don't know why he said what he said after
the game, but I guess after he said what he
said after the World Baseball Classic, anything goes. He just
came back from a hamstring injury. What AC's talking about
is a foul ball that he was playing left field.

Speaker 2 (01:34:01):
He chased it.

Speaker 3 (01:34:01):
There's lots of foul ball ground there and he just
kind of didn't seem like he gave all of his
effort to go try to catch it, and the batter
got new life and then he homered.

Speaker 2 (01:34:12):
And that at bat Mike Didino didn't like the effort.

Speaker 3 (01:34:16):
But he ran after the ball like he was just
back from a hamstring injury, but after the game he said, no,
I'm full go and I just couldn't get there. Well,
you weren't running hard enough to get there, you couldn't,
but you didn't get there. So it just looks awful. Yeah,
and he's maybe the only guy that's really truly been
better than average offensively, like Luke Rayley's been all right,

(01:34:39):
but Naylor's had a bad year. Rodriguez had a bad year,
Crawford's had a bad year, Rally's had an embarrassingly bad
year again.

Speaker 1 (01:34:45):
But I don't just think that's all. These guys are
all having a bad season at the exact same time.
I mean, the facts are they are, Yeah, but that's
what I'm saying, Like there's a fraud. They're a giant
collective fraud and they're proving it every single night.

Speaker 3 (01:35:00):
I Mean, some of these guys, specifically Raleigh and Julio
were also a part of the Seattle team in twenty
twenty two that was in the playoffs that I mean, yeah,
that's multiple and they've been in the hunt every year
and they clearly were deep into the hunt last year.
Was the Astros that kept them from maybe a first
long playoff run. The Astros weren't in their way last year,

(01:35:20):
so they had a long playoff.

Speaker 1 (01:35:21):
Because the Astros were a mash unit. It took that
for them to win a stupid Fluke Division.

Speaker 3 (01:35:26):
And now the Astros have injuries most everywhere except for Jordan.
Then Christian Walker do it and this is what they're
behind them.

Speaker 1 (01:35:35):
Yeah, yeah, Now we.

Speaker 3 (01:35:37):
Just ran through how bad Seattle's offense is, and it
is awful.

Speaker 2 (01:35:41):
Well, the only reason they are behind it at the Astros.

Speaker 1 (01:35:43):
Because they more specifically, they can't beat Seattle. That's the
worst part of this whole thing. I'm saying. There are
fraud and the Astros can't even sniff a win against them.
It's terrible.

Speaker 3 (01:35:55):
They sniffed it once in eight tries, this one win
in eight games against Seattle. Seattle will head out of
the All Star Break and into the second part of
the season as a team in twenty eighth place out
of thirty in runs scored per game, barely more than
four the Astros are twelfth. With all their offensive problems

(01:36:15):
outside of Jordan, they're still the twelfth highest scoring team
per game in the Major See that kind of that
boosts my but that bolsters my point.

Speaker 1 (01:36:24):
They're a total fluke last year. Don't say they're a
total fluke this year, because that what you just said
is just proof that team wide, that was a total a.

Speaker 3 (01:36:36):
Very good pitching team and an okay offense, if not
really bad.

Speaker 2 (01:36:40):
This year they're the same. Glad you brought that up.
They're shopping Castillo.

Speaker 3 (01:36:44):
They got they have starting pitching that they they have
more than their starting pitching. Hancott got injured right before
the break, but it's not serious and presumably he'll be
back in the rotation. They have six starters. He was
the prize to acquisition.

Speaker 1 (01:36:57):
He was good.

Speaker 3 (01:36:58):
I mean, the Astros had a lot of sess against them,
so it doesn't look that way, right. I mean, look
at the All Star Game yesterday. Joe Ryan is you know,
I think he was the fourth pitcher into the game.
The Astros have handled him better than any We watch
him pitch against the Astro like.

Speaker 2 (01:37:10):
What Jordan handled him. He's an All Star caliber pitcher.

Speaker 1 (01:37:13):
Yeah, well, Jord's an All Star caliber ball murder.

Speaker 3 (01:37:18):
It probably still didn't get enough run, but I think
they tried their best from Monday through Tuesday, the National
voices that were at the All Star Game, where there's
the Fox crew, the ESPN crew, MLB Network, everybody. They
did spend a reasonably smart, an appropriate amount of time
trying to reiterate the best hitter in baseball is right here.

(01:37:38):
It's number forty four. He is the best hitter in baseball.
He's got a chance, a very good chance, to win
the Triple Crown. He's on an unbelievable pace, and it's
because he's a great hitter. He leads the league in homers,
but he's a great hitter. John Smoltz talked about a
little bit during the game at least, and like I said,
I think they tried to kind of recognize what's happened

(01:38:00):
because he's not in the national landscape, he's not on
people's minds, and he's gonna do what's only probably possibly
been done once in the last almost sixty years in baseball.

Speaker 1 (01:38:12):
He played for the Yankees, they would have not it
would have been nauseating. But he doesn't. So even if
he played for the team that originally had him, how'd
you say they did there? What they tried, their what
their best? They're beshed, They're bashed. Lusiahs always whine about
their best. Yeah, I felt like you wouldn't know it
though from Astros Twitter, Why well did he talk about
ord On more?

Speaker 4 (01:38:32):
Now?

Speaker 3 (01:38:32):
I'm not gonna lie to you about this either. When
jord On was up in the game last night, I
was hoping he would hit a homer or hit into
an out. And when he got his hit, I was like,
all right, there he is down at first base, and
then he's okay, now he's at second BA you.

Speaker 2 (01:38:50):
Thought he was gonna put his ankle on backwards again.

Speaker 3 (01:38:51):
Once he was sitting on third base with two outs,
I knew, okay, well, there's not gonna be a play
at the play there he could score. Everything should be fine.
Once he got the third base two outside, I thought, okay,
we're okay.

Speaker 1 (01:39:01):
This is we're cleartate of Houston sports right now. We're
rooting for him to not get injured in an All
Star game. That's where we're at.

Speaker 2 (01:39:08):
You wanted me to do this during the segment.

Speaker 1 (01:39:10):
I know.

Speaker 2 (01:39:10):
I know I'm guilty of it too. We're all a
little guilty.

Speaker 1 (01:39:13):
The top thirty two wide receivers and base and wide
receivers in baseball in football, we'll get to that but
not before we get to our signature segment. It's Wednesday,
bs it enjoyed. It involves the Spurs.

Speaker 2 (01:39:26):
That's next.

Speaker 4 (01:39:29):
The a t on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (01:39:33):
I gotta admit when I saw this story, initially, I
was surprised. I mean, I know why the Spurs play
by play guy lost his gig. And by the way,
he's got to be having a terrible offseason. He watched
his team get completely throttled in the NBA Finals after

(01:39:53):
everybody basically it was a coronation. Oh, it's just how
many games that Spurs are gonna win this title? In
probably better in the last couple of years.

Speaker 3 (01:40:01):
Though for however many years he was there, they weren't
even a playoff team the year before.

Speaker 1 (01:40:04):
Well, seeing as how he's like twelve, he couldn't have
been there for that many. No, just talking about the Rees.
Even the Wemby years, three years of Wemby have produced
one playoff appearance.

Speaker 2 (01:40:14):
This one.

Speaker 1 (01:40:15):
Well, I was told that he's going to win the
next eleven championships, so they'll be fine.

Speaker 3 (01:40:19):
I'd love to see that documentation. Uh, just ask a
Spurs fan, they'll give it to you. Yeah, first time
ever eleven straight titles.

Speaker 1 (01:40:28):
If I were to tell you that the Spurs lost
in a gentleman's sweep at the hands of the Knicks,
who hadn't won a championship in fifty three years, and
then their play by play announcer was fired after he
had an alleged affair with a player's sister, how would
you react to it?

Speaker 2 (01:40:46):
How did they find out about that? I don't know.
Social media people made it public. Wasn't act.

Speaker 3 (01:40:52):
Apparently his girlfriend found out he was cheating on him,
and there was his phone and she picked it up
and posted that on his story. It was not very
flat or it was obviously very negative, and in that
it was so to speak, internal, It was inside the team,
the structure of the team. Lyndy Waters plays basketball for
the San Antonio Spurs and his sister, Lauren Waters runs

(01:41:15):
his foundation, and this is the alleged co conspirator in
the affair. Again, if a person in your organization is
not within the framework of a typical relationship, do they
get fired maybe maybe not? Or do they have their
contract expire without being at being renewed, maybe not. But

(01:41:37):
this is more of an internal Spurs team h hiccup
stumble issue. And I think that's why these actions were taken.
Why do we bring it up today. We bring it
up today because not too long ago former Spur and
current NBA analyst Danny Green. I know you'll find this

(01:41:59):
hard to believe, but he sat down for a podcast
No Way. Yeah, he has a podcast no Way, I
think improperly called no f's Given at the f stance
for foules, No fouls Given.

Speaker 2 (01:42:12):
I get it.

Speaker 3 (01:42:14):
He's familiar with how the Spurs organization runs, at least
during the years he was there, and doesn't necessarily believe
much should or has changed.

Speaker 2 (01:42:21):
It's not run by Greg.

Speaker 3 (01:42:23):
Popovich, the coach. Papovi is still part of the organization.
Most everybody involved with the coaching staff and everywhere else.
It's all Papovich era for probably a good chunk of
time after his stepping away from the bench, especially since
Mitch Johnson is the head coach and he's probably not
going anywhere for a little bit. Danny was disappointed in
the Spurs decision to fire Jacob Toby, the play by

(01:42:46):
play guy's name, over these cheating allegations, and he described why,
as usual with a very powerful statement, I always started
with first and foremost. I don't think I've ever even
said that on the show once, but I'll try to
work that in. He says, first and foremost. I want
to say I love everything the Spurs do. Then that

(01:43:07):
was it? Oh wait, he said that, but then doesn't
like what they do. I love everything the Spurs do
and how they operators in an organization.

Speaker 2 (01:43:15):
They run a tight ship.

Speaker 3 (01:43:16):
They don't deal with no Wednesday's bs, and they don't
like drama. I'm starting to understand, and he is too,
so I understand certain issues they're going to be like, no,
we can't allow this to me, Danny Green.

Speaker 2 (01:43:28):
This was not one of those issues.

Speaker 1 (01:43:31):
I mean, after all, this isn't even the first time
somebody in the organization had an affair with someone else
in the organization's whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:43:38):
And what happened to that NBA basketball player who did
that to another NBA basketball with another NBA basketball player's wife.

Speaker 2 (01:43:47):
They got rid of a lesser player, right, what did
they do here?

Speaker 1 (01:43:51):
They got rid of the play by play guys.

Speaker 3 (01:43:53):
They got rid of the less important. I mean, I'm
not going to important. Lyndy Waters is going to help
Wemby and Castle and Tobias Harris win an NBA title.
But this is a player on the team, and this
has now an issue with a player on the team.
Not right or wrong, but the team is going to

(01:44:14):
operate in a certain way, and that's what they've done here. Honestly,
do we know the team was completely and totally unaware
of anything.

Speaker 1 (01:44:22):
Nobody on the team, nobody in management, nobody in the foundation,
Nobody knew any of this before the girlfriend maybe found
out for the first time.

Speaker 2 (01:44:31):
Nobody right, So did they.

Speaker 3 (01:44:34):
In a Michigan kind of way, Well, now that everybody
else has seen this, maybe we should go ahead and
act on this. Or did they frown on it from
the moment they learned about it and this was the
who knows? But I can understand Danny's position because media member,
which Danny is now, he's a really good dude, great person.
I thought this was a foul. I'm not happy about it,

(01:44:55):
really disappointed in this decision. He's friends with him, he
likes him, he's a good person. Other than the fact
that he allegedly cheated on his girlfriend with the sister
of a player on the team.

Speaker 1 (01:45:04):
And other than the fact that when his person he
was with got cheated on. She wrote exactly the following.
Feel free to continue following me if you really think
I'm a good guy, because I'm not smiley faced.

Speaker 3 (01:45:17):
Those are words with his account that I think some
people believe, like.

Speaker 1 (01:45:22):
If she doesn't get ahold of his account, none of
this happens. That's what you're trying to say.

Speaker 3 (01:45:25):
Well, sure, but they're also on the other side of its,
saying mate, like even if upset, you don't like what
he has done to and you're out of this relationship,
and then on top of that, now you've personally attacked
him in a way that now has cost him his job.
So they're like down on her and how she reacted

(01:45:47):
to this information.

Speaker 2 (01:45:48):
They're blaming the victim.

Speaker 1 (01:45:49):
I mean Danny Green there constant well didn't necessarily for
his organization is anywhere now?

Speaker 3 (01:45:55):
I did skip over the part where he said the
girl could have made it up. Well, that's what's her motivation. Well,
she run a ruin his life, and you allowed that
to happen. Danny's words, Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:46:08):
He made an adult decision and he's dealing with adult consequences.
It happens every day. Am I supposed to feel sorry
for me? He made a decision as an adult because
she made a decision as an adult like these, aren't
We think of adult decisions as good decisions, not made
an adult decision. We just think of them as decisions.
They could be good or bad.

Speaker 2 (01:46:29):
Don't you tell your kids to make adult decisions, not
if they're not an adult.

Speaker 1 (01:46:33):
Oh so they don't have to yet. Well I mean
you mean act like a big boy, yeah kind of
thing exactly. Well, you know you can, you can try
to train them in that direction. But I'm I don't
think I'm talking to Carson about, you know, his relationships
with women yet he's eight not even.

Speaker 3 (01:46:50):
No, I didn't wasn't trying to give you an exact
scenario with your eight year old.

Speaker 1 (01:46:55):
But you know, if my little guy grows up and
makes a bad decision and it costs him an employment
or something like that, you know I'm gonna be there
for him because I've made bad decisions and I had
their people and my family be there for me.

Speaker 3 (01:47:08):
But yeah, good on Danny Green, is what I would say.
Because he prevented us from getting to the other comic
san Antonio story today.

Speaker 2 (01:47:16):
Well, we could do that next segment. Oh, I guess
we still have time.

Speaker 3 (01:47:18):
Danny we will get to what Sean Sweeney, former Spurs
assistant coach and now Magic head coach, had to say
about the series that the Spurs just won over the
New York Knicks. The Spurs beat the Knicks, per yet
another analytical giant.

Speaker 1 (01:47:38):
Next, I'm gonna need you to tell me something even
more funny about the Spurs offseason. I mean it's already
really really hilarious. I mean they lost in five games
to the Knicks. Their play by play guy got whacked
because he was sleeping with a player's sister. But I

(01:47:58):
need more, I need something.

Speaker 3 (01:48:00):
While in another relationship.

Speaker 1 (01:48:01):
Oh yeah, that was that minor detail.

Speaker 3 (01:48:03):
Though, It's pretty If she and he were both single
and Lindy was down, then probably was not much of a.

Speaker 1 (01:48:08):
Pay and he probably doesn't lose his gig if she
doesn't take his Instagram account over for the day, so
to speak.

Speaker 2 (01:48:15):
H yeah, I guess you could call it.

Speaker 1 (01:48:16):
Hey, there's money his account today.

Speaker 2 (01:48:18):
What are we gonna do? First and foremost, here's what
we're gonna do.

Speaker 3 (01:48:21):
We're gonna wait till he falls asleep, and then we're
gonna pick up his phone.

Speaker 1 (01:48:23):
Keep following me, though, if you think I'm a great guy,
her words on his account.

Speaker 3 (01:48:28):
So the new head coach of the Orlando Magic, Sean Sweeney,
spent his twenty twenty five twenty six season on the
San Antonio Spurs bench and assistant coach for Mitch Johnson.
So obviously he was there during all five of those
finals games and during the fantastic run to the Western
Conference title for the San Antonio Spurs, first time in
a while, and they once very very proud franchise is

(01:48:51):
proud again now that they are competing for championships. He's
on a podcast with Ryan Rissilla, obviously talking about some
great things in the future for the Orlando Magic. What's
it like in the interview process? How can he maybe
unlock the Magic's talent? I mean, you got Jalen Suggs,
you got Wagner, you got Powello. How are you gonna

(01:49:13):
kind of develop your relationship with him?

Speaker 5 (01:49:16):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:49:16):
Yeah, you were in San Antonio last year, so you
know what was Dylan Harper's rookie year?

Speaker 2 (01:49:21):
Like he was so impressive?

Speaker 3 (01:49:22):
Yeah, can we spend a couple of minutes revisiting the
finals loss?

Speaker 2 (01:49:25):
Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (01:49:26):
So they did get into that topic also, And while
I did not go through the pod to pull the audio.
I am aware of one thing in particular that was
said that sounded like Sean Sweeney must have worked on
staff with Kenny Atkinson at some point in his career.
You remember Kenny Atkinson the last team before the Spurs

(01:49:48):
to lose to the New York Knicks in this year's postseason.
The Calves and Knicks met in the Eastern Conference Finals,
and the Calves had an enormous lead in Game one
of that series before giving up the the enormous lead
and losing that game in the next three in a
row by playing quite poorly down the stretch in several
games of that series, which we then saw happen again

(01:50:11):
in the series between the Spurs and the Knicks. The
Knicks played very very well in the fourth quarter. They
were fourth quarter Kings in this postseason, so we'd already
seen that happen, and midway or game three of that series,
Kenny Atkinson is talking about. I mean, if you look
at the numbers are expected points, and we were heading
this series, we won this series. We would have won

(01:50:31):
these games. We won these literally, we won these games.
He didn't win the games. We keep scoring and it's
not expected points. It's actual points. I can appreciate the
use of all the advanced stats offensive rating and pace
and true shooting percentage and even expected points, but that
one's really testing everybody's patience. Did the Rockets have a

(01:50:54):
lot of expected points they left on the floor in
the series against the Lakers, especially early in the series
when they kept telling us, hey, man, the shots just
aren't going in. We're getting what we want. We expect
to score more. Well, yeah, the ball then go in
the basket. So Kenny thought they were winning the series
and they hadn't won any games in the series, and
at the end of his comedy goes, I know we're

(01:51:15):
in a results based country here. Yeah, we're in a
results based We keep score in sports. Those are the results.
So he was first, and now Sean Sweety is a
very close second, because among the things he talked about
when revisiting these Spurs lost to the Knicks, he said
a little bit of it had to do with bad luck.

(01:51:35):
They're bad luck.

Speaker 1 (01:51:36):
What do you mean?

Speaker 3 (01:51:37):
I mean we had bad luck because of the games
We're like forty six minutes or whatever, we would have
won four to one.

Speaker 2 (01:51:45):
That is bad luck.

Speaker 3 (01:51:47):
And I think Adam Silver needs to spend a little
bit more time on once we get to the finals.
If San Antonio has a lead after forty six minutes,
then we need to buzz down to Tony or Scott
or Zach or Mark or whoever the crew chief is,
and they need to say I'm sorry, fans, the game's over.
What about the full forty eight minutes of rig uh?

(01:52:09):
No bad luck for the Spurs.

Speaker 1 (01:52:11):
They have Wemby, they need to win, they lead by
forty six minutes, game over. He's the face of the
league after all, and so we should just change or
like forty.

Speaker 3 (01:52:20):
Six minutes or whatever, we would have won four to one.

Speaker 2 (01:52:23):
Bad luck. Like the statement is fine because it's true.

Speaker 1 (01:52:27):
If we would have only been asked to play forty
six minutes, we wouldn't have had two more minutes to
totally fall apart and lose all these games. Right, but
it's not bad luck, which, by the way, when you thaw,
when you think about that exact aspect of this, he's
saying that they were close. They were close, and he's
saying what you just said is definitely true. They fell apart. Largely,

(01:52:49):
you could argue because they were out coached down the
stretch in those games, But all of that aside, it's
bad enough that he's saying this out loud for camp
cameras and audio and print, so that it's forever, ever,
never going away. It's always gonna be there, so we
can always make fun of him, especially next season when
he's losing in the Eastern Conference for the Magic.

Speaker 2 (01:53:11):
But let's take it beat far beyond that.

Speaker 1 (01:53:15):
Was it bad luck that the Knicks didn't watch Victor
wimbin Yama get suspended for all the cheap shots he did,
knowing that he had X amount of technical fouls stored up,
and the league did everything in its power even after
reviewing him shoving Jalen Brunson's head down in a non
basketball mind, that wasn't bad luck for the Knicks. Punch,

(01:53:37):
not a punch, what a push? Stupid idiot, that's what
I would call him.

Speaker 3 (01:53:41):
Sean Sweeney's a stupid Like I said, we were almost
we're kind of. It's kind of a foul on us.
I don't have the exact quote. I know these words
were said, and those words are said. Maybe it's not
the exact way it was it came across, but we're
gonna deliver it that way.

Speaker 1 (01:53:56):
Uh, Okay, then let's just go to the comments. Clap
Brian Bishop also a noted loser. I don't know him,
but I can guarantee you that you know why because
he said this classic social media where you take one
small part of an interview and not show the whole story.
You're right, Brian, we didn't take the entire interview where
he could have said anything else, and he still said this,

(01:54:16):
and it wouldn't matter because it's the dumbest thing I've
ever heard.

Speaker 2 (01:54:19):
Mentality. Maybe he was laughing.

Speaker 3 (01:54:21):
He goes, man, if the games were just forty six minutes,
we would have won four to one, don't you think so?

Speaker 2 (01:54:25):
Ryan laughed when something Maybe that's fine.

Speaker 3 (01:54:27):
Oh j people die every day. He said that. That's
an actual quote. Nah, this guy. When did he say
that after he murdered? After he sent it back to
dick Enberg. Was he on the sidelines when he said
that his sideline days were over at that point? Yeah,
that's what happens when you say two people. Was this
a bts on Naked Gun thirty three and a half. No, No,
it would say it to Leslie Nielsen. It was actually

(01:54:50):
after the trial.

Speaker 1 (01:54:51):
He had been acquitted, So then he said it to reporters,
he said people die every day.

Speaker 3 (01:54:55):
Did he say this when he decided to do a
call in television talk show?

Speaker 1 (01:55:00):
Well, yes, but not that one, not the one you're
thinking of where he killed Bill Walsh.

Speaker 3 (01:55:04):
Should he say it when he was signing autographing his
If I Did It book? No, But he also say
it when he was sitting in a golf cart talking
about fantasy football.

Speaker 2 (01:55:14):
Hey, Twitter World.

Speaker 1 (01:55:15):
That was much later. Okay, it was also not when
he was on a golf cart looking for the real
killer or killers.

Speaker 3 (01:55:22):
Well, if they, the real killers, are upstairs or in
a very hot place below us, then.

Speaker 2 (01:55:28):
He might have a chance to find them.

Speaker 1 (01:55:30):
Do you do you think if OJ and Sean Sweeney
hung out together they'd have a lot in common.

Speaker 2 (01:55:35):
No, seeing is.

Speaker 1 (01:55:36):
How they're both losers with loser mentalities, the losers at
basketball versus convicted in the civil trow humans. Again, don't
forget what very important detail that the reason the Bronco
chase was so slow was because OJ wanted to hear
the end of the Rockets Knicks Game five of the finals.

Speaker 3 (01:55:58):
For those of you watching on SCHA and if you
had any doubt we were going to talk about Orienthal
James Simpson from nineteen ninety four. Duh, if you're watching us,
of course we were.

Speaker 1 (01:56:08):
Today is underway and unless Chandler Rome is joining us
on any given Friday or Thursday, which I think was
the case last week, it's football at five every Friday
at five o'clock, and.

Speaker 2 (01:56:26):
I know that we need to do.

Speaker 1 (01:56:29):
A new segment. Is that what you would call this?
It's a feature? Well, I don't know if you have imaging,
like I didn't know you had the imaging you played
earlier in the show.

Speaker 2 (01:56:39):
Imaging.

Speaker 3 (01:56:40):
Yeah, look this stupid thing. Just kidding this stupid thing.
Yeah that No, I don't have any imaging for this.

Speaker 1 (01:56:48):
But we didn't get to kind of what we had
scheduled to talk about last segment.

Speaker 2 (01:56:53):
And I think that's kind of pertinent to this, don't you.

Speaker 3 (01:56:57):
We're ten days out from training camp, so every day
on the show five o'clock some days, three o'clock, three
thirty some other days will give you some aspect of
training camp that is worth watching, storyline that needs to
be viewed and analyzed to be out of training camp
all throughout once they get started two weeks from today,
two weeks from today will be our first show following

(01:57:18):
training camp. So the ten shows we have between now
and then, including today, I got ten items to discuss
with you about what will unfold during training camp, and
we'll have installment number one here after we answer this
question about Nico Collins.

Speaker 1 (01:57:34):
Is he elite? Is the injury or poem? Is it both?
Are you concerned?

Speaker 3 (01:57:41):
That list we've been talking about from ESPN is one
side of things. There's a couple other entities rolling up
to the training camp portion of the calendar doing their
own list. PFF is among them, and I ran through
what they had to say about the top running backs
in the league, the top quarterbacks in the league getting
off of their numbers expectations for this season based on

(01:58:02):
what other seasons have produced, and it just painted a
very unflattering picture of what CJ. Stroud has to work with,
or what Nick Keyley has to work with, or with
what the wide receivers have to work with. Because a
bunch of position groups or individual players and their offensive
coordinator who are all back half of the league talents

(01:58:23):
or back half of the league position groups wide receivers
individually speaking, this is one area where the Texans should
look okay. And that's because of Nico Collins. That's because
of what he has produced. That's because of where he
should be slotted in. Whether it's PFF or ESPN or
any analysts or executives or whatnot. Where's the rank among

(01:58:44):
the top wide receivers in the NFL. And I actually
happened to have a Twitter or x platform back and
forth with somebody about Nick Nico just this week. Pukaakua, JSN,
Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, A mon Ros Saint Brown. If
I told you they were the top five in any
I don't even think anybody would disagree. I don't think
you'd slide AJ Brown in there. I don't think you

(01:59:04):
slide Nico in there, Drake London, George Pickens, Chris A
Lobby or anybody else.

Speaker 2 (01:59:08):
I think that is a tier. It's those five players.

Speaker 3 (01:59:12):
Jefferson's numbers might go up and down based on the
fact that he doesn't have a quarterback. Last year, he
didn't have a quarterback. This year, he might have a
quarterback with Kyler Murray, Jamar Chase. If it's a full
season with Joe Burrow, He's probably gonna have unreal numbers,
Jackson Smith and Jigma gets a second year with Sam Donald.
He was insane in year one with Sam Donald, he

(01:59:34):
was the best receiver in the NFL. And Pukinako has
been very good in the offense that they have, and
obviously he's playing with the MVP.

Speaker 2 (01:59:41):
So those guys are at the top of the board.

Speaker 3 (01:59:43):
And Detroit's offense, while it changed slightly without some of
their coaches, what Amon Ross Brown does is second to
none other than these four.

Speaker 2 (01:59:52):
So second to four.

Speaker 3 (01:59:54):
The next group is where Nico Collins belongs, but it's
probably a much bigger group. Nico Collins, Cede Lamb, George Pickens,
aj Brown, Drake London.

Speaker 2 (02:00:06):
Would you cut it off there?

Speaker 3 (02:00:07):
Would you include kritzl Lave, Terry McLaurin, DeVante Smith or others?
Or would you say top ten? He's in the second
five without debate that last part would be accurate. He's
number eight per PFF. I happen to know some of
these numbers, like I said, because I was looking them
up myself in a conversation I was having. Aside from this,

(02:00:27):
he's fourth among this top group of receivers. The three
years he's played with CJ. Stroud. He's fourth in nine
of them. Top nine receivers in receiving yards. Take that
group of players, he's in it. He's ninth even with
his missed games. He's played the fewest number of games
of those nine and he has the fourth most touchdowns,
ninth most yards, but he has He's number one in

(02:00:51):
yards per catch. He's number four in yards per game.
He missed a few games last year. He missed five
games of the year before missed one of your playoff games.
This past year. He has not played the full seventeen
games with CJ. Stroud, or in this case, a full
nineteen games with CJ Stroud. CJ's also missed a handful
of those over the three years. It's a is it

(02:01:13):
more of a fact or a concern that Nico Collins
has missed time he's playing NFL football. He has not
had any catastrophic you're out for the next eight months injuries.
He has missed a bunch of games.

Speaker 1 (02:01:28):
Because I know you can do this off the top
of your head, run down the list of his injuries.
What has caused him to miss.

Speaker 3 (02:01:34):
Concussion, hamstring, neck, shoulder. I guess, if I'm not mistaken
I think he had an ankle injury.

Speaker 1 (02:01:42):
So nowhere in that list that you just rattled off
is there anything that would make you think, Wow, this
is something out of them. This is stuff that people
have happened to them all the time playing that position
in the NFL. Concussions, soft tissue, you know, whatever it is.
But because attendance does count, all that tells me is that, well,

(02:02:04):
if he had been present for more games, think of
the numbers he could have put up.

Speaker 3 (02:02:09):
But he couldn't put up any numbers in the last
game of the season, right because he wasn't there.

Speaker 1 (02:02:14):
And so that's why I get to the concern part,
because every time it feels like the Texans need him
and I'm not even this isn't even a knock at
Nico because he can't help it. He gets hurt. But
if you're not there, what good does it do the team?
If all these things that you can accomplish when you
are on the field aren't happening in the most important games.
And that's where I would say it's it's a concern. Yeah,

(02:02:36):
to me, it's not. It's football.

Speaker 3 (02:02:38):
If he had a history of long term injuries or
is coming off something that was more significant than this.
I'm a little bit maybe concerned that he doesn't seem
interested at all, because he answered this very question during
their offseason workouts. It all interested in wearing a protective helmet,
the same helmet that uh jal Jalen Peatrie wears. He said,

(02:03:01):
I'm not concerned about it. I'm going to do more
things to prevent it, you know, whether neck shoulder, just
strengthening the area. He believes, and I'm sure he's got
medical backing for it and team backing for it, that
he can do more things to prevent a concussion. Playing
in higher temperatures, not in January outside and falling that
way in New England would probably also prevent it. I mean,

(02:03:23):
look at how he got a concussion, Look at how
CJ's gotten his two concussions. I don't really see how
anything you can do for your body could prevent any
of those. I don't think anything hardly, anything you can
do with a workout regiment at a physical preparation standpoint,
can prevent those injuries. Your protective gear is really all
you're left with. And maybe it does, and maybe it doesn't,

(02:03:45):
because how you got hit and how you fell and
how your head snapped back and things like that.

Speaker 2 (02:03:49):
The other injuries.

Speaker 3 (02:03:50):
He's running down the field scoring a touchdown and he's
way behind the defense and he catches it and scores
and in the process he's out five weeks because he
heard his hamstring and that happened two seasons ago. Fifteen
games regular season games last year, and he started the
playoffs healthy. Fifteen games in twenty twenty three, Cej's first
year of football and was healthy when the playoffs began.

(02:04:13):
He was healthy when the playoffs began in twenty twenty four. Also,
I'm not overly concerned. The real question is he signed
another extension. They're putting even more investment into him, even
with these injury facts over his five years. Is that
the right play? And I say, yes, well, he's your alternative.

(02:04:35):
I got to factor all this stuff in part. I'm
not going to extend him or either will let him
play out this deal. Okay, then what's your plan. I
actually think Jayden Higgins is awesome, and I think he's
going to be extremely productive provided they have a similar
offense philosophy of moving forward. I think he can really
do a lot of the things. He has the same

(02:04:56):
body type, and I don't think they're the same receiver that
Nico does. Production one, but I don't want to move
on from Nico for that reason alone. It's okay to
spend a bunch of money on a bunch of good players.
And it doesn't all have to be on your defense.

Speaker 5 (02:05:11):
No.

Speaker 1 (02:05:11):
And again, if you are like, who on the roster
is better than Nico right now at that.

Speaker 2 (02:05:16):
Position, well nobody obviously.

Speaker 1 (02:05:18):
Well that's that's a big reason why it's okay to
invest that kind of money in him, even if there
are concerns about the injury.

Speaker 3 (02:05:26):
Yeah, if you have one of the top ten receivers
in the league and can get him on a deal
that makes sense, and they did.

Speaker 2 (02:05:31):
He did not break the bank.

Speaker 3 (02:05:32):
He's not the highest paid receiver, he's not even in
the top five highest paid receivers.

Speaker 2 (02:05:36):
Sitter him injury prone?

Speaker 1 (02:05:38):
Yeah, but that's not a concern to you, No, Okay, Well,
as long as you're willing to stand on that.

Speaker 3 (02:05:44):
I mean, he's been injured. He's been in the league
five years. It's been hurt all five years, and with
a variety of different injuries.

Speaker 1 (02:05:50):
I guess if he didn't if he wasn't so good
when he is healthy. I guess it probably wouldn't matter
as much, but he is. He's awesome when he's out there.

Speaker 3 (02:06:00):
And I ran through the list of these other receivers
as well. He's played forty two of the fifty one
games during that time, regular season games, and it was
the lowest number among those nine. One of the nine
most productive yardage receivers in the last three years since
CJ's been there, this offense, basically one has played in
fifty one games, two have played in fifty, and then

(02:06:22):
a forty eight, and a couple of forty six is
and a forty four, and then Nico at forty two. Yes,
more than all of them, but not something alarmingly more
than them.

Speaker 1 (02:06:33):
But it also makes you think of his numbers would
have been alarmingly more than some of those players had
he played, just because of the capability of putting up
that type of production.

Speaker 3 (02:06:42):
If he if the numbers in the category, in the
touchdown category went up greatly because of that, maybe he
finds himself in a different spot.

Speaker 2 (02:06:50):
That's what I come back to.

Speaker 3 (02:06:51):
Let's say he had fourteen or fifteen hundred yards, seven touchdowns,
eight touch would you still move him ahead of any
of those guys like Ceedee Lamb's play. Ceede Lamb plays
in a pass happy offense and even with a second receiver,
who's awesome pickings on this list. Yeah, he his touchdown
numbers went down, his production didn't go down. I went
down at eight. I don't even know if he could

(02:07:12):
rise above that even if he hadn't have been hurt.

Speaker 1 (02:07:14):
I think my question to you would be, Okay, take
Puka Nakua, Take how about this Jackson Smith and Jigba,
because you could you could debate, I guess whether or
not he's one or two. I mean, I'm not going
to argue with Utahn blue in the face if you
put him at number one, take him off the Seahawks
last year, or just take him off for as many
games as Nico Collins missed. And in the same situations,

(02:07:38):
do they win the Super Bowl for example? I don't
know that they do. He was he was a.

Speaker 3 (02:07:43):
Really good before Sam Donald steadied their offense with Gino Smith, right,
and then he got Sam Donald and he was the
best receiver in the league.

Speaker 1 (02:07:52):
But if he's not there for their last game, did
they still win? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:07:56):
So he belongs at the top of the list. Sure, enough.

Speaker 1 (02:08:09):
You know, Jeremy Fowler is getting a lot of love
on the show these days.

Speaker 3 (02:08:13):
Well, this time he's actually producing his own thoughts as
opposed to doing a nice job with a series of
pieces where he's gathering other people's thoughts.

Speaker 1 (02:08:23):
On all of the position groups, which we will continue
to do.

Speaker 3 (02:08:26):
I think it's a worthwhile endeavor and I'm glad he
does it every year.

Speaker 1 (02:08:28):
I like how many times the Texans are cropping up
on these lists. It's a sign of a good team.

Speaker 2 (02:08:34):
If they're talking about defensive players.

Speaker 1 (02:08:36):
I'm sorry what I say. I meant that's a sign
of good defense.

Speaker 3 (02:08:39):
I mean, he did go twenty deep thanks to the
honorable mention and others receiving votes on quarterbacks, so thankfully
on the twentieth spot, you heard CJ.

Speaker 2 (02:08:48):
Stroud's name. Was he the last honorable mention? Yeah? No Nicks,
Daniel Jones, CJ. Stroud. Look, I hope was very different.

Speaker 1 (02:08:57):
Yeah, well listen if well, well, as you'll hear here
and again, he's not exactly talking about the quarterback position
at least, but if he's.

Speaker 2 (02:09:07):
Very specifically not talking about the quarterback position, if CJ
plays even like, give me a percentage better.

Speaker 3 (02:09:15):
If he has no more games like the game against
the Patriots. How about all the other games he played,
every one of them in his Texans history. If he
plays like any of those games, he played like he
did against the Steelers, if he played like he did
in the six games they want in a row, if
he played like he did against the Rams, it's a
surefire win that they beat the Patriots that that day.
If the Texans don't make one, two, three, four, five

(02:09:37):
critical game losing type mistakes, not one of them, but
five of them. Yeah, and he didn't make all of them.
I think Woody I'd probably hit Woody for his fumble
as well. Yeah, I think they win. They would have
had to score a bunch of points because it doesn't
necessarily change how many they gave up.

Speaker 2 (02:09:52):
But yeah, I think they win. That's what I think.

Speaker 1 (02:09:55):
That's honestly, everybody's focused on that, the CJ aspect of it,
and the offensive specifically. It is tough to not say, hey,
the defense didn't have its best day that day.

Speaker 3 (02:10:08):
No, we've said that a bunch of times, three touchdown
passes allowed to Drake may even though all three of
them require the first of the touchdowns shouldn't have happened
because they should have gotten him tackled, but it still
would have been a first down. The other two are
the other team is good and they have good players.
Stefan Diggs made a great play in the end zone
behind Reed and the throw to over the head of

(02:10:29):
Derek Stingley Junior was perfect and made a great catch.

Speaker 2 (02:10:32):
They made great plays. That's what great players do.

Speaker 3 (02:10:35):
Later on down the road, we'll talk about Stefan Diggs
saying he's the second best receiver in the NFL. Since
on the very same list we stopped at the top ten.
You could find Digs at eighteen in the NFL right now,
eighteenth best receiver.

Speaker 2 (02:10:50):
But anyway, back to the texts smoking, he did say smoking,
he didn't see he didn't get his own rating.

Speaker 3 (02:10:55):
He said he's the best number two out there in
the NFL, and he also happens to be available, would
like to be signed. But he didn't rank himself eighteenth overall.
Somebody pff did Jeremy fall Violer like you said, he
had a couple of things to say. I was on
with Dan Patrick, I believe, granting this interview and was
asked about the Houston Texans and their chances to do

(02:11:17):
big things, things they've never done before.

Speaker 6 (02:11:20):
Let's be honest, an, I mean Houston and I'm doing
this top ten series. They have the best defense in
the league. They have talent on offense, They've rebuilt their
offensive line. If they can run the ball, they probably have.
I mean, I think they'll win the Super Bowl, Like
I think they have that kind of team, and if
they do that, then that changes things for c J.

Speaker 2 (02:11:35):
Stroud in a big way.

Speaker 3 (02:11:36):
He didn't say get to the super Bowl either, he
said are you watching what the Texans are trying to do?
They might be unsuccessful at it, but are you watching
what they're doing? Two new starters via free agency on
the offensive line, likely with Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller.
New starter at center, likely with their first round draft pick.

(02:11:56):
New running back, two pair with Woody Marks, who presumably
is magnificantly more capable than Nick Chubb. Two more tight
ends to pair with Dalton Schultz and Foster More and
Marlon Klein. They're doing the things that suggest they know
that CJ. Stroud needs to be in an offense that
gives them way more help than they have, and it's

(02:12:19):
not really even a shot at his capabilities. It's a
shot at nobody's gonna win like that. Their running game
has been bad. It was bad when Joe Mixon was here,
just not atrocious. It was really bad when Joe Mixon
was on the roster, but not on the field. And
it can't continue like that or else the offensive pass
production will continue to be bad. And that kind of

(02:12:41):
leads me into what our top ten item is today.

Speaker 1 (02:12:45):
There's ten on the.

Speaker 3 (02:12:46):
Texans, ten storylines, ten items to watch the Texans training
camp as it unfolds as they prepare for this upcoming season.
Running back play had this on the list. It's how
do they pair together David Montgomery and Woody Marx?

Speaker 2 (02:13:02):
Is it a real competition?

Speaker 3 (02:13:03):
Is there a chance for what he marks to build
As a starter, He was a starter for more than
half the season for this team.

Speaker 2 (02:13:08):
He was a start in the playoffs. He had one
hundred yards in.

Speaker 3 (02:13:10):
The playoffs against the Pittsburgh Steelers before a lackluster performance
with his first fumble against the Patriots. All as a
middle round draft pick who was not expected to be
the guy this year at any point, and then they
signed Nick Chubb to also prevent that from happening. It
happened anyway because he was good enough and he proved
his worth, and then he went out and got David
Montgomery to start the process all over again. They seem

(02:13:32):
to get along great. The running back room is fine.
I think having Juwar Jordan there is nice. But have
they made this a competitive enough situation? They're gonna be
fighting each other to get on the field. Are they
talented enough that that matters that?

Speaker 2 (02:13:46):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (02:13:47):
I'm gonna be watching training camp, watching their joint practices
and seeing these two players carry the football, run this offense,
hopefully catch passes, and say, I think they have made improvements.

Speaker 2 (02:13:58):
This twosome is better better than we think. I'm asking that.

Speaker 1 (02:14:01):
Questiones, Listen, I when it comes to what they're like
what you said about what they're trying to do running
the football, Actually executing it is obviously way more difficult.
But I think also forgotten in that shuffle is do

(02:14:25):
you think wood Mark takes a next step this year?

Speaker 2 (02:14:28):
Yeah? But he has to be on the field to
do it.

Speaker 7 (02:14:31):
Well.

Speaker 3 (02:14:31):
No, I know that if nobody was brought in, I
think they would have been Okay. I don't know how
much better the game running game would have been. But
look at the guy they brought in. He's not a
top running back. He's arguably not an RB one. He's
an RB one because thirty two teams start running.

Speaker 1 (02:14:48):
Backsh I hate it when you put it like that
because there's really no argument right now, because if he
was that good, why would the Lions have gotten rid
of it?

Speaker 3 (02:14:56):
Like he as he entered the league, but with an
okay football team, nothing special, not a great offense, not
a great team in Chicago, not a super high draft pick,
but you know, a second round pick, and he went
out there and became the starter, and he deserved it,
and he took the heavy percentage of the snap and
he was awesome in the passing game. And then when
his four years was up, the Bears did not bring

(02:15:19):
him back and he went to Detroit where he very
quickly was not their number one running back because they
used a very high draft pick twelfth overall to get
Jamiir Gibbs, and they should have.

Speaker 2 (02:15:29):
He's awesome.

Speaker 3 (02:15:30):
It's not even a shot at David Montgomery, but it
does indicate what they think they can do, and what
he marks is nothing like Jamiir Gibbs. But what do
you think he has left in the tank, is the question.
And that's probably not even. That's probably too mean to say,
because he doesn't have a tremendous amount of tread on
the tires. He wasn't overly used in Detroit, and he's
several years removed from being a reasonable usage running back.

(02:15:52):
He wasn't, you know, over the top with He played
a lot in Chicago, but I don't think he was
running to the ground. They just need something out of
the position they did. They weren't even good enough with
Joe Mixon is kind of what I was getting at
this whole point in time. He did some great things
at the end of games fourth quarters where they had
leads and didn't want to give the ball back, and
they just said, Joe's gonna run the ball three times,
not so we can run the clock out, but so

(02:16:13):
we can get a first down and then literally run
the clock out by taking knees. You're never gonna see
the ball again. Because he can get tough yards. He
was exceptional at doing that. Good in the red zone,
good overall is a pass plot all these things. But
he also wasn't elite. He wasn't top twelve even they
needed to be better than he was. But they took
a huge step back when he left. I do without

(02:16:35):
leaving the team.

Speaker 1 (02:16:36):
Right, I do wonder if they was he was he
a pass catching back in.

Speaker 2 (02:16:41):
Chicago Montgomery, Yes, it's time, That's what I thought.

Speaker 1 (02:16:45):
I wonder if they don't try and tap into that
so that the running aspect of this isn't it. But again,
if if they're passing more than all these changes they've
made on the offensive line to become more of a
running team or kind of.

Speaker 3 (02:17:00):
Your running back for the most part is your running game,
in my opinion, and it should be fair characterized that way,
and it should be a way to move the chains.
It should be a way to take advantage of mismasterage.
It doesn't necessarily mean you become a more pass heavy team.
It means you're utilizing your perceived personnel advantages. I mean,
I don't look at the offensive line and say, can
they pass block for running back to come out in

(02:17:22):
the flat? I mean screenplays again, pass blocking for that?

Speaker 1 (02:17:25):
Yeah, can you.

Speaker 3 (02:17:26):
Get in the way before you pull, before you get
out in front and underr athlet It's really not the
same thing. I actually did something while you were out
with the Woodies pass catching abilities. I don't think they
used him enough last year, and I thought this would
be true, and then I got the Wexler research team
on it's he caught more passes in college than anybody
on the team. All of the wide receivers included more

(02:17:50):
collegiate touchdown receptions than every single wide receiver on this team.

Speaker 1 (02:17:54):
At the running back position.

Speaker 3 (02:17:55):
As a running back, and I played five years, why
didn't they do this more? Tank Dell led his conference,
been receiving twice, Xavier Hutchinson led the Big Twelve and
receiving three times three different seasons, and yet Woodie Mark
still caught more passes as a college football player than
all of them.

Speaker 2 (02:18:12):
That's insane.

Speaker 3 (02:18:12):
He is a very good pass catching running back. Part
I think it's more the offense wasn't good enough to
help them get to utilize that. And this year they
really need to be insane with Montgomery two back set
where they both go off for a pass. I don't
know about that as kidding, not with the three tight
ends that are also going to be on the field.

Speaker 8 (02:18:28):
No, the a team on sport as a final out
of this program, an opportunity for us to get you
caught up on some things you might have missed or
some new items worthy of our time.

Speaker 3 (02:18:43):
Also note that we've got same tickets we've been giving
him away all week. Have another four pack of Hot Wheels,
Monster Truck Live Blowing Fire tickets to give away, and
a pair of tickets to go see the Big Three
at Toyota Center coming up on July twenty sixth. The
Monster Trucks is August first and second at Toyta Center.
We'll do that during the final segment of the show.
Just keep on listening and you'll be able to win

(02:19:03):
those tickets because you heard what we were talking about.
One of the things we've been talking about throughout the day,
of course, is the trade of Lance mccullors Junior and
Colton Gordon in cash to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jaden
Fielder and outfield prospect. Dana Brown recently met with the
media via zoom and he did indicate this was a
roster decision, specifically to trade Lance.

Speaker 9 (02:19:27):
We had a situation where we had these guys coming
off the i L.

Speaker 2 (02:19:30):
We're looking for.

Speaker 9 (02:19:31):
Some you know, some roster flexibility, and you know, we
felt like these guys could come in and make a
pretty good contribution, wes Nesky and Blanco, and we also
have SUSA coming back, and so you know, the thought
process was to you know, communicate with with Lance and
try to figure if you know he would you know,
accept the trade. And you know, he graciously accepted, and

(02:19:56):
you know, I think he's got a chance to you know,
going to Milwaukee, and Wealkie was excited about getting him.

Speaker 3 (02:20:03):
Chandler Roome, Brian McTaggart among those that caught up with
Lance mccullors briefly this afternoon, and he indicated as much
about the communication between the team and him. Said Jim
Crane had reached out to him on Monday and started
kind of feeling his willingness to waive the no trade
clause and if things would move forward, and Lance said,
I didn't want to be selfish, didn't want to hold

(02:20:24):
the team up, wanted to give them the best chance
to win, and a whole host of I love Houston,
the Astros, the organization, the city, of the fans, of
the community, things that we'll talk more about and you
can read more about. Dana also indicated that it was
a collaborative effort. As Ac mentioned earlier, Jim Crane is
very very involved in the decisions here, and Danna said

(02:20:45):
he and Jim worked on putting this together.

Speaker 9 (02:20:47):
The conversations were him and Jim going back and forth.
I was talking directly with Scott Morris's agent and so
you know, we were both having tons of conversations. We
were on text message is at one point. But uh,
you know, the decision came to say, look, you could

(02:21:07):
potentially be placed in the trade, and uh, you know,
we had some conversations back and forth with Scott and
we were able to pull it off.

Speaker 3 (02:21:19):
Lance mccullor's lastly from Dana obviously difficult, not fun trading
away a franchise pillar like Lance mccullors Junior.

Speaker 9 (02:21:28):
These decisions are always difficult when you have guys that
have been pillars and organizations and when it comes to
a time when there's a decision to make a trade,
you know, and in this case, again Lance graciously accepted,
you know, a trade, and you know, what he's meant
to this organization makes it makes it even more difficult,

(02:21:52):
you know. But you know, we had some decisions to
make in terms of creating some roster flexibility, and you know,
so we decided to well, we would trade him.

Speaker 3 (02:22:02):
Talked about in addition to that they have roster flexibility.
They needed these forty man spots. There's some salary flexibility here,
said Mike Burrows should be throwing within ten days, so
it doesn't sound like it's a crazy significant elbow injury
that he's dealing with. They're still evaluating a bunch of
pitching options at the deadline, and he also said one
more thing about a pitcher we expect to see back

(02:22:25):
very soon.

Speaker 2 (02:22:26):
He also said the same about Renel Blanco.

Speaker 9 (02:22:28):
Blanco is certainly within a week of potentially getting back here.
So yeah, that answer is yes.

Speaker 3 (02:22:35):
The answer is yes, he'll be back. We'll know definitively
if he's pitching against the Orioles. I hope no later
than middle of our show Friday, but sometime during this
homestand they have six games. He's not making any more
rehab starts, so his next appearance should be in an
Astro's uniform, and part of today's deal opens up the

(02:22:57):
needed forty man roster spot for whomever, presumably him.

Speaker 1 (02:23:01):
Not that rehab performances one way or the other are
the end all be all, but he's looked decent in
his has he not.

Speaker 3 (02:23:10):
I mean, I would say, look, he's thrown the ball
very well. His results are exceptional. So everything about what
you wanted to rehab start is what he's shown. He
could throw all his pitches. He hasn't shown any ill
effects from a health standpoint after, I think they've got
his pitch count where they want it. And then on
top of that, the results have been excellent.

Speaker 1 (02:23:28):
I guess, since I'm just so used to disappointment with
Christian Javier ever since things went south for him, I'm
just not wanting another.

Speaker 3 (02:23:36):
Well, he was pitching poorly before he went and away, right,
That's what I'm saying. And then he's come back pitching
in the same way he was pitching before all of this.
He stopped being an elite strike thrower who misses bats.

Speaker 1 (02:23:47):
It's just unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (02:23:49):
So I don't view that every injury is different and
every player is different, but I definitely feel that with
Renelle and his return, not that I'm guaranteeing success. I
just think they're just a different arsenal and different way
for him to succeed. I think I have much more
confidence in him being successful when he makes his return.
A few other items we need to get to here.
So Josh, what do you have?

Speaker 2 (02:24:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (02:24:09):
Staying on this same subject, guys, this article was published
kind of from a mariner's point of view, with the
Astros making this mccollor's trade.

Speaker 1 (02:24:17):
This is from the article.

Speaker 10 (02:24:18):
It says, now that Houston started moving pieces around the board,
Seattle cannot spend the next two weeks waiting for prices
to become comfortable while a division rival creates the financial
room to strike first. So let me ask you this.
You just heard Dana Brown talk about Wes Snski coming
back and Rene Blanco coming back and SUSA coming back,
and he infamously said, we're not done yet. After this,

(02:24:38):
Hey Sue Sanchez trade and nothing's happened, You think the
Astros are actually gonna go out there and bring in
a picture at the deadline or a big back.

Speaker 1 (02:24:47):
I think they have an intention to, But again, you
have to wanting something to happen and actually making it happening,
even if this is the first step to doing that.
Those are two very different of things. And I just
I keep what we talked about earlier WEX. I keep
thinking about what do they have to offer that's not
major League talent. And then even if it is major

(02:25:09):
league talent, what are you offering that's gonna get you
something that's going to completely dramatically change your fortune so much.

Speaker 3 (02:25:14):
Yeah, there's five spots in the order on a daily
basis that you're not very happy with. One of them
is Altuve and he's not going anywhere. And the guys
at the top four, if you move any of them,
Paanya or Perettis or Walker, not your don I don't
know how you're orchestrating a deal to make the twenty
twenty six team better. And if you're not, then even

(02:25:35):
though you made a trade, that is not buying, that
is selling. So I'm not sure what I would love
to see them move pretty much any other piece if
they think it's gonna make the team better.

Speaker 2 (02:25:44):
But I don't know what kind of value there is
on the other players.

Speaker 3 (02:25:47):
Like they said, the guys at the bottom of the order,
the Zack Sosenzo, Shay Whitcomb, Zach Cole, Joey, Li Braffito.
I don't really see any vision behind moving cam Smith.
He's the player you targeted in a Kyle Tucker deal.
As this is gonna help us get past the fact
that we don't keep any of our studs at an
absorbit and salary, which is still probably the right move,

(02:26:10):
but you're not gonna turn around it less than two
years later and watch him do what he's done, which
is underwhelming. But again, I brought it up yesterday, and
bring it up and hopefully until I don't have to
whin the actual results the Kenny Atkins kat Atkinson, we
are any results based business everything. But the results suggests
that camp Smith is an improved hitter this year. His

(02:26:32):
bat speed is elite. It's top twenty five in baseball.
It's what most of the All Star team was made of.
And his barrel percentage is up and his hard hit
rate is way up, but he doesn't have much production
over last year to show for it.

Speaker 1 (02:26:47):
I do like the way this writer says the Mariners
need offensive help and another dependable late inning reliever. The
two teams may not be shopping for the exact same product,
but they'll be in the same aisle. Sounds like some
you would say. I would definitely grocery store analogies like that.

Speaker 2 (02:27:04):
That's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (02:27:05):
A bunch of other things that we obviously didn't get
to because one died you just caught up on what
Dana Brown had to say.

Speaker 2 (02:27:10):
We will fill that up in the final segment of the.

Speaker 3 (02:27:12):
Show and get you to your opportunity to go see
Hot Wills, Monster Truck Live or the Big Three when
we come back.

Speaker 4 (02:27:21):
The eighteen one sport.

Speaker 2 (02:27:24):
Final segment of the program.

Speaker 3 (02:27:25):
Though, we got plenty more coming to you locally right
here on Sports Talk seven ninety with another edition of
the Nightcap as soon as we wrap things up here
in the next few minutes. Also an opportunity to win tickets.
Got a pair of tickets a Big Three. Big Three's
playing at Toyota Center, not once, but twice, So the
first time is this July twenty sixth at Toyota Center.
That's the Houston rig Hands and Calvin Murphy taking on

(02:27:48):
Dallas Power. That's Miami three to ZH five, taken on
DMV Trilogy. So two games, one ticket. We've got a
pair to give away to you right here. There is
a way to get your tickets via Big three dot Com.
If you had on over there, you can purchase tickets
or win them with us here and also have a
four pack of tickets to Hot Wheels, Monster Trucks Live,
Glowing fire that is also at Toyota Center August first

(02:28:08):
and second.

Speaker 2 (02:28:10):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (02:28:10):
The FMX Riders will be there with their thrilling tricks, UH,
hot wheels, monster trucks, and everything else that comes along
with glowing fire at Toyota Center. Those tickets are on
sale now at Toyota Center dot com. But again, you
can win a four pack of them with us right
here on Sports Talk seven ninety As always, all you
have to do to win, well, you got to listen
to the show. We talked about some entertaining sports related

(02:28:33):
items today and other things, and we're gonna ask you
a question about them.

Speaker 2 (02:28:39):
If you were.

Speaker 3 (02:28:40):
Listening, you will know the answer to the question. So
listening really does pay. Right here on Sports Talk seven
ninety seven one three two one two five seven ninety
we'll ask you a question about what we talked about,
and if you know the answer, you can call on it.
Winning at seven one three two one two five seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (02:28:55):
Well, I could have talked about what Jeremy Fowler said
about the Texans, and I could have talked about, you know,
where Nico Collins was ranked in that list of wide receiver.
I could have talked about a number of things here
in order to give you the the question to win
these tickets. But I'm gonna go all the way back
to last segment. What is the team that we were

(02:29:18):
talking about that might be shopping in the same aisle
as the Houston Astros when it comes to the trade
deadline this year? One major League Baseball team to be specific,
seeing as how the Astros are a major league team
and not an NFL or an in the NBA franchise.
All right, it's pretty easy. Seven one, three ninety. It

(02:29:41):
should be very, very easy. A team that thinks they
could be shopping in the same aile as the Astros
as we approached the trade deadline to use a grocery
analogy by their own aggregator.

Speaker 2 (02:29:54):
As Wex pointed out.

Speaker 3 (02:29:56):
I don't think I called him an aggregator. I just
mocked his eighty two followers, which is not nice and
very I think highly of myself.

Speaker 2 (02:30:03):
For no reason. So I mean, that's part of your charm.

Speaker 3 (02:30:06):
But I was just going to say, so it's a
major league team that thinks they might still be in
the race.

Speaker 2 (02:30:10):
That helps narrow it down.

Speaker 1 (02:30:11):
That's a good hint, right there, pretty much all of them.
I like that a lot. Did you happen to see
what we have listed here in the final segment of
the show on the rundown? Did you happen to see
this tweet at all? I wasn't even aware if you
had even seen.

Speaker 3 (02:30:28):
Neither of the two items that have migrated to the
bottom of the show doc was am I fully aware of?

Speaker 1 (02:30:34):
Imagine why they migrated to that position on the rundown.

Speaker 2 (02:30:39):
Shorter segment also eaten up by ticket giveaways.

Speaker 1 (02:30:42):
Maybe, but this is so funny. Okay, this is Best
of X worthy, but I can't I can't wait. I've
said this a thousand times. Best of X is a
special segment where we tried to highlight the best and
worst of what we found on social media. The other
fifteen segments of the show can use the same type
of stuff, correct, Is this one of those times? Maybe?

Speaker 3 (02:31:03):
Because a seventy seven year old Florida woman, well, now
that you're explaining it, I actually did see this.

Speaker 1 (02:31:09):
It's awesome, is now speaking out after the state sent her.

Speaker 2 (02:31:13):
A So I think the way we set this up
is so good.

Speaker 3 (02:31:17):
She got a license plate, not a personalized purchase, not
I want this specifically on my license plate. Right, it
was a allegedly a random issued plate, and where's she's from.
A Florida woman, A Florida woman. Now, this is her
comment about the plate she received.

Speaker 2 (02:31:35):
We're not going to tell you what it says. She's
not going to tell you what it says.

Speaker 3 (02:31:40):
But I'm curious, as you think about this in your car,
listening to your app on your couch, what you think
the plate might say when you hear her say this
about receiving it and then driving with it.

Speaker 5 (02:31:53):
I don't think a woman that lives in a senior
community that's going to be seventy seven years next month,
we'll be driving around with what this plate has to say.

Speaker 3 (02:32:05):
Florida issues plates with six characters.

Speaker 2 (02:32:09):
Uh huh.

Speaker 3 (02:32:09):
They're separated three on one side, three on the other.

Speaker 1 (02:32:12):
And the Florida plate of note here if you're not
aware of what a current Florida license plate looks like.
It's got the word Florida on top in green. It
has it's the Shine Sunshine state. Obviously.

Speaker 3 (02:32:26):
Yes, it's separated by a very familiar Florida related item.
It's got a couple of oranges in the middle of
there's three characters on one side. There's three characters on
the other. Now, I'll tell you that, am I right?
That there are four letters and two numbers, correct the
numbers in that center, and the last two is one

(02:32:49):
number repeated twice with the first four letters in front
of it. And it does look like maybe it's two words.
Clearly the first word is vowelless, but you might be
able to figure out what it could be.

Speaker 1 (02:33:01):
And again, unlike real words, you don't have to have
a vowel in a non personalized and in this case,
randomized license plate, I will give you the last three
characters though.

Speaker 2 (02:33:15):
It's a fifty five, right.

Speaker 1 (02:33:17):
And if you look at that on say a calculator
old school, a digital clock.

Speaker 3 (02:33:24):
I mean, if you type in eight zero zero eight seven,
what's like, this is.

Speaker 1 (02:33:30):
The most this is the most juvenile twelve year old
and you'd send it over?

Speaker 2 (02:33:35):
Yeah, you pass it the persons sitting next day it
spills boobs like what yeah? Yeah, so this happened to
apparently a senior city.

Speaker 1 (02:33:44):
She's not quite seventy seven, and that'll happen next in
your community, and she just hudai.

Speaker 2 (02:33:50):
Yeah, that's the You can see the insignia right there.

Speaker 3 (02:33:53):
Plates are good through the twenty twenty eight August is
that I.

Speaker 1 (02:33:58):
Can't see as well as I think it's an eight.
Okay Berkeley Eye Center. Yeah she has. Oh, you might
be wondering what the first three characters were. Those would
be sqz as in squeeze as in a fifty five.
Squeeze a fifty A fifty.

Speaker 3 (02:34:14):
Five sounds straight out of something she actually might have
kind of thought about in the last twenty five. It
sounds like someone's yelling out a bingo number, but it
doesn't look like a bingo.

Speaker 2 (02:34:24):
What did she have to say again about that license plates?

Speaker 3 (02:34:26):
She she did add this to here's her comment. We
want you to hear.

Speaker 5 (02:34:30):
I don't think a woman that lives in a senior
community that's going to be seventy seven years old next month,
we'll be driving around with what this plant has to say.

Speaker 3 (02:34:42):
What I can't believe is when Dello Stritto said that,
she continued with an even better comment. We actually don't
have the audio for Dello. The soon to be seventy
seven year old continued with When I saw that, I
went ballistic. I said to myself, how could that pass inspection?

Speaker 1 (02:35:08):
The first two comments are the best. Imagine complaining about
being issued this license plate you were handed gold lady,
figure it out, followed by yo, can I get that?
I want that Texas plate?

Speaker 3 (02:35:23):
And then the unfortunate part of the story is I
believe she said, I'm resigned to it. Maybe it was
destined for it to be on my car, and adding
with a laugh, I can handle it. Maybe I'll even
get some honks.

Speaker 2 (02:35:37):
Wow, she's just playing right into it.

Speaker 4 (02:35:39):
Now.

Speaker 2 (02:35:39):
I feel like I just read an AI article. But
it's not. It's real.

Speaker 1 (02:35:43):
It's real. It's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (02:35:45):
There you have it.

Speaker 3 (02:35:46):
No better way to wrap up segment number sixteen than
then with a Florida story about an issued license plate
that a near seventy seven year old woman doesn't know
that she should be driving around on in her senior community.
Lance mccullors well throws next to major league pitch in
a Milwaukee Brewer's uniform, and I would presume he will

(02:36:07):
be off of the il shortly in order to do
that for the Brewers.

Speaker 1 (02:36:11):
These more beloved in that town. After this season, Lance
mccullor's junior or Tyler hero Well, Tyler Herro is one
of their own, and they couldn't get rid of him
fast enough in that they couldn't get.

Speaker 2 (02:36:24):
Rid of him.

Speaker 1 (02:36:25):
Ess not, I mean they they they could. I guess
they could have drafted I know Miami drafted in. They
had no say in the matter. But for the purposes
of this, in my head, I'm going with Lance, all right.

Speaker 3 (02:36:35):
Well, Lance, if he is a part of a winning
outfit in Milwaukee.

Speaker 2 (02:36:38):
He very well. He's already part of a winning outfit
very well like Milwaukee.

Speaker 3 (02:36:42):
By the way, no astro is likely to improve their
lot more than Lance mccullor's junior over the All Star break.
He went from a non playoff four games under five
hundred and forty seven and fifty one outfit to a
fifty nine win team the Brewers, who spend no money
and aren't really trying, and they're just winning a division

(02:37:03):
because they stink in the Central. Their fifty nine win
team has only two fewer wins than Dave Roberts' team
in LA.

Speaker 1 (02:37:11):
I can't wait until he's on the mound and they
upset the Dodgers in the postseason. It's gonna be electric.
They're gonna hate him even more, Lance mccullors.

Speaker 2 (02:37:19):
And that absolutely could play out.

Speaker 3 (02:37:20):
Like I said, the nightcap coming your way next congrats
toward ticket winners, and we'll do it all again tomorrow,
beginning at two o'clock

Speaker 4 (02:37:29):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety