See Ya C.J.! Not Stroud...No, Not Stroud!

Wex and AC react to yet another day where the the Texans look dreadful, announcing they've released C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Plus. what do the Astros need to show on Tuesday night that makes them look like a playoff lock in the American League

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam raised my Earl.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Nolan multi by the magnificent roller coaster ride.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
That is Houston sports.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hello, Chill lge down for the only homegrown afternoon team is.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Talking your teams?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler are the A Team.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
A Well, if you like the drama of Monday here
in Houston and our sports landscape, I'm guessing you're going
to really enjoy a Tuesday edition of the A Team.

Speaker 5 (00:52):
It's Sports Talk seven ninety. It will be Space City
Home Network in an hour. Wex is over there ac
right here. Cole Thompson is our producer, sir, and I
wrote this into the rundown, and it's really it's more
of a phrase.

Speaker 6 (01:04):
It's it's kind of how I feel about the whole situation.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
This Texans season, especially upon receiving today's news, has all
the makings of prior disasters in franchise history. And what
I mean by that is they're not the worst team
in the NFL. They have one of the best I think,
from a talent standpoint defenses in the NFL. We all
know what their problems are from an offensive standpoint, just

(01:31):
personnel in general offensive line. We talked about it NonStop.
But then you see something like what happened with this CJ.
Gardner Johnson situation and the alluding to tension in the
locker room and all that kind of stuff. We kind
of got a taste of this last season. Who was
the bit wide receiver that was here for like five
minutes from the Ravens, Deontay Johnson. Yeah, that wasn't like

(01:54):
that was so small scale compared to this. But the
reason I say prior disaster wex is because this is
the player you got back from the Kenyon Green deal,
and Kenyon Green is, as we pointed out yesterday, just
floating around out there in free agency. And now neither
player is a member of the Houston Texans organization. And

(02:17):
you can argue that the team is worse off in
some way, shape or form.

Speaker 6 (02:21):
Because of it. You can't argue it. It's a fact. Yeah,
there's no debating, There's no other side of it there.

Speaker 7 (02:25):
That's what I meant, freely much more worse off in
every possible way. They don't have anybody to show for
the trade. They all have an opening in their starting lineup.

Speaker 6 (02:34):
MJ.

Speaker 7 (02:34):
Stewart will fill it. He of the five snaps so
far this season, and it costs you a lot of money.
By the way, it costs you a lot of money,
the typical kind of thing that Nick Cassaria has been
known to do. We applaud him for all the contracts
he's gotten done early, and we should because that is
the way to do it. It helps him a great
deal because of all the other stupid mistakes he makes,
and this is one of them, and unfortunately fell for

(02:56):
it all off season, myself included. If you had not
heard the news multiple reports. Sin Aaron Wilson was on
with a Matt Thomas show with Ross earlier confirming that
report and giving some of the behind the scenes as
to why the Texans and CJ. Gardner Johnson no longer
on the same team.

Speaker 6 (03:09):
CJ.

Speaker 7 (03:10):
Gardner Johnson doesn't have a team because the Texans don't
want him here anymore and they released him. This is
less than a year. Obviously, it took only three games
to get to this point. They made the trade in
the offseason, and he was on the field for almost
every single snap of the season so far. I missed
eight plays in three weeks. So this is what is
now needing to be replaced. I know you'll see a

(03:31):
bunch of the numbers about his performance. Was only thrown
at a handful of times, did not do anything with
those opportunities from a positive standpoint. If they threw his way,
it was usually a catch, usually something positive for the
other team. But you could probably say that about everybody
that does not wear number twenty four for the Texans
at this point in the season. Same for Lasser, same
for Kaln Bullock. It's not their pass defense that has

(03:54):
been a big problem for this team. And I'm aware
that the huge, huge pass play that essentially forced them
to let the Jaguars take a seven point lead in
a tie game late in the fourth quarter was on
their pass defense and likely a miscommunication on their pass
defense and likely a miscommunication with the player that's now

(04:15):
longer a Texan on their defense yesterday, CJ.

Speaker 6 (04:18):
Gardner Johnson.

Speaker 7 (04:19):
But it is a pretty embarrassing moment for your general manager,
because it's quite clear now if it wasn't clear before,
and like I said, maybe it wasn't, the other GM
just totally got over on you. And you've worked with
them time and time and time and time again. It
seemed kind of obvious at the time. You traded for

(04:40):
a starting player off of one of the best teams
in the NFL, who had multiple years remaining on his
contract at pretty good money, not unbelievable money, but pretty
good money. And what did the Eagles ask for in return? Nothing,
not a thing, not a player or an asset that
is going to help their football operation in any possible way.

(05:01):
And you said, absolutely, let's go ahead and do that.
I understood why, and I understood the risk, and I
think Nick Cassario understood the risk. I just don't think
they ever thought it would get to this point. Plenty
of behind the scenes stuff will share with you that
has been reported. I had heard some rumblings about very
specific two items which Aaron talked about earlier, that certainly
seemed to have taken place.

Speaker 6 (05:21):
So they just decided to flat out move on.

Speaker 7 (05:23):
If you remember yesterday with the news that when Jimmy
Ward is ready physically to play, then he'll probably go
out there and play when he's off the pup list,
which lasts at least for one more week having come
off the commissioner's list. Yesterday I said, shouldn't the Texans
consider just moving CJ. Gardner Johnson. He's a starting caliber safety.

(05:44):
Is there something you could get from him?

Speaker 6 (05:46):
For him?

Speaker 7 (05:46):
I don't know if that's a player for your offense,
if it's a player at all, or it's just a
future asset. Understanding that he did have a contract attached
to him and maybe that would make it difficult, but
not fully understanding how much they wanted him off the
team at the time, so much so that less than
twenty four hours after I suggested it. I'm sure phone
calls were made. It's quite obvious the Texans did not

(06:08):
want him, and it did. Nothing happened yesterday. This has
all been brewing since he arrived and since the beginning
portion of the season. Obviously, he was injured during training camp,
but worked his way back, not as serious as was
once thought, and like I said, he barely missed any snaps.
He missed a couple snaps against Jacksonville looked like he
was maybe poked in the eye or just had something
in his eye that needed to be cleaned out, and

(06:30):
missed a couple snaps. In Week two, he was on
the field for all but eight of their two hundred
and ten defensive snaps. Most players that are asked to
perform that much for you over any period of time.
Aren't players who are shown the door two days later,
two days after they played against the last team to
beat them, the Jaguars, they said enough's enough and you're out.
So we'll get into some of the reasons why and

(06:50):
what is next and unfortunately how much less cap space
they have next year because of the dead cap hit
he will be hitting them with for next season, like
the essentially it's a dead cap hit now. He's not
on the team for what he's hitting you with this season.
That's why the other GM got over on you, and
not the first time.

Speaker 6 (07:11):
CJ.

Speaker 7 (07:12):
Gardner Johnson has not been wanted in the place that
he was. Been on a lot of good teams, been
a pretty good on field player, but has been on
so many different teams for the obvious reasons. Every GM
and every agent in the NFL knows why, and it's
just a matter of which team will be next to
take the chance. The most recent team to take the
chance has to regret it, and that is your Houston Texans.

Speaker 5 (07:32):
Well, I think, going back to what you were talking about,
to begin at the outset of the whin the deal
is made First of all, if the GM of the
team that just won the Super Bowl calls you up,
you should immediately have some red flags, especially if it's
a player like I know each other.

Speaker 7 (07:48):
They've worked on so many deals before, so it's not
quite like that.

Speaker 5 (07:51):
Yeah, But I mean we used to talk about this
all the time with Darryl Mory. He'd make these deals
and he'd get over a lot of times, and it
got to the point where you would say, all right,
if I'm an other team and Daryl's calling, just be
on the lookout. It didn't matter a many times you've
worked with the guy.

Speaker 6 (08:05):
You've got it.

Speaker 5 (08:06):
You have to be aware that they're getting over on
you or they're trying to get because every GM is
and their job.

Speaker 7 (08:12):
He got over on him because he he was able
to and think about it from the other way. Maybe
maybe that sounds wrong. What did What did the Giants?
What did the Eagles get out of it? All they
got out of which is significant, is the money side
of it. He's not on their team, so they're not
the team paying him, and they don't take the hit
at that at that height for this year or next
year because he's not there. They didn't even they didn't

(08:32):
even get anything. There's nothing for him, that is what
they got out of it. And like I said, this
is not well, we didn't know who we were getting.
I can't believe how he did this to us. And
I just presented it like how he did that to them,
But they knew what they knew. This is not new,
it's not Oh my gosh, he's been such a great
locker room guy for so many years.

Speaker 6 (08:50):
I cannot believe this happened.

Speaker 7 (08:51):
And of all places, Houston, and why did or why
didn't Houston just look past it.

Speaker 6 (08:56):
He'd been here for three weeks.

Speaker 7 (08:57):
You're playing football, Go ahead and trash your teammates, go ahead,
ask for a trade, go ahead and trash your coaching
staff whatever.

Speaker 6 (09:02):
We don't care. It's all good here.

Speaker 7 (09:05):
Or our head coach is Demiko Ryans and we don't
really want that in our buildings.

Speaker 6 (09:10):
So you're gone.

Speaker 5 (09:10):
I do think, and we'll get into I think more
of the Casario side of things in the next segment.
But I think what you just brought up there and
the fact that they're zero and three, like, does this
happen if they are three and Ohero, I'm gonna get
on the X platform right now and say, I think
the release of CJ.

Speaker 6 (09:28):
Gardner Johnson is just what this offense needed.

Speaker 5 (09:32):
That's so good because it just points to yet another
issue that's going on right now. But in all serious
it's like three and oh teams. We use the phrase
all the time. Winning cures all it really can you
put up with shenanigans from players because their talent outweighs
their baggage. You put up with this, you put up

(09:53):
with that, this is this way, this guy runs things
this way. I don't really like it. I don't actually
think it's maybe even good for the organization. But we're winning.
Who am I to complain. I've been in situations in
my job before where I don't like who I'm working
with at all. And I'm not talking about that guy,
that fat guy. Never actually worked with him. I'm talking
about another person.

Speaker 6 (10:14):
It's not him. Still could be me, though, keep going,
that's not you.

Speaker 5 (10:17):
And it's like, but you know, there's there's bonus checks
coming in every single quarter.

Speaker 6 (10:23):
We're number one. I'm not gonna rock the boat.

Speaker 5 (10:26):
I just there's no point I can work with anybody
for three hours and put up with them as long
as I have to see their stupid face the reast
of the day and on weekends. But that's winning, not
zero and three not. This already feels like it's going south,
very very quickly. And oh, by the way, even if
you win against the Titans, Baltimore is still probably gonna
be pissed off about how they cracked away that game

(10:46):
last night.

Speaker 6 (10:47):
That was wrong with Derrick Henry.

Speaker 7 (10:49):
I mean, I know the turnover hurts, but it's winn
He turned it over in two consecutive weeks this particular game,
I guess two out of three weeks. The game is
now over and we've digested a little bit. Who do
you think is the better team, Detroit or Baltimore. Detroit
the better team won. I mean, he did make a
very key mistake which they forced. But they on Campbell

(11:11):
out coached Harbaugh. Well, yes, you have to say that.
I mean, I'm not a big believer in the head
coach out coaching the other head coach unless there's some
really important decision timing wise or challenge wise or.

Speaker 5 (11:22):
Balls he fourth down that he would have, you know, fairly,
he would have been getting killed for if they didn't converse.

Speaker 7 (11:27):
They should never be getting killed for it because this
is what they've done for the moment he took over,
and now he's working with a whole new offensive staff
and they're still gonna do it because that's who he is.

Speaker 6 (11:36):
That's how he coaches his team.

Speaker 7 (11:38):
He's out coaching, if you will, other coaches because they're
just this is what they do.

Speaker 6 (11:43):
They're super talented. Again, if people are missing this, Aden
Hutchinson is a he's a problem. Yeah, he's a little
bit better than Trevon Walker.

Speaker 5 (11:49):
I mean, as we discussed yesterday, say if they had
him last year, maybe it is different.

Speaker 7 (11:55):
Yeah, there's a lot to get into from last night,
now that the week is fully complete. Any numbers about
where the Texans land defensively, offensively scoring points, preventing points
from being scored, and the next step they take in
that defensive secondary, which does seem pretty obvious at this
point for MJ. Stewart to just step right in. And
all that being said, we're back to baseball. The entire

(12:18):
American League had the day off yesterday and now we
needed it back to business. Five spots yet to be
claimed in the American League playoffs, three division winners have
yet to be earned, and obviously the Astros are fully
in the mix. They still just like they did yesterday
and most of the last several months when they were
in first place. They control their own destiny to extend

(12:41):
their season into playoff baseball by just taking care of
their own business. That is what controlling your own destiny means.
Got a lot to get to today. Steve Sparks was
with us yesterday, so today, being Tuesday, Joe Spotto will
join us after his weekly visit on the Matt Thomas Show.

Speaker 6 (12:58):
A few other things to sprinkle in of course.

Speaker 7 (13:00):
The rest of the afternoon and on into the evening,
we will have Astros baseball for you later tonight. It's
the Athletics of West Sacramento hosting your Houston Astros. Lots
to discuss here on the Eighteam.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
The A team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (13:27):
It is the eighteen Sports. You know what, This music's way.

Speaker 5 (13:30):
Too happy, way too happy for Houston sports. Nobody wants
to go anywhere right now. Rockets starting point guard got
taken out before the season even begins.

Speaker 6 (13:43):
Astros.

Speaker 5 (13:44):
I mean, who's gonna hit the first home run off
of Christian Javier tonight?

Speaker 6 (13:48):
There's plenty of candidates.

Speaker 7 (13:49):
And then Is it wrong of me to think you
were actually saying it the right way? I mean, who's
going to hit the first home run tonight off of
Jeffrey Springs. I thought you were at least gonna say
something positive about the Astrol Buttead you went, which West
Sacramento player is gonna take Javier out of the yard.

Speaker 5 (14:04):
It's hot there, and they that's what they do to
the Astros, especially in that quote unquote gym.

Speaker 7 (14:09):
It's a nice size ballpark, but with the inability to
curtail the conditions, considering there are no walls because it's
a minor league exhibition style ballpark, the ball does fall out.

Speaker 6 (14:20):
There quite a bit.

Speaker 5 (14:20):
I'll do you one better now that that ahole Ramon
Loreano's not involved. The A's are downright likable. That's like
forty teams ago, I know, but like he was one
of the main reasons I'm like screw that team.

Speaker 6 (14:32):
Yeah, because there are all a bunch of kids. Now
I think they're likable kids.

Speaker 5 (14:35):
It's not like the Baltimore Orioles where none of them
are likeable.

Speaker 6 (14:37):
You don't know them.

Speaker 5 (14:38):
Yeah, that looked like bro Chatchas like just can't stand
any of them. Jackson Holidays at the top of the list.
Take your rosy cheeks and your you're just get it
out of here. I like the A's. I'm sure I'll
hate them soon enough. They're a division rival, I have
to yeah, they are. Did not quite get in the
mix this year. The Angels further out of the mix.
But like I've told you a bunch of times, you
guys have seen you guys have heard it. The Astra

(15:00):
didn't play particularly good baseball against these two teams. In
terms of winning their twelve games over five hundred against
the rest of the league, there's zero games over five
hundred against the A's and Angels. They went four and
six so far against the A's. They went six four
so far against the Angels. They actually are looking to
snap a five game losing streak to the A's heading

(15:20):
into play tonight.

Speaker 7 (15:21):
They split the games in West Sacramento earlier this year,
a couple of walkoffs going their way. The Astros were
just four and two against them here in Houston, but
those are their only four wins against our two and
four against them here in Houston, resulting in that four
and six record. Overall, they are a good offense. They
have gotten better pitching at times, but not usually in

(15:42):
the Astros offense. Hopefully in that ballpark and facing the
left hander tonight, we'll see what the situation is with
Jeremy Payne. You will hear directly from Joe Aspada on
a few other things. But he did also mention he
really didn't know anything yet about Jeremy Payne's availability, more
about seeing what today looks like when he gets to
the ballpark.

Speaker 6 (16:01):
I was going through some things.

Speaker 7 (16:02):
There was a little bit of work done yesterday, and
we'll see if he is deemed available for tonight, and
hopefully if that's the case, he will remain available for
the final six games of the season. But facing a
left handed pitcher, I would suspect the Taysous Sanchez is
definitely not in tonight's lineup. Probably don't have Zach Cole
in the lineup. Probably do have Cam Smith in the lineup.

(16:23):
Otherwise it should be everybody else that's been out there
in the everyday group here of late, including Estak Perettis,
including Carlos Correa and guys that certainly could impact this season.
Series ending up in the Astros favor, and if it does,
and you get a three game sweep. While Cleveland and
Detroit are playing one another, they have no more wins

(16:43):
than you if you're Cleveland. They have one more win
than you if you're Detroit. So the Astros, if they
can do that, that's just a matter. You're rooting for
the Astros when you control your own destiny. Because those
teams play each other in Detroit's final three games against
Boston are no gimmes, so there tunities for all three
of these teams to not have it figured out, and

(17:04):
the Astros, if they just get a few wins, then
then they're in. They're gonna be there now. It'd be
nice if they had done what exactly exactly what the
Mariners did. If the Astros went three home games against Seattle,
they're going into this weekend with a two game lead
on the Central Division leader, Detroit heading into the final
six games this season for the number two seed, and

(17:26):
they would only be three games behind Toronto for the
number one seed, a team you have beaten in your
season series and have the tiebreaker and would not be
looking at playing in a wild card series, which they're
almost guaranteed to be in.

Speaker 8 (17:40):
Now.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
Now, people like you and Matt Thomas understand why people
like me say I don't want them to make the
postseason because I don't want to see a team that
couldn't even muster a pulse in that scenario that you
just mentioned. What am I to expect from them to put?
I know it's baseball. I know everything you gonna say,
it's baseball, So it doesn't matter. Just get in see

(18:02):
what happens. Well, that's what they had, that's what they
did last year, and they were played far more inspiring
baseball up until that point. And I don't know who
they'll run into the worst case scenario, by the way,
and I'll just tell you right now, this is another
reason I don't want the Astros in the post.

Speaker 6 (18:18):
I don't do I don't want them in the post.

Speaker 7 (18:20):
Have you heard some other people callers call into Sports
Talk seven to ninety with that same thought, I don't
care about this run off the air, which I would
do the same too if they I can't do that.

Speaker 6 (18:29):
I'm a paid employee.

Speaker 5 (18:31):
I can't do that, paid for my opinion, and my
opinion is I'll tell you what's worse than making it
to a wildcard series and not winning a game against
the Detroit Tigers. You know, it's worse doing it again,
doing it again against the division rival who's now better
than you, because that's what that's what I think will
probably end up happening. They play Seattle and they don't
win a game.

Speaker 7 (18:49):
Yeah, I definitely do not think that's gonna happen, because
Seattle's not gonna They're not gonna be.

Speaker 6 (18:53):
In the Wildcard Series. They won't be there, You're right,
I mean, and the only saving.

Speaker 7 (18:56):
Great Detroit or Cleveland would basically have to run the
table and Seattle would kind of have to fall apart
at home to Colorado and the Dodgers. Dodgers look like
they're gonna be in a really good position when the
final three games come around, because the Padres continue to
not catch up with them and've got a two and
a half game lead heading into the last handful of games.
Tigers and Guardians Today talks Schooble on the mound, Williams

(19:19):
on the mound for Cleveland, and even though the Guardians
win streak did finally come to a close, they've still
been pitching insanely effectively, and that includes of the last
time around with the Tigers, the second of two to
three games series they've had over the last couple of weeks.
The Yankees haven't clinched anything yet. They're only two wins
behind Toronto, but they're at eighty eight and sixty eight.
They're got the White Sox, Red Sox and Blue Jays

(19:42):
are playing tonight. Blue Jays are in the playoffs but
not yet determined where there will be, and the Red
Sox are another team packed in tightly with the Astros, Tigers,
and Guardians. They have eighty five wins, just like Detroit,
just one more win than Cleveland and Houston. Now they
like Cleveland and Detroit, they all have the tiebreaker over Houston.
Each of those three teams won the season series four

(20:04):
games out of six, so the Astros would have to
finish with a better record than somebody among those teams
in order to make the postseason, and they only trail
one of those. They have the same record as the
Guardians today and they're one win back of both the
Red Sox and Tigers. That's why the Bath works. They
control their own destiny. If they take care of their games,

(20:24):
their business with the Tigers and Guardians clearly not both
being able to win out, then they're going to the
postseason again, the Astros in the A's the last game
of the night, about twenty five minutes after the first
pitch from Mariners Rockies, but well after all of those
games I mentioned have long been underway. Most of them,

(20:45):
possibly all of them, will already be over before there's
a first pitch between the Astros and the Athletics. So
Scoreboard watch all you want, Astros, players and coaches, because
you'll probably know your situation at least with one day
close to the end of the season.

Speaker 5 (21:01):
I've been doing it since it was not in fashion
way back in June or wherever it was I started
doing it. We already have a tweet that says, what's
wrong with Clinton? I have invited that listener to call
in and ask, but not next segment. We have our
signature segment every day at two thirty. It's the best
of X. Will take a little brief break from the
perils of Houston sports and its landscape.

Speaker 6 (21:22):
When we come back, will go to college football.

Speaker 5 (21:25):
And just one of my favorite stories that has accidentally
come out over the last few hours.

Speaker 6 (21:30):
We'll tell you about that next.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (21:39):
Did you all see this?

Speaker 3 (21:40):
We should be putting out between five and fifteen posts
a day.

Speaker 9 (21:43):
Four hundred people were arrested for things that they said
on social media.

Speaker 7 (21:47):
History repeats itself type bangil succeed.

Speaker 6 (21:52):
Never doubt that you're the one who person no.

Speaker 10 (21:55):
One bid you're the best, best.

Speaker 6 (22:00):
Nothing's gonna every top.

Speaker 7 (22:01):
You know you're the best, posted an every single day.

Speaker 6 (22:06):
You know you're the best, the best, breaking the entire engine.

Speaker 11 (22:17):
All Right.

Speaker 5 (22:19):
When I say the name Layne Kiffin, first word that
comes to mind.

Speaker 7 (22:24):
It's one of a word I hate in sports and
everybody uses it too much. But because it's the first
that came to mind, I'll use it here.

Speaker 6 (22:30):
Goat see.

Speaker 5 (22:32):
I thought you were gonna use one of your go
to phrases terms when it comes to guys like him,
because I do agree with that, But this one's also
apropos dirt bag.

Speaker 7 (22:43):
Like how far down the line would we have to
go to actually talk about the job that he has?

Speaker 6 (22:49):
Like when did he ever?

Speaker 7 (22:49):
Does he a good offensive coach? Is a good head coach?
Is he running a good program? Did he do a
good job? And at the fifteen other places he was
a head coach for we never even get to that
because there's so much to talk about.

Speaker 6 (23:00):
What you think he's a good coach. I do too.

Speaker 7 (23:03):
I think I actually think most people who I think
the vast majority of people do. And that's because I
think the vast majority of people are smart, and you
kind of look at the results, yls are very good.

Speaker 5 (23:11):
I think he would be a lot of fun to
hang out with in any kind of setting, sports or otherwise.
You know, I just just hang out with a guy,
I think. But what makes him a dirt bag is
what happened here because wait, wait a dirt bag.

Speaker 6 (23:26):
Well, let me just explain.

Speaker 5 (23:28):
And I'm not gonna name names because I'm certainly gonna
protect the innocent in this case, not me. Let's just
say you and I are in several venues where attractive
females are around all the time. And it's not I'm
not talking about fans. I'm not even talking about people
that work for these teams. I'm talking about like on
the playing surface, Like if you stripped everything else away,

(23:51):
there's still gonna be heat at a Rockets game, There's
still gonna be heat down on the field. At the
Texans game, there's still gonna be heat on top of
the dugout from time to time at an Astros game.
That's that's why they're hired. That they're there to look
good and entertain the fans. That's what they are, whatever
you're calling them, whether they're shooting stars or cheerleaders, or
dancers or power dancers or clutch city dancers.

Speaker 6 (24:11):
Whatever. And I had a conversation. Don't worry, I'm getting
to it.

Speaker 5 (24:16):
I had a conversation one time and the person said
to me, Yeah, but I'm old enough to be their dad.
It's just gross to even think about it, just to
even you know, not Lane Lane's like, oh, oh look,
Mike Py, Mike Tyson, Jake Paul's having a fight. There's
a ring girl. I'm interested slide on into those d ms.

(24:39):
And that's what he did.

Speaker 6 (24:42):
Did you know who Sidney Thomas was before that? People night, Yes, get.

Speaker 7 (24:45):
To the point, because I don't know that everybody knows
what you're talking about. It's because of the point I
made earlier. There are so many other things to discuss.
Many people might have thought, oh, they're talking they're doing
Best of XS and they're talking about Lane Kiffin. Then
clearly they're talking about Lane Kiffin's daughter and her boyfriend.
But we're talking about something completely different, totally has nothing

(25:09):
to do with that at all. We're talking about Sidney Thomas. Yes,
very very different as it relates to Lane Kiffin. I mean,
he's not Donald Trump Junior's dad, so we wouldn't want
to pain him to be That would be more of
his type of.

Speaker 5 (25:26):
Sitsues do an impression of his dad at the memorial
over the weekend.

Speaker 6 (25:30):
It's just amazing.

Speaker 7 (25:32):
You're getting a little aggressive on social Well, maybe we'll
talk about that at six oh one.

Speaker 6 (25:36):
Yes, we're off the air by then.

Speaker 7 (25:38):
I know Sidney Thomas rose to prominence as a ring
girl not very long ago, ringside.

Speaker 6 (25:45):
For heavily heavily heavily viewed.

Speaker 7 (25:49):
About, and that often launches people into the internet superstorm
of recognizability. And she's smart and took advantage of all
that and has been much more seen and heard from
since then, even though nothing of great substance. But that's
a smart way to get yourself noticed and to try
to turn it into something.

Speaker 5 (26:08):
She gained three hundred thousand followers overnight that night of
that fight you're talking about, and she took to social
media to acknowledge it the next day and said, I
woke up to an overwhelming amount of love and support
from all of you. Can't thank you guys enough or
begin to express how grateful I am.

Speaker 6 (26:22):
I love you all. Thank you for your kind words.

Speaker 7 (26:25):
Now, for the listener's benefit, please bring Sidney Thomas and
Lane Kiffin together.

Speaker 6 (26:29):
What has happened? Well, she had.

Speaker 5 (26:33):
She made a reference to an SEC coach sliding to
into her DMS, but didn't reveal who it was.

Speaker 6 (26:41):
Well that changed this. Wait, wait, I know everybody already
knows the answer.

Speaker 7 (26:45):
Now, Yeah, would have been much more fun if we
actually walked through these sixteen SEC coaches and tried to
guess which ones it's not right currently still the head
coach of Arkansas, I would have guessed it was not
Sam Pittman.

Speaker 6 (26:57):
Now do Brian Kelly, because that's just gross to think
about too.

Speaker 7 (27:00):
Pretty been pretty strongly convinced it's not Brian Kelly.

Speaker 6 (27:03):
Drank would have been an option. Uh see, I don't.

Speaker 7 (27:06):
I don't want to go too far into this star
dude man, because I'm not sitting here fully aware I've
not done my proper show research on the marital status
of the other fourteen head coaches.

Speaker 6 (27:19):
I've not yet brought up by name.

Speaker 7 (27:20):
So I'm trying to be nice and just talking about
them for for what we think of them, or how
they act or things like that, not to suggest they
would do anything that would upset the drink Witz family
or the Elko family, or the Sark family, and on
and on and on down the list. I don't mean
to do that in any way. And Lane also is married, well.

Speaker 5 (27:40):
That's I mean, it shouldn't be, but it's buried in
this story.

Speaker 7 (27:45):
I mean, yeah, you tried, you tried, and even though
it's not three o'clock yet, I still didn't fall for it.

Speaker 5 (27:54):
So during a recent episode there the Netflix show Inside Us, Uh,
Sidney claimed that indeed it was Lane Kiffen who was
quote the wildest celebrity to ever hit on her, And
it sounded like this, who's.

Speaker 6 (28:11):
The crazyest celebrity to hit on him? And tell us
the story? I'd say, Lane Kiffin.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Another set football coach.

Speaker 7 (28:24):
Cline and he's the.

Speaker 6 (28:26):
Coach of Amos, So it truly just means more.

Speaker 5 (28:29):
Well, by the way, I should, uh probably, since this
is radio only right now, I should peel back the
curtain bit. She is in a cold plunge as she's
giving these answers. So that's why she sounds like she's
out of breath slash charging a dollar ninety five a
minute for whatever she's saying.

Speaker 6 (28:45):
Some of you guys get that reference that are older.
Some of you guys are like, what go just for
the first couple of minutes, then they bump.

Speaker 5 (28:51):
It up, they bump it up. I believe this is
pre only fans and things of that nature. This is
how we watch their child two thirty in the morning.
Come on, they know. Did you used to watch Silk Stockings?
It's just a regular TV show, skin Amax.

Speaker 7 (29:04):
Well, if they don't run commercials on that particular channel,
no they don't. You don't need them for that premium
itself offers what those commercials offer, I believe.

Speaker 6 (29:12):
So this was this video clip was obviously put out.

Speaker 5 (29:16):
There, and as you can imagine, there were there was
some responses, as per usual, let's hear them. Well, I'm
trying to get the I'm trying to get to load
right now. Gonna be real honest with you, the internet
in this place has been nothing short of non spectacular
in the day and change that I've been here this week.
So I can't get him to come up but just
hearing that. It's a little icky, right.

Speaker 7 (29:39):
I mean the timing of it would have, you know, what,
would the message, hey, man, really appreciate your work, or.

Speaker 6 (29:44):
You know, really appreciate your work. I think you did
a great job. I would be walking around.

Speaker 5 (29:48):
Yes, he hired to do a job. I thought you
did a great job. Berner says, he cracked. Scoob says,
urban Meyer has entered the chat.

Speaker 6 (29:58):
That's a good one.

Speaker 5 (30:00):
Let's see he has zero sec titles, by the way,
and on and on and on. Oh why does it
seem that many college coaches are better than NFL head coaches?

Speaker 6 (30:13):
Gabriel missed the assignment here.

Speaker 7 (30:15):
I think I think Lennas is just trying to be realistic.
Here he says, getting rejected by a girl his daughter's
age now makes him the goat. He should have said
Kama Wex. I mean I just called him the goat. So, yeah,
I hear what you're saying. I'm completely off base, totally ridiculous.
All I'm saying is if you're if you're a college
football coach, say you're like Mike Gundy, who was a

(30:35):
college football head coach till earlier today when Oklahoma State said,
great working with you the last several decades, but it's
time for you to go.

Speaker 6 (30:44):
Are you where of all of him?

Speaker 7 (30:45):
All you're looking at with Mike and ninety percent of
the other college football coaches are the results of their
football games, right? Like I said, when do we ever
talk about the results of ole Missus games or all
of his previous stops. I mean, when he gets hired
at a new job, we talk about it for like
five minutes, and then we get into yeah, but he
did this, and he's going to do this, and then
he's going in on sec personalities and I don't mean her,

(31:09):
I mean fine bomb, and I mean he's all over.

Speaker 6 (31:11):
Social media and his family.

Speaker 7 (31:13):
His daughter Landry has helped to elevate that platform, as
the two of them have had several get ready with
me He's which is very popular on the socials, usually
not with a daughter of a college football coach where
they're both in the video.

Speaker 6 (31:28):
But he's just he's out there.

Speaker 7 (31:31):
He's in very much more out there than almost every
single other college football head coach in an era where
they have to be a little bit different because of
the money and the nil and everything, but the football
is usually what's going to get you jobs and keep
those jobs. And he's done just enough for us really
to hardly ever talk about it.

Speaker 5 (31:47):
You're aware of the very famous picture of Jeff Luno
against the chain link fence wearing the sunglasses. It was
used a lot of times when he would make a
big deal or certain training. Yeah. Are you also familiar
with thinking picture of Lane Kiffen looking down over his
sunglasses while holding on to them with one of his hand.

Speaker 7 (32:06):
I believe he was head coach of the Balls at
the time. Yeah, well, Lane drippin would be a good
caption for a photo like that.

Speaker 5 (32:12):
That was the exact caption that Josh used, And like
this was a photo that was staged. He has taken
a photographer.

Speaker 7 (32:19):
Was hired to take looking right at the camera that
you guys have all been in photo shoots Cole thousands
of the macy probably about the same. They usually tell
you what to do we need He said, I got this.
I know the look you want from me for the
greatest pure He already knew that he didn't need any
guidance instruction.

Speaker 6 (32:38):
Girls named Sidney in twenty twenty five, that is the goat.

Speaker 7 (32:43):
There's best of X Enjoy.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
The a on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (33:01):
Eight team rolling Along in the.

Speaker 5 (33:02):
Air on a Tuesday edition of the program, all Right,
enough fun in Shenanigans about Lane Kiffin. Let's get back
to being depressed about every single team in town.

Speaker 7 (33:11):
You see what I mean, All fun in Shenanigans. That's
all we just talked about with Lane Kiffin. Not the
magnitude of the upcoming weekend in college football in any way,
shape or form. Ole Missed hosts LSU Afternoon two thirty.

Speaker 6 (33:30):
Huge game. Huge. I'm not even talking about it.

Speaker 11 (33:33):
I know.

Speaker 7 (33:33):
I'm just thinking this ties to do with football. We're
not talking football. We're talking about Lane Kiffin, so football
doesn't apply.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
I mean, we never get to the football, even I
like it, and I'm not even a college guy.

Speaker 7 (33:43):
It's one of many many games that are on tap
this weekend, one of the many games we'll have for
you this weekend on the iHeart family of Network. So
very much looking forward to actually getting into that. But
we did want to bring it back to the h
with what's going on has been going on inside the
Houston Texans clubhouse, their clubhouse, their clubhouse, their locker room
over the last several weeks from the trade of CJ.

(34:06):
Gardner Johnson to the Texans from the Eagles to his
reported release. Earlier today, Erin Wilson are Texans Insider and
over at kPr C Channel two, same thing over in
their sports department covering the Texans. He joined the Matt
Thomas Show with Ross earlier to shed some light on
exactly what this was. Told you about some inner workings
of inside the building. Basically, reasons behind this have been

(34:29):
very little to do with the football. You could definitely
argue there's some plays that weren't made. You could probably
argue about some of the miscommunications that Demico brought up
earlier this week that might have been the fault of
number eight. But Erin Wilson earlier today right here on
Sports Talk seven to ninety on CJ. Gj's frustrations.

Speaker 8 (34:47):
There was major friction behind the scenes involving Cson. We've
been hearing about for weeks. Didn't know if it was
going to do, you know, lead to I can do
when it coats the locker room issues. If it's going
to lead to or release or a trade or some
kind of action like a benching, that's my normal lable actor.
You know, you never know to get better. Is it festering?

(35:08):
But I was getting feedback that he'd asked for trade.
They did not obviously entertain that that he was complaining
about his role. He wanted to blitz more often. He
did have one quarterback hit, he had no interceptions. He
was critical of teammates and their play in the secondary,
throwing guys under the bus. It was basically like almost

(35:29):
as if he wanted to get kicked out. A lot
of people said it was the same motif operandi, and
you know, caused him to follow the favorite in other
cities across the NFL, and it was a repeat of
that behavior here with the Texans. And yeah, I mean,
you know, these are things that can cost you your job. Ultimately,
they're only three. They don't need more problems, you know,

(35:50):
behind the team. So they've shown this before. They will
move on if they're having an issue like Deontay Johnson.
We watched him out after a playoff game that they
won because he didn't get the all of us and
he was promptly fired.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
You know, I did not hear Aaron Wilson's interview before
I said what I said about Deontay Johnson in the
first segment. But it's no coincidence that he brings that up.

Speaker 7 (36:10):
Yeah, I've heard him say that, and obviously I was.
That's why I was so ready to mention DeAndre LaMarcus
Johnson when you asked who that player was, because I
knew it was going to come up. I didn't recall
that from his tremendous amount of time spent here in Houston,
but I would still. I mean, yes, it was clear
he was a locker room problem for all the reasons

(36:32):
that Aaron just mentioned talking about Deontay Johnson. But those
decisions are, of course, we're letting you go. You don't
have any impact on our football team in any possible way.
He was barely on the field, He had barely even
been there. They were absolutely taking a flyer out of
unbelievable necessity.

Speaker 6 (36:51):
And if you think CJ.

Speaker 7 (36:52):
Gardner Johnson had a resume of you might want to
take it easy on bringing him in from his career
years worth of it. Just one season's worth of what
Johnson did last year with multiple teams, like the brief
time he spent in so many different places, was screaming
at everybody, this guy doesn't want to be here, Well,
where is he wherever he doesn't want.

Speaker 6 (37:11):
To know he's done this since leaving the Texans, has
he not?

Speaker 7 (37:13):
He is not going to be in the NFL ever Again,
he was with a team this offseason, but for the
same reasons did not make it to the season. So yeah,
that's the general connection. He's absolutely right, there's a disconnect
between the player and the team. This if you know
Demiko at all, that that is what this team is.
It's true, is truest sense of the word. And when

(37:34):
people are operating outside of that and they believe it
is not going to kill the team by having to
replace them, then that's the thing that gets killed, the
relationship between the two.

Speaker 6 (37:44):
And that's why CJ.

Speaker 7 (37:45):
Gardner Johnson is no longer a Texan and somebody who's
barely played for the Texans. M J. Stewart well, he's
likely to do one hundred percent of the snaps against
cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans at NRG Stadium on
some A reset of what's taking place and a welcome
to the television viewing audience and our robot fans.

Speaker 6 (38:06):
That's next on the eighteen.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
The A team on Sports Talk seven ninety two. Lifelong
Houston sports guys named Adam Talking Your Team's Adam Clinton
and Adam Wexler are the eighteen.

Speaker 5 (38:31):
Welcome into our number two on the eighteen Sports Talk
seven ninety hour number one over on Space City Home Network. Hello,
boys and girls, it is a Tuesday edition of the program.
Wex is over there, ac right here. Cole Thompson is
our producer. Most of the first hour, not surprisingly, talked
about the drama that were the continuing drama that is

(38:54):
Houston Sports. Pick a team. There's some drama right now.
We learn that Unfortunately, the hardy yesterday with the Houston
Rockets finding out that Fred van Vliet tore his ACL.

Speaker 6 (39:04):
In the twenty four hours since we found.

Speaker 5 (39:07):
Out about that, although I don't remember exactly what time
it was, so maybe we're on hour number twenty three,
we found out that, well, the Texans are down one
less safety and it's not because of injury.

Speaker 6 (39:17):
They decided they would say see you later to CJ.

Speaker 5 (39:21):
Gardner Johnson after a variety of things had happened behind
the scenes of what is now an oh and three
season and counting. I do know they play the Titans
this weekend. I'm very aware of that. Sure they'll be favored.
I'm sure they already are favored, actually, and I'm sure
that it's their best chance, definitely in the next two
weeks to get a victory because they go to Baltimore

(39:44):
after this game. Kind of important to not start your
season ZH to five as bad as Owen three is,
But you're not gonna be doing it with CJ. Gardner Johnson,
and you're not gonna be doing anything else with him
because he was shown the door today for like I said,
wex a variety of reasons. But I I said this
before we found out about this man. I think it's
pertinent because of what we're talking about here, not just

(40:06):
from the standpoint of you know, locker room distractions and
all that kind of stuff. I was talking with somebody
after the game on Sunday and I said, despite all
of the things he has done, well, if the Texans
decided to leave Nick Cassario in North Florida and just
fly home on the charter without him.

Speaker 6 (40:26):
I wouldn't even be all that upset. I wouldn't blame them.

Speaker 7 (40:29):
In other words, yeah, that's a question we probably haven't
even addressed enough. Where this team is and this is
the kind of start to a year you never want,
and we've seen it before with the Texans, obviously Bill
O'Brien a year they started zhing three. They righted the
ship in twenty eighteen, ones night and nine straight games,
ended that season with eleven wins and everything was fine.
Gary Kubiak had a year that actually didn't start quite

(40:52):
like this, but once it got headed in the wrong
direction like it looks like this season is, it never
was corrected. They started that year two and zero and
then they lost their next two, four, six, eight, ten,
and then he got fired. They went on a season
ending losing streak that he didn't even last all the
way through before Wade Phillips was summoned to be the
interim head coach because Gary had to be let go.
I don't think we're anywhere near that, and we're much

(41:13):
earlier I think in the respective careers of these coaches
we're talking about talking now about Demiko, it's not his
head that would roll, No, it's it's somebody else's. If
the Texans have a ten and seven season with a
playoff win, followed by a ten and seven season and
the playoff win with a GM that's been there for
four years now five and they have a completely awful

(41:35):
word at the top of the draft, near the top
of the draft type of season, then that most likely
is the head that's going to roll. Specifically, because one
main problem has remained throughout the winning years. I'm not
really here to tell you what the Texans record is
while Nick Sario has been their general manager, because I
don't find that very pertinent or helpful. If I'm trying

(41:58):
to grade him on the job he's done that, I'm
not also going to penalize him for intentionally putting together
losing teams and back to back seasons when he first
got here, because that's what he did. They hired coach Colley,
and they gave him a roster that wasn't gonna win
and didn't have a quarterback. Of course, they weren't going
to win the following year Davis Mills and Torod Taylor
were your quarterbacks. You're not gonna win or that year.

(42:19):
It just was not in the They weren't attempting to win,
nor should they have attempted to win.

Speaker 6 (42:23):
In order to be at the top of the draft.

Speaker 7 (42:24):
To do some of the things they ultimately ended up doing,
they needed to lose and I don't like guys putting
together teams to lose. But I'm then not going to
turn around on the other side of it and say, well,
he's got he's this many games under five hundred as
a general manager, because he's way under five hundred as
a general manager. They had thirteen and fourteen lost seasons
before the last two years. But I don't really find
that too pertinent. He did a job that I think

(42:45):
everybody else also would have done. When he gets credit
for cleaning up the salary cap, it's exceptionally, exceptionally easy
to clean up any salary cap woes if you're not
trying to win. So when you couple those things to
it was virtually impossible to not attack that in the
only zero credit to him for that. I've said this

(43:07):
countless times. It's not an achievement. They weren't trying to win,
so trying to clean up your cap was all they.

Speaker 6 (43:13):
Were concerned with. Collateral damage. If that's the.

Speaker 7 (43:16):
Only job these general managers had, they would all have
great cap situations because winning would not also be a factor.

Speaker 6 (43:22):
That's the challenge.

Speaker 7 (43:23):
So now he's in a challenging situation, and you know,
I meant to kind of bring this to the table.
We'll hit one of Aaron Wilson's comments you heard from
him last segment, and he was on with Matt Thomas
and Ross first. There's something specific financially I want to
get to. But this move was made after just three weeks,
after a team had not won any games, after the

(43:44):
defense will not being great. It's clearly a less worrisome
issue than the other parts of their team or part
of their team. The special teams is of no concern.
Even Tommy Townsend has had a handful of poor punts.
There's nothing wrong with their special teams unit. They cover well,
they return well, they make the reasonably happy level of
field goals. You still should probably be sitting at one

(44:06):
hundred percent, but you're not. But what what made this CJ.
Gardner Johnson move the move to make for the Texans.

Speaker 6 (44:13):
Here's Aaron.

Speaker 8 (44:15):
He had a certain expectation of what he thought his
role and the way he saw himself as a player
in the defense, and that did not coincide with how
the team saw him. And so when you got that
kind of disconnect, Matt, you you can either not put
up with it, or you can decide we're gonna move on.
It might surprise me if he'd asked to be released.

(44:38):
I have not heard that yet, efforting that, you know,
as I continue to report throughout the day, but had
asked for a trade previously, so we'll see what happened here.
But he wasn't happy.

Speaker 5 (44:54):
I just it's it's incredible to me, especially like if
you were to read.

Speaker 6 (45:01):
Aaron's article at click.

Speaker 5 (45:02):
To Houston dot com about and it includes some of
the quotes front and again, this isn't out of the ordinary.
Guys get to new places. They're always excited for a
variety of reasons. Go back and read Scottie Pippens quotes
when he got traded to the Rockets back in nineteen
ninety nine. Who would have thought that he would be
telling Charles Barkley that he owes him an apology forever,

(45:24):
coming and playing with his sorry fat butt.

Speaker 6 (45:26):
That's a quote.

Speaker 5 (45:26):
By the way, it never sounds like it's going to
go the way it ends up going. But for the
type of quote, I'm gonna come and ball like I've
been doing. Go check the carfax. I'm gonna bring the
same thing I brought from other teams here. I'm just
gonna check in a different way. Well, he didn't do that.
And going back to our first hour, when you're talking

(45:50):
about you know Howie Roseman getting on the phone with
Nick Cassario and offering up a guy who I mean,
let's hear you. Do you consider CJ. Gar Johnson an
intricate part of a defense that won a Super Bowl?

Speaker 6 (46:04):
Uh not?

Speaker 7 (46:05):
Because no, I would say, because their defense was so awesome,
like he was here was a good like he was
expected to be here.

Speaker 6 (46:12):
The I mean, I'll run down the list.

Speaker 7 (46:14):
Well, maybe I'll try to get the number right, Will Anderson,
Daniel Hunter, as hes Al Shaier, Derek Stingley. That's four,
four guys more important than Jauncy Heath Gardner Johnson going
the Kamari last year makes it five. Bullock I would
probably say the other safety's job was more important than his.
So so that's six. And that's again with limited thought

(46:35):
the other linebacker. I think it leaves a lot to
question why so much Henry and so little Christian. I'm
sure Dimiko has his reasons, and it's almost not giving
credit to their defensive interior, defensive line. Their defensive tackles
have been good. Sheldon Rankins has been a really good
re addition to the team. They haven't stopped the run
particularly well this year as opposed to last year when

(46:55):
they were great. But yes, you get the idea somewhere
in the back end of importance, which is definitely where
he was on the Eagles defense. But for you to
tell everybody what he had said about what he's going
to do here, that's just not that's a very ill
conceived idea of the NFL football player that you are.
He's played on a lot of good defenses. I'm not
taking that away from him. He's been a good piece
of those teams. They've won a lot of games. He's

(47:17):
been a good player to have on good teams, and
he would have been a good player to have on
this team, I thought. But he wasn't going to do
something that was going to turn this team upside down
in a good way. He was trying to turn the
team upside down in a bad way. And what I
was going to get to was the financial side of
it all. And even though he wasn't one of their
heaviest cap hit players, you're gonna get hit by that

(47:39):
number this year, gonna get hit by a bigger number
next year, about three million this year, about five next year,
And it just was the Nick Cassario side of these things.

Speaker 6 (47:49):
Twelve players.

Speaker 7 (47:49):
Here are the twelve players that have a five million
dollars cap hit or more for the Texans this year.
I'm only going to give you the names that make
Nick sound bad, so forgive me for that. Aamy Awards
on that list obviously hasn't played this year. Deniko Autry
is on that list. He also has not played this year.
He's another guy on the pup list. Cam Robinson is
on that list. He was signed this offseason because they

(48:11):
weren't sure what their offensive line would look like. They
ultimately drafted a left tackle and now Titus Howard is
the other tackle. So without the injury to ed Ingram
in Week one, it's reasonable to think Cam Robinson would
not have played this season. He obviously did not play
as an offensive player in this last game. He does
help on their special teams units. So that's three players

(48:33):
in your top twelve cap hit players that just basically
aren't even on the team, if I get it, They're
not on the field, and that's not normally how you
would set it up, and in this situation, Autrey is
a new contract. Ward's a new contract. Cam Robinson is
a new contract because two of them were extended and
one of them was just signed.

Speaker 6 (48:54):
What are you doing?

Speaker 5 (48:55):
Yeah, that's why I said what I said at the
beginning of the segment. I listen, Dimiico's not gonna be
the first guy. He's not gonna be the first head
to roll. CJ's not gonna be the first head to roll,
and ownership's not going anywhere. It's pretty easy to figure
out the.

Speaker 7 (49:08):
Maget step aside. We don't like how the season. I mean,
you're not gonna if you know, anybody that's got a
lot of money wants to buy the team, we're gonna
step aside.

Speaker 5 (49:15):
You're not firing your defensive coordinator because they're the good
part of the team right now, quote unquote, and you're
not firing an offensive coordinator who's coordinated three games in.

Speaker 6 (49:24):
It's not hard to figure this out.

Speaker 5 (49:25):
Plus, then when you start talking about Demiko wanting to
bring his guy in originally his guy whoever that ends
up being because I think his original guy was scooped
up by another team.

Speaker 7 (49:35):
His original guy is in Miami now because they let
him bring Bobby slogan.

Speaker 5 (49:40):
Well, I'm talking about a GM A personnel guy, That's
what I'm talking about. I think the writing's on the wall,
especially if this season goes even further south.

Speaker 6 (49:48):
We shall see.

Speaker 7 (49:49):
We'll come back and hit on more of this, obviously,
get into the other items of the day, including your
Houston astros back on the field trying to get back
inside the playoff picture.

Speaker 2 (49:58):
Next the a t on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (50:09):
I guess this would qualify as good news. I mean,
lord knows Houston sports fans could use it right now.
Although it's it's it's got an asterisk next to it.
See what I did there, roboumps are coming. It finally happened.
Wex it's done. Everything that we've been complaining about will
now be taken care of, at least on a couple

(50:31):
of plays.

Speaker 6 (50:32):
Next.

Speaker 7 (50:32):
There actually is one piece of good news in there
if you dig down to exactly how the MLB released
it today. Was reported earlier today that this was expected
to happen and come to a head with a voting panel, which, man,
if we did everything and everybody's been involved in some
kind of vote, whether you were running for a student council, treasurer,
or you're trying to be the president of the Brownies,

(50:53):
or you know, maybe you're in the National Honor Society.

Speaker 6 (50:56):
Maybe you ran for president. I don't know, I had
a lot of voting in your life.

Speaker 7 (51:00):
Sure, the voting committee to decide on whether or not
they would implement this ABS system automated ball strike system
for Major League Baseball in twenty six. Well, at least
they had an odd number of people so they would
not reach a standstill. They had eleven people voting, They
had one umpire, they had four players, and they had

(51:21):
six owners, six, four and one, and you got eleven votes.
What would constitute a majority? What number? What's the smallest
number that would constitute a majority of those voters?

Speaker 6 (51:32):
Uh, it's six.

Speaker 7 (51:35):
Did they have six of any one kind of voters? Yes,
owners who wanted it passed. That's happening. Very interesting that
they set it up that way and everybody on board
was okay, let's do this.

Speaker 6 (51:46):
Maybe everybody wanted it to happen.

Speaker 7 (51:47):
Maybe it was a vote of eleven or nothing, But
what's hopefully good about this? The logistics of implementing this
for next season, all throughout the regular season are on
into the postseason.

Speaker 6 (51:57):
Hopefully they will give teams two challenges each each game.

Speaker 7 (52:02):
The three players involved in instituting a challenge are just
the pitcher, the catcher, and the batter. The Astros were
involved in a regular season challenge this year when Taylor
Walls of the Rays did not like the call from
the umpire, yelled at him, asked for time, then tapped
his helmet and was immediately ejected because those aren't the
rules this year. You were just showing up the ump
But that's kind of how it would go. You just

(52:22):
got to make that tap to your helmet a little
bit more quickly. It's done in a very fast manner.
There's no looking to the dugout, there's no video review,
there's no anything anybody else on the field can do
unless you create some totally illegal system, maybe have a
player wear a buzzer or something.

Speaker 6 (52:37):
I don't know, but.

Speaker 7 (52:38):
That's how it works. But the two challenges that you get,
you get to keep them. And I heard nothing in
their release that read nothing in the release. I'll reread
it again that says there's a cap on it. If
I miss that, I apologize. But what it reads is
you get two challenges and if you get it right,
you keep it so you can miss a challenge and

(52:58):
you still have it, and you still have one left.
But if you continue to get that one correct every
time you use it, you would keep it for the
remainder of the game. And in extra innings separate from
that rule, each extra inning that takes place, if you're
sitting on zero challenges remaining, you get another challenge you have.
You will go into every extra inning with at least
one challenge available, as in, if you're at zero, they'll

(53:21):
give you one.

Speaker 6 (53:22):
If you're not, then you still have one.

Speaker 7 (53:24):
I think both of those rules sound very very good
when we all know that you're gonna need more than
two challenges if you want to challenge as many calls
as are missed, and it gives you at least much
more liberty I think to not feel too bad about
using one earlier in the game. Two's a small number
to start with, but we've watched players' reactions for years

(53:46):
and they i'd say eight times out of ten, maybe
between eight and ten, eight and a half times out
of ten when they give a look and they're ticked
off and they know they can't do anything about it,
and they just go right back into the batter's box.

Speaker 6 (53:57):
They were right.

Speaker 7 (53:58):
We've seen guys just even this week and upset at
the plate and they were wrong. But it's far more
frequent that the batter does know the strike zone. Same
thing for the pitcher, Same thing for the catchers who
are trying to cheat all the time with their stupid
receiving mechanisms. Oh, I know this ball was in the dirt,
but if I pull my glove up eighteen feet maybe
he'll call.

Speaker 6 (54:15):
It a strike.

Speaker 7 (54:16):
And half the time it was working. I like the
format that I'm seeing with it right now. Maybe you
could have started with a number bigger than two, but
it seems like they're keeping challenges available to teams who
get them right.

Speaker 5 (54:28):
Is a good thing, and provided what you say is correct,
two is better than one because it gives you a
little bit of a margin of error. As you brought
up with the vote, and as I knew it would
be the case. And I'll never understand it, and I
definitely won't understand somebody putting their name on it. But
Walker Bueler certainly did, fresh off his stint in the miners,

(54:49):
where he gets all of these types of challenges all
the time. Right now, he's back in the majors with
the Phillies. He's actually going to pitch in the first
of a three game set against Kansas City.

Speaker 6 (55:00):
Coming up on Friday.

Speaker 5 (55:02):
But he hated the ABS system used in the minors,
and he gave a quote that's just mind boggling to me.
I think it's inaccurate. I think in most of the
stadiums it's not even actually on the plate. I think
it shifts certain directions in certain ballparks. I think this
is my favorite part. Human element is a huge part

(55:25):
of this game. I think starting pitchers that have pitched
for a long time deserves certain parts of the plate
that other guys don't get.

Speaker 6 (55:35):
What so you want to cheat?

Speaker 7 (55:38):
A distrust in the technology, I understand, and hopefully it's
coming from a person who has enough experience with it.
I don't know that he really truly does. There's plenty
of other minor leaguers who've thrown many other innings who've
had it in use for many more opportunities than he has.
But I can always imagine players have distrust for the technology,
you know, keeping behind there. They've tested its It's twenty

(56:00):
twenty one in Minor league ballparks. Hopefully the technology is
even in that short period of time, is improved, and
they're going to be bringing it to a level where
the money does matter. This is major league baseball now,
no offense to minor league baseball. But when a call
gets missed in a minor league baseball game, it does
no impact on anybody's bottom line at all. And the
player's still going to make it to the majors even
though they get called out on strikes. The pitcher's still

(56:20):
going to make it to the majors even if he
issue a walk. But at the major league level, when
everybody's paying all this money and all these streaming services
are throwing millions of dollars at Rob Manfred and all
the teams, if this is a system that's not trustworthy,
if the technology isn't right, if it is shifting in game,
if they don't trust what they've put in. And remember,
if this is in place for next year, which is

(56:43):
absolutely going to be at least one minor league ballpark
will have it, because the A's are still going to
be playing in a minor league ballpark. I don't think
a definitive decision on if George M. Steinbrenner Field will
be used again next year by the Rays with their
stadium situation. But I hope every possible effort to put
this system into a building that's not like any of

(57:04):
the other major league buildings in terms of where does
this camera go, where do we have fixed this camera,
how do we get this correct? All the things that
go into it. Just to concern that, I don't think
walkers alone, but your assessment of it is just so.

Speaker 6 (57:18):
I mean, I don't.

Speaker 7 (57:19):
I mean, how can we It's it's not it's not
the anderthal, But what do you what do you want?
It's a universe, right, or do you write it being wrong?
He's he's wants it wrong. There's he should have said
that because that's what he's saying. He can dress it
up however he wants. I think human element is a
huge part of this game. No, you think human errors

(57:39):
are a huge part of this game? And what does
this quote even mean?

Speaker 5 (57:43):
I think starting pitchers that have pitched for a long
time deserve certain parts of the play that other guys
don't get. So you want guys who have been in
the majors longer than others to have an advantage based
on what your opinion.

Speaker 6 (57:54):
That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Speaker 7 (57:55):
That's even I should have shouldn't have even commented on
the other stuff. That's the most hard to believe. Street
just stupid. It's really really bad. And no, I hope
not very many other people think like that. I know
nobody will implement anything that goes like that because that
makes no sense.

Speaker 6 (58:07):
You know who agrees with him, Greg Maddox. Nobody that matters. Well,
I'm like Greg Maddox would.

Speaker 5 (58:13):
There is a sound argument to be made as I
sit here in twenty twenty five of September, that Greg
Maddox would not have had the career he did if
the technology that's about to be employed in Major League
Baseball in twenty twenty six was there for his career
where he.

Speaker 6 (58:28):
Got low and away, low and away, low and away
strike called.

Speaker 7 (58:30):
Well, there's a secondary reason for that, and that's why
there are Walker Buehlers out there. What they're actually trying
to say, and I think they're afraid of saying it,
even though it's true. If you're not given these pitches
that aren't strikes, if you're forced in order to get
guys to strike out and get three called strikes or
any card strikes. You're going to have to do what
You're gonna have to throw strikes. And guess what happens

(58:51):
when you throw strikes? They give up meat balls, They
get hit. Yeah, And so that's what they're afraid of,
and they should be afraid of it because that's one
hundred percent going to happen next year. Guess what's going
to happen more in Major League Baseball games?

Speaker 6 (59:05):
Scoring?

Speaker 5 (59:06):
It's going to just why I'm stunned that it's taken
this long from mister it's just a hunk of metal.

Speaker 6 (59:11):
Who wants scoring to go up in games to go faster?

Speaker 7 (59:14):
Twenty six man roster, half of them are what pitchers yep.
So half of them don't want scoring to go up, right,
because half of them will have an era that goes up.
Half of them will be comparing their careers with new
rules that make it harder to get guys out to
pitchers who didn't have these rules, and it's much easier
to get guys out. So there's going to be some

(59:35):
pushback just for the simplicity of that. I mean, I
don't think I'm wrong, and I think that seems to
make common sense. If you're asked to throw more strikes
and you want to to not walk batters and have
a successful time out there on the mound, guys will
probably chase less too. It's so they're going to be
swinging at more hitters pitches. Every strike is not a
hitter's pitch. By the way, yours can still burn the

(59:56):
corners and touch the black those are still strikes.

Speaker 6 (59:58):
That's still inside the zone.

Speaker 7 (01:00:00):
Even if it gets challenged, and remember they only have
two challenges at the first six innings of the game.

Speaker 6 (01:00:05):
You throw a pitch off.

Speaker 7 (01:00:06):
The plate and umpire what's his name or what's her
name calls it a strike, it's probably not getting challenged.

Speaker 5 (01:00:12):
It's gonna thin the herd as it pertains to the
elite might not need that of elite pitchers in Major
League Baseball. And guess who just came back up from
the miners. So I could, I could, I could assume
he'd be upset about a development that's going to take
out the human element, i e. Errors of the human type.
I just get it right every time, that's all we're

(01:00:33):
asking for. Sorry, Walker.

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
The Age on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (01:00:43):
Too Soon, Too Soon, saw somebody mentioned and I just
can't refer to the Rockets as a bona fide title contender.

Speaker 6 (01:00:53):
Fred Van Vliet is not in the mix. I have
two different silver linings for that situation. We'll get to
a little bit later in the show on the four
o'clock hour, but as it pertains to right now, we'll
keep talking a little bit of baseball because Astros resume
their schedule tonight. They have the not Oakland A's as

(01:01:15):
their opponent over the next three in West Sacramento, where
the ball carries and the gym is small. Last time
they were there, I believe it was a four game
series that was bookended by walkoffs by the A's of
the home run variety, and the Astros could not I know,
this is all shock a lot of you guys listening.

(01:01:36):
Astros could not match that they couldn't get the ball
to do the same thing with their bats because the
offense was stuck in neutral, which is basically the theme
of the twenty twenty five season. They're gonna have to
do it now. Probably four and two record down the
stretch is like a must. It'll be interesting to see
now that they kind of know what the market needs
to be to even kind of flirt with not having

(01:01:57):
an unmitigated disaster to the end of this year. How
they'll react and their manager stop buy for his weekly
visit talking about that very thing. Can the Astros control
their path to the playoffs? Joe Spot earlier today on
Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 11 (01:02:14):
Yeah, you know, it's I think destiny if is still
in our hands. We we decide our future and how
we treat the next the next week. It's it's crucial.
And we have been in this position before. I've been
here long enough where we entering the last week of
the season down a game and a half, two games

(01:02:36):
out being you know, from the division, like, we have
been in this position before. So this is not new
for us. It's how we handle business today on the
baseball field, how we play our game, not letting Uh
these path series, you know, affect our focus and our preparation.
None of that. I think it's in the past. Today

(01:02:58):
is a new day. Uh, it's a brand week and
we had to take the field and and fight. This
is a duck fight, and you know, don't count this
team out. I hear and I read stuff where people
think that we out.

Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
We're not out.

Speaker 11 (01:03:12):
We were very much in this fight.

Speaker 12 (01:03:15):
Joe, What was the hardest part about that Seattle series?
Was it that Seattle just came in super hot and
you just nothing you could do to stop them. Was
it missed opportunities on your part? A combination of both,
because look, we knew Seattle was good coming in, but
they really had a successful weekend in your ballpark.

Speaker 11 (01:03:32):
Yeah, yeah they did. And you know we knew coming
in that they have made some changes to the roster
that acquired some players have been playing some really good
ball and and they out they outplayed us, and you know,
we we had some opportunities. Uh, we didn't play our best.
In credit to you know, Seattle. They they they they
beat us. But it's it's in the past. We have

(01:03:55):
six very important games. There's gonna be you know a
lot of folks, uh, you know, watching the school boards
and and and we you know, we all it's gonna
be fun. I'm really looking forward to this week because
this is what you play for, and this is what
the team is built for. And I'm looking forward to with.

Speaker 13 (01:04:13):
Keeping on the injury front, well not injured, because Eashak
Pretis did play for you this weekend. How'd you feel
about the way he looked obviously.

Speaker 6 (01:04:19):
Had the big home run.

Speaker 13 (01:04:20):
How he's moving and and potentially playing him in the field,
is that on the table?

Speaker 9 (01:04:26):
Uh?

Speaker 11 (01:04:27):
You know, planman on the field. It's we I don't
think we're still quite there yet. He is, he's he's moving.

Speaker 6 (01:04:33):
Okay.

Speaker 11 (01:04:34):
For me, it's more can he react and you know
that quick first step playing third base, charging on a
slow roller. You know, we not quite there yet, And
it's just more how he feels mentally, trusting his leg
to make that kind of push and move. But he is,

(01:04:56):
you know, he's feeling. He's feeling good. H For now,
the planet is continue to dhum and and we need
his bat, we need his offense, uh, to continue to
be as good as he's been all year.

Speaker 13 (01:05:07):
Astros manager Jos bottle us here on Sports Talk seven
ninety Y're got the series here in Sacramento. We know
that the ball can fly out there. Is there anything
you tell your hitters or pitchers to do anything differently
or do you just try to keep everything the same?

Speaker 1 (01:05:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 11 (01:05:22):
I know we're keeping things the same. We can you know,
you got to pitch to do We want to pitch
to our strength. Uh, you know, exploit the hitters weaknesses
as a hitting club. We you know, we we we
have an approach that we have to carry out. We
we got to get on base. We we really not
need to score early and set the tone from the
very beginning. And we know that this could be a

(01:05:44):
high scoring series. You know they you cannot score enough
runs here in Sacramento. We knew that the last time
we came here, and and we we understand the importance
of us playing our best. And you know again, I'm
really looking forward to see how our boys uh go
out there and get this last push this last week
to the season.

Speaker 12 (01:06:04):
I always think, Joe, that managers in baseball when it
comes to playoffs have to manage differently.

Speaker 6 (01:06:11):
You don't give the least of the starting pitcher as much.

Speaker 1 (01:06:13):
As you would.

Speaker 12 (01:06:14):
Maybe you make a change in your lineup, you move
guys around a couple of different spots. Will you find
yourself this week doing a little more of that, because,
let's face it, this is the fact of a playoff time,
even though there's still six games left to go in
the regular season.

Speaker 11 (01:06:27):
Yes, this is you know, we we got to treat
this week like like like the playoffs. We we have
to We have to attack and stay on the offensive
from the very beginning. And I got to treat each
game as you know, do or die, do or die
game like, we have to play well from we have
to do our best wind six games. How we play

(01:06:49):
and how I manage it's it's it's just it's playoffs,
So things might look different. I might do something differently
just because it's all hands on den.

Speaker 12 (01:06:59):
Lineup change all the time in the middle of July
and August, that just happens. Do you anticipate keeping it
in pen this week or do you think there'll be
some fluctuation with these lineups depending on who you're pitching
and how guys are doing it, or what do you
think putting your crystal ball out about what you think
you're going to be putting on that lineup card for
the next week or so.

Speaker 11 (01:07:16):
You know, we we have some guys that are they're
going to be hitting in their in their spots. You know,
we have guys that are are are there get pay
a lot of money to get on base and to
drive people in. This is that's what we we. We
have them in the lineup and we lean on those
guys and we believe in those guys and not trust
us guys because they they've done it for a very

(01:07:36):
long time.

Speaker 7 (01:07:38):
There's so much at stake here, obviously, playoffs being that's
what it is. So much is simply that the playoffs.
I do think the Astros believe in what they've done
in the past and it will manifest itself. I don't
ever really think that's the thing, except the Astros keep
doing it over and over and over and over again,
not only in the regular season, but on into the postseason.
And when you reintroduce Carlos Korey and I'll play alongside

(01:08:01):
so many the other guys that have been there. Sure
would be nice if he was playing alongside jord On Alvarez.
I imagine we feel differently even if they had lost
all three games to Seattle, and Joe is pretty blunt
and honest and accurate about how that series went, both
that it's in the past and doesn't really have much
relevance moving forward. But they just simply it was simple baseball.
They just got out played. The other team was better

(01:08:22):
than them, and what has been going so well for
Seattle just continued in Houston.

Speaker 6 (01:08:26):
They've been among the best hitting teams this month. They've
been among the best pitching teams this month.

Speaker 7 (01:08:30):
It stands to reason they would be pulling away from
everybody else, and they've pulled away from everybody in the
American League except the only team they still trail now,
the only other thing that was brought up there, and
then we've brought it up one hundred times ourselves, myself,
probably ninety nine of those times. Hard to believe, but
still true. The Athletics have scored in We'll see if
it evens out here because they have home games remaining.

(01:08:52):
They've been arguably better offensively on the road than at
home so far this season in West Sacramento, they've hit
fourteen more home runs away from their home ballpark than
at their home ballpark. And as they head into this
series with the Astros and the remainder of the season,
of this weekend all of their games at home, so
provided they hit fourteen of them at home, at at

(01:09:13):
least we even but it doesn't seem like it might
go that way. So a little bit more reaction to
what Joe had to say, reset on some of the
items we've talked about, and more explanation of bringing correct
umpiring to Major League baseball do that.

Speaker 10 (01:09:26):
When we continue the eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (01:09:44):
It is the eight team, It's sport Sox seven ninety,
it's Space City Home Network Tuesday edition of the program.
Winding down the three o'clock hour, we saw a couple
things come out from over the weekend. Week three in
the NFL now officially in the books. First of all,
we kind of touched on this for like a millisecond
in the first hour. That was an amazing game last

(01:10:04):
night Detroit Baltimore lived up to the hype. Unless you
were Derrick Henry and you keep fumbling the ball at
the most inopportune time. I'm not even mad.

Speaker 6 (01:10:13):
At during the game right between the first whistle and
the last whistle.

Speaker 5 (01:10:18):
But like he did, I mean, first of all, kind
of like the Texans where Daria gumbawally fumbled for the
second time in his career.

Speaker 7 (01:10:29):
I believe, yes, that's been let Oh he didn't play
a time the other football oh wow of average still
says it's a very in opportunity of time to do it,
even though there's no good time to fumble. I mean,
I'm almost compelled because I'm a fool to say, all right,
let me go back and count all of his touches
and then let me come back all the time he's
run out of bounds and not even been tackled. I mean,

(01:10:49):
come on, man, He's a third down back who's been
almost unused throughout most of his career.

Speaker 5 (01:10:56):
But if he doesn't fumble there, there's a very good
argument to be made that the Texans perhaps win that
game because they continue that drive.

Speaker 6 (01:11:03):
Yep, same thing with Nico a week ago.

Speaker 5 (01:11:05):
Nico's not getting any of the blame that he should.
Nobody's talked about that.

Speaker 7 (01:11:11):
I think the way Dara fumbled is almost like everyone's
gonna fumble if they don't take a knee because the
other player made a fantastic.

Speaker 6 (01:11:20):
SAMs last night with Dereck Henry. The way Nico fumbled, Yeah,
it was that one.

Speaker 5 (01:11:24):
I actually didn't see Aiden Huncherson and Aiden made a
great play.

Speaker 7 (01:11:27):
I just I wouldn't have described it the same way.
They both punched it out. But I don't know why
he didn't secure the ball, didn't have the ball very
well secured.

Speaker 6 (01:11:36):
The ball wasn't punched out.

Speaker 7 (01:11:37):
The player just made a tackle on the ball because
of his reaction. Yeah, it's just he shouldn't. He's too
experienced to have had that happen. And it's not a
situation where well, I mean he's bound to fumble. They're
giving it to him thirty times a game. No, they're not, No,
especially not now.

Speaker 6 (01:11:53):
And Lamar.

Speaker 5 (01:11:54):
I'll tell you what, that's the blueprint on how to
beat that offense. What do we talk about that offense?
Is Henry turn it over?

Speaker 6 (01:12:00):
No? No, I'm not talking about that. I mean that helps.

Speaker 5 (01:12:02):
I'm talking about the way they controlled Lamar from running.
You ever noticed that when he started to now part
of this he helped in that regard talking about Lamar Jackson,
he did not do himself any favors, and he did
a ton of favors to the Detroit Lions defense by
when he by being indecisive normally, if he's gonna take

(01:12:23):
off and run, I feel like he does it a
lot sooner than he did last night, for example. And
I don't know if that's just I don't know why
he looked the way he did last night, but when
he did, it felt like Detroit was already in that backfield. Now,
you have to have a ferocious pass rush to even
be in that conversation. But they could not take advantage

(01:12:44):
of the Lions defense the way they have basically every
defense I've seen the play against them in the last
year plus. Because he was just stopped from doing what
he does.

Speaker 7 (01:12:58):
I'm gonna be I'm trying not to sound like I'm
trying not to be, but everything I want to say
sounds like me, and it sounds like what we discuss.

Speaker 6 (01:13:08):
They scored thirty points. Yep.

Speaker 7 (01:13:11):
This was the most times he's ever been sacked in
an NFL game seven seven times. He's been sacked seven
times in one other game, so it's the most he's
ever been sacked in a game. That game, he had
a touchdown and an interception. This game, he had three
touchdowns and no interceptions and completed seventy eight percent of
his passes. I know it looked like he was having

(01:13:31):
trouble running the ball because his numbers weren't outrageous because
they so normally are.

Speaker 6 (01:13:37):
What else was he supposed to do? This was like
they didn't.

Speaker 7 (01:13:40):
What they did to him is not something other teams
will replicate.

Speaker 11 (01:13:45):
Right.

Speaker 7 (01:13:45):
I just said he'd been sacked seven other in a
game seven times. One other time it happened four years
ago a Steelers didn't. Obviously they won that game. It's
a personnel and it's well discised, well schemed up, well designed,
but the players on the team are the reason that
it was able to happen, and it's not going to
happen again. It's not gonna happen again this year. Yeah,
the Bills are, I mean, the Buffalo, the Baltimore offense.

(01:14:07):
I think even in three games we might be able
to say it's not the same as it was. It's
probably just as potent, but it is not the same.
If we're expecting Derrick Henry to do what he did
last year and then to run the ball the rest
of the year like they did last year, well then
they have to start doing it. Because they're three games
into the season. It is nice insday. They're scoring points, clearly,

(01:14:30):
but they're not doing it the same way. They're not
having the we're just gonna run you over type of success.
And what they did to make their offense not what
it usually is, even though they scored thirty points, was
what they did to Derrick Henry. You know, the Texans
did that a few times to the Titans over the years.
The days they did that, it was a cakewalk to
beat that offense because they were all designed about that.
It's still not a cakewalk to beat the Baltimore offense

(01:14:52):
because Lamar is so awesome, and even with a couple
guys not at one hundred percent obviously likely not even
playing yet, they still can do things they flowers limited
in the game.

Speaker 6 (01:15:04):
That's very hard to do.

Speaker 7 (01:15:05):
I mean, heck, DeAndre Hopkins had more yards than most
guys when you add in the yards, which the receivers
never get the yards, nor should they, but it should
be noted somewhere I just ran down the field. He
threw me to the football and this guy couldn't stay
with me, so he tackled me and we just gained
forty yards via pass interference penalty. That stuff is enormous.
He doesn't go in anybody statistics. But what it's also

(01:15:26):
shown about Baltimore. We're three games into the season, they
have two losses. They're just not invincible.

Speaker 6 (01:15:30):
It's there.

Speaker 7 (01:15:31):
They haven't fallen apart. They're not unworthy of being considered
as some losses are against the teams that could play
for the Super Bowl, right and it's it is partially
about that, but I still also believe what I'm saying
they're not the same team offensively.

Speaker 6 (01:15:46):
They weren't gonna win because their defense is great. I
think we already knew that they've underperformed dramatically this year
so far, but they're gonna win if they were looking
at this year like they were gonna do a lot
of the things they did last year, just run over
people with the run, and they have not been able
to do that the way that they have in the past,
and it's made things a little bit more on his plate.
I thought he played remarkably well.

Speaker 7 (01:16:07):
He had agreed like at some point, maybe I'm speaking
and everybody does think this, but it never seems like this.
Lamar Jackson is outrageously good at passing the football in
the NFL, Yes, and has been for such a long
period of time, And I still don't think people know.

Speaker 5 (01:16:24):
That because he's a running quote unquote quarterback, which only
means that he does it.

Speaker 6 (01:16:28):
Sometimes it's not who he is.

Speaker 5 (01:16:30):
That is who he is, but nobody wants to think
of him that way because he's so athletic. He's a
victim of his own athletic reputation, and honestly, I don't
think he cares and that's all it matters.

Speaker 7 (01:16:40):
Yeah, I'm sure he will throw an interception this year.
Not yet, it hasn't so far. And what you said,
what I said, I should say. At the very beginning
of this segment segment in this topic, they showed the
blueprint for what to do. Part of the blueprint is
having the players to actually carry it out, which nobody does.

Speaker 6 (01:16:57):
The blueprint is have Brad Holmes as your just or manager.
By the way.

Speaker 5 (01:17:01):
To that end, I know that everybody just wanted to
pile on because half their staff was gone. Nobody cares
and raised I mean, Dan Campbell says, screw you, Adam Wexler.
I'm just going to replace the guys that left with
equally to better, maybe on the defensive side.

Speaker 14 (01:17:18):
Uhkelvin Shepard's awesome.

Speaker 7 (01:17:21):
Personnel wise, I think they lost less, and coaching wise,
they lost less. And as Cole just mentioned, Kelvin Shepard
was if you remember watching them in some of their
own videos and then some hard knock stuff that's been seen,
these are some of the most energetic Dan Campbell like coaches,
and he's definitely at the top of the list. But
you also saw what he was trying to tell reporters

(01:17:43):
in Detroit, Dan was earlier this year. Our offense is
going to still be able to do some of those
things you mean, like be in the red zone and
hand it to Saint Brown who then pitches it to
Gibbs who then runs it in untouched for a touchdown.
They're still pretty creative, they're still pretty capable, and they're
still pretty freaking good.

Speaker 5 (01:18:01):
To go into Baltimore and do what Detroit did last
night is not easy, as the Texans and everybody else
knows that goes and tries to win there, and they
did it.

Speaker 2 (01:18:08):
They are for real the A team on Sports Talk
seven ninety two lifelong Houston sports guys named Adam Talking
your team there is.

Speaker 3 (01:18:25):
Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler are the A team.

Speaker 8 (01:18:31):
A.

Speaker 5 (01:18:37):
Straight up four o'clock here in Houston, Texas. It is
the A team Sports Talks seven ninety Space City Home Network.
As we continue with the simulcast, wex over there ac
right here, Cole Thompson, our producer. As a lot of
Houston's sports drama has been unfolding over the last weekend
and into this week. We just thought that our hearts

(01:18:59):
were broken after the Astros were swept by the Mariners,
and then the Texans flopped again for the third straight week.
No matter how close they tell you they are, oh
and three is oh and three.

Speaker 7 (01:19:09):
Dude, We're close, man. Look look at the scoreboard, Look
at one score. We lost by one point to the Bucks.
We lost by five points in the Look we're close.
One touchdown, that's all it takes. We're close.

Speaker 5 (01:19:23):
And I keep saying the same thing after each of
these three losses, say they had found a way to win.
How much would I have had to wet blanket this
season by saying they looked like garbage these three weeks.

Speaker 6 (01:19:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:19:34):
I think this is probably true in most buildings, even
though it feels awesome when you're three and oh, when
you're two and one, when you're getting those winning those
close games. But then you get to film study, you
might still you clearly have at least one more good
play to review. But if you're the Texans and you
had the one more good play to review, the play
after the Darya Gumbalwalle fumble when he doesn't fumble and

(01:19:55):
you throw a seventeen yard touchdown pass on the next
play and you win the game, you know, the one
extra play. You get to show when Henry Toatoa tackles
Baker Mayfield on four and ten and then you're able
to run out the clock. Okay, they're two and oh,
you know in the play against the Rams, maybe CJ.
Gardner Johnson actually checks Davis Allen and he doesn't score
a touchdown. All these things, but what about the other plays?

(01:20:17):
They still happened when you're going back and looking at
the film. I truly believe something that Tamiko said earlier
this week on Monday, and I think it's true for
most teams. When you're going back and looking over the film,
it doesn't lie. The Texans did not play good football
as a team in any of the three games, or
else they wouldn't be three and oh, there's so much
to clean up, and this week they went back to

(01:20:38):
their Week one problem. So you'd be throwing a wet
blanket over I really truly think Tomko should and would
be throwing a wet blanket over it. Twelve What does
the number twelve represent? Wesley research team came up with
this one. What do you think twelve is as it
relates to the Texans this year and cleaning up twelve?

Speaker 6 (01:20:56):
All three or all the quarters they have played twelve
quarters this year.

Speaker 7 (01:21:00):
But it only applies to the Texans, not the rest
of the NFL. Okay, I'm waiting explosive plays a lot. No,
that would be that would be very detrimental from a
defensive standpoint. And I actually didn't chart the number of explosives.
I also think it's explosives sound more like, oh, my gosh,
how are they going to recover from this fifty five
yard Brian Thomas junior catch versus Oh, they just got

(01:21:22):
a thirteen yard pass and gained eight yards after that's
twenty one yards. That is usually most people great, that
is an explosive play. But that's not the number or
the item. I'm referring to. Three games, twelve times. Twelve
times the Texans have been penalized for a pre snap error,
a pre snap penal that includes both the offense and
the defense and includes all those varieties delay a game,

(01:21:45):
a false start, encroachment, neutral zone infraction, illegal shift, illegal formation,
defensive off sides, and of all those things that they've done,
it's come from somebody else. Almost every single time, I
believe it's eleven different Texans have been hit with those
twelve penalties.

Speaker 6 (01:22:05):
Dalton Schultz has two false starts. He's the only one
that's there twice.

Speaker 5 (01:22:08):
How do you false start if you're a tight end?
I'll never understand it.

Speaker 7 (01:22:11):
It does somewhat become well, why does the left tackle
fall start? You're not on the ball, you're off of
the ball, and maybe you believed this is the snapcout
and you had it wrong. Or maybe you saw a
little twitch and it wasn't a movement and you moved
and that's what happened to Dalton this last week. But nonetheless,
that's twelve things. Then when coaches said we got to
clean it up, that's what they're talking about. And I
know Demko mentioned the you know they've had a face

(01:22:34):
mask penalty. They had the pass interference at the end
on this last week, on one of the only fifteen
snaps that dere Stingley Junior had, I still would probably
side on him.

Speaker 6 (01:22:43):
Go ahead and hold the guy.

Speaker 7 (01:22:43):
If he's gonna catch a touchdown pass, maybe you'll get
lucky on the next four downs. But nonetheless, those are
still more of the You might have made a mental
error and not realized what coverage you were in and
that forced you to then try to recover and ultimately
commit a penalty. But Blake Fisher's face and some of
Ursery's holding calls, even though neither were all that bad.

(01:23:06):
Like he has been caught with his hands in the
wrong place. He's realized it, I think, very very quickly,
and tried to disengage and try to take his hand off.
But if once the ref sees it, he's just gonna
call it. Even if you didn't really pull the guy
hold the guy that don't. That's why you're not supposed
to have your hands in those positions. But those I
still regard as their physical errors. They happen in the

(01:23:26):
course of battle, especially on the interior in the trenches.
But four times a game, four times on average a game,
they're going from first and ten to first and fifteen.
They're going from third and seven to third and twelve.
They're giving a team a first down with a fourth
and three a third and three because you went off
side or you jumped into the neutral zone. That nothing's happened,

(01:23:48):
the place has not even started yet. Those are clearly
not physical mistakes. Those are mental mistakes, and they are
the ones that drive you to are you doing things right?
As a coaching staff. And that's why the coach says,
it's on me, my job. I'm the head coach. The
buck always stops with me. Everything starts with me. It
has to start stopping with you, truly to where it's

(01:24:08):
not happening as often. First week it was bad, second
week got better, third week it got.

Speaker 6 (01:24:13):
Bad again, undisciplined.

Speaker 5 (01:24:15):
And while the offense itself has not benefited from a
change in the coordinator and the offensive line coach, by
the way, we keep forgetting that because it's just hard
to get to that.

Speaker 7 (01:24:26):
Yeah, they went in house a list right promotion for
the assistant to line coach.

Speaker 5 (01:24:30):
Discipline is a much different thing. Discipline is absolutely I
think about coaching more often than not. And if you're
seeing the same mistakes being made, particularly on that side
of the ball, it just does not It doesn't speak
well of the decisions you made this offseason.

Speaker 7 (01:24:44):
And accountability is tricky in this situation. What's accountability? Do
you do you scream at them during the week, during
the meetings, do you scream at them on the field,
do you make a run lapse? Or do you do
the ultimate in accountability? Well, I can't have you making
these mistakes, so you're out of the game. I got
to replace you. Well, if Dalton Schultz false starts fifty times,
what are you gonna do bench him? You only carry

(01:25:05):
one other tight end, right who barely played Dalt Schultz
played fifty snaps. The other guy, ber Harrison Bryant, played
less than twenty. That's not real. That's not making your
football team better. You can actually absorb his five yards
of penalties, so you get his fifty snaps. And the
same thing happens on the offensive line. If Ursery gets
called for holding twice and it sets you know, takes

(01:25:26):
twelve yards off the field and sends you back ten.
Are you gonna take him out and put Cam Robinson
out there? Are you gonna reshuffle the whole line? I mean,
that's a holding call. That's like I said, I hope
that's a little bit different. These pre snap penalties. You know,
what do you do when you want to say, where's
the accountability? What is Debiko doing to fix it? It's
not as easy as it is. It's the individual. They've

(01:25:49):
just got to be more focused and more disciplined in
those situations to not have those pre snat penalties. Some
of the formations in shift maybe can be made a
little bit easier to handle by the coach and the
place that they're calling. But my gosh, if you can't
handle how to, well he's not set and he's not set,
well that's illegal. Well let's not do that. I mean,
you got have to be able. That's operation of your offense.
That's all you've done for all of the off season

(01:26:11):
program and all of training camp. That's all you really
have a chance to work on because you're not hitting
anybody else and there's no there's no tackling involved.

Speaker 6 (01:26:18):
That's what you're there for.

Speaker 7 (01:26:19):
That's why they spend so many hours doing that, So
those issues aren't there. And I didn't run through the
entire NFL alphabetically. I went through every team in the
NFL to see where twelve pre snap penalties stood up.
And I got to Green Bay before I finally stopped,
because they were the first team through the g's that
had thirteen, so more than twelve. They're two to one

(01:26:39):
and they gave a game away. It's probably more acceptable
for a team that's winning. It shouldn't be acceptable for
any team because these are control the controllables, these are
the penalties you're talking about when you say that those
are controllable.

Speaker 5 (01:26:52):
It was very NFL of them to be walked off
by Cleveland on a field goal at home.

Speaker 7 (01:26:58):
Cleveland's defense kept them in this game, They kept them
in the game with Baltimore the week before for a
long period of time, and then the blowout ultimately happened
because their offense is so terrible. And I hate myself
for you know just who I am, but it is
who I am. So I took to the to the
X platform a couple times today and it's not good
stuff and being received as it should be. The Texans

(01:27:20):
are doing things quite poorly on a bunch of fronts.
Six lowest scoring teams in the NFL and they're starting QB.
And mind you, I did this before the Giants made
it official. The sixth lowest scoring team is the Giants,
and I wrote Williams is about to be benched. Wilson
is about to be benched. He's been benched. Jackson Dart
is their starter. The fifth lowes scoring team is Tennessee.

(01:27:42):
They start the number one overall pick, which means when
he comes to Houston next week he'll being making his
fourth overall start and I also sent this out before
they made a change. They told their OC to beat it,
get off the sidelines, go upstairs and call your plays
from up there, please. Usually the first sign of if
it doesn't work up there, well then what are we
gonna do? It's his second years a heading upstairs are shuting.

(01:28:05):
I've got my teams mixed up. In Tennessee, Brian Callahan said,
the buck does stop with me. I've been the play caller.
I'm firing myself. He's gonna give his quarterback coach play
calling duty. So Callahan stays as head coach, but they've
changed play callers. New Orleans is fourth worst. They start
Spencer Rattler. Cleveland's third worst. They start Joe Flacco. Atlanta

(01:28:25):
is second worst. The situation I described erroneously, that's what
the Falcons did. They told their OC in a second
season to move upstairs, and they fired their wide receivers
coach so they could get TJ.

Speaker 6 (01:28:35):
Yates more responsibilities.

Speaker 7 (01:28:37):
And even Atlanta, with their six career starts for Michael
Pennix Junior off of a shutout, are still scoring more
points per game than Houston, who's worse in the NFL.
Thus number one on this list, lowest scoring team in
the league twelve point seven points per game. Their quarterback situation.
They're starting CJ. Stroud. He was the twenty twenty three

(01:28:57):
Rookie of the Year in the NFL, and next he'll
be making his thirty sixth regular season start forty if
overall in the NFL. It should not be happening. I'm
not telling you it's CJ at all, even though he's
part of the problem. It's a much bigger problem than
just who it is at quarterback. But it's it's just insane.
Why are the other teams there? Because it's so obvious

(01:29:19):
this was going to happen. Wilson stinks, Rattler stinks, Flacco stinks.
Wards a rookie Pennix is just starting. But why is
it happening to a team like.

Speaker 5 (01:29:26):
This Because they're ill equipped to do what they're supposed
to be doing on that side of the football. And
that's why I don't think Nick Cassario is going to
be entrusted with putting together the twenty twenty six Houston Texans.

Speaker 6 (01:29:38):
Ugh probably shouldn't have extended him. I thought he's done
after next year.

Speaker 7 (01:29:42):
No, he had in a session when he got a
promotion apparently, remember when he added EVP to his title.

Speaker 5 (01:29:48):
I hate it when they put EVP on anybody that
they've put EVP on lately.

Speaker 1 (01:29:55):
The age on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 15 (01:29:57):
Ninety Astros and A's from West Sacramento tonight.

Speaker 6 (01:30:10):
As we all predicted it would be a few.

Speaker 5 (01:30:11):
Years ago, between these two teams, Christian Javier has the
unenviable task of being the first starting pitcher in this
series for the Astros. In this series, I really mean
the last six games of the year. That's really the series.
I know it's two teams, but for all intents purposes,
this is a six game series for you to play

(01:30:33):
for your playoff lives. So having said all that, what
Christian Javier are we gonna get tonight because it's not.
It's just just as much about what the A's can
do as it is what Christian Javier can and cannot do.
He's had his moments since coming back, both good and bad.
I don't I'm not gonna lie to you.

Speaker 6 (01:30:55):
I'm a little.

Speaker 5 (01:30:55):
Nervous about that environment being where he's going to start
this stretch six games.

Speaker 6 (01:31:01):
Not too displeased.

Speaker 7 (01:31:02):
This is just three home runs allowed over his thirty
plus innings thirty two and thirty's only allowed three home runs,
giving up a lot of long fly balls a flyball pitcher,
so it's very concerning going to that particular location against
that particular team. Mentioned the home runs they've hit away
and at home this year, a Hunter home runs in
their home ballpark, still with six games to play in
a homer happy place for both teams is not an

(01:31:22):
ideal recipe for Houston comes off of a good start. Obviously,
he was very successful getting his pitches over pretty effective,
getting through six innings only needing eighty eight pitches.

Speaker 6 (01:31:33):
To get there.

Speaker 7 (01:31:33):
Heck to start before that, while it was less successful
the one in Toronto where it ultimately got away from
the Astros and they didn't score, so by giving up
a run you lose. He still wants six innings and
it only took him eighty seven pitches. I mean, for
him and for his somewhat some of the season in
ability to find the strike zone often enough, probably his

(01:31:54):
last two starts, certainly in succession by far his best
efforts of the season. He threw strikes and allowed the
defense to get to work behind him. Eleven hits and
twelve innings is not egregious ten strikeouts and twelve innings
fits right in with what he's done the rest of
his season. Here first four starts that he made, and
again he left after two and three innings. In two

(01:32:14):
of them, he walked nine batters. He walked nine batters
in the first sixteen innings he threw thrown sixteen innings
cents then and brought that number down to five.

Speaker 6 (01:32:23):
It's got to stay in that range.

Speaker 7 (01:32:25):
A team that can hit like they do and has
a balanced righty lefty lineup. I assume we'll see again tonight.
Don't give him anything. If he wants to hit a homer,
whoever he might be go ahead one run. He can't
put extra guys on base. They're gonna get their hits,
I think in this ballpark. But I would probably say,
for the first time in a while, when it's somebody

(01:32:46):
other than Hunter, I don't feel awful about it. I
didn't think that the Astros are gonna get three good
pitching performances, despite how things were lined up against Seattle.
I thought they were gonna get one, and they got
it from Hunter. It just wasn't as good as the
opposing pitcher on a day where again the Astros didn't
score any runs, so when he allowed his first inning
solo homer, that game was essentially over one run into

(01:33:07):
the game. It's got to not be the case anymore.
It's the dumbest thing I always say, and I'll keep
saying it till it isn't true.

Speaker 6 (01:33:13):
The Astros have.

Speaker 7 (01:33:14):
To do what these other teams are doing, especially in
this ballpark, especially against the left handed pitcher. They have
to hit the ball over the fence tonight and tomorrow
and the next day.

Speaker 6 (01:33:23):
Well, the weather, I would assume would help with that somewhat.
I mean, during the day.

Speaker 7 (01:33:27):
It seems like the numbers have been even better hotter
day and the conditions conducive to the ball flying a
little bit further there than it would at night. But
either way, we've seen you keep talking about those walk
offs that they had. Those weren't daytime home runs. Those
were nighttime into the night sky, and a lot of
the home run mean think about when Dubon had his homer,
Binge and cam Smith similarly, the ball just kept carrying

(01:33:50):
and carrying, and these weren't wall scrapers either, and they
didn't look like they were definitely home runs off the
bat not from our seats on television. Maybe they it
felt that way to those in the ballpar but definitely
carried well.

Speaker 6 (01:34:02):
So match it. You're playing under the same conditions.

Speaker 7 (01:34:05):
The Astros have at least added up bat to the
lineup and Perettis I think he needs to be a
part of that. I'd love to see Jeremy Peney in
the lineup, and I think that's been proven over the
course of this year. He's the guy for all the
other guys that have been out, and his injury did
coincide with when Peretis was out and then Jake Myers
was also out. Those three injuries kind of happened in succession.

(01:34:28):
When he's doing what he has done for the bulk
of the year, the Astros can put runs on the
board and they can score and they can win. So
there's a lot of pressure on him. There's pressure on
him just to simply be out there. I mean, I
do think offensively, he essentially was. He won the entire
Ranger Series for the Astros all by himself. He can't
send himself home unless he homers, which he did once,
but he kept getting on base. He kept reaching reaching base,

(01:34:50):
I believe ten times in three days seven off of hits.
The Astros are going to score runs when that happens,
no matter who's in the lineup behind him.

Speaker 6 (01:34:58):
In my opinion.

Speaker 7 (01:34:59):
I know it's not always it's true, and this year
has been wild that it hasn't been, but that table
setting usually has paid off for them, and I think
it will in at least in this first stop. You're
playing a homer happy team. In the second stop, I
don't know the Astros will match that quite like they
need to in this ballpark when they get to La.

Speaker 6 (01:35:18):
Yeah, it's uh.

Speaker 5 (01:35:19):
And for some reason this whole time, I thought they
ended the season in Oakland and started this stretch in Anaheim.
I was just realizing a couple of days ago that
it was flip flopped.

Speaker 6 (01:35:28):
But well, it was never flip flopped. I was flip flopped.

Speaker 5 (01:35:31):
But yeah, I think I wouldn't be as nervous about
this if it weren't for the last time they were
out there, and it's been a while.

Speaker 7 (01:35:38):
But well, they were dangerously close to going four and
oh it just hurt. The way they only went to.

Speaker 6 (01:35:43):
The close is what you're saying. Demiko would say they
were close.

Speaker 7 (01:35:46):
In baseball, it's very different because you're never talking big picture.
You're just talking about that day's game. When you when
you lose in a walk off, it's okay to say
you were close. But uh, and both of those were,
Both of those were It was a it was a
four game set, correct, yep. And it was a walk
off in the opener and a walk off in the

(01:36:07):
uh in the closer?

Speaker 6 (01:36:09):
Was it not? Yeah? One run games? Trying to think?

Speaker 7 (01:36:12):
I mean the second run correct, was no longer a
one run game because there was a runner on base.

Speaker 6 (01:36:18):
I feel like it was Kurts that walk both those
games off. Yeah, I can hardly remember him homering off
the Astros this year. Did he even do it? Ever? Ever?

Speaker 5 (01:36:25):
Did thirty of them come against the Astros off Cooper
Humble this year?

Speaker 11 (01:36:32):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:36:33):
No, he did.

Speaker 5 (01:36:34):
Well, that's just as much about Cooper Humble getting the
start as anything else. I did not get the start.
Come on, now, oh that's right. In relief. Who was
the starter that night, Hunter.

Speaker 7 (01:36:43):
Brown, somebody who had to turn things over to the
bullpen at some point?

Speaker 5 (01:36:48):
Just a absolutely, I'm looking it up right now.

Speaker 7 (01:36:52):
As much as this will be odd and it was
a brave hard to believe, so say it again.

Speaker 5 (01:36:57):
I believe it was a brave you that did what
they gave up the walkoff. Yes, he did the first one. Yeah,
that's what I'm looking at right now. You just asked
who started that day. I'm looking it up.

Speaker 7 (01:37:09):
Nonetheless, he's had a a an introduction to major League
baseball statistically, just like Jordon Alvarez did. Its all those
numbers put up side by side the other day. That's
how awesome this first season, partial season. He doesn't even
have four hundred at bats this year, Nick Kurtz. I mean,

(01:37:30):
he didn't have four home runs in a game like
Nick Kurtz did. You could argue that, I guess. I
would probably suggest that the impact that you're not had
on his baseball team was greater than this, since they
were winning more. But stats for stats, he's been awesome.
He's a shade under a thousand ops. He's a rookie.
Come on, voters, I believe in you. You can get

(01:37:51):
this one.

Speaker 8 (01:37:51):
Right.

Speaker 6 (01:37:52):
Who's going to beat him out?

Speaker 7 (01:37:53):
It's okay with all of you. No, I'm not saying
he's not going to win, saying come on.

Speaker 6 (01:37:58):
Everybody has to vote. It's okay to vote for the
same guy. There's always one.

Speaker 7 (01:38:01):
You have to be different overwhelming case. I totally believe
in you. Totally believe in you.

Speaker 5 (01:38:09):
Baseball writers will always find a way to screw it
up when it comes to that though, And.

Speaker 6 (01:38:13):
He's still screwed up, Derek Jeter, that's the that's okay.

Speaker 5 (01:38:17):
I know it was okay for all the rest of us,
but boy, New York fans, they were upset. But yeah,
just looking at some of these game logs, box scores,
what have you. I mean, Paradius was obviously doing his thing,
although not that night.

Speaker 6 (01:38:34):
He was over three. Okay, that was what happened, wasn't it. Yes,
he was running to first July Jeez, Yeah, I'm not
I'm not optimistic. I mean I'm glad that uh.

Speaker 5 (01:38:53):
The the somewhere in of somewhere inside Christian Hobvier is
that guy.

Speaker 6 (01:38:58):
I still think he's in there.

Speaker 5 (01:39:00):
Maybe I'm more loyal to some of these guys that
have pitched in big game situations. I was always like
that with Jose Orkety because of what he did as
a rookie in the World Series against Washington. But I
just give Christian Havier so much of the benefit of
the doubt because he has done it. I know he's
hasn't been that guy for a while, but I'm still

(01:39:21):
I'm convinced that somewhere in there is that guy stuck
in that body that's very inconsistent lately.

Speaker 7 (01:39:27):
Yeah, I don't doubt it either. I believe the same thing.
It just now has to happen. I think one of
his hamstring injuries was against them, not the final one
that sent him out for oh press those games. Yes,
he got hurt against Seattle.

Speaker 6 (01:39:40):
What were you expecting from him in this series? Exactly
what you got.

Speaker 7 (01:39:44):
Long at bats, worked a walk once, probably was going
to be a little bit off with his swing. He
struck out six times I remember seeing eleven at bats,
but he also homered.

Speaker 6 (01:39:54):
He also had a hit. That's about what I expected.

Speaker 7 (01:39:56):
You've had a day off, you got your body hopefully
back in line, and maybe there's a little bit more
for him in these two series.

Speaker 6 (01:40:02):
But that's probably what I expected.

Speaker 7 (01:40:04):
It's it's not negative because what they would have had
in the lineup without him is not oh my god,
it and it sent so and so to the bench.

Speaker 6 (01:40:11):
No problem.

Speaker 5 (01:40:12):
Yeah, yeah, that part of it's obviously, But I just
I guess a part of me wondered if it was
if it was the best idea, But again, talking about
who's going to be playing instead of him, I can't
really argue with that either.

Speaker 6 (01:40:24):
It was just such a pivotal series.

Speaker 7 (01:40:25):
Well just remember one of the three games that he
played in Sunday's game, no Alvarez, no pena, Like, how
many of course he's in the line if you don't
really have a choice at that.

Speaker 5 (01:40:34):
Point, It's insane how many injuries they have and are
continuing to deal with. Speaking of which the Rockets, they'll
play a big part of our signature segment, Say what
that's coming up.

Speaker 2 (01:40:46):
Next the AE on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 16 (01:40:54):
This is Adam and Adam sweekly choked through mind buckling
moments that make you go, Okay, what what.

Speaker 1 (01:41:06):
Tad Waters here?

Speaker 6 (01:41:08):
What are you talking about on a Tuesday?

Speaker 1 (01:41:11):
Pay what Odin?

Speaker 14 (01:41:12):
I did?

Speaker 1 (01:41:13):
Now say what?

Speaker 5 (01:41:17):
I'm not ready wex to relinquish title hopes for your
Houston Rockets.

Speaker 6 (01:41:24):
Good me neither. I might be in the minority. I
might not be practical.

Speaker 7 (01:41:29):
Just keep this small. Sad but true, likely fact, not
a fact. Yet every team's gonna have injuries.

Speaker 5 (01:41:38):
Well, I mean, look, if what would be the equivalent
of Fred van Vliet going down for the year for Oklahoma.

Speaker 7 (01:41:47):
City and point guard for point guard Sga out for
the Ads. That's the equivalent.

Speaker 6 (01:41:52):
That's their best place. That's what you're asking, right.

Speaker 5 (01:41:54):
No, the equivalent would be their like Alix Caruso best player.

Speaker 6 (01:41:58):
Hey, he would be. That would be a big blow
for them defensively.

Speaker 7 (01:42:01):
I would not call him their fourth best player, so
it would probably be somebody else.

Speaker 5 (01:42:06):
But the thing about Oklahoma City is they lost chet
Holmgren for like a third of the year last year
and didn't miss a beat.

Speaker 7 (01:42:11):
But not in the playoffs where he and everybody else
on their team was totally healthy.

Speaker 5 (01:42:16):
Yeah, but still, I mean, I think you know what
a good example of that that backs up what you're
saying is, First, I can't remember if it was eleven games.
I think it was Chris Paul missed like eleven of
the first maybe twenty games the Rockets played that year
that they won sixty five games and were the one seed.
It was when he got hurt in the playoffs that

(01:42:38):
their season went south. So what you're saying there is
absolutely true now as it pertains to the Rockets and
what this will in this case, the word that is
used is forced force the Rockets to do. I'm not
particularly a huge fan of Tim Bontemps, but he does
agree with something I said yesterday. I don't necessarily mind

(01:43:03):
if the Rockets put the ball in the men Thompson's
hand hands as there the facto point guard, whatever you
want to call it. I mean, I know, Reach Shepherd's
gonna get a lot more minutes than he would have,
but I think they were playing on Reach Shepherd to
get a ton of minutes this season, one way or
the other. But Amen, Thompson is the key to this season.

(01:43:23):
He's always been to the key to this season in
my opinion, even more so than Kevin Durant and Albura
and Shingoon, simply from the standpoint of he's the guy
you expect to take that next step, and if he does,
that makes so many things go so much more smoothly
for a Houston Rockets team that fancies itself a title
contender coming into this year fully healthy. Now that Fred

(01:43:44):
van Vliet's out, who spells those minutes?

Speaker 6 (01:43:47):
Who spells that role?

Speaker 5 (01:43:49):
And uh Tim bon Tims, for example, thinks that this
isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Speaker 17 (01:43:55):
For the Rockets, and you want to see a silver
lining in what is a very black loud of a day.
I think it's that this is going to force Houston
to do the best long term thing for the Rockets,
which is to give the ball to women Thompson and
let him loose. And I think the results from that
are going to be pretty damn good.

Speaker 5 (01:44:16):
Now, defining let him loose is where the rubber is
going to meet the road here, But I think that's
what he's kind of alluding to.

Speaker 6 (01:44:23):
Handling the ball more being more of a inches.

Speaker 5 (01:44:27):
But this is all crazy when you think about he
still hasn't really hasn't developed a good jump shot of
any kind.

Speaker 7 (01:44:36):
Biggest difference if he is your main ball handler. And
it's hard to determine exactly what anybody means by that
same thing. When we talked about it yesterday, you know,
I said walking the ball up the quarter of being literal,
you're saying he said turn the reins over to him
or unleash him. It's those all relative terms. What exactly
do you mean if you just take it kind of
literally to They had a point guard running the team
last year who's a high usage player just in the

(01:44:58):
fact that he had the ball in his hand so much.
I can maybe less of that considering his extremely poor
offensive efficiency into the last couple of games of the playoffs.
But you also had a player who was elite in
a very important area and then turn the ball over.
His assistant turnover ratio is always among the league's best,
and he's simply an exceptional ball handler. And great handles

(01:45:20):
for Fred van Vliet, even though he wasn't using them
to create highlight reel impact offensive plays and drives of
the basket where many people look at handles and say, oh,
look at him, break this guy down. Well, Fred was
just not turning the ball over. Now you want to
if a man is playing at all like that, that's
to me, that's almost disastrous. And I know his ball
handling is going to do nothing but improve, and I

(01:45:40):
know that he works on it all the time, but
it's just not going to be like that, certainly not
this first go round, if that is in fact what
they do. But putting this team together and sliding him
into a position where just simply on the court, you're
losing something by doing that, That's what I talked about yesterday.
You might be gaining more than your losing, and then
ultimately you've made the right decision. But that means other

(01:46:00):
guys are now stepping into the role. Like all the
things that a men did with Fred van Vliet on
the court in twenty twenty four to twenty five, all right,
take a men away from some of those things, if
not all of those things, you don't have anybody else
to replace him. And nobody else is doing those things.
I said yesterday, I'm sure everybody agrees with this. They
need to be as I need to not look at

(01:46:21):
the numbers every week or so to check. Are the
Rockets the best offensive rebounding team in the NBA? Are
they the best rebounding team in the NBA? That just
needs to be a fact. They need to be the
best rebounding team in the NBA. Just they've been so
good at it, they need to be even better. They
just need to make sure that is every night they
hit the court, regular season and playoffs, there's crushing people

(01:46:42):
on the boards offensive glass. Obviously, with the double big
was such a success, they just kept doing it more
and more and more. And when you start considering, well,
if those two guys are on the floor and Kevin
Durant is active that night, and he's on the floor,
and a Men's on the floor, like how much how
many other They have so many different combinations and players
to use their reliance on any one player, it got

(01:47:03):
lessened this year, much more so than it ever was
last year.

Speaker 6 (01:47:06):
So I think you have the option to do.

Speaker 7 (01:47:08):
Whatever it is you want with a Men Thompson almost
on any given night. But the lineups you're putting out
there are going to be pretty creative this year, whereas.

Speaker 6 (01:47:16):
They just simply would not have been. With Fred on
the court.

Speaker 7 (01:47:19):
You're not gonna have many lineups where you're small, you're
only I mean, I don't know that that changes much,
but you just weren't work going to have very many
like that, and you certainly won't now he's one of
your smallest players no longer available. I don't know how
much it impacts that with Aaron Holliday, but I think
the idea that a man is taking this whoa he's
one of the ten best players in the league, he's

(01:47:41):
one of the ten best players in the West leaps
I believe it's happening. I don't think that's who he
is this year, even with maybe extended asks from him
because Fred's out.

Speaker 5 (01:47:53):
The aforementioned jump shot that he hasn't shown yet. That
would be what it would take, too violently of him
into that, I.

Speaker 7 (01:48:01):
Think, so, I mean, it certainly would would make it
easier to do that, but he's never going to count
on that. Like even you know, guys like Russ who
had a mid range jumper and never extended a three
point line, like he never extended it a three point line,
but he was extremely effective between twelve and eighteen feet
for most of his career. Obviously, you could say the
same thing about Chris Paul, but you'd have to put

(01:48:22):
him on a pedestal because nobody's going to shoot like
that at the gardens in his life. And even Debar
de Rozan to a certain extent, I can't believe how
many threes he's now finally attempting in his career, which
isn't a number that matches many other players, but it's
much more than he ever did in his career.

Speaker 5 (01:48:36):
Well, he was, he was curtailed by a guy who
refused to play modern NBA basketball, and now he was
out of the way and he's no longer there.

Speaker 7 (01:48:44):
So I suppose I mean, I don't think I have
the wrong idea of how to use a N. Thompson
this upcoming year. But in the twenty four plus hours
we've had this news, it definitely hasn't matched with everybody else.

Speaker 6 (01:48:56):
I think a lot of.

Speaker 7 (01:48:57):
People see it as all right, it's a men's team,
almost like he's going to run the show.

Speaker 6 (01:49:02):
I'm not sure that I see it that way yet.

Speaker 5 (01:49:04):
If that happens and it's successful, I'm fine with it.
But going back to yesterday, the fact that training camp
still hasn't begun is actually in the rockets favor.

Speaker 6 (01:49:15):
I think. With this news having come down, we.

Speaker 5 (01:49:17):
Will continue here on a Tuesday edition of the program
Sports Talk seven ninety. John Gruden has weighed in on
the most famous girlfriend in football.

Speaker 6 (01:49:27):
We'll explain next.

Speaker 2 (01:49:29):
The at on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (01:49:35):
Before we get to Chucking and his thoughts on.

Speaker 5 (01:49:41):
Bill Belichick's better half. You had mentioned earlier and we
were talking about Lane Kiffin being the goat in our
Best of X segment at two thirty. We didn't really
ever get to the other side of that story. And
for those of you who don't know Ale miss head coach.
Lane Kiffen's daughter Landry officially because it's social media, so

(01:50:05):
that makes it official. She announced her relationship with Well,
an LSU linebacker the week of game day.

Speaker 6 (01:50:13):
What did she do? She she announced her relationship? What'd
she do? She announced her relationship? No, she hard sold
her relationship.

Speaker 5 (01:50:23):
Well, I wasn't going to go that far, but there is.
There is a picture. Hard launched it, Landry Kiffen sitting
in his lap. Who's the player again.

Speaker 6 (01:50:34):
Wit weeks?

Speaker 5 (01:50:35):
Yeah? Lane Kiffen responded to a tweet about this at
nine pm last night with simply take the over.

Speaker 6 (01:50:49):
That's so awesome. Law of scoring? You think that'll be
the case? Yes, I think there will be a lot
of scoring. Yes, absolutely, Yes? Are you talking about football still?

Speaker 18 (01:50:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:50:59):
Ole Miss ls you Ole Miss's defense not good enough
to keep LSU's offense off the board, even while LSU's
offense struggling a little bit, and'll miss. If their quarterback
and can bring it like I think he might be
able to fully healthy, then then they'll be just fine.

Speaker 6 (01:51:12):
She is all up in his lap posing for a picture.

Speaker 7 (01:51:17):
Like totally typical of every single college students Instagram page.

Speaker 5 (01:51:21):
Except for if the college in questions head football coach
and she was the daughter of that football coach.

Speaker 7 (01:51:29):
This totally matches is this is what they do. This
will be fun, family will get people talking.

Speaker 6 (01:51:35):
This is perfect. I mean, it's none of this is
an accident. Father.

Speaker 7 (01:51:39):
I'm sure they scheduled this post, just like everybody else
does that handles their social media accounts properly.

Speaker 6 (01:51:44):
They knew what they were doing.

Speaker 7 (01:51:45):
It's not an accident that this arrived the week of
all this stuff is it's fun, it's probably it's the
same kind of stuff we were talking about earlier. It's
it's I mean, it took forever and eventually maybe Friday,
for two minutes, we'll talk about the football game. And honestly,
the other story we're gonna get to this segment, I
think is already the complete opposite of that in what

(01:52:07):
way it's impossible to not talk about the football even
though he's dating a twenty four year old. Because the
football they're not even at a low point, it's about
to get so much worse, and it's it's good to me.
It's gonna get so much worse because they're not playing.
I think a lot of people thought they had a
very difficult schedule. They don't they're acc schedule, which is bad. Well,

(01:52:30):
they haven't even started it yet. They stink, and they're
the best teams in the AFC. ACC are not on
their schedule, and they're going to get beaten over and
over and over and over again. And no way is
it worth talking about. Oh my god, guys at barstool,
his girlfriend is on the sidelines.

Speaker 6 (01:52:50):
Well that's what, Chuck, you wanted to talk about.

Speaker 7 (01:52:52):
Well, that's what everybody currently wants to talk about, because
if you're talking North Carolina football, it's a waste of time.

Speaker 6 (01:52:58):
John bad at Football.

Speaker 5 (01:52:59):
John on Bill Belichick's girlfriend being on the sidelines.

Speaker 18 (01:53:05):
Well, actually, she called the game winner against the Ravens
on Monday Night Football a couple of years ago. She
came down on the field and helped me through a
tough situation. It was all out blitz and she told
me to go with fifty eight serge. So thank god
she saved the day that day. But I've never seen
anything like that. You know, Mike Lombardi works for North Carolina.

(01:53:28):
I've heard him criticize me several times. I'm sure he'll
produce a TikTok today explaining exactly what was going on there.

Speaker 7 (01:53:38):
Well, first of all, John Gruen was making a joke
about his wife being down there on the sidelines basically,
which obviously never happened. It also didn't happen during the game.
This if you guys have seen it, hopefully you guys
have seen the AI that's actually funny. Oh yeah, but
you know she was on the sideline before the game
players are on the field getting loose. I could have
been thirty minutes before the game was more likely forty
five minutes an hour that's usually when the players are

(01:54:00):
out there. So the person in a relationship with the
head coach was on the sidelines. If I told you that,
you would think nothing, absolutely nothing of it. If you've
ever been to a college football game before where it
involves a male head football coach and a female he's
in a relationship with, more often than not that's his wife.
In this case, it's not. In this case, it's not
someone within ten, twenty, thirty, forty fifty years of him

(01:54:22):
in age. That's the difference the wives. Now, heck, I
couldn't even say. I couldn't even get to that. See
one of the teams we have here, Sark his team,
his wife's on the field before and during many games,
usually later in the games. She's obviously not involved in
anything during the game, none of them are. But she's
on the field every game and she here's my outfit

(01:54:43):
of the day, every game.

Speaker 6 (01:54:44):
And she is extremely extremely.

Speaker 7 (01:54:47):
Well known for being very visible but not going up
to coach Sark before the game to whisper in his ear.
And because that's the video that was captured, that's what
makes it so much more different. Sidelines during the game,
she's not telling Bill Belichick what to do. I don't
deny that. Bill Belichick absolutely looks like a fool from
the moment this relationship started to where we sit today

(01:55:09):
here and four fifty Central Time on September twenty thirty.
Looks like an absolute fool, no matter how much we
want to be sitting at the bar, you know, bouncing
beers back and talking guide talk.

Speaker 6 (01:55:20):
Oh man, he's dating a twenty four year old. What
a guy. He's the goat.

Speaker 7 (01:55:23):
He looks like an absolute fool throughout this entire situation.

Speaker 6 (01:55:26):
Do you think he's slid into her DMSU.

Speaker 7 (01:55:29):
If he was not lying to us through the media
all these years, he would not have known how you
mean on snapface or insta book. Maybe he was that
was a misdirection, maybe we fell for it. But she
and he could be doing this a lot differently. They've
chosen not to. It's you don't have to be there
on the sidelines looking as you do, up in close

(01:55:51):
enough to him that you're whispering in his ear. Lots
of other coaches wives are close to them and they're
not out there doing that because that's not what the
people involved. The coach doesn't want that. This coach doesn't
seem to know that. He shouldn't want that, but it's happening.
He looks he's not getting fired for what's happening this year,
because he's gonna have a full grace year for People

(01:56:14):
have gotta quit saying this, Well, they weren't expected to win.
You can't turn this around in one year. They weren't,
weren't in a good place. Welcome to college football? Are
you joking? Are you blind? Are you not paying attention?
Do you know where Oklahoma State's program was two years ago,
winning ten games including their bowl game.

Speaker 6 (01:56:31):
They went ten to four. They've won four games since then.

Speaker 5 (01:56:34):
The best coach they've ever had, the most successful coach
they've ever he is Oklahoma State. He lost every conference
game last year, hasn't gotten to conference play this year
where they're gonna lose a ton of games?

Speaker 6 (01:56:47):
Fired there for it.

Speaker 7 (01:56:49):
Like Bill Belichick is different because of what he used
to do and what he once did, but college football
is different. They're not gonna wait and wait and wait
and see is he generated revenue? Are people wanting to
give us money? Are we the same eight hundred celebrities
that were our home opener? Are they going to be
there at the next game and the next game, or
is ever going to say this is a waste of

(01:57:10):
my time, effort, and money. It's not gonna be three
or four years to figure it out. If I really
truly believe this, If this team plays four and eight
football this year and next year, he's gone.

Speaker 6 (01:57:23):
He is out, and he's never coaching again.

Speaker 14 (01:57:25):
Bill Belichick does not get the same respect as Mike Gundy.
Mike Gundy spent two decades on a program that he built,
and they told him how much we're paying you, We're
not gonna let you finish out the season. That's the
new role in college football.

Speaker 5 (01:57:41):
Yeah, I mean, look what you said about Bill Belichick
in year one has to be I mean, the grace period,
whatever you want to call it, recruitment, everything that goes
with it, and a recruitment is so different than it
was before. I do wonder if that's a big part
of this, because one of his best friends is Nick Saban, right,
and he was like, I'm out, I'm not doing this anymore.

Speaker 6 (01:58:02):
Yeah, I do.

Speaker 7 (01:58:03):
The only thing I like about John Gruden is he's
snuck in a dig at Mike Lombardi, which everybody around
the NFL loves to do, and so do I.

Speaker 6 (01:58:10):
They're right, it's the worst.

Speaker 2 (01:58:14):
The A team on Sports Talk seven ninety, Adam Clinton
and Adam Wexler are the eight team.

Speaker 5 (01:58:32):
Football at five as we wade into the final hour,
waters Here on Sports Talk seven ninety and Space City
home Network, wex sac Cole Thompson with you on a
Tuesday edition of the program Funny you should mention the
former head coach at Oklahoma State. It's almost like you
knew we were going to talk about this here last segment.

(01:58:55):
Mike Gundhy Gonzo and we're talking about this before the show.
I believe that all he's done is basically average. How
many wins a year?

Speaker 7 (01:59:06):
Nine ish, I mean a nine or ten win season
under coach Gundi to Oklahoma State was very very common,
and just two years ago this was a ten win
team fourteen games, played a ten win team and you know,
a bowl win. They won a lot of bowl games,
especially here in recent years. He's been there a long time.
He played quarterback there, He survived a lot of different
i mean honestly eras of college football and was there

(01:59:28):
to help push them into this new era of NIL
and transfer portal and had worked with them on his
salary this past year going into this year to lower
that figure as they tried to shift some of the
money into recruiting operations in NIL et cetera. And it
just came down to the football and they weren't just losing.
You know, they started last year three and zero, and

(01:59:48):
if I've mentioned it last segment, I think I've mentioned it.
They were four and eleven in their last fifteen games. Okay,
well that's three of those wins starting last year, So
I guess that means they're one and eleven in their
last twelve. Yes, that's exactly what it means. And none
of those were conference games. They lost all nine games
to end the season last year inside the Big twelve,
all of them and embarrassed in many of them. They

(02:00:09):
were embarrassed again this season, and just their performance was unsatisfactory.
They said a lot of really nice things about him
in the official statement about what he means and it
won't be forgotten, and he did so much for this program.
But they couldn't be in college football the way they
need to be from a financial standpoint, producing games so
unappealing to those that are the ones that are gonna

(02:00:32):
end up giving you money and those that want to
play there. And it became that unappealing that a couple
of days before their next game. He was let go
in season, early in season, and he's the third coach
to be let go already this season at major college level.

Speaker 5 (02:00:49):
In his twenty first year there, trailing only Kirk Ferentz
at Iowa or at Iowa, I should say, since nineteen
ninety nine, it's the only longer tenured head coach in
college football to me, other than the obvious, which we'll
give you a little sample of just because I know
everybody loves it.

Speaker 6 (02:01:08):
Wait, wait, they're talking about Mike Gundy. I bet we're
gonna hear it. I bet we get to hear. I
bet they're gonna play it. I bet they're gonna do it.
I bet you do.

Speaker 5 (02:01:13):
But I uh, when I look at at you know,
his tenure there, because he basically he took over in
my last year at Sam Houston State, so I graduated
in five.

Speaker 6 (02:01:27):
He's been there.

Speaker 5 (02:01:28):
He's been at Oklahoma State as long as I can remember.
But what that meant was, like you said, nine ish
tennish wins every year, But he never looked at Oklahoma
State other than maybe like one season and thought they
were gonna do anything of consequence in college football? Is
that fair assessment of his tenure? There, no question about it.
I mean, but it wasn't like they were gonna win

(02:01:50):
a fair amount of games. They were gonna be respectable.
He was gonna have a you know, good product. But
I never remember like bear to watch out for Oklahoma
State this year.

Speaker 7 (02:01:59):
It can make some No, he had a losing season
his first year there, he had a losing season in
his last year there, last full season, but none in between.
So was he Jeff Fisher No, because none of those
were I mean with bowl wins. He usually also would
push them if they were six and six, they won
every Bowl game. They went into it six and six
and finished seven and six all those years. But no,

(02:02:20):
he's a jeish No, but those were there. Those were
his worst seasons. Those are the worst, the bottom of
the barrel for him. Those were just of Jeff Fisher's seasons.
I know he went to the Super Bowl. I didn't forget,
but no, Mike, Mike Gundy was better than that. But
in a competitive era where he was not as good
as everybody. Twenty twenty one is the potential outlier that
people would put out there because that was his one

(02:02:42):
top ten team. It was his one twelve win season
in recent days. They had a twelve win season in
twenty eleven. Also, it was good enough to keep them
from letting him go. He just was not great, and
it's hard to be great. I mean, Kirk ference is
no difference than that, no different in that regard. And
it's a crazy list of coaches that have been there

(02:03:02):
a long time. But all that being said, he is
still known for I mean, just this year he got
a deal and I can't remember with what type of company.
I certainly won't give the name, but he had his
own commercials this year poking funt at his rant.

Speaker 6 (02:03:20):
That's what he will always be most famous for. Play it.

Speaker 5 (02:03:23):
That is interesting because I saw that commercial and I
specifically so he came to the Touchdown Club event over
at the This was at the JW. Marriott in the
Galleria and I was at the time, I think I
was still doing TV. Yeah, I was, because I asked
him specifically. Hey, I ran into him coming off the elevator,

(02:03:45):
almost literally ran into him. He had just done a workout,
He's pouring sweat, he was about to go upstairs a shower,
get ready to come back down and speak. And so
I said, Hey, can we talk to you when you
come back down you're cleaned up. He's like, absolutely, just
come find me. So, you know whatever, how I'm long,
Passes comes back downstairs. I find him, and at the
end of the interview, I asked him if we could

(02:04:07):
get a line from that rant for the opening for
Sports Sunday. And he gets this funny look on his
face and he says, well, believe it or not, a
lot of those lines in the most viewed portions of
that rant are copyrighted, and I don't own the copyright.

Speaker 6 (02:04:25):
And I was like, what, how do you. You're the
one who said it. I didn't know how it worked.

Speaker 5 (02:04:30):
We never really got into like a deep conversation because
he had to go, I had to go whatever, But
that's what he said, so it's interesting to me. Obviously,
some copyrights were cleared to make that commercial. But yeah,
when you think of Mike Gundy, you honestly probably don't
think as much about the football as you do about
this rant right here.

Speaker 4 (02:04:48):
I'm gang.

Speaker 9 (02:04:50):
We'll talk about this article right here. If anybody hasn't
read this article.

Speaker 13 (02:04:55):
I don't read it.

Speaker 9 (02:04:57):
This was brought to me by a mother of children,
a mother things is worth reading. Let me tell you
what I want to talk about this article. Three fourths
of this is an accurate.

Speaker 1 (02:05:09):
Stiction.

Speaker 9 (02:05:10):
And this article embarrasses me. But you haven't had that
that someday you will. And when your child comes home,
you understand if you want to go after an athlete,
one of my athletes, you go after one that doesn't
do the right things.

Speaker 6 (02:05:28):
You don't downgrade.

Speaker 9 (02:05:29):
Him because he does everything right and may not play
as well on Saturday, and you let us make that decision.

Speaker 3 (02:05:36):
That's why I.

Speaker 9 (02:05:36):
Don't read the newspaper because it's garbage. And the editor
that let it come out is garbage. Attacking an amateur
athletes for doing everything right, and then you want to
write articles about guys that don't do things right and
downgrade him the ones that do make plays.

Speaker 6 (02:05:57):
Are you kidding me?

Speaker 9 (02:05:58):
Where are we at in society today?

Speaker 1 (02:06:01):
Come after me?

Speaker 9 (02:06:03):
I'm a man, I'm forty, I'm not a kid. Write
something about me or are coaches were writing about a
kid that does everything right that's heart's broken, and then
say that the coaches said he was scared.

Speaker 1 (02:06:18):
That ain't true.

Speaker 9 (02:06:21):
And then to say that we made that decision because
Donovan was because he's threatened to transfer.

Speaker 1 (02:06:26):
That's not true. So get your facts straight.

Speaker 9 (02:06:32):
And I hope someday you have a child and somebody
beat downgrades them and belittles.

Speaker 6 (02:06:37):
Them, and you have to look him in the eye
and say, you know what, it's okay.

Speaker 9 (02:06:40):
They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you
kidding me?

Speaker 6 (02:06:49):
That's all I got to say? Makes me want to puke.

Speaker 7 (02:06:53):
Then he went off and and puked. I think, and
I think he was referring to himself. I think he
was the kid. He was the immature ranter there, the
one who lost his temper through a temper tantrum. So
I guess he was saying, who's the kid?

Speaker 6 (02:07:03):
It was you? Eighteen years old?

Speaker 7 (02:07:06):
Yesterday it was the eighteen year anniversary of that, and
I think most people here in Houston know. Unfortunately, because
it was not a good thing for the player he
was talking about is a Houston area player, North short
quarterback and obviously Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid. It was
not enjoyable for him to deal with that for as
long as he had to, and I'm talking about many,
many years after he was out of school for that

(02:07:28):
to have generated that type of reaction from his head
coach there at a press conference and talking to the
media the way he did in that regard, it's always
great to have your player's backs, and I think that
was his ultimate intention there. It obviously took on a
life of its own, and also being that it was
eighteen years old. We talked about this with Arch and
many other players this season and last season with other players.

(02:07:50):
We would not a coach would not talk like that
anymore for the one very obvious reason. He's a kid.
He's an amateur. You No, he's a professional. You're paying him.
He is a pro athlete. He is being paid to
play football on a college campus. That is a professional.
Is not People are not looking at these college age students.

(02:08:10):
And they still are college age student except for the
fifty eight year old that's playing college football this year.
They are that, but they're not amateur athletes anymore. Not
the ones that most often are being talked about, the
ones on the field who were recruited with money to
pay them to play for that particular university while they're also.

Speaker 6 (02:08:27):
Going to class and getting an education.

Speaker 7 (02:08:29):
And I don't think we'll ever hear a coach talk
about a player like that back a player like that.
They may have their back, but they just won't be
able to use and won't feel right using those words.

Speaker 6 (02:08:38):
Again, where are we at in society? That's my favorite part.
We're fine.

Speaker 7 (02:08:43):
We were fine then too, Back in two thousand and
seven when he said it was a comedy.

Speaker 5 (02:08:47):
Two thousand and seven, Yeah, eighteen years ago, Oh my gosh,
I mean it was so good. I mean for all
the wrong reasons, I guess. I mean, these never go away.

Speaker 7 (02:08:57):
They're the most famous things ever playoff playoffs, you play
to win the game that we'll never forget this one,
And I feel bad about saying that one rest in peace.

Speaker 6 (02:09:09):
But yes, he's no longer with us. Yes, but it
was his rant.

Speaker 7 (02:09:13):
Well it's not even what he like. What he said
was clearly what we would use here on the radio.
But his fist slamming into the podium so hard I
thought it was going to break, was even better.

Speaker 6 (02:09:25):
It's because he was a large individual. Well, he was
just fired up. He was bigger at other times.

Speaker 7 (02:09:30):
At that particular time, it seemed like he was in
a little bit better a condition.

Speaker 6 (02:09:34):
But we could go way.

Speaker 7 (02:09:35):
He could play another forty nine minutes of elite coaching rants.
We could probably go another thirty minutes with just Mike
Ditka rants.

Speaker 6 (02:09:43):
That's true.

Speaker 5 (02:09:44):
Well, don't forget Bobby Knight, particularly behind closed doors.

Speaker 7 (02:09:48):
Now, I wouldn't feel bad talking about Bobby Knight because
he was just not a good nice person.

Speaker 6 (02:09:54):
No, not a good one. You know, it definitely wasn't nice.
He wasn't nice or good. No one time he was
a good beat.

Speaker 7 (02:10:00):
I can call him the worst the same day I
call Mike Lombardi the worst, second worst.

Speaker 6 (02:10:05):
There's always Tomorrow, Always Tomorrow show.

Speaker 5 (02:10:07):
There we go all right tomorrow on the show, he
will call Bobby Knight the worst. Coming up on the
show next, we have huge news. If true, and it is,
I'll explain.

Speaker 2 (02:10:18):
The eight on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (02:10:29):
A couple of Astro's related notes.

Speaker 7 (02:10:31):
We get a little bit closer to first pitch tonight,
only about three and a half hours from now. They
take on the West Sacramento Athletics this evening. Still no
word from the team officially on how they plan on
deploying their pitching staff for these three games. Christianavier obviously
starts tonight, could have Hunter Brown going on Wednesday, and

(02:10:52):
maybe some consideration with that decision on Thursday, Friday, Saturday
of rest and pitching again on Sunday on three days
rest to get this team out of the postseason. We'll
see how the Astros go on that front. The A's
will be throwing a lefty tonight, Jeff Springs and a
pair of rightyes to close out the series. Based on

(02:11:13):
the probable Severino and again the next two days, would
expect the left handed heavy lineup for the Astros to
be the one that Joe a Spotted goes with for
those two games. Again, Thursday's games a two thirty first pitch,
so the bulk of the A team, if not all
of the A team, will be wiped out off the air.

Speaker 6 (02:11:30):
But we'll be with you till seven o'clock that night.

Speaker 7 (02:11:33):
They also announced Brandon Walter's surgery has now taken place
UCL reconstruction surgery on that left elbows throwing elbow yesterday.
He was put on the injured list initially two months
ago July twenty fifth. The beginning of that stint, there
was hope that he would begin to throw again and
maybe they would not have to go this route. But

(02:11:54):
ultimately inflammation occurred in additional issues with it, and this
was the course of action. No timetable was given by
the team around this surgery, but usually it's a lengthy
one and twenty twenty six in its entirety I would
certainly come into question for him. We'll wait and see,
and I think by now the numbers I can tell

(02:12:15):
you in the scenarios that are out there for the Astros,
you well know the same record as the Cleveland Guardians
entering tonight, one game worse than both the Tigers and
the Red Sox do not have the tiebreaker with any
of those three teams, do not have the tiebreaker with Seattle,
who has three games ahead of you in the division,
and they actually sit in the number two spot, your
four wins back of the New York Yankees. Everyone gets

(02:12:37):
on the field tonight and through Sunday to sort it
all out. Astros obviously with the Athletics and the Angels,
Boston has a difficult finish with Toronto, and that's in
Toronto and then Detroit, and Toronto's still trying to sew
up the number one overall seed. Seattle finishes with Colorado
and the Dodgers all in Seattle. Detroit finishes all on

(02:12:59):
the road first with Cleveland starting tonight with tark Scoobel
on the mound, and then they go to Boston. As
I mentioned earlier, in Cleveland, after they welcomed Detroit to
their ballpark tonight, Tomorrow and Thursday, they welcome the Rangers,
who by then will definitively have nothing to play for.
The teams currently in the eight and nine spot, Texas
and Kansas City have not yet been mathematically eliminated, but

(02:13:22):
that will likely come tonight for Kansas City and will
likely come tomorrow for the Texas Rangers, so before they
get to Cleveland and what could be some very very
important games for the Guardians.

Speaker 6 (02:13:34):
Yeah, I can't believe.

Speaker 5 (02:13:35):
Is all that money, all that talent, all those superstars
they bought on credit, and the Dodgers are four games
better than the Houston Astros this year with all their injuries.

Speaker 7 (02:13:47):
They're probably the two most injured teams this year in
terms of the quality of player that's missed time and
the magnitude and games missed by those players. I mean,
I don't I know Baltimore's had the numbers. I think
the amount of injuries, I don't think it would register
as quite as high on the scale for the magnitude
of the talent on those players. And that's what I
also think shifts it in the astros favor to their detriment.

(02:14:11):
The quality of the players that have missed time for
this team. That's why they're I mean, it is amazing
where they are, and I think wins the words probably
similar amazing. We're talking about all these injuries that the
Dodgers have had, all these and it's definitely the case
they have had a ton of injuries. They've had players
that otherwise would have been major contributors to their team
this year. There's no way you would not say that

(02:14:33):
and be really trying to be truthful about who they
were this year. When they hit the field tonight with Otani,
I believe pitching and hitting tonight, he'll be playing in
his one hundred and fifty fourth game. Mookie Bets will
be playing in his one hundred and forty sixth game.
Freddy Freeman will play in Game one forty three. Will Smith,
who's a catcher, will probably finish the season playing about

(02:14:53):
one hundred and twenty five games, is at won ten
right now, and those are far and away their four
best players YEA, and three of the four or who
aren't catchers. They've basically been healthy the entire season.

Speaker 6 (02:15:03):
Basically.

Speaker 7 (02:15:04):
There have been some games, missing some time down and
I'm not saying they're fully healthy, but there was no
fifty five game stretch, there was no one hundred games stretch,
there was no entire months of missing time. And the
Astros had each one of those three injuries to Alvarez, Peretis.

Speaker 6 (02:15:21):
And Paanya. They're three likely you would argue this year
they're three best hitters.

Speaker 5 (02:15:25):
They also sweat the Dodgers in LA just wanted to
throw that out there one more time.

Speaker 6 (02:15:29):
They sure did.

Speaker 7 (02:15:30):
I just said that's how they got to within four
games of the Dodgers. Should they be scoreboard watching and
see if they can outplay the Dodgers this year?

Speaker 6 (02:15:38):
I would laugh and laugh.

Speaker 7 (02:15:39):
Dodgers haven't clinched their division yet either, but they're definitely
trending that way and they own the tiebreakers. So what
they're playing for at the end of the season against Seattle, heck,
what's Seattle. I'm not sure what they'll be playing for either.
They probably, you know, three games up on. The Astros
should have the division wrapped up. They need to make
sure they stay far enough ahead of Cleveland or Detroit,
and then if they're within not within reach of Toronto

(02:16:00):
and that they'll already have there, already know their playoffs
eight they'll be opening at home, they'll be in a DS,
they won't have to play in the Wildcard series, and
then they can. Then you could already set up your
rotation regardless of who you throw on Saturday and Sunday,
because you won't play again until Saturday.

Speaker 6 (02:16:14):
But it's the position.

Speaker 7 (02:16:15):
The Astros worth three good days of baseball away from
being in themselves. But they played three games against a
better team, and the better team beat them very very
soundly in those three games at dyk In Park, and
that's why they sit in the position they're in lineup
in for the Athletics, not yet so for the Astros.
Wonder if there's a little bit more time needed on

(02:16:36):
making the decision for Jeremy Pana. But the expected heavy hitters,
the top six hitters in the A's order are the
ones that you worry about, the reason why they're going
to be competitive next year, the reason why their roster
offensively might look better than everybody's in this division other
than Seattle. Kurtz, Langelier, Soderstrom, Rooker, Wilson, and Butler. They
go one through six. Butler's seven to twenty one OPS

(02:16:58):
is the only one under eighth six and Kurtz, if
he does anything tonight, has a good chance of popping
his OPS back up over a thousand.

Speaker 6 (02:17:08):
As a rookie. They're good. They're very, very very good offensively.
Not every night.

Speaker 7 (02:17:15):
I pointed this out a couple of times, hoping it matters,
hoping it plays into this game and their days off.
I mean when's the last time the A's even scored
a run in scoring it yesterday, in scoring toy, the
day before, in scoring to the day before.

Speaker 5 (02:17:30):
That sounds like the Astros weekend. With the exception of
a few at bats here and.

Speaker 6 (02:17:33):
There, they scored runs in every game but one. Yeah,
but it was zero for a long time in those games.

Speaker 7 (02:17:38):
Yeah, they did finish up their last series without getting
on the board. The Pirates shut him out in each
of their last two games. Well, I got the way
back to Friday. Yeah, for the last time the A's
put a run on the board.

Speaker 5 (02:17:49):
Well, hopefully the Astros continue that trend, but I'm not optimistic,
even with Christian Javier on the mount.

Speaker 7 (02:17:54):
Obviously, the biggest news of the day regarding your football
team was made official a little over an hour ago.
The Texan sent out the info on the we have
released and it was on CJ. Gardner Johnson. We've been
talking about it since the show began. That news broke
just a little bit before two o'clock. Reasons behind it, obviously,
we're not given by the team.

Speaker 6 (02:18:11):
Dumiko, Ryan, C J.

Speaker 7 (02:18:13):
Stroud and Open Locker Room all present themselves tomorrow, so
I'm sure Demiko, I mean, probably will comment on it
before he's even asked, and then we'll be asked about it,
I'm sure quite a few times because they made the
release official. There's also a roster spot open. They have
fifty three spots on the roster and they're not all
currently taken. I would imagine they would want safety help

(02:18:34):
because it won't be Jimmy Ward, and now is CJ.
Gardner Johnson out with Jalen Reed not yet practicing, he's
on the injured list, So I would guess there's a
reasonable likelihood that either Miles Bryant, who can play both
defensive back spots all really all five spots for this team,
or Jalen Mills, who was brought in during the off season,
let go and then brought back via the practice squad,

(02:18:55):
probably the likeliest of candidates. Remember when they have these
standard elevations that every team has every week at their disposal,
there's no difference. These guys have been with the team
for weeks, they've been practicing, and then they get elevated
for the game if they're needed. It's not like they
don't know what they're doing or they haven't been on
the field. They're on the team, they're just not on
the active roster. Last week, Bryant was one of their

(02:19:17):
two elevations. He didn't see any snaps on defense, played
special teams for them, But that spot has to be
filled and I can't imagine anywhere else. Remember last week
they had all six wide receivers that are on the
roster healthy, but Braxton Barrios was inactive because there's no
reason to suit up six wideouts, especially when one of
them isn't when he isn't going to be a return man.

(02:19:37):
That obviously stills falls in the hands of a Jalen
Knowl and Treymon Smith, and that Treymont was going to
be a bigger part of thing. Didn't expect it would
be quite as big of a part of things, but
when Dereck Singley Junior got hurt, he was and over
the course of the day, we've talked about it a
few times regarding the release, it clearly was more than football,
but it should not be presented that it was not

(02:19:57):
away from football. There were plays on the field that
weren't being made, and Demiko Ryans essentially mentioned it without
mentioning anybody's name. So at that point in time, it
wasn't clear who he might be talking about, but noted
some communication issues on the back end, and I think
pointing it towards several big plays and the most recent
one was the biggest play of the game that cost

(02:20:19):
them the game. Quite honestly, if the long pass play
to Brian Thomas Junior does not take place, and there
was apparently a miscommunication there with their matching up defensively
where CJ.

Speaker 6 (02:20:29):
Gardner Johnson was supposed to go and.

Speaker 7 (02:20:31):
Go with who we was supposed to go with and Lasseter, well,
they had to let them score. After that, you're trying
to force them to punt so you get the ball
back in a tie game. Instead, you gave up the
biggest play of the game and ultimately what put them
on the board to win the game from you. There's
actually major major college football news we've not yet gotten
to today, and it's on the field, not off the field.

(02:20:51):
Like coach Gundy, he's on the sidelines, but this was
actually on the field news and it impacts Arch Manning's team.

Speaker 6 (02:20:57):
We'll talk about that next.

Speaker 2 (02:21:00):
The aged on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 7 (02:21:06):
Lot to get who here because we have to focus
on some major news items like the Texans release of CJ.
Gardner Johnson, the Astros first of the final six as
they get ready for the Athletics There in a West
Sacramento with Christian Javier on the mound, going up against
Jeff Springs and the other sorted baseball games, many of
which will be over before the Astros get to the field.

(02:21:26):
But I mentioned something that will impact the race in
the SEC because it just means more. We got a
top ten football team that needs their backup quarterback because
their starting quarterback has become unavailable for an undetermined amount
of time. We will be giving away tickets to go
see U of H take on Texas Tech on October fourth,

(02:21:48):
one of the biggest games in the country that weekend.

Speaker 6 (02:21:49):
We'll do that in the final segment of the show.

Speaker 7 (02:21:51):
But Cole to the news I just mentioned, and just
a little broken bone that's throwing a wrench in the SEC.

Speaker 6 (02:21:58):
So arch Manning will take on Michael Hawkins.

Speaker 7 (02:22:02):
In the rest presumably now a game between now and then.

Speaker 14 (02:22:06):
Everything is up for determination. Pageometier, the starting quarterback in
the Heisman frontrunner for Oklahoma, is expected to.

Speaker 6 (02:22:12):
Whoa WHOA Heisman front runner? What happened?

Speaker 14 (02:22:15):
He is the voting odds right now leoring to bet
MGM the Heisman front runner.

Speaker 6 (02:22:18):
Wow.

Speaker 14 (02:22:19):
They expected to miss about a month after suffering a
broken bone in his throwing hand, which is his right hand,
during Saturday's win against Auburn. Supposedly it happened during the
first quarter. He was able to play on through it
to get a second win against an eightp top twenty
five team. According to Brett Bedabules African consaulting with medical experts, it.

Speaker 6 (02:22:37):
Became clear that surgery was the best.

Speaker 14 (02:22:39):
Option for Materier, not just for the short but also
for the long term future. These type of surgeries have
been performed by doctor Stephen Schin, who has worked with
other athletes including Drew Brees, Steph Curry, and Mike Trout.

Speaker 6 (02:22:51):
The timeline, according.

Speaker 14 (02:22:52):
To On three Sports, is about three to four weeks,
which would put him back right at the end of October,
just in time for the matchup against During that span,
the next three games up that he could potentially miss
the Red River Shootout Kent State, South Carolina on the road.

Speaker 7 (02:23:08):
Yeah, Kent State comes their next game. They're off this week.
They played Kent State, then the Red River Shootout, and
then the game against South Carolina. The next four weeks
are those three games. And we mentioned before the difficulty
in their schedule. A couple of weeks ago, when South
Carolina had not been embarrassed and they were one among
the all of their SEC opponents were ranked at the time,

(02:23:30):
they're now the one that currently isn't, so it's pretty
tough sledding. Some experience with their backup quarterback, plenty of
experience with their backup quarterback in the Red River rivalry game,
and that he was their quarterback for the game last
year that was very one sided in favor of Texas.

Speaker 6 (02:23:46):
So that is what is on tap for a top
ten team.

Speaker 7 (02:23:49):
Oklahoma's gotten off to a very good start and well
deserved respect for the two of those wins that they've
put together, beating Auburn last week, although they were told
they did something that's against the rules after the fact
that his officials didn't do anything about it during the game,
and they went over Michigan.

Speaker 6 (02:24:06):
But this is a pretty significant blow.

Speaker 7 (02:24:08):
It's one of the teams that does actually have an
experience backup.

Speaker 6 (02:24:12):
I assume they'll be just fine for the next two weeks.

Speaker 7 (02:24:14):
Not playing this weekend then playing Kent state they will
hit the Red River rivalry with the better record. They'll
be five and zero when they get there, and presumably Texas.

Speaker 6 (02:24:23):
Will be four and one when they get there. What
else do we have before we move on?

Speaker 14 (02:24:26):
It's very hard to argue with Auburn fans because Materis
suffered the injury in the first quarter. Here were his
stats for the second half of the game, twenty three
to thirty two to two hundred and sixty one yards,
one passing touchdown, and the big rushing touchdown that eventually
kind of potted them to a win, including having sixty
two rushing yards. That's his throwing hand. You could not

(02:24:46):
stop him with a broken thumb on his throwing hand. Sorry,
hard for me to feel bad for you about that one, Auburn.

Speaker 7 (02:24:54):
It was also twenty four to seventeen, Like they couldn't
stop him.

Speaker 6 (02:24:57):
In all, but they were right there the whole game.

Speaker 14 (02:24:59):
Cj Arner Johnson released by the Houston Texans earlier today,
but according to ESPNS Djbenemy, more information has come out
regarding his status with the team. Now again, we heard
from Aaron Wilson there had been frustrations brewing up in
the locker room he had requested a trade definitely was
calling on some teammates will.

Speaker 6 (02:25:17):
According to bi Enemy, the Texans.

Speaker 14 (02:25:20):
Have lost three games by seven points or fewer at minimum.
According to the team sources, Garner Johnson allowed three big
plays on all the drives that contributed to the opposing
team's offensive scoring touchdowns, one of which he already mentioned,
which was the forty six yard gain by Brian Thomas
in the fourth quarter to set up the ten yard

(02:25:41):
run by Travis Etn Week two, he was supposed to
be covering wide out Ryan Miller on the twenty yard touchdown. Instead,
what happened He bit on the route that was intended
for Sterling Shepard, forcing.

Speaker 6 (02:25:51):
Kaylin Block to move over the top.

Speaker 14 (02:25:53):
He was already playing behind and in week one, the
thirteen yard touchdown pass to Davis Allen ran a quarter
out to the U. S d of the to the
corner of the end zone, which Garner Johnson was responsible for. However,
cornerback Kamari Laster tried to clean up the coverage but
was unable to run down Allen, which led to the
fourteen to nine loss.

Speaker 7 (02:26:11):
Right, and these aren't being brought up or described as
oh these are you? Know bad play was made. These
are blown assignments. These are you're doing something we're not
asking you to do. We're asking you to do this,
but you've decided to do that the touchdown passed. I've
gone back and look at all all of these plays
that DJ brought up. The Tampa one stands out the
most to me because his decision on what to do,

(02:26:33):
which is outside what the play call is, was to
check up on Sterling Shepherd who was covered. He was
already covered. They did a good job on him. There's
no there's no reason to think that even if you're
playing for yourself, even if you're super selfish and you're
just doing whatever you want there, he wasn't open. You
weren't saving a teammate and try to be the hero

(02:26:54):
or make it just was.

Speaker 6 (02:26:55):
It was not what the.

Speaker 7 (02:26:56):
Play called for. According to reports on this not how
the play was drawn up. Defensively, here's your assignment, here's
where we need you to go, here's the area of
the field that you have, and here's who you're matched
up with. And he just didn't do it, and that's
what resulted in the touchdown. I mean, these are individual plays.
There may be others and Demiko did acknowledge there were
some miscommunication issues, which is the safest public way to

(02:27:20):
say what now appears apparent without burying the guy publicly.

Speaker 6 (02:27:24):
I'm sure all this happened behind closed doors.

Speaker 7 (02:27:27):
Well, it was your fault, not because you tripped and
not because you bid on a double move. It's because
you're not doing what you're asked to do. We're telling you,
here's the defense we're running, here's your responsibility, and he
just decided to do something else.

Speaker 5 (02:27:41):
And if they're doing this a polite way publicly, it
was obviously pointed out to him behind closed doors. And
if the reaction of that was anything other than I
don't know, Well it wasn't clearly because he's not only upset,
but he's demanding a trade.

Speaker 6 (02:27:54):
It didn't really surprise me. This is what happened.

Speaker 14 (02:27:56):
Does you guys also see the replay of the Brian
Thomas forty six yard game?

Speaker 6 (02:28:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (02:28:01):
I watched it a couple of different times to make
sure everything that I thought was there was there. And
first time I saw it obviously live on this past Sunday,
I did not see it. I was looking for, you know,
who was supposed to go where and Ultimately, what was
supposed to happen is the two players that he and
Kamari Laster were matched up with. When one breaks outside, well,
that's where CJ. Gardner Johnson went. He was not supposed

(02:28:22):
to do that. When Brian Thomas Junior went the other way,
Lasser was in an extremely bad trail position. He did
all he could from there. He ended up pushing him
out of bounds. But that's not what I was looking for.
What I was looking for was how did CJ. Gardner
Johnson react to the ball going where it went? And
then how did Kamari Laster respond to that when he
got to Thomas.

Speaker 6 (02:28:42):
And pushed him out of bounds? And I saw what
I was looking for.

Speaker 7 (02:28:44):
As soon as he pushed him out of bounds, he
turned around towards the field of play where there's other
ten teammates were, including CJ.

Speaker 6 (02:28:50):
Gardner Johnson.

Speaker 7 (02:28:50):
While he was out of frame, he put his arms
up in the air, like, what's up, dude, WTF.

Speaker 5 (02:28:58):
That's not what we were called don to do. That's
not our responsibility. And I, I mean, I'm putting words in
his mouth quite obviously. And I haven't talked to Kamari
or the team about this. But yes, that look was
given back to some teammate.

Speaker 14 (02:29:10):
And that was the second time that's happened already, which
is another big time reason why Again you can understand
the frustrations and also cording to the enemy's have taking responsibility,
owning up for having the right to miss the calls.
He started fingerpointing and telling other people that they made
the mistake.

Speaker 7 (02:29:25):
Yeah, and this like again, we're going week to week,
so it's something that's been festering throughout. It's obviously more
than football, but the football probably matters the most to them,
and I think that's why they were willing to take
on a player like this, even though they knew ahead
of time there's some potential problems. But if the football
did end up like it's being reported, those are game

(02:29:46):
losing decisions made by a player, not physical mistakes made
by the human body.

Speaker 6 (02:29:51):
And they weren't going to put up with.

Speaker 5 (02:29:52):
That final segment of the program on a Tuesday edition
that's been.

Speaker 6 (02:29:56):
Jam packed of drama. It's coming up next.

Speaker 1 (02:30:00):
The Age on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (02:30:04):
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Speaker 1 (02:31:07):
So what is real Texan Radio?

Speaker 6 (02:31:10):
Good football?

Speaker 1 (02:31:10):
Seaven talk about the taxes man? Honeymoon? Is no agenda,
no bulletin, talk about real talking.

Speaker 6 (02:31:17):
Hey is Demijo Ris when he's in.

Speaker 1 (02:31:19):
Tasas Sports Talks seven ninety. Cute listener right here, real
Texans talk.

Speaker 2 (02:31:24):
Here the A team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (02:31:40):
It is the A team Sports Socks seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (02:31:44):
Winding down a.

Speaker 5 (02:31:45):
Tuesday edition of the program. You want to give away
some tickets?

Speaker 6 (02:31:49):
Of course I do. How about a pair of them?

Speaker 5 (02:31:52):
Even better to see the University of Houston Cougars in
their Houston Blue uniforms as they take on Texas Tech
on Family Night, Saturday, October fourth, at TDECU Stadium. Go
to U ofh Cougars dot com slash tickets or call
seven one three go Koogs now to get your tickets.
Come early, be loud where you're Houston Blue. You will

(02:32:16):
have to give the answer to this question at seven
one three two one two five seven ninety seven one
three two one two of five seven ninety to call
the answer to this question, and you will be headed
to that game we were talking about Lane Kiffin earlier,
staying on the theme of college football, we were talking about, uh,
the fact that his daughter has cozied up to an

(02:32:39):
LSU linebacker in anticipation of Ole Miss and LSU getting
together for this weekend's matchup. And she has made that
relationship Instagram official. Social hard launched it. She hard launched it.
She has made it social media public. What's her name?
You know her last name? What's her first name?

Speaker 6 (02:33:01):
Kiffin? Her last name is Kiffin. Yeah, her last name
is Kiffin.

Speaker 7 (02:33:05):
And if you didn't know enough about her first name,
you'd say, man, that's an awful lot like her dad's name.

Speaker 6 (02:33:12):
You just can't help yourself.

Speaker 5 (02:33:13):
You have to give the most insanely obvious hints every
time we do this. She can't make it hard at all.

Speaker 7 (02:33:19):
He's a football coach, so people probably know who he is.
But he's not an old time football coach that wore
a suit and a hat on the sidelines and coach
in Dallas or anything.

Speaker 6 (02:33:27):
He's not Tom Landry. He's definitely not Tom Landry. You're
the worst. You know what else is the worst?

Speaker 5 (02:33:33):
The idea that I saw floating around in the immediate
aftermath of Fred Van Vliet's injury.

Speaker 6 (02:33:38):
What's that?

Speaker 7 (02:33:39):
Fred van Vliet needs ACL surgery and we'll miss the bulk,
if not the entirety of the upcoming season of postseason.
If you were not aware, would you see upon that.

Speaker 6 (02:33:49):
Well, what position does he play? Point guard?

Speaker 5 (02:33:51):
He plays the one and who is the most high profile,
in name only available point guard out there on the
open market, Pat Beverly. No, although that's a good guess
when you consider who I'm trying to get at here.

Speaker 7 (02:34:06):
They have just one of one of his favorite other players,
Russell Westbrook. I can't think of a worse idea. Oh,
it's not an idea, it's not happening. And and if
you've been listening to us or other people are read
about this a little bit more from those who've gotten
into this, there are very few scenarios that the Rockets

(02:34:27):
would entertain because of what they chose to do regarding
the cap and the hard cap and where they are
with it.

Speaker 6 (02:34:33):
And the apron and all the they're very stuck.

Speaker 7 (02:34:36):
But they did that intentionally because this is one they
want to build the team.

Speaker 6 (02:34:40):
There's no going back from it.

Speaker 7 (02:34:41):
And the way the contracts work with all the other
players that you're thinking, Oh, they'll just move this guy
or move that guy. Well, we're gonna wait awhile if
that happens, this team is the team you're going to
see for the next two months, or the two first
two months of the season, so the next three months.
But they get to mid December when trades are now
an option, because you've rea December fifteenth with a lot
of these players that are actually untradable. And I don't

(02:35:04):
mean they're untradeable because they're not good enough or they
got a crazy contract. I mean it's not allowable by
the league's rules for these particular players to be moved
before December fifteenth. So they're going to trot the group
that they have with them that will all see a
media day on Monday, that's gonna be the group that
they play with most likely at least through December fifteenth.
So they will have a pretty good idea of what

(02:35:24):
they have and the combinations that work and those that
don't work, and all sorts of other things before they
would even really truly get down to can we package this,
that and the other to shore up this hole? And
even when they get to the deadline months from them,
they might actually still have players that they feel comfortable
not keeping for insurance anymore. They could help other teams.

(02:35:46):
I don't know that they'll go that route, but I
think the option will be there for them. That's way
off in the distance, but I've seen some mockups of
some other players put in Rockets jerseys that are almost
as comical, Ben Simmons being the latest.

Speaker 6 (02:35:58):
Why would they want a guy who can play? They
already have one? Is that right?

Speaker 5 (02:36:03):
Why would they want two of them? I guess they
should have been the answer to the question, or the
question itself.

Speaker 6 (02:36:09):
Yeah, I mean, I'm not.

Speaker 5 (02:36:12):
I think I believe too much in what they still
have left with Kevin Durant and to a lesser extent,
Dorian Finney Smith added to it, not to mention Steven Adams.

Speaker 6 (02:36:25):
And there's too much there for me to just.

Speaker 5 (02:36:28):
Say, well, there'll be a playoff team and that's it,
or they might they might make a nice run, but
they can't.

Speaker 6 (02:36:34):
I just don't. I don't agree with that.

Speaker 5 (02:36:37):
When you have one of the best players in the
NBA on your team and you add it to what
they already had, I just can't. Even with Fred van
Vliet not playing this season, I'm not ready to just
be like, well.

Speaker 6 (02:36:46):
There's no point playing these gamesles forfeit.

Speaker 7 (02:36:47):
Yeah, they just won't be what they were expecting to be.
I don't mean their record. I mean they are't gonna
be style. They're gonna have to play things and do
things a little bit differently, use some guys in different
situations that they would not otherwise have needed to as
much as you'd like to be taking some things off
the plate of Fred van Vliet. As he moves beyond
his thirtieth year or thirty age year and into years

(02:37:08):
ten or eleven, if he plays the next two years,
well then you have to have the players to do that,
and they did. Now you just move even further away
from that. You need some guys to prove it. That's obviously, reed, Shepherd,
And then you need some other guys to take the
obvious steps. I mean everything about what Alpern did last
year was that he took a huge step last year.
There's parts of his games that need a huge step,

(02:37:28):
but there's no reason to think those aren't happening, and
those were still irrespective of what was around him. These
are individual things that have to be worked on to
become better players. Jabari Smith Junior got a big fat
extension and he's got to be significantly better than he
was last year. And that's again, it's not related to
Fred being there or not. There's just too much basketball
for him to display to I mean, yeah, he's got

(02:37:49):
a play up to his contractor I asked to a
certain extent. I wouldn't necessarily look at it that way,
and I'm sure the player doesn't, which is all that matters.
But he looks at it as there's parts of my
game that need to be more consistent and need to
be better. He should be a guy very much like
Kevin Durant that they count on to hit the open shot,
whether it's behind the three point line, it's fifteen feet out,
or he's right around the basket. He should be counted

(02:38:10):
on to do that as much as just about anybody
that's out there on of the five that are out there,
very much like Durant. I don't know that he gets
his percentages up there, but that's who he can be,
that type of player, and I think that's what they
envisioned for him when he was first drafted, when they
somewhat surprisingly had him on the board. There for them
at the three spot in that draft. Very much looking
forward to seeing how he may puts it together because

(02:38:32):
there are new challenges. There are already plenty of challenges
just to stay second. They were second in the West
last year. That as good as a chance to knock
off Oklahoma City, I thought, as anybody else, they never
got the chance to see what that looked like in
the postseason, others did. I think the LA Clippers are
better than they were last year on paper. I think
the Nuggets have a chance to be better than they
were last year on paper. And we'll see about the

(02:38:54):
Rockets and everybody else in the Western Conference what things
are different next year, because the only thing that nobody
doubts his Oklahoma City is stilely class at the conference
and quite probably the class of the NBA. We'll get
into more of that again as the week progresses. Obviously
more when next week arrives, because we will hear from
the team Monday being media today, a few other media
days today around the NBA and over the rest of

(02:39:16):
the week, so maybe awesome nice bollet and board material
from few players. I bet you we'll get about how
things finished and how things are expected to go this year.
But most importantly, when we get here tomorrow at two o'clock,
we'll know a little bit more about what the final
five games of the Houston Astros season means to them,
the Tigers, the Red Sox, the Guardians, the Mariners, and

(02:39:37):
everybody else in the American League. Baseball for tonight already underway.
Baseball for the Astros still a couple hours out, but
we'll have it for you right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety. Look forward to chatting with you again tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (02:39:51):
The Age on Sports Talk seven ninety