Texans Schedule Release Takeaways, Rafael Stone Speaks, Dusty Baker Backs Altuve

Friday on The A-Team, Adam Clanton and Adam Wexler share their thoughts on the Texans schedule, react to Rafael Stone's latest comments, and applaud Dusty Baker for defending Jose Altuve.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's two o'clock on a Friday, which means it's time
to get the A team underway and gets you into
the weekend.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm a c he's WEX.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Josh Jordan is our fearless producer, and we're taking up
until six o'clock tonight. We'll make way for astros on
deck coverage at that point, where we will get you
ready for the Rangers, and I hope will win this weekend.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I don't know. I don't know the whole weekend. You're
hoping for one guns blazing like you usually did.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Some We had a caller yesterday that said, hey, what
is the rotation for the Rangers? And I know it's
it's lighter tonight to Graham tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
What difference does it make her their pitching? You're you're here,
That's what he asked her. Here for the astro. He
was asking who the astros. Didn't even answer him. I
didn't even notice he asked. I thought, he said, what's
the rotation? And he goes, but you already answered it,
and then he moved on.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
You were making a point, and I was letting you
make it and not interrupting, and then we ran out
of time. In the segment and then we moved on
with it, show that those things happen a billion times
a week.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Three pictures from a good pitching staff are pitching in
Houston this weekend, and they'll be facing the Astros. Like
four pictures. Just did a good from one of the
best pitching staffs the Rangers have. Actually, if I'll check again,
I think, yeah, they've been good the Mariners.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Wow. Why'd you say that like Rachel Nichols Because I'm
saying it that way. I mean, why does she have
exclusivity on that? That's a good point, you know what,
screw it? Why does she say it like you?

Speaker 1 (01:27):
So anyway, the whole point of this is to say,
I just I said this on Monday, just kidding. I
wasn't here on Monday, had food poisoning. I said this
on Tuesday, but I thought it on Monday. Somebody's not
going to survive this week if it goes poorly. It's
gone almost as poorly as it could have, with the
exception of a walk off that was barely achieved after

(01:49):
a gag job that preceded it in the same game.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
We can't walk it off unless you let the other
team take you to the bottom of the ninth inning
at home, which they did by blowing the save in
the top right.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
That's why when I say it was quote fun yesterday,
you scoffed at that h You.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Should have had so many opportunities to score fifteen runs
in that game. They scored four. It was enough to
beat them for to three. Came back yesterday only scored three,
lost eight three, and the three games this weekend to
correct myself from that outrageous mistake I made already in
the first three minutes and forty seconds of the show.
The Mariners have these six the best era in baseball
at three point six to two. The Rangers are behind

(02:25):
them at three point six to three, so they're seventh.
So I was well off. Are they tied with me?
I mean, I probably could take the math even further,
and maybe they're even closer than point zero one apart.
But you're you're not gonna see much difference, is the point.
And the Astros offense in May has been not very
good now, so expecting it to change would would be

(02:46):
unlikely to be the way to go. I keep thinking
about the Astros and what we hear from those inside
the organization that visit the station, whether it's Dana Brown, Joespata,
Astros players or everybody else that we talked to. Hope
and belief two different things. Astros have the Rangers this
weekend for three As Ac said, I hope they got

(03:07):
to win this weekend. The Astros have the Rangers in
this weekend. I believe they're going to win two or
three games this weekend. One of those is easy to say.
The other one is very hard to say, because it's
very hard to believe. They have to go out there
and do it. First, I mentioned the four game losing
streak that they snapped on Wednesday, was their third losing

(03:28):
streak of four games or more. Since they opened the
season five and two, they've basically been I mean, their
record says they're barely not the worst team in baseball,
just barely. But since they left home for the first time,
they have been the worst team in baseball. And that's
what's troubling. You know, their series record over their last
eight series is now two and six. This last series
was another instant. You're just falling further and further away.

(03:50):
And now as you dive into three more games inside
the division or four more games, with Seattle inside the
division now three more today, their first three games today,
tomorrow and Sunday, with the Rangers the last of their
division foes to meet them this year, well, you're going
to fall further and further out of that race. The
wildcard race is clearly wide open because there's still two

(04:10):
division leaders, the Guardians and this division's leader that aren't
very good. So naturally the teams behind them outside of
the Yankees, are in the wildcard race and there are
spots to be had. With one hundred and twenty plus
games to go, Math says for sure you can get there,
but the baseball says you can't, and that's what has
to change. We will see what the hooks lineup looks

(04:31):
like again tonight. You did get Jake Myers in a
second rehab game yesterday, but there was no Jeremy Pania
with the sore necks, so that obviously has slowed just
to touch. Myers has appeared in a couple of games,
and I also don't think that makes any difference whether
he's playing for the Astros or not personally, but the
other players just might. So where things stand with them
all that time into the show, after we spent two

(04:53):
and a half three four months waiting for I just
want a pencil in where these seventeen games are. And
now we know where the Texans will be at what
point in the season that they get to open up
the season definitively at home. We knew yesterday because of
a reporting and leaks that they were going to open
the season with the Buffalo Bills here in Houston. Three
of their first four will be here in Houston, including

(05:14):
the only visit they ever get from a team that
shares their state, the Cowboys, will visit early in the season.
It's going to be a bloodbath for the Cowboys. I
figured from you, especially on Anything Goes Friday, you were
going to add the that's going to be a bloodbath.
Your next comment would be in the stands or in
the parking lot or in Dallas.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
You know what if people are still fighting outside of
football stadiums, well it must be America.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
But it's still stupid. I'm not gonna say it hasn't
happened here, because it quite obviously has, especially between those
fan bases, but it's pretty infrequent in comparison, at least
as captured on social media. If you go to social
media anytime after the noon games or the three fifteen
three twenty five games on Sunday, Sunday night Monday morning,
there's a pretty good chance you'll find one. Yeah, there's

(06:00):
another fight, and it won't likely come from Reliant Stadium.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well are you're not calling it Houston Stadium anymore? Well happened?

Speaker 2 (06:08):
You corrected me? That seems foolish considering the Texans will
not play any games in Houston Stadium. Only teams that
kick the ball only, and they only kick the ball,
not also pick up the ball, throw the ball, and
carry the ball, but only kick the ball, they will
play in Houston Stadium. Yeah, it shouldn't be called football now.
They do throw the ball if they're coming from out
of bounds and one of the ball boys has been

(06:28):
polite enough to hand them the extra ball while they
chase it in the stand. There is a direct correlation.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
I'm not even making this up for effect or because
it sounds good, because it does sound good between the
later kickoff time and the chances of those types of
incidents happening. Because, as we all know, what fuels incidents
like that. It's not actual fandom hatred between two fan bases.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
It's people who have ticket averages, who have home game
tickets for that game, but sell them to visiting fans.
Those two things are what promotes it. Fandom and fans
are from the other teams. Talked about in that vein
is how and alcohol awesome. The Calves organization was for
sending about five hundred season ticket holders to a road

(07:15):
playoff game and paying for everything, lodging, transportation, five thousand,
five hundred season ticket holders and then you know, looking
for some seats for Game five of this postseason series.
All right, how many can we get?

Speaker 1 (07:29):
Four? Eight?

Speaker 2 (07:30):
How about five hundred?

Speaker 4 (07:32):
Up?

Speaker 2 (07:33):
We've got them? How is that possible? Well, there are
you getting five hundred seats to a road playoff game.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
I am pro not letting the other team fans come
into your building for whatever reason, especially when the stakes
are at their highest. And I can't tell you how
disgusting it was, let alone the product on the floor
and during Game six to see that idiot Lakers fan
who had his kid with him by the way, sitting
courtside next two Head of Communications, Tracy Hughes and just gesticulating,

(08:05):
mimicking everything that idiot Lebron James kept doing on the floor.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
He was doing forty was laying on the floor repeatedly.
That's a good point. That's the one thing he probably
didn't do well. How many times did he go to
his face as if he'd been hurt. Oh, my foul,
my foul. He fouled me with his elbow. Amazing. Nine
minutes in the first show after the Texans NFL schedule release. Well,
we we're on Lebron. We're on Lebron, Lebron. Nine minutes

(08:30):
in Lebron keeps making the story about Lebron.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
He didn't do it, He didn't do anything yet on
our show, you whined about a basketball.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
You gave my ball to the hand coach he made
pp hat.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
Come on, Lebron, you're forty one years old, not eleven,
that's what you were acting like.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
I'm sure he has room for another ball in his
nineteenth house.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Yeah, it is funny to hear how well he might
take the veteran's minimum to go play somewhere else.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Oh all right, Well, the next second week, talking about
pairing up with Kevin Durant here in Houston.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
He's gonna pair up with Kevin Durant's ex teammates in
the Bay Area's.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
Russell Westbrook's going to join him and James Harden's getting
out of LA to go to hmmm team. Oh he's
gonna play with Draymond, Yes, and Steph Stephanie. Lebron playing
for Steve Kerr. That should be fun. We all predicted
back that's not happened.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
Not his assistance. I don't think that Jerry Stackhouse was like,
I'm out here. If you're playing for the veteran minimum.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Pick a team that's I know, it's insane. Is he
the only guy who gets that number because he has
a four in front.

Speaker 5 (09:35):
Of his age?

Speaker 2 (09:36):
Sometimes it's very it's based on I guess it would
be solely based on your longevity. Yeah, Okay, I don't
because now you're talking about that. The other the salary
scale on like Gianni's and Butler and Durant's contract when
they keep getting if not Durant because he took less,
but they get up there a little bit faster. Yeah,
I can't wait to talk about it. That. We'll set
aside a segment for where should Lebron take the vet
minimum to go play and we'll see if the fourteenth

(09:58):
or fifteenth best team in the league is where he's
deciding to go and not being nice to Golden State
sixteenth best team, eighteenth best team. He's not playing for
the sixteenth best team in the league next year.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
I mean, think about it, though, if he's playing with
Luca or Steph, both of them are pretty darn good shooters.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
But well, that's great. Steph's been a good shooter for
all of the years that his team's missed the playoffs.
It'd be great if he did go there, and all
three of those I can agree. I'm not saying this
as any kind of negative towards Lebron and his ability
to play great basketball. Still he'd be I mean, honestly,
there's a scenario where Kawhi changes teams, Yannis changes teams,

(10:38):
Jalen Brown changes teams, and Lebron changes teams and he
impacts his team more. Yeah, he's still that good, and
if he's on the court and maybe they're not, it
could happen.

Speaker 5 (10:51):
It could.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
But what's gonna happen next segment is we're actually going
to dive into this tech Ball schedule and and by
the way of all the teams to take a shot
in the course of their schedule release at c J. Stroud,
You'll never guest which one of them. This is the
last team that need to be doing that kind of stuff.

(11:11):
And as you guys know, if your longtime listeners to
the show, this is something that I have been screaming
from the rooftops for a long time about this particular
team and it's ironically particular quarterback. So yeah, all of
that coming up next here on a Friday edition of
the program.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
So forgive me for not knowing the exact time.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
What exactly was the time that the Texan schedule dropped
last night right after we were off the air, or
did they give it an hour?

Speaker 3 (11:38):
No?

Speaker 1 (11:39):
League wide at six thirty, okay, I couldn't remember if
it was the top of the hour or the bottom
of the hour either.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
And then there's the Eastern time then to get a
factor in.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
I mean, it was coming out, I was, and we
had talked about so many of the quote leaks already.
I never really sat down to figure out how many
of the dates, what'd you say, abound around nine of
them were still to be determined.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
I think we knew seven, felt good about giving you seven,
so ten others.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
Okay, you know, nothing really other than the them only
having the one primetime home game against the Colts, which
is really not in.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
My opinion, just for who the Texans are right now
and the division foes that they have, I'd prefer none
of their division games to be primetime games. I would
like to see some of their other better matchups be
with better teams in primetime. That's just me and just
where things are. I would hope it'd be nice if
the Texans just stay at this level and somebody else

(12:37):
in this division could stay at this level just from
a competitive, fun, primetime league wide interest standpoint. From a
football standpoint, it'd be totally fine if the other three
teams in this division weren't very good. But yeah, I
think you know what I'm saying, and it looks like
Jaguars are probably there. Six point thirty last night, this
schedule comes out, and along with it, I didn't post

(12:57):
anything about the schedule on social media, and I also
didn't post anything on social media about the social media
from these schedules because I wanted to make sure and
it was laborious. I watched every single one of the
schedule releases detail and in length, including the eleven plus
minutes produced by the team that I ranked thirty two

(13:20):
out of thirty two on their schedules. Would you do
this in one sitting? Yeah, I did it. I started
while I after I'd made my shrimp po boys, and
then uh, last night, last night, and then I just continued.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Before you went to bed. You had spent how many
hours on it took a while?

Speaker 2 (13:34):
It had to. If there's thirty two teams were between
one twenty and three thirty. There's a couple teams in
the fives. The one of the very very very good
ones was better than eight minutes long. The second longest
one you around two hours. I mean I still spoke
to my family a couple times over the course of
the night. Well that's a surprise, I'm kidding. Okay, So

(13:56):
I ranked them, by the way, we don't have to
do that here.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
No, but I do want to know who theready too
was because number really yep, Okay, this is a dumb
question because I am as detached from this thing as anyone.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
I'm not a kill joy. You know that. I'm not
the wet blanket of the show or anything. But I
am just not.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
It's like I'll catch it if it's good, because I
know I'll see it because people will give it traction
talking about the best.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, no question. It's kind of like.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Super Bowl commercials. You're more captive to the Super Bowl
commercials because you're watching the game.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
Like without getting into detail of what any of the
teams were. And I haven't told you anything about what
these videos actually were. What teams do you know you
needed to watch or what teams did you then go watch?

Speaker 1 (14:41):
Well, you don't have to say what it is, just
tell us touch these teaations for Seattle because of last year?
Didn't you the Mattel toys? That was awesome?

Speaker 2 (14:49):
You didn't remember that from last year, not even a bit.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
The only reason I didn't remember it, but I was
reminded of it because somebody in talking about oh, schedule
releases or tonight everyone, Hey, this is what they did
last year?

Speaker 2 (15:02):
Well saying that was very creative and very well thought
of last year. They were very equally creative. This year
ranked high in the Wexler scale. This is a good job.
You're ready for this.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, the dumb question, I feel like the Texans did
more than one.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
Well, the Texans, I'll say what I've seen from them.
The Texans had a typical schedule lease that came out
as everybody else's did. I ranked it close, probably near
the middle, but closer to the bottom end. They also
produced one from their mascot Toro Okay, which I liked
more than the one that the teams where I wanted
to go with some year. They've done some awesome stuff

(15:36):
and it's just personal preference. Again, this is only my list,
not everybody else's. Yeah, so we'll see how it shakes out.
That's why I asked that was the dumb question. Did
they do more than one? Because the mascot one was
clearly very intensive. You can't just wake up and do
something like that without really planning, I mean physically alone.

(15:57):
They had to get props on props on props, and
their actual video needed a lot less of that. But
I also understand why they did it, and again not
getting into any of the specifics yet, so I'm bore
you with that. I've got a long show. Yeah, I'm
not hating on it. It was just to me. It's
Brian Cushing. It was very twenty fifth anniversary of the
Texans centric.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
And I get that part of it, so that's why
I understood. But it was just underwhelming to me.

Speaker 2 (16:22):
And there were minimum and again the Wexler scale of ratings,
they were a minimum ten teams worse.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
Oh yeah, no, it's again I'm not lumping them in
with the worst of the worst, but because this has
become such a thing, I'm like, as a fan almost
wanting them to shoot for they have the greatest.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
You know, one of the people, Eric that was involved
with them for a number of years and I'm not
sure how many years since he's been there, but it's
been a few. When it comes out every year where
he is now, he's worked in college athletics a lot
since then, he reposts one of the videos that he
did well, he was there and it's awesome. And they've
had over these twenty over these six this years that

(17:05):
people have really gone out of their way team why
to create these. The Texans have been on the plus
side you if you said, since the dawn of launching
your schedule via social media, the Texans are very very
much on the positive side of that.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
As you just pointed out, is still relatively in its
infancy as opposed to Super Bowl commercials, which are very
much not.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Like the Broncos trotting out Peyton manning for Theirs last night,
and he was with his daughter and she was you know,
he was saying to her, Man, this is you know
when I when we had to find the schedule, I
had to look in the newspaper to find it. I mean,
we didn't even have the internet back then. And she said,
you had internet for your entire career. Dad, that's awesome.
Here's the deal. Yeah, because he came out in ninety

(17:45):
eight and that was he also was lamenting. As they
were they were in their living room watching the schedule,
watching TV and bo Nix was doing a commercial in
the spot and Peyton's like, man, I'm jealous of that
guy could get all these commercials.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
Well wait until you host sess and but you know,
I will say, I know you're not an adult cartoon guy.
I was impressed with the Colt's effort taking the Simpsons
and turning it around.

Speaker 2 (18:10):
I have the Colts at number three. Yeah, it's that
was awesome. That's really laughed out loud. Yeah. I mean
it's because whereas you might see on Curb your Enthusiasm lol, Adam, Lol.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Well there's I mean, this is another dumb question. They
had to have gotten in touch with the Simpsons crew
to do something.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
I didn't go through it, but there was a big
write up on how they got THEIRS done. I got
an email from the group that helped the Packers put
their puppeteering clamation schedule release together. I didn't respond, and
I'll tell you now I had them ranked in the
bottom five.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
So but see clamation can be funny. Just watch Celebrity
Death Match.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
When we get into this more in detail. Whenever it
is you'd like to do that, I'll give you what
I was looking for when I rated them? How about
at two forty five? Sure? And many more? During the
show there's thirty two teams. There's a lot to get to.

Speaker 1 (19:02):
What did you just real quick? Since we're on the topic,
and I am curious, who did you have?

Speaker 2 (19:05):
Number one?

Speaker 1 (19:07):
The Cowboys? Okay, I haven't even seen THEIRS. I might
have seen three of these. I'm not even kidding.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
The two longest videos ranked first and last. Sure, Cowboys
were first, they have the second longest, and their rival
was last. The Eagles had the longest, and I put
it last. What did you say?

Speaker 1 (19:22):
My second question before we go to break is what
did you think of my boy? Per close personal friend
of both mine and the missus Chris Jericho and his
involvement with the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (19:34):
Well, when it first popped up, it took me a
second to recognize either of the people that the Vikings
chose to feature. Once I saw the number on the
player and it was pretty obvious from his looks what
he probably who he probably was. I knew him, and
it took me a minute to realize who the waiter was,
but I figured it out.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
My only question Jericho, Yeah he's Canadian. Is he a
Vikings fan or did they just decide.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
He could certainly pass for somebody who wanted to audit
for the Vikings mascot.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, Now he's definitely got that Nordic look to him.
So yeah, we'll get into a few of those.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
We haven't really talked about the actual event itself, which
is telling you who everybody plays and where and when.
We knew again the Texans would be featured in primetime
quite a bit or standalone games. Knew about the Jacksonville
game Week six, knew about the Colts game here in Houston,
one of their Thursday night games. That's the only standalone
game scheduled for Houston this year of the five that

(20:27):
they have currently on the schedule. The other three I
haven't mentioned at Pittsburgh, at Philly, at Green Bay, And
again we were aware of each of those games yesterday.
All three of those games, like I said, on the road,
and all three of them are over the final six
games of the season. Four of the Texans final six
games are away from Reliant Stadium this season, naturally on

(20:50):
the front side of the schedule, three of their first
four for their first seven, the seven games that come
before the off week are all here in Houston at
Reliant Stadium, So it would be nice the Texans did
not start the season the way they did a year ago,
needing to win ten out of eleven, to end up
winning twelve games, because just the way that laid out.
We'll get into the details of it all right.

Speaker 1 (21:10):
We are less than an hour away from our scheduled
guest to join us in studio. That would be Calvin
Jerome Murphy. He's gonna be stomping by. But before we
do any of that, Best of X is next, and
this was like an unexpected gym that we got. I
was not a huge fan of the tactician that is,

(21:31):
Dusty Baker, has never had been but I have further
appreciation for Dusty Baker, the man after what you will
hear next segment.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
All right, best of X.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
We do it every day at this time at two
thirty here on the A team, and you know, some
of these I get a little bit more up for
than others just because of the subject matter.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
And this is one of those times. Now, if.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Tell me if you had, first of All the Up
and Smoke podcast or no, All.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
The Smoke, which one is it? I can't remember. It's
not Cheating Strong, It's Matt Barnes.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Well, there was also the Up and Smoke tour with
Doctor dre back in the late nineties that I wanted
to attend.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
But who else was on it with dre uh Eminem. Well,
then it's not Drey and Eminem Snoop, It's not Dreyan
Eminem and Snoop's Cube, not Dreyan eminem and Snoop and
ice Cube, Fiddy.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
It's not dre Eminem, Snoop, ice Cube and Fiddy and
Nate Dog who was still there at the time, but
may he rest now it's the Matt Barnes led All
the Smoke. Okay, baseball addition, I did not know they
did baseball. I guess I just missed that. I thought
it was all basketball, which would be fine, that's what
he played. I like that he's branching out, I guess.
I mean he's a creep and he was a total

(22:41):
dirty player in the NBA, but he does a good podcast.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
It's still wild when what when you say that, I
don't necessarily disagree. And then he's still the more likable
of the two that were in the personal, very personal
feud he and Derek.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
That is why I call him a creep because of
that feud. And you're exactly right, so ranked number one
if I'm ranking human beings of those.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Two, right, So why is he he's a basketball creep?

Speaker 6 (23:11):
Now?

Speaker 2 (23:11):
Just like why is he a creep off the court?
Because he did I know, okay, some other stuffing.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
No, he did, like when that whole thing was happening
with Derek Fisher, when he was sleeping with his wife, Yeah,
they were he was doing he was saying some pretty
sleazy things in his own right, And I just know
too much about his personal life that I don't want
to and so therefore he's a creep. That's how I
that's that's my uh.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
That's my Dusty Baker sat down with the All the
Smoke podcasts, Matt Barnes, et cetera.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yes, and he was talking about he was asked by
Matt Barnes about when he came in back in twenty
twenty to take the Astro's managerial position and all that
came with it, which was a whole lot of baggage.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah, his scenario for coming here, he'd actually had an
opportunity with Philadelphia, the Astros called. He was talking to
his son about it, Darren, and you know, just the
whole idea of the opportunity here in Houston was one
worth taking. You got into that.

Speaker 7 (24:07):
First, Oh, usually don't inherit a championship team, and I
was like, well, this is sent from above. I know
I had a chance to win. I didn't care about
the scandal because I wasn't there, and I just told him, hey, man,
I asked the world to forgive them, and because the

(24:29):
hardest thing in the world is for people to forgive
each other. But everybody's quick to throw stones, and so.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
So I had a chance to join a championship team.

Speaker 1 (24:40):
Everything you said, by the way, is totally on point,
because how often does a not just a championship contender
in baseball or really any team come available, but you're
talking about I mean, they were coming off a twenty
nineteen season that was historical and a lot of rights
with the type of numbers they had put up. I mean,

(25:01):
Garrett Cole left, and nobody was really even blinking about
picking them as a contender, even with the scandal, because
they were so well constructed.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Well, he got them after a third consecutive one hundred
win season one hundred and seven in that most recent year,
widely regarded as the best team in baseball, and then
they played a seven game World Series, which they lost.
He took over that team, He took over the following year.
You heard what he had to say about you know,
it's the scenarios that were there, and you know why
it was. You know, it was worth taking, especially for

(25:31):
someone who had been so close so many times. He'd
been basically done nothing in his major league career except
major league managerial career, except win and win and win
and win and win, except not win the big one
and not win as much in the postseason that maybe
some of those teams winning suggested he might or we
can all understand that, Oh yeah, I forgot. It's baseball.

(25:53):
It's really, really, really, really difficult to win. Even when
you have the best roster, you might not even win
a series, let alone three seas like happens.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
All the talk about the fact that when he finally won,
which by the way, for him, is really that's the emphasis.
He finally won one he hadn't before he came to Houston.
Houston had but he hadn't. That was the whole thing.
It wasn't even the first time he took the Astros
to the World Series.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
It took the team to the World Series in the
first full season that he was manager of the Astros. Naturally,
his first season, which we'll hear him talk about here
in a minute, was the COVID season, losers twenty nine
to thirty one. The Astros were that year. I didn't
even want him to go to play this playoffs. Remember
one of our most fun conversations, just go to the dance.
You never know who you're gonna get to dance where
they got to dance with almost everybody, and they were hot.

(26:40):
They got all the way to the Game seven of
the ALCS. Was great. It was a great, great, great
experience in the postseason. They almost came back from three
games to none.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
They can't believe that Tampa kept them from going to
another World Series and another one against the Dodgers, or
they would have won.

Speaker 2 (26:55):
By the way, four years as manager of the Astros,
and they reached the Championship Series, the American League Championship
Series all four years, won the World Series in year three,
fell short in year four, losing the ALCS, and that
was his last season here in Houston. Joe Spot. It
took over after that, and they have not won a playoff game.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, let's get to the good stuff now, he says
what you and me and basically everybody in Houston with
a brain has been screaming ever since that day in
January and then later at spring training when the PR
was just a total gaff what we all have been
saying about a certain member of the Houston Astros organization.

Speaker 7 (27:35):
One of the best things that happened to me when
I got there was the fact that we had COVID
and and we didn't have to deal with the with
the fans and the booing and the jeers, and you know,
the guy that took the brunt of it was was
really you know Jose l TV and he was a
Mosaicesotan dude there and uh you know that that you know,

(27:57):
really affected me. How how he was Yeah, I mean
all over everywhere and he didn't deserve it.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
It's it's like, yes, this guy to this day still
gets booed way more than anyone else. Of course there's
hardly anybody left, but it's like it's just every time
I hear it, I still laugh.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
I'm like, you guys are so stupid.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
Just the most ignorant fans ever are the ones that
boo Jose Altuve simply because and I told you why.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
I think half of the reason this happens it's because
he's short.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
Easy, it's a mob mentality. I'd never heard that theory before.
I'm telling you right now, because he's not half tall.
Half of it is because he is the face of
the franchise. Uh. The other half is because and it's
because he's short that they hate em even more because
this little runt is doing this these numbers against my

(28:53):
favorite baseball team, Yankees, all the time.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
It goes into it. I'm telling you, I mean it's
way down the list, I mean your team that he
is doing it. Too well, he took their team's MVP.
According to them, that's a much bigger reason for it,
in my opinion, the dumb to do him a little
bit later. You know the fact that he is literally
the face of the franchise and the face of the
statement making part of the franchise on that day. He's

(29:17):
the best player on the team. He's the best player
in franchise history. I mean, there's ten reasons that would
go off my list before. But man, boo, shorty boom,
not tall person. I think that's I mean, I think
it's more you're kind of combining. He doesn't say anything.
He doesn't push back at all, he doesn't fight, he

(29:39):
doesn't talk. I mean, that's me talking about Altuve, not
al Tuove talking about Orbit. He doesn't talk at all.
It's the delivery for me. It's it's a little bit
like he doesn't say anything back to anybody. No people
bring it to his attention and he just talked. He
just answers their questions and doesn't really care too much
about it. And he also doesn't talk a lot period.

(30:00):
He talks after games, he talks as a normal member
of that But we get interviews from almost all the
other megastars, Hall of Fame caliber players about all sorts
of different stuff. He's not in commercials, he's not doing anything.
It's just he doesn't push back at all, and a
lot of other players would.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
He just signs autographs for kids and is awesome all
around as a human being. And that's off the field
in addition to on the field.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Like he also doesn't push back for the same reason
I always bring up. I mean, as Dusty say, he's
like the least involved or the most innocent. Nobody's innocent
that's playing for the team that's benefiting from this, including
Jose Altuve. Guys are on base for him, Guys are
winning games because of it. When he goes, oh for four,
somebody else went three for four and drove in three runs.

(30:46):
He benefited from it. He's a cheater.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
They're all cheaters, right, which is what idiot Yankees fans
had to be very very vividly reminded of earlier today
by one of my favorite local follows on social media.
We'll get to that a little bit, but as promised,
next back to that.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
Derek, Yeah, what do you mean, what's up? What are
you doing right now?

Speaker 5 (31:06):
What's with that?

Speaker 2 (31:06):
Needle and all those pills. Oh, you're not gonna say
anything about this. You're just gonna benefit from it all
these years, the captain, all that stuff, you know, the
baseball gift basket stuff that you do. We're not gonna
say anything about that. You're not gonna say anything about this, right,
that's right, play ball, all right, see you jeets.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
And then after the game he goes out with Minka
Kelly or any number of just ridiculous tens and eleven's
all right. More on the NFL Slash Texans schedule release
and just an absolute out of pocket and out of
line of all teams to take a shot at CJ.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
Stroud via their schedule release.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
We'll get to all that as we wind down the
two o'clock hour.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
We're cast out next crushed. I'm so tired. I'm better
wind it down.

Speaker 8 (31:52):
The age on sports Teks.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Yeah, what we're gonna be joined at the top of
the hour by Col Murphy. He's a little ahead of schedule,
so why not just get him on early. So that's
what we'll do after this segment. But if I were
to ask you, hey, what's the one team who should
probably not be taking a shot at CJ.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Stroud, thet all the wrong the one team. Yeah, the
one team.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
Well in this case, considering like the texts have been
pretty darn successful during CJ.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Stroud's time as an NFL quarters.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
But they've been outrageously successful against this team. Yep, head ahead, Cleveland. Nope,
it's the LA Chargers. Yeah, good, good job not calling
him San Diego this time. I'm getting better. It's gonna
be a bit.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
I wish they'd move back. They're not moving back. It's
so stupid. Nobody even cares that they're watching all of
the schedule releases. It did help a little bit because
every time there's a team that plays both of them,
they had to specified or the team in Los Angeles.
So Los Angeles got the thrown into my head a
little bit more than usual, so getting a little bit
better at it. Their schedule release, the Los Angeles Chargers

(33:04):
came in number two on the Wexler Scale or Wexler
ratings on social media creativity. They could have had one,
but then they had to do this. I'm kidding. It
didn't drop to many. It actually did not factor. I
was trying not to be too localized with it. Just
my viewpoint on it. Their schedule release is incredible, and
it has been. They've been probably top five since this

(33:26):
has all started. Super creative, super detailed, crazy amount of
time and effort I'm sure has gone into it. What
video game did they choose for their schedule release scheme?

Speaker 1 (33:35):
Oh, that would be some kitty Microsoft game. That's what
I call Xbox drivel. I'm not a Halo guy like
everybody else, because I'm a PlayStation like an adult.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Popular game with kind of kids, nice graphics and stuff.

Speaker 1 (33:50):
And Eric Winston who once told me you used to
play that all the time in the stadium with the
other teammates. Yeah, so did all the other athletes. Yeah,
they all play made a non adult video game, aren't
the who's running around the streets of GTA adults? Right?

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, who's running around the streets streets of Halo kids?
They're not kids. I just said, they're adults. Don't ask
the questions you don't want to answer. My my, my
eyeballs made it. Looking at them, it looked like they
were full grown, gun toting adults.

Speaker 1 (34:21):
I recognize it was a very popular video game franchise
for a long long time.

Speaker 2 (34:27):
Blah blah blah, get to it already. They decided to
mock CJ. Stroud by dropping this into their digitized video.

Speaker 5 (34:36):
Yeah, of course for those mistakes and everything that you've
got is any already goes, you're gonna be able to
play in the lead.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
So because they play each other, they had to they
end when we brought out Ah, the Texans and the Chargers,
and they took something and has nothing to do with them,
but obviously has to do with their opponent in this situation,
CJ Stroud. They mocked him for little browing Caleb Williams
way back in Caleb's rookie season after the Texans barely
beat them in the home opener that year.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
Look, CJ got a lot of flack about that exchange,
like what is he supposed to do? Hey, man, killed you,
you suck, You're not gonna be good in this league?
Then what people say they'd kill him for that?

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Probably right he was playing in his twentieth game, nineteenth
NFL game.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
Came off as off putting maybe a little bit to
some people. Okay, fine, but even having said all of that,
that's the Chicago Bears at the time, and also CJ,
this guy who you think is off putting and all that.
CJ has destroyed you every time he's played you. Yeah,
so it's good for the rivalry. I didn't mind they
played each other this year. That's why he was in
the schedule. Leash shocker.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
We'll come back and we will open up the three
o'clock hour. A visit from a head coach and Hall
of fame and television analyst on schn Calvin Murphy next.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
The eight.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
All right, three o'clock hours underway simulcast overway on or
underway on sc HN.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
It is the A Team wex AC.

Speaker 1 (36:10):
And if you are watching on Space City Home Network
right now, you already know the man, the myth, the legend.
Sitting to my left, your right, Calvin Jerome Murphy, in
here to talk. I hit that red button so people
can start hearing what you say. We just absolutely here.
Swing that around. I forgot to even do the most
important part, which is get that in front of your face.

(36:31):
There were we go If you want, all right, yeah,
there we go. You're in here to talk about Big Three.
And I say this to you probably at least once
or twice a season. I always want you to coach.
I'm always wanting you to work on free throws with
people because you were so good at it. But like,
what took them so long to get you involved in
something like this, You're like Taylor made for it.

Speaker 5 (36:52):
Uh, you know it's interesting.

Speaker 2 (36:53):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
I'm a teacher. I've never been considered differ considered myself
a coach. Of course, A coach is one that gets
players together and hope to win. A teacher is one
that works with the athlete to get them ready for
the coaches to help them to stay in a job.
And this is what I've done all my life, work
with youngsters. So I've never considered going into you know,

(37:17):
the big leagues to be a coach. You know, a
coach is hired to be fired. Nobody likes that scenario.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
That's the dirty side of the business.

Speaker 5 (37:26):
But it's the truth, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
But you know, getting involved with the Big three, it's
been a very humbling experience because what I've learned is
not to be so mean with coaches I see out
there in the other leagues. Now what they've got to
go through.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
It is a tough gig.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
And you were talking about something and you know, hopefully
I can say this on the air. You didn't know
a lot about this league before you got involved, I
was I'm still kind of there, right nine years?

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Is that what you said?

Speaker 3 (37:53):
Yeah, around nine years, it would have been ten. Of course,
you know that one year with the pandemic slowed them down.
But it's an excellent, excellent league. And I'm not just
saying it's because I'm collecting a paycheck by any stretch
of imagination. Because if I didn't enjoy it, if I
didn't think I had something to bring to the table,
I wouldn't be involved. When I was approached about coaching

(38:15):
the Houston ric Hans, I jumped at the opportunity because
you know, at my age now, you know it's still
not too late to try new ventures. And last year, unfortunately,
the rick Hans came in last place, and it wasn't
no fault of the players. You know, we lost three
main ingredients to injury and it was a makeshift team

(38:36):
last year. And then we had a couple of players
that couldn't make certain games because they were involved with
the NBA Summer League. So we got caught, you know,
between the rock and a hard place. But this year,
look out, my people's.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
You talk about it all the time. You're the coach.
But so it's about the players, about what they go
out and do. What you can help guide them to do.
A little bit of a excitement from you about the
group you have this year. They'll be at Toyota Center
on July twenty sixth and August sixth, the full slate
of games over there coming up later this summer. You
get hit Big three dot com a forre information on that.

(39:13):
Who's on the Calvin Murphy led at Houston rig Hans
this year.

Speaker 3 (39:17):
Well, we're gonna start off with Jonathan Simmons. As you know,
Jonathan played in the NBA. Great shooter, a great athlete.
I'm excited, you know, about having the opportunity to coach,
been knowing him a long time.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
He's been around Houston a lot of his in professional life.

Speaker 5 (39:32):
Yes he did, Yes he has.

Speaker 3 (39:33):
And the fact that he's he is still a great athlete,
still a great basketball player, and he's excited about playing
for the rig Hans this year.

Speaker 5 (39:41):
We got Adam Wesler.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
I cannot wait for play for Murph. I got Adam.
Just put a dr on there. I know it might
sound odd, that is not the first time that's happened.
Adam Drexler a part of the rig Hans this year.
And yes, that last name is a familiar.

Speaker 3 (40:00):
Yes, and Adam is one of my favorites. And I'm
gonna tell you why, Because people like Adam uh has
gotten me a chance to be in the Basketball Hall
of Fame. And why do I say that? Because Adam
reminds me of people like like Major Jones, uh uh
and and and Alan Leveo and and uh Mike Dunlevy.

(40:20):
Why do I get those names out? These are the
people that have talent that did the dirty work and
allowed me to be me. So anytime I get an
opportunity to coach a player like like Adam that will
go out there and put it all on the floor,
I'm excited about it. You always got to have somebody
that that's not afraid to go out there and mix
it up. Even in the Big Three, the defensive end

(40:42):
of the game, even if a three on three game,
the defensive end of the game, especially going down the stretch,
is very very important. So we got we got Adam,
and then of course we got Kevin Murphy.

Speaker 5 (40:52):
You know, no relation.

Speaker 3 (40:53):
But after we win this, we're gonna be We're gonna
be partner, right, you know, he's one of our co
captains as well as by the way, Jonathan Simmons is
one of the co captains also, and our big boy
is Isaiah Austin seventy to one.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
A lot of people are very familiar with him for
his career. Baylor his host too be playing in the NBA,
A big event when he was drafted into the NBA
with with how they treated that incident, obviously with his
medical history.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
But quite a baller, yes he is. And I'm trying
to get these youngsters. And I call him youngsters because
you know, I just had a birthday, so you know,
I call everybody youngsters.

Speaker 2 (41:31):
Calum Murphy just turned years old. I know whatever the
number is, and I know what it is. I don't
believe it.

Speaker 5 (41:38):
You don't believe it.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
Just seventy eight, seventy eight. You are not seventy eight
years old. This guy, they called you the energizer Bunny.
That has not changed. It's not changed.

Speaker 3 (41:47):
You know.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
The first time I met Calvin, I was in college.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
Like I had seen you since I was a kid
watching the Brockets broadcast, but I shadowed you and Bill
Urrel yes for a broadcast on TV, and my grandmother
used to watch you May. She rest all the time,
and she called you. She's like, that's the perfect nickname
for him. He's always talking. I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's Calvin.
So you're not seventy eight. I don't believe the.

Speaker 5 (42:10):
Lord has blessed me. I'm seventy eight.

Speaker 3 (42:12):
And you know, of course, my grandsons, you know, they
still think I'm sixteen because they want to get me
in the gym and work on their game. Calvin the
Third right now is a tremendous ball player, and you know,
I had him in the Jimmy of the day and
I was showing him some of my stuff from back
in the sixties. Fell down, and my three grand boys
that picking me up like a real old dude. Now,
you know, I'll get off of me. I got this.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
I got this.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
So I officially retired last week with my grandsons had
to pick me up off the court.

Speaker 6 (42:40):
That's not time to do it, though, you know now
A moment sooner, absolutely so. But but you know, even
at my age right now, I feel real good. And
I've had people ask me how long am I planning
on being in basketball?

Speaker 3 (42:53):
As long as the Lord lets me. That's my answer
to that. I've been blessed that the Rockets have had
me on the broadcast for a number of years, and
they're still excited about me being a part of the
broadcast team. I had the good fortune to work with
a course with Adam for some games and stuff. So
I'm planning on as long as I stay healthy, and
I'm blessed right now that I am healthy.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
I was asking him this question before you got in here,
about the Big Three.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
You know he was founded by Ice Q.

Speaker 5 (43:21):
Yes, yes, great, great guy.

Speaker 1 (43:24):
I'm telling you, if you ever make it happen that
I meet him, we're gonna have I'm gonna owe you
big well.

Speaker 2 (43:28):
I'm a huge fan.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
You come to the game when weird Cans have what
is that August sixth.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
August six will be the second stop. July twenty sixth
is the first stop.

Speaker 3 (43:38):
I will promise you, I will take you over and
introduce him to you personally.

Speaker 2 (43:44):
Just a legend.

Speaker 3 (43:45):
Oh but he's But you know, here's a lot of
legends that you don't want to be involved with.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Yeah, you don't want to meet your hero.

Speaker 3 (43:51):
Yeah, that's right, because you don't want to throw away
the dream. But but he is a genuinely great person
because he's basic. You know, he traces you like you're
the star opposed to who he is.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
You know what's funny about you saying that that is
so true, especially with celebrities, athletes, and then a lot
of times the more they talk, the more they give
themselves away. Right right with him, the more he talks,
the more I'm like, man, he makes sense. He's like
pretty common sense guy about a lot of things. I mean,
not just sports, politically, there's a lot of things he

(44:26):
said that. I'm like, wow, I did not think I
would be agreeing so much with ice Cube on this subject.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
But that's how it's been with him.

Speaker 3 (44:31):
You know. But the thing that really impressed me when
I first met him. Of course, you know, my grandchildren
know who he is through the movie Friday and through
this nature and how he developed the character Smoky and
all that kind of stuff. But when I went to
him and asked him if my marching unit, Marching Thunder

(44:53):
could perform at you know, sometime during the Rican game
in Houston, and he said to me, if they belong
to you, I know, the top shelf not a problem.
That right there indeared me to him because he knew
how important it was for me to have my kids
around me in the city of Houston, and never gave
it a second thought. Then after he saw him perform,

(45:15):
he fell in love with him. He went over and
he asked to take a picture with these youngsters. And
every youngster has a copy of that picture with him
right in the middle, and they're not looking at the camera.
They're all looking at it him. That's the kind of individual.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
He is larger than life, larger than life. But the
league's been successful, and that's what counts. I mean, it's
great to have your name attached to it, but if
it's not successful, And here we are nine years later,
and just the product itself. Talk about the product itself
and how the quality of the basketball the people are
gonna come out and billow see, well, well.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
You know, first of all, every year it gets better.
Why because they actually sit down and go over to good, bad,
and ugly of what happened the year before. They've changed
the rules periodically to fit the product, and they're always
conscious of what they think will endear the public to

(46:05):
the league. Now you look at some of the rules
and I love it because it's old school basketball. You know,
in today's NBA, for instance, you can't touch anybody. So
they talk about Curry being the best shooter ever.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
Bologney's speak here, man, you can't.

Speaker 3 (46:22):
You can't touch him. He's a great, great shooter, great
great player. But if you can't touch him, how you're
gonna stop him. So when you look at the Big Three,
we're going, we're going back to my era when when
you had to beat somebody off you just to get
your jump shot up and put the ball in the basket.
I like the fact that every year the talent gets
better and the talent gets younger. See, people looked at

(46:42):
it as first as the old People's League, you know,
that type of a deal, which is not what it
is is giving people the opportunity that career was cut short,
a chance to do some other things.

Speaker 5 (46:54):
And it's still in basketball.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Can we hold you for another segment?

Speaker 5 (46:59):
Sure, going anywhere. You can hold me all day long.

Speaker 1 (47:01):
Nobody, Oh my gosh, that's nag. You see he continues
to speak my love language. This is Calvin Murphy. He's
in here to talk about the Big Three, which will
obviously be here in town ninth season of the Big Three.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
It's hard to believe that's where they're at.

Speaker 1 (47:14):
But Calvin Jerome Murphy, the coach of the Houston franchise
for Big Three. We'll continue to talk about that and
more with him when we come back.

Speaker 8 (47:25):
The eighteen on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Huge, huge surprise during the break in between segments here
with Calvin Murphy in studio here on the A team,
we basically just had the exact same conversation just extended.
So we'll pick it back right up here. I remember
Calvin who joins us here in studio as the head
coach the Houston rig Hands and the Big Three beginning
their season in June. Two stops in Houston on July

(47:50):
twenty sixth and August sixth of a slate of games there.
I think it was back in twenty eighteen. I was
over on television side we're going to over Channel two,
and I had a chance to sit down with the
recently named commissioner of the Big Three, Clyde Drexler. I'm
still doing, yes, the Big Three commissioner and doing a
wonderful job.

Speaker 5 (48:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
Before I go to Clyde, I got to also mention
that our captain is their favors you know, super super,
super super young man.

Speaker 5 (48:17):
Now with that being said, I don't want to leave
him out.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
Another part of the rig Hans this upcoming season. New
to the league, Derek very familiar to fans here in Houston.

Speaker 5 (48:25):
Yes, Now going to my man Clyde.

Speaker 3 (48:28):
He is a fabulous not good, but a fabulous commissioner.
And I'm gonna tell you why, because he has the
respect of all parties. When he speaks like he is hunting,
everybody listens and he's gonna tell you one time. And
you know, in any league, you're gonna have situations, you're
gonna have problems, and he takes the bull by the
horns and he resolves it. You know, when he helps

(48:50):
them to get a CBS I believe contract. Yeah, to
put a league like like you know, like the Big
Three that's gonna challenge the w n B. A of
course is coming to Houston now doing something And I
just see I've been doing Clyde ever since you know,
he was a kid. And of course the University of
Houston and of course you know, joining the dream and

(49:11):
win a championship here. And the one thing I've always
appreciated about about the Glide is is you know, you
ask him a question, he's going to give you the answer.
He's got going sugarcoat it now if you don't want
to know the answer, you know, he asks his mild
mannered reporter attitude. But he's given you an answer that
you may not want, so don't ask him the question,
straight up, pure pure people. I love him to death,

(49:35):
obviously the way I'm talking. You know, I can't begin
to tell you over the years how many conversations I
had with him about various subjects and some of the
answers he gave me that I didn't really want to hear.

Speaker 1 (49:46):
Yeah, you know, but you wouldn't necessarily expect an unfiltered
response like that from Clyde because he's so well spoken
in mild mannered.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
No.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
Absolutely, but he's going to be honest with you, and
you can't ask any more from man than that.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
He brought up that path, you know, through high school
in Houston, College, University of Houston, and playing his NBA
career and coming to Houston play for the Rockets. We
hear from fans all the time still to this day.
We talk about it all the time, you know, about
his arrival here into the arena, into the summit and
how everything went wild. What was your perspective of the
evening of introducing Clyde back to the Houston fans when

(50:21):
he walks in the arena.

Speaker 3 (50:23):
You know, it's interesting when he wasn't drafted by the Rockets,
I was the most disappointed individual. But then again, of course,
you know the Rockets had some great talent during that
time also, and the Lord has a direction for everybody.
But you know, his timing was perfect when he came
in for that second ended of championship, that type thing,

(50:44):
and I you know, I felt chills when I saw
him walking there because he should have been there seven
eight years earlier, earlier, because he was even though he
played in Portland and had a fabulous career there, he
was still Houston.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
I feel like if he had played laid anywhere but Portland,
he would get even more credit than he does because
I know he went up against them, Jay and everybody
likes to talk about that. It was they were like
one and two. It was that fluids and you don't
forget that, and you can't remember. Now Portland was a
very small market. They were just there and he was
the reason why they started getting some maccolades. Now I've

(51:20):
talked to Michael Jordan myself about Clyde and when when When?
When when the greatest player, in my opinion, they ever
played the game said that when he got ready to
play Clyde Drexley, he got him a nap before the game.
That tells you the respect that is being shown because
he knew that Clyde was a solid defender, a great

(51:41):
officer man, and he was always in shape and played
against Clyde and playing against, you know, against the greatest
in the world, he wanted to show that he belonged
in that company. Did you get a kick? I know
you watched the last dance you had, of course they
did you get a.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
Kick out of it?

Speaker 7 (51:54):
You know?

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Jordan's going down the line, He's talking about all these
guys he goes up against, and he was like, and
I took that person.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
He took everything personal.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
Sure, But when he talked about Clyde, he he kind
of conceded. He said Clyde was a threat, you know,
and that that's about as much credit as you're gonna
give publicly. On camera, you could tell he was talking
about Clyde differently than maybe some of those other guys
that he talked about in that documentary.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
Absolutely, you know, so much was said obviously about the
fact that that Isaiah Thomas was left off the Dream Team. Okay,
and and they don't know if if he should have
replaced uh the guard from from from Utah John stock
John stock John John Stockton or or Clyde. And uh,

(52:38):
you can be assured when when they were putting the
thought process together of who the other guard should be,
you can be assured that that Michael said he wanted
Clyde on that team.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
With him and he didn't want Isaiah.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
But you know, unfortunately, I'm a big fan of Isaiah
Thomas too, you know, the greatest point guards ever, no question.
You know, I hold him his number two professionally, you know,
of course, you know, I still think very magic is
the man with the ball. But the fact that that
Clyde got on that Dream Team and actually was a
major contributor to the Dream Team showed the world that

(53:17):
he belonged.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
Yeah, talking about all this NBA stardom and all these
NBA players and the championship Clyde gets while he's here,
had a chance to work as you mentioned, some Space
City Home Network late season games, as the Rockets this
year were playing some of their best basketball headed into
that series against the Lakers. Obviously things health wise were
not what they were as the season ended when they

(53:39):
went into that series. Just some thoughts about how the
season ended for the Rockets and what lies ahead.

Speaker 3 (53:45):
I've been asked, you know, a billion times since the
season been over about my opinion. Of course, I was disappointed.
I truly believe that people thought I was on drugs,
that we had a shot at winning the championship. I
thought we had all the ingredients and I still do
now sleep when you don't win, there might be changes. Unfortunately,
that's just the nature of the beast. But we had

(54:07):
a hell of a team. Unfortunately, injuries once again cropped in.
It reminded me of when we had a Harden and
CP three and CP three went down that year, and
that was a year that we could have really really
made some inroads to another championship. So we ran into
that situation again. Everybody that played on the Rockets team

(54:28):
put forth an effort, but you cannot beat situations like
injuries or father time type of situation. Now, of course,
people are asking me about trades. I don't know nothing
about that. I have a hard enough time figuring out
my team with the big three, but everybody that's on
the Rockets team, and here again, I treat people how
people treat me. They treat me like royalty. So I

(54:50):
hate to see anybody leave. But unfortunately that's not the
way basket of professional basketball goes. Now they're gonna sit
down because you know, mister Fatida is a winner, if
that's obvious, and they're gonna make some decisions to give
the best product to the city of Houston that they
possibly can. So coming up, we may lose one. Somebody

(55:11):
may lose one of their favorite players. But it's just
just unfortunate. But this year, if the injury has not
cropped up, and they brought across KP in kd N
with Alfred, you know, so you had to want two punch,
and then you had some people that came off the
bench and did the dirty work. I thought they actually

(55:32):
had a great chance to come out of the West.
I remember, everything's about matchups. We should have beat Okay,
see the first game of the season and lost, but
time lost by at one point. And then every time
we match up we give them fits. So you never
know who's gonna beat who is in the playoffs. It's
all about matchups.

Speaker 6 (55:53):
You know.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
I do wonder since you're a point guard, your thoughts
on this. You know a lot of people think that
the Rockets mentality is well, if they get healthy and
by healthy Fred van Vliet is back, that solves a
lot of the problems. And I know you're about the
only person on the planet that hates turnovers more than me.
I gosh, just maddening to watch this team this year.
Just low IQ basketball at times, not even force turnovers.

Speaker 3 (56:17):
Well, you know, you say low iq. You know a
lot of turnovers happened when people try too hard. A
lot of turnovers happen when people come to the game
and they're trying to do too much at one time
because they don't know how much plenty of time they're
going to get. And then sometimes, of course, like anything,
you make a bonehead of mistakes. But yeah, turnovers have really, really,

(56:38):
really been a nemesis for the Rockets this past season,
and I'm sure they're going to address that before the
season starts this year. Now, was it because they didn't
have a quote two point guard? I don't believe that,
you know, the one thing I've told people, and this
is Calvia Murphy's opinion. Now this is I haven't talked
to anything of the Rockets fans, so let me just
tell you this is my opinion. We were such a

(57:01):
great rebounding team. I didn't think we needed a point guard.
I thought we rebound, push that ball up, put the
pressure on the defense, get on their heels, and get
as many opportunity baskets as possible. Then when you have
to play half court basketball, it's all about knowing what
is the game plan is in executing you know, when

(57:23):
you get to the level of professional anything, I don't
think a person need to be led round by the
nose you can. If you don't have your own mentality
about the game itself, you shouldn't be there.

Speaker 2 (57:36):
Big three head coach Houston Hans, you're right with us,
my boys, Calvin Murphy. Season begins on June twentieth, four
games in each city when they make their stops. They'll
start in LA, but they come to Houston twice during
the season, July twenty sixth the Toyota Center and then
again on August sixth the Toyota Center that is a Sunday,
and then a Thursday, you'll watch Derek Favors, Adam Drexler,

(58:00):
Isaiah Austen and the rest of Calvin's team crush the competition,
looking forward to it, love having you in here, Love
the enthusiasm is always for the very young Calvin Murphy.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
I'm gonna hold him to that promise on the ice
cube photo, I just upgraded it.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
You're getting me a picture with him.

Speaker 5 (58:15):
Now, that's a promise I made to him.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
But yes, the last thing I'm gonna say about the Righands,
We're gonna be one of the teams to beat. Forget
about last year which was experimental. We're going to have
one hell of a team.

Speaker 2 (58:30):
Gauntlet laid down by Calvin Murphy. Much more still to
come here on the A team. The two fantastic segments.
You guys think I'm kidding about going to that is man.

Speaker 1 (58:44):
The Big Three is something that I've known about for
a long time and I've known it was there, and
I don't just to you know how summers can go.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
I am going to make my way down there. I
want to see it.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
Maybe you know what at this point, because he is coaching.
That is as big a draw to me as anything
on the floor. From a player standpoint, that's just how
much I think of Calvin. Calvin's always been fantastic to
both of us, You for even longer because you've worked
around him longer than I have.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
But I don't look at it like that.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
He's just been He's like a grandfather to all of
us over at the Rockets, whether you're a broadcaster, whether
you're a current player, former player.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
Well there's that guy. Rockets legends, but they've all been
here for varying periods of time. He's been here since
San Diego's and where and he started then, and here
Terry still is.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
We went to San Diego for summer vacation, I think
in the summer of twenty one, and I made my
family drive over to the San Diego Sports Arena. And
part of the reason I did that is because that's
where Calvin Murphy played his first basketball games as a pro.

Speaker 2 (59:47):
No very interesting stuff on both the Big Three and
the Rockets obviously didn't get into a whole lot of
what we're probably gonna see tonight. I'm gonna say we're
gonna see one team eliminated tonight, so be down to
just a couple left. Obviously, a couple of teams have advanced.
Oklahoma City has advanced, and the New York Knicks have advanced.
The San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves play tonight. The

(01:00:10):
Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers play tonight. I think
the Pistons and Calves are going seven, So I think
the Pistons are going to get their win tonight and
send it back to Detroit. But I do think the Spurs, unfortunately,
are going to get the best of the Wolves. I
think the exact opposite of that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
I think there's a Game seven between Timberwolves and Spurs
in San Antonio, which would be sweet if they lost
on their home floor. I'm just such a big Anthony
Edwards fan, but I think I don't know why. Like,
it's interesting that we're at a point where we're talking
about James Harden clutching up in the postseason, but that's

(01:00:51):
what happened to send this series to where it is
going into tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
Yeah, he played very well in their Game six victory,
and it was very much clutch performance and that they
were down nine points just a couple of minutes ago
went on a nine to zero run to close out
regulation and then obviously won the game in overtime. A
lot of controversy about that game. We never really got
into it, and I actually was not surprised. The only
thing we said about it between when it happened and
today is I was interested to see what the Last

(01:01:18):
two Minutes report would have to say about it. One
thing that happened in overtime which did not even get
mentioned in the L two M and I don't know
why one of the second free throw attempt for James
Harden overtime, he'd made the first, he missed the second
and grabbed his own offensive rebound, but he was in
the lane before he should have been. It was a
lane violation that went on called and it wasn't even

(01:01:39):
in the report. Correct call in correct call not even mentioned,
which is rare, and again, in my opinion, the totally
missed call, So how could it be missed in that
But the real controversy was when the calves Donovan Mitchell
missed that late shot because it was blocked by SR.
Thompson and as it bounded away from Mitchell, it went
into the hands of Thompson, who then fell to the

(01:01:59):
flo In the last one point three seconds left, dribbled
off the clock and they went to overtime. Pistons thought
he was tripped. The Pistons thought there was a foul
on Jared Allen on the play. Tony Brothers didn't call one.
None of the other two officials called one. They did
a pool report and said they'll review it and you
can read all about it in the L two m
Those are not his exact words, but very close. And

(01:02:20):
it was deemed a correct call, and not very many
people think that. But we still get that same age
old postseason question A. Was it a foul? But more
importantly to the scenario, B, do you want them to
call that foul?

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
Well, this is what I always get a kick out of,
especially this time of year, and this happens during the
regular season. Just to be clear, how many times do
we hear, well, you can't call that foul in that situation.
I hate hearing as a foul. That's my thought on
it every single time. I'm actually more on the A
part of it. When the ball gets dislodged, Allen's going
for it, Thompson's going for it. Thompson throws his left

(01:02:59):
arm out and pushes Allan's arm out which also turns Allan,
and then a star turns up court and tries to
grab the ball, and at that moment, Allan's leg swings
around and clips the back of Thompson's legs and clips
his other foot, which trips him and sends them to
the court. So, yes, there was contact in the last
two minute report, it was deemed marginal, and quite honestly,

(01:03:21):
watching the game live and watching a billion replays, if
that happens in another portion of the game, it wouldn't
shock me at all.

Speaker 2 (01:03:28):
If it was deemed marginal contact. I do think it's
a bit of a judgment called both live and even
upon review. I don't really didn't really have any issue
with it night of or after the fact of that
not being deemed a foul. If it was a clear foul,
I want it called. It's a foul. Like you said,
what difference does it make how much time is left?
Or keep saying this this whole phrase of you don't

(01:03:49):
want the officials determining the game, the outcome of the game. Well,
when they don't call it, they are determining the out
It's you can't have it both ways. You're saying something
that doesn't even make sense.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
The only thing that bugs me actually more, even though
it's not as pivotal since you're talking about the scenario
were talking about here. I can't stand it when a
shot goes up, and it doesn't matter who it is,
they all do this, Well, does it go in the basket.
We're gonna wait. If it doesn't tweet, it's a foul.
If it's a foul call, And sometimes this will be

(01:04:21):
like three four seconds after the shot goes up, if
the ball bounced around or whatever.

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
Go watch a replay sometime where the camera in the
shot of the replay, it's the shooter, it's the committing offender,
and you can see the official underneath the basket, the
one who has made the call. And you watch the
shot go up. You see the tremendous amount of contact.
You see the ball go off the backboard in the
rim and bounce around, and there's literally no movement whatsoever
from the official. If the whistle hasn't been blown, his

(01:04:48):
arm hasn't come up, nothing, And then the ball falls
off the rim and then you see the fowl. Then
you see his arm going.

Speaker 1 (01:04:55):
You can actually sometimes see them watching it to wait until, oh,
that shot went in play on what I just.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
Don't get it. I just don't know. There's a few
things you prefer not to see, and those are among them.
But the games themselves, and obviously this last game, for
certainly in the Eastern Conference case, that was a great
game and it was a great comeback, and then they
carried that momentum into the overtime period and they won.
And yes, James Harden is once again almost in the
conference finals with another Team's been there with the Thunder.

(01:05:25):
He's clearly there with the Rockets, and has a chance
now with a victory tonight to get there with the Cavs.

Speaker 1 (01:05:29):
Yeah, we were talking about, you know, Clyde with with
Calvin Murphy, who, by the way, just again celebrated his
seventy eighth birthday this past Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
It's just insane.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
It's just not There's some people that you're like, there's
no way you're seventy eight years old. And it dawned
on me that we're right in the middle of the
time where thirty one years ago the Rockets were making
that insane run to repeat as NBA champions, and that
James Harden squad in eighteen. I just will go to
my grave believing was the closest and should have been.

(01:06:01):
I mean, it was a facto NBA Finals there in
the Western Conference Finals that year. But like Calvin brought
up the hamstring pop heard around the world at the
end of Game five, which by the way, people forget
the Rockets won that game to go up three to two,
and nobody could celebrate because all we saw was Chris
Paul limping out of Toyota Center and we're like, ah,
crap and day.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
That was the peak of the Warriors powers. That was
the best version of that team.

Speaker 1 (01:06:26):
Kadie did not get hurt like he did the following
year against the Rockets, ironically, and it just just sometimes,
like he said, the injury bug just keeps whatever from happening.
So I'll be very interested to see what you predicted
does in fact go down tonight, because if it does,
James Harden's going back to a conference final.

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
To take on the Knicks of all teams. Very interesting
stuff on that. We got a few other things to
wrap up the four o'clock hour or three o'clock hour.
Next number of different directions we could go, probably go
an NFL direction, maybe not what you expect with one
of the worst teams in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (01:07:04):
We'll do that next.

Speaker 8 (01:07:06):
The A team on Sports Talks even.

Speaker 2 (01:07:09):
Oh, of course of the show, we'll sprinkle in a
little bits and pieces of the schedule release, social media
releases and where I thought they all ranked out, and
five o'clock, when we do a Football at five, will
bang the whole thing out. We'll talk a little bit
more about that. The schedule itself, I'm gonna get into
in much more detail to start off the four o'clock hour,
But we've touched on a few different teams, and while
this is a football related story, I do think it

(01:07:31):
interestingly to me at least ties into the how their
social media team released their schedule. Talking about the Cleveland Browns,
the Browns, always a huge topic on this show. Did
not have a did not have a good season last
year really, or they've had some good seasons recently. Remember
they are one of the three teams that the CJ.

(01:07:54):
Stroud led Texans have beaten in the postseason. YEP beat
the Chargers and Justin her beat the Browns and Joe Flacco,
and they beat the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers. Over the
three years, he's taken this team to the postseason and
won those first games. The Browns are on the Texans

(01:08:14):
schedule Week ten, the second game after their off week
in Week eight, and the second consecutive road game for
the Texans. They play the Chargers coming out of the
off week, and then the Browns after that, both on
the road. Then a pair of home games beginning with
a primetime game, so short rest game, and they have
two of those short rest games all season because of

(01:08:34):
their two Thursday night games. They play the Colts that
middle of November pre Thanksgiving Thursday, and that's the standalone
primetime game that's here in Houston at Reliant Stadium, and
then later on in the year their Christmas Eve game,
that's their other short week game. They will be home
for Jacksonville on Sunday, December twentieth, and on Wednesday, the

(01:08:54):
twenty third, they're flying to Philadelphia because they will be
playing the Eagles in that Thursday night prime time time
game right before the evening of So Philadelphia to Houston
late night game, coming back to the Central time zone.
I guess if it's midnight when Saint Nick hits the Chimney,

(01:09:16):
they'll be somewhere near each other. They might see each
other in the sky a little bit. But talking about
the Browns their schedule release video, you're familiar with the theme,
No I am not on theirs street Fighter. Oh okay,
So they digitized all this stuff. They put this guy
and a bunch of people in an arcade and shot
it like it was an old eighties commercial commercial or

(01:09:36):
nineties commercial. Street Fighter cl e is what they called it.
And they had a variety of a karate video game
street so most of the time they were beating up
the opposition out there, a lot of Miles Garrett digitization,
et cetera. But I watched it a second time, so
if I missed it a second time, I apologize. They

(01:09:59):
mentioned should Or in it more than once. They didn't
mention Deshaun in it at all. As in, we are
expecting from a social media standpoint, with whatever direction we
got from the team, if any that, go ahead, Yeah,
go ahead. Put put whoever you want in there, like
our started quarterback should Ar Sanders. I don't know what

(01:10:20):
they will have for us when they get to camp,
because they'll have their offseason workout like everybody else. It's
pretty clear those are the two guys at the front
of the line Deshaun Watson and should hear Sanders who
potentially starting From a Texans point of view, it barely
matters who starts. That's ten weeks into the season when
they're going to see the Browns. Who knows what will
have happened between now between then and now when the

(01:10:42):
Texans see them, But they'll have a competition.

Speaker 1 (01:10:44):
It looks like they will have one concern going into
that game, provided he's healthy and it's Miles Garrett.

Speaker 2 (01:10:52):
Oh yeah, the Texans will have one concern. And ironically,
their history with Miles Garrett and the Browns was in
the postseason, most recently when Laramie Tunsseell was their left
tackle and he absolutely won that matchup handily and helped
the offense operate the way they can when you neutralize
an elite rusher off the edge like Laramie did.

Speaker 1 (01:11:13):
Yeah, it's again you forget that there was there was
one aspect of Laramie Tunsell when he was here that
was very, very good.

Speaker 2 (01:11:19):
One in that game with both their defense was awesome.
Scored twice and you know the past to Brevin Jordan
that went deep the touchdown passed a Dulton Schultz over
the middle, wide open, perfectly executed, well blocked. It was
a combination, but that definitely was a big part of
what the offense did that day. Their video, by the way,
I had it right there in the middle. I had
it ranked sixteenth. It was very Texans of them. Yeah,

(01:11:41):
but this story is specifically unrelated to all of that
except for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:11:45):
Well, I want to preface this by saying that some
of what Dion is referencing or Deon Sanders his former coach. Yes,
and still current dad, Still current dad, hasn't changed, That's
never changed for one day. When he says that Shadur
quote went through hell during a turbulent pre draft process
and rookie season, the pre draft process, I absolutely agree

(01:12:09):
with that, because even though everybody mel kiper junior, not
the least of which was pumping this kid up. The
prank call to this day just still feels so gross,
and that would have felt gross for anybody. It's not
just that it was Shadur Sanders, that it was Dion's kid,
or like just that's a that's messing with someone's wedding day,

(01:12:30):
that's messing with someone's I don't know, there's similar.

Speaker 2 (01:12:33):
Moments pushing your wife's face in the cake when you're
just supposed to feed your cake.

Speaker 1 (01:12:37):
Tripping down the walk down the aisle, You know, there's
just things excellently tripping.

Speaker 2 (01:12:41):
When you're the best man and you have the ring
and they decided to get married over a pool of water,
and you slip and you bump into the bride and
she goes into the water, and we all pretend it
wasn't staged.

Speaker 1 (01:12:52):
What about when there's a toast and the two competing
bridesmaids keep stealing the mic from each other so that
they can one up the they're in they wind up
singing a song poorly in front of the whole crowd.

Speaker 2 (01:13:03):
So the pre draft in rookie season process, he called it,
We went through hell, and there was elements of it
at all those times pre draft process. During the season,
he becomes the starter, and the absolute nonsense coming from
both media and fans alike. You know, did they not
prepare him for this? Did he not get enough first
team reps? Backup quarterbacks don't get first team reps during

(01:13:24):
the season? Hello, any of you been here at all?
Are you new here? The quote Davis Mills comes in
Broncos game when CJ. Stroud gets knocked out middle of
the game. Guess how many first team reps he had before?
Then he doesn't get them. He's not the starter. It's
not different here than there.

Speaker 1 (01:13:43):
And I also before he gets the actual quote, like
I do want to say that it's Dion and in
this case, Schador, they're gonna lose lose situation because if
he doesn't say anything, people are going to criticize him
for that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:54):
If he does, well, you're his dad and you're Dion,
and so ye know here I am. He's not his dad.
He's a football coach.

Speaker 5 (01:13:59):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (01:14:00):
When he takes off his shirt, I see the scars
on his back that he's been through hell all right,
first and foremost right there, I don't care if it
was like the worst pre draft slash rookie season ever.
You're just not gonna get a whole heck of a
lot of sympathy from the common person reading this or
seeing this, like, oh, poor Schadur Sanders. Now you will

(01:14:22):
get that from the people who just absolutely worship at
the altar of all things Sanders. But for the most part,
people watching that are just like, like you said, he's
a backup quarterback.

Speaker 2 (01:14:34):
No I don't mean it that way at all, because
I actually think the way it was handled in the
media was almost as bad as people try to make
out like it was handled there, like they were sabotaging
his career like Stefanski intentionally is doing. And I'm not inside.
I can't tell you for sure it didn't happen, but
it doesn't do it. It's more that logic stuff for me,
and I get stuck on that all the time. How
is this helping the coach who guess what got fired? Yeah,

(01:14:56):
that's a good point.

Speaker 1 (01:14:57):
Like all of this is basically like spilled milk, for
lack of a better way of putting it, and it
would be anyways, even if Stefanski was there.

Speaker 2 (01:15:05):
A lot of this is generated because I think Dion's
angling for and expects to have a totally different relationship
with a new coach. They have a new coach. He
wants to establish that, he wants to be talked to.
He wants to get a conversation because he knows shud
or the football player, what makes him tick, How should
he be coach? What can he help with? That's part

(01:15:25):
of this article as well, which brings up a really
weird dynamic. Do you talk to coaches of players once
they've come through college and now they're a part of
your organization, Of course you do. That's that's pretty normal.
And I don't know that it happens a lot after
they've arrived. A lot of that's pre draft. And this
is clearly a different situation because he's not just get
on the phone. It's called coach a monkey. Can we

(01:15:47):
get a Colorado head coach on the phone. I'd love
to talk to him. We've got one of his players here.
It's not that's not what it is. It's not the same.

Speaker 1 (01:15:55):
Well, he won't have to worry about this in year
two because Deshaun will be the starter. So all right,
four o'clock hour, coming to next we're gonna revisit that
Dusty Baker audio and not surprisingly, as we mentioned, Yankees
fans stay mad about the subject.

Speaker 8 (01:16:11):
The A Team on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:16:15):
Two hours of the A Team, And then it is
Astros baseball coverage, the last three games of the ongoing
home stand and the ongoing stretch of thirteenth straight days
of baseball for the Astros, coming off a series loss
and a loss yesterday to the Mariners, lost a three,
lost three of four, and headed tonight at seventeen and
twenty eight. As we continue here on the eighteen, they

(01:16:36):
do give the ball to their best pitcher at Spencer Araghedti.
He actually is tied for the major league lead in
victories since he's been a major leaguer this year when
he made his first start on April fifteenth to today,
nobody has more than his four wins. He's four and
one with a one eighty eight er. The multi time
MVP award winners are both out of the lineup tonight

(01:16:57):
for both squads. Jose Altuve, with his regular season and
CS MVP under his belt, not in the Astros lineup tonight,
and Corey Seeger, who's been a two time World Series
MVP and CS MVP, not in the lineup for the
Rangers tonight. I know, I'm pretty sure I know the reason.
On the Rangers side, Cal Raley's hitless streak did come

(01:17:20):
to an end here in Houston, and maybe Saturday or Sunday,
Corey seegers will he comes into Houston on an zero
for twenty seven skid. Not having a good season. We
brought up the Rangers pitching staff in the opening moments
of the show. Come into tonight with a three sixty
three t team ERA, good for seventh in baseball, but
they're under five hundred because they are not a very

(01:17:41):
good offense. They have a big time struggle putting beginnings together,
even hitting the ball over the fence and obviously scoring
runs in general. Jack Lighter Outlighter's Kid, makes the start
for Texas. He's got a one and three record with
a for eighty five ERA, but it has made some
very good starts this year. They pitch very well, they
don't hit it all. The Astros haven't really pitched very

(01:18:02):
well and they have struggled mightily offensively this month, so
hopefully that changes a bit. With Altuve out of the lineup,
Bryce Matthews going to bat lead off again, Braden Shoemake
is up to fifth in the order behind Paritis, Altuve,
and Walker. The outfield follows Shoemake. Shoemakes the shortstop tonight, Descenzo,
Cole and Smith are the three in the outfield, and

(01:18:23):
of course doing the catching for Spencer Araghetti is Christian Basquez.

Speaker 1 (01:18:26):
Can we as we kind of revisit what Dusty Baker
had to say about his time here in Houston getting
the gig, what it was like, what he came into
from a situation standpoint, with a scandal and all that,
but specifically what he said about Jose Altuve being I
think unfairly scathed by bearing the brunt of the cheating

(01:18:49):
scandal as the face of the franchise.

Speaker 2 (01:18:52):
Yeah, we've heard it from many, many people before, and
even from Dusty before. It was all the smoke. The
podcast on the Baseball Side with Matt Barnes, etc. Got
into that a little bit, and uh, you know that that,
you know, really affected me, how how he was treated. Yeah,
I mean all over everywhere, and he didn't deserve it.

(01:19:13):
He basically said he didn't deserve it because he was
so limited with his personal involvement in wanting that information
and banging the trash cans and all that. It's been
not only shown through the report that our good friend
Tony put together many many years ago, but because of
all the former Astros and everybody else involved that has

(01:19:35):
insight to it has said as much. Josh Reddick among
the most, obviously, Carlos Korea has said it. A current
teammate of his, they know what took place there they've
I wouldn't say they vouched for it. They vouched for
the authenticity of the trash can banging report that indicated
I wanted no part of it, individually.

Speaker 1 (01:19:54):
And other than Dodgers fans, who usually are the loudest
about this very topic because they feel like they were
cheated out of a championship. At least they were in
the championship round that season, unlike the other fan base.

Speaker 2 (01:20:09):
Can you guess which one it is? Well, how did
they exit the exit the twenty seventeen postseason or the
other postseasons they met the Astros?

Speaker 1 (01:20:18):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:20:19):
All of them? Yeah? Then ask us didn't knock the
Yankees out of every postseason, just every time they met
in the postseason.

Speaker 1 (01:20:25):
Right, the next time they beat the Astros in the
postseason will be the first time, even if it's just
a wild card game setting.

Speaker 2 (01:20:31):
So if it was a year where somebody else knocked
them out, are they okay with it? I guess?

Speaker 6 (01:20:36):
So?

Speaker 1 (01:20:36):
Even if that team cheated too, what about the team
their own team? Well, that's different because it's the Yankees.

Speaker 2 (01:20:45):
So the Yankees fans are mad, and because this was
brought up again, I mean it is everybody that's involved
that ever gets interviewed from now until eternity. If they
bring it up, it's going to recirculate through social media,
which Crusty's interview helped to promote.

Speaker 1 (01:20:58):
One point one million people have seen this so far,
this tweet from this random Yankees fan with like a
few handful of thousand followers see rational. It's what is
his at rational Yankee, that's his handle.

Speaker 2 (01:21:13):
That's like you or I saying here now, I don't
want you to take offense, but and then when you
say rational Yankees fan, it's very similar to that.

Speaker 1 (01:21:22):
Al Tuve was the face of the twenty seventeen Astros.
He sat in that clubhouse every night, watched teammates bang
trash cans.

Speaker 2 (01:21:30):
I don't think you watched them.

Speaker 1 (01:21:32):
Uh won an MVP and a ring off the back
of it and said nothing for years period, not until
reporters dragged it into the light. They didn't drag it
into the light. Mike Fires brought it to them and
they wrote it you moron. Anyways, he goes on quote,
innocent is a word you use for a kid who

(01:21:53):
didn't know what was happening. Altuve knew he profited. He
stayed quiet. Altuve let the entire sport eat the consequences
while he kept the trophies. It was jack'su, just the one.
I don't think he gets enough criticism for it. He's
still likely to get into the Hall of Fame. I
don't think any player, manager, or coach from the twenty
seventeen Astros should be allowed to even buy a ticket

(01:22:15):
to the Hall of Fame, let alone get inducted into it.

Speaker 2 (01:22:18):
I wonder what he thinks about the twenty twenty two
Astros question, what does he think about the cheating Yankees?

Speaker 1 (01:22:24):
Well, hang on, we'll get to that, because one of
my favorite accounts to follow at Space City Sports quote
tweeted that and wrote the following. Jeter was the face
of the Yankees. He sat in that clubhouse every night,
watched teammates stick needles in their asses, won a World
Series MVP and rings off the back of it, and

(01:22:45):
said nothing for years period, not until reporters dragged it
into the light. Innocent is a word you use for
a kid who didn't know what was happening. Jeter knew,
he profited, he stayed quiet. Jeter let the answer. You
get the idea here.

Speaker 9 (01:23:01):
I mean, it will never cease to amaze me how
specifically Yankees fans are some of the most hypocritical and
just dumb people on the planet, Like one of the
dumbest species of sports fans that we knowed, no known
demand on the planet or any other. Like, they absolutely

(01:23:21):
won a World Series by cheating, end of sentence. You
cannot make any comparisons or levels of it, this kind
of stuff. They won their last World Series in two
thousand and nine, by the way, by cheating, period.

Speaker 2 (01:23:39):
And even just on the this era of sign stealing cheating,
the Astros weren't the only team punished for doing that,
the Red Sox. There's an issued statement from Major League
Baseball's punishment department, if you will, on their punishment, so
they're literally not alone. The perception is they were the

(01:24:02):
only one punished, but factually they weren't. Now factually the
Yankees were reprimanded and should have been punished. And with
all the other player comments we've had, and we could
run down a list of ten current or former Major leaguers,
if not fifteen, if not twenty, if not more, who've
all said they weren't the only team doing this. And

(01:24:23):
by this I don't mean banging trash cans, I mean
doing the cheating. What you did to convey the information,
deliver the information to the players on the field was
different for different teams. That's why we know about the
vibrating massage guns on your dugout bench. That's why we
know about where hands were held in certain positions up

(01:24:43):
against bullpen fences or up on the dugout or through
the third But whatever the case may be, the use
of technology to steal signs based on player interviews, major
league player interviews, and it was not a one team thing.
And how many different teams were bagging the league by
sending them information and giving them the evidence, saying will

(01:25:04):
you please do something about this? Investigate, make this stop,
over and over and over the Astro Senate and Cleveland Senatent,
and Milwaukee was being accused and the Yankees, the Rockies
were being accused. But it's okay, We're only supposed to
go with this, you know, rationals Yankees fan has visited
the X platform in the last five minutes. Oh really, yeah,

(01:25:25):
what did he say? Well, he quote posted his own
post that you've read now al two. It was the
face blah blah blah. He posted it with the obvious.
If you're ever looking for easy engagements on this app,
just say something that the Astros fans won't like. And
he goes on and on and on. Yeah, that's what
this is about.

Speaker 1 (01:25:43):
By the way, we're leaving out the most important being
for Yankees fans, specifically, the ringleader.

Speaker 2 (01:25:51):
Of the cheating scheme.

Speaker 1 (01:25:54):
Came to the Astros and said, you're not cheating hard enough.
But because last year in Yankee Stadium, this is how
we did it. His name was Carlos Beltron. He played
for the Yankees the year prior to coming to Houston. Like,
I'm sorry, Like even Dodgers fans can't say that about

(01:26:18):
their side of all this stuff, because I know they
were doing things like Yankees fans. I'm telling you, they're
the dumbest people on the planet as far as sports fans.
They really just don't have any most This guy, rational
Yankees fan, rational Yankee. I don't know how old he is,
I don't know how long he's been watching baseball, but

(01:26:41):
I've got a pretty good idea that he wasn't that
coherent back in two thousand and nine when this was happening.
The last time his team really mattered other than just
the fact that Major League Baseball likes to put it
on television, like mattered in the grand scheme of we
could win something that matters here. But I just people
like him, and there's a lot of them in that
fan base just conveniently gloss over really huge chunks of

(01:27:05):
information that you just can't ignore. Much like if you're
the commissioner of the of Major League Baseball, you probably
should ignore all those teams saying, hey, you should look
at this going.

Speaker 2 (01:27:14):
On over here and over here and over here.

Speaker 6 (01:27:16):
Ah.

Speaker 2 (01:27:17):
After all, it's just a hunk of metal, the trophy
that we're all playing for. We don't talk about it
all the time, but it's impossible to not talk about
it quite a bit of the time because the other
people who are still backside hurt.

Speaker 1 (01:27:28):
Prop's a Dusty Baker. It gets too though, for saying
what everybody knows, said it many.

Speaker 2 (01:27:32):
Many times before, and gives the same honest answer when
asked about it.

Speaker 1 (01:27:36):
I liked that he did it on this platform, though.
It was like a new group of people might be
less dumb now. I doubt it, though, especially Yankees fans.
We continue here on a Friday edition of the show
Sports Talk seven, I ds c h N Wex and
ac with you as we take it as six o'clock Wex.

Speaker 2 (01:27:53):
Mentioning the Rangers are in town tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:27:56):
It's always good when there's a Seager brother out of
the lineup to play the ass and I honestly can't
decide which.

Speaker 2 (01:28:02):
One of them's more annoying over the course of time,
not even close. I know Seger this one ran his
mouth a little bit about mocking the Breadman line. But
he's good. He's won multiple I don't have any really
other than that one thing. He goes out there plays baseball.
He's really good at baseball. He's made a bunch of money.
He happens to play in Arlington. The other guy played

(01:28:23):
for the Mariners all those years, and the Mariners were terrible.
It didn't even matter, but gosh, he was annoying, well
so annoying time that you have to admit, as it's
one of my all time What do I always say
about hitting back? You are not a fan of that
and you had to love it, dude. He just Jared
Weaver was so ticked off at him. As for Angel's pitcher,

(01:28:44):
it's just it's not even that he put his hand
up to call time. So many times, it's what he
was doing, his batting stance, his preparation hit, it's what hey, commisson,
Why do we have a pitch clock anything or anyone
in particular Kyle Kyle Sieger.

Speaker 1 (01:28:59):
But you know what, and no, Ma, he would always
hit a stupid home run against the Astros, even when
they hit a few of those.

Speaker 2 (01:29:05):
Yep, and I still a loser. But yeah, you don't
have to look at either of those guys, at least
not tonight. But leadoff hitter tonight for the Dodgers, you
get to look at him for the Rangers. You mean
for the Rangers, I mean Jock Peterson. Oh, he's just
a fat guy who can't hit. They have plenty of those.
He has the same number of homers this year as
esoch peretis three. Who would you want on your team

(01:29:28):
right now, any Major League team? Other guy with the
seven to eleven ops versus the guy with the six
fifty nine ops advantage Esak, I mean, those are really
not numbers to write home about from there, But again,
I would take the Astros have two good hitters or
three good hitters in the lineup, if you allow for
me to include Braiden Shoemake.

Speaker 1 (01:29:47):
I don't and it's nothing personal against him. All right, Well,
then it's back to especially when he winds up inevitably
coming on the show next week.

Speaker 2 (01:29:55):
It's possible. I got three games in Minnesota Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
and then an off.

Speaker 1 (01:29:59):
Day next week, another week where we're definitely gonna have
to hear Matt Thomas talk about how we don't work enough.

Speaker 2 (01:30:06):
Nothing we can do about it, I know, we just
play the games in the schedule in front of us.
We had two o'clock start time today, right, That's why
I think, what time did you get here today?

Speaker 5 (01:30:15):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:30:16):
Well, I don't know if I want to say that
out loud. Did you get here before too? Uh?

Speaker 1 (01:30:19):
Huh?

Speaker 2 (01:30:19):
Okay, So you did have a chance to see mt
on your way out?

Speaker 3 (01:30:23):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:30:23):
Very very briefly. Okay, good, Yeah I didn't. I didn't
see him at all.

Speaker 1 (01:30:27):
I'm sure he was here, and by briefly I mean
not at all, because he was not here. Okay, Yeah,
what I did my show?

Speaker 2 (01:30:33):
Yeah, he did a show. He worked, He can work
from wherever we're remote broadcast. I guess I should start
doing my show from my house, be like him.

Speaker 5 (01:30:40):
Go for it.

Speaker 2 (01:30:40):
I want to be like MT when I grow up.
It's gonna look awesome on TV. Bring maybe go COVID
with it. Bring an a c Clinton cut out, cut
out in this chair. Yeah, let's pumping some crowd noise
in here. No necessary, not necessary?

Speaker 5 (01:30:56):
All right?

Speaker 1 (01:30:57):
Rafel Stone went on Ryan Rossello's podcast, and since Ryan
Roussillo is going to come up in this segment, I
do have to kind of peel the curtain back.

Speaker 2 (01:31:05):
We were at that Comets press conference yesterday officially relaunching
the Houston Comments Yesterday. Se Agumakay our host, and she
was very enthusiastic and totally genuine and phenomenal as she
introduced to everyone back to the new renderings of what
Toyta Center is going to look like. I introduced s
Gretchen Sheer, president of Business Operations for the Rockets, and

(01:31:28):
Patrick Fertita, who uh ambassador at Italy. Easy for Tita family,
that's right. Uh. They I leave that to the dad.
They both took questions or had a bunch of stuff
to initially say into questions from the media. I had
a chance to talk to Tina Thompson Van Chancellor and
off to the side. It was eating catfish and playing basketball.

(01:31:49):
The franchise is currently playing. The soon to be Houston
Comets franchise is in season right now. They are the
Connecticut's son. I am imagine they will win a game
this year. I'm sure it will happen. Happened yet it
has not happened yet. They were eleven and thirty three
last year in the forty four game regular seasoning towards

(01:32:10):
the top of the lottery if there are no changes
to the upcoming draft process. There is a lottery at
the top of the draft, but it is a weighted
system based on our teams tanking in the WNBA. Yet
wex well, they have some things in place. It's a
two year aggregate of your record. So they're bringing with
them some excellent baggage from last year when they went

(01:32:31):
eleven and thirty three.

Speaker 5 (01:32:33):
I like it now.

Speaker 2 (01:32:33):
Unfortunately, they did not keep their top pick last year.
They had already traded it away. It was a top
five pick, ended up taking a player at twelve.

Speaker 1 (01:32:43):
This thing, all right, I say all that to say
a member of the media who shower main name was
because I you know, I don't want to I don't
want to you know, expose something he didn't want me
to tell everybody about. But he came over to me
and he opened the conversation like this, Hey, can I
tell you something that might offend you.

Speaker 2 (01:33:02):
That's what he said, very much like what we were
talking about last second. No offense.

Speaker 5 (01:33:05):
But and I said, I I.

Speaker 1 (01:33:07):
Used my usual line when it comes to that time. Well,
I said, I'm my wife and I have said this
to people a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:33:12):
We're in radio.

Speaker 1 (01:33:13):
You can't offend us. And I said, yeah, sure. He goes,
you got a little Ryan Roussillo thing going on? And
I said, were you talking about my appearance or my delivery?
And he goes a little bit of both. I said, well,
you know what, he's a pretty successful guy, so I'll
take it.

Speaker 2 (01:33:28):
Even though I'm not a huge Ryan Roussillo fan, has
nothing to do, I think it's a very reasonable statement
to have made.

Speaker 1 (01:33:34):
Well, Ryan Rossillo as far as appearance is like me
five years ago, way less gray, more of a beard
situation and bald. There's like a billion of us that
fit that description. It's a little bit less, but you know,
you got.

Speaker 2 (01:33:49):
A little Ryan Rossillo thing going also, James click same
for Steve Austin, I like the last one of the best.

Speaker 1 (01:33:57):
But yeah, rafel Stone went on his podcast and I mean, look,
you might be happy with what rafel Stone has done
with this roster.

Speaker 2 (01:34:08):
He might be like wanting to blow the whole thing up.
You might I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:34:11):
I don't know you feel about him, but I do
know this, you will have a reaction to these sound bites.

Speaker 2 (01:34:18):
He was talking about the perception externally when your team
that goes out and a's a guy like Kevin Durant,
how that impacts how things go and just how maybe
the outside and internal maybe don't match up.

Speaker 10 (01:34:31):
I think maybe the external review was Durant's presence means
where like all in on winning this year or this
is our only opportunity to win. It's why we extended
him as soon as we got him. We wanted him
here for several years. You know, hopefully he's here for
the for the remainder of his career. We have this
exciting what I think is exciting the group of players

(01:34:53):
that I think compliment him, and I think it's why
he really wanted to come and and and they have
to figure each other out. That group, which is very young,
has to get better, and that's kind of I think
where we're at.

Speaker 1 (01:35:06):
So what do you think about him basically saying it
is a win now situation, but yet it's not necessarily.

Speaker 2 (01:35:16):
A flash in the pan win now situation. It's hard
to get people to buy into what you're saying when
you just explain it like that. And we're going to
have another SoundBite from in the next couple of minutes
here that helps to explain it a little bit, but
doesn't make it any less difficult to take. If NBA
players know how difficult it is to win, then every
single chance you have to win, they want you to

(01:35:38):
do everything you can to win because you have no
idea what next year holds, You have no idea what
other teams are going to do, You have no idea
what your team's going to look like, and clearly you
can't pinpoint what kind of injuries could end up derailing
what your plans are. They clearly felt that both in
the regular season and much more so in the postseason,
and the player we're talking about was not available for them.
So while the recognition of how difficult it is to

(01:36:00):
win is clearly there for everybody, nobody wants to waste
any season when you believe that's one of the seasons
you had a chance to win. Calvin Murphy was in
here with us to open up the three o'clock hour
and was speaking very glowingly about what he thought their
chances were had they been a healthy group, not healthy
with Fred and Steven, but just a healthy group in
the postseason, which they clearly weren't, and what they might

(01:36:20):
have done. And that's why I think taking a step
back and saying, no, he's here for three years, we'll
have a chance. That's why we extended it. It's hard
to put all that together and to say, oh, okay,
because every years without jeopardizing your future is the part
that you have to throw in there. The Rockets wanted
to win the championship this year, in Katy's first year.

(01:36:42):
They want to win the championship next year, in Katy's
whatever year they wanted to win the championship in Kti's
whatever year that follow. Every year he's on this team,
they should be trying to win a championship. And I
have full confidence that's the type of roster they're going
to put together around him. But any season that goes by,
where you fall this short no postseason series victory. It's
a little tough to take. What's the general plan though?

(01:37:03):
What's the general plan? Yeah, we'll play that next segment good.
I'm looking forward to it. I just said that we're
running out of time here. We're working on a clock here.
This is a television program.

Speaker 1 (01:37:14):
Are you trying to be a professional radio host or something?
I'm trying also. By the way, just since we're on
that subject of next segment, there is something entirely unrelated
yet it keeps happening in multiple sports, and I don't
get it. I'm gonna need WEX of all people, to
explain this phenomenon to me. Another professional athlete is caught

(01:37:39):
up in something that I'll never understand and you probably
won't believe, even though you will because you've heard it before.

Speaker 2 (01:37:46):
So we'll get to that.

Speaker 1 (01:37:47):
We'll hear the rest of what rafel Stone had to
say about this plan for your Houston Rockets moving forward.
And I agree with with what Calvin Murphy said. It's
gonna be a very very interesting offseason. And I happen
to agree with what you said. Sometimes players you like
are on the move because of things that happened the
season prior all that more coming up as we continue

(01:38:08):
here on a Friday edition of the program.

Speaker 2 (01:38:12):
The eighteen sixt segment t i'me here on the eighteen Mondays,
Good bad and the Ugly. Tuesdays, say what Wednesdays? They're
very poorly introed. Wednesday's BS we're neglecting to update since
we don't bit steel anymore. Thursday. What you just heard
What's up with That? But a very special after school

(01:38:34):
special type edition Friday edition of What's Up with That?
Coming for you now. It feels like we're hosting a
show on ABC right now. And I just got off
the bus. Well, no, and then you came home and
parents weren't there, friends came over. What'd you find in closet? Drugs?
I mean a gun?

Speaker 3 (01:38:54):
Where'd you?

Speaker 1 (01:38:54):
I mean?

Speaker 2 (01:38:55):
Who taught you how to do this?

Speaker 5 (01:38:56):
And we taught you this?

Speaker 2 (01:38:58):
I learned it from watching you. All right, kids who
used drugs, have parents who used drugs? Remember the egg
in the frying pan? What's that about? This is your brain?
This is your brain on drugs questions. We're sure to
help the people. That's right. What do we have today?

(01:39:18):
And in case you missed it, well, I gotta tell
you back in the day. I mean, I'm sorry, what's
up with that? When when.

Speaker 1 (01:39:29):
Michael Vick was arrested for breeding and fighting dogs and
had a whole house dedicated to it, and clearly there
was money, big money involved, and then he lost everything
and went to prison over it. Because as we know
here in America, you can mess with a lot of things,
even humans, But if you mess with animals pets, well

(01:39:54):
now you've done it and you're gonna get into some
real serious legal problems. But no, it reminded me again
today as I saw this story that athletes really just
don't care sometimes because they are into some of the
dumbest things ever. And I would I would have to

(01:40:15):
put illegal cock fighting at the top of this list.
Here in Houston, Kareem Jackson got caught up in this
one time.

Speaker 2 (01:40:22):
Well that would be illegal being in Houston. Well what
about not necessarily illegal where it's taking place?

Speaker 1 (01:40:30):
Okay, it should be everywhere. If for no other reason,
then it's stupid. It's cockfighting.

Speaker 2 (01:40:37):
I not disagree. I mean, I'm not saying I could
see where dogs. It's just to me, the comparing any
of the right to me, all the things you could
bet on this how much of a degenerate, Like I
call people that gamble on pack twenty basketball games at

(01:40:57):
midnight this pack two or one right now.

Speaker 1 (01:41:00):
Whatever, Like people that just want to I mean col
and I used to talk about this. He'll find some
Division twelve football games smart to where you make your money.
I'm like, you have to be a degenerate. You have
to be a degenerate to bet on cock fighting. Well,
just being involved in the element itself seems. I don't

(01:41:21):
know any number of adjectives you could use here if
I could have told you, like, well, go ahead, Well,
why is this a story here on the sports related
program we host because a major league pitcher and some
jockeys I don't really care as much about them because
they're not real athletes.

Speaker 2 (01:41:37):
Here, here's your peanut for the day. Now go ride
a horse boom.

Speaker 1 (01:41:40):
You're an athlete, but a closing high dollar play a
paid pitcher in Major League Baseball being involved in this
one of the best, or at least, once upon a time,
one of the best, three time All Star with the Dodgers,
by the way, as they continue to stain the sport zero.

Speaker 2 (01:42:00):
Time All Star as a Dodger exactly Edwin this year,
he's hurt.

Speaker 1 (01:42:06):
Now he's been linked to to cockfighting events in Puerto
Rico based on photos found by USDA Today Sports on
social media. Now you might ask yourself what kind of
photos are they were? Was he behind the scenes? But no,
he's advertising the tournaments on Facebook. How dumb is Edwin

(01:42:28):
Diaz A To be involved in cockfighting and b to
pose for pictures advertising this stuff?

Speaker 9 (01:42:36):
Like?

Speaker 1 (01:42:36):
You play for one of, if not the most visible
franchise in all of baseball. You're a high salaried guy,
you're visible, and you're doing this along with two jockeys.

Speaker 2 (01:42:49):
I just don't get it. Staying with it. Yeah, you're young,
you're not making any money. You live there. It's part
of what other people that you're around do. And you
get involved. And then you come to the States and
you pitch in the majors and you get a bigger contract,
and then a bigger contract, and you have your own
entrance music, and then you move from the biggest major

(01:43:10):
major media market to the other coasts, biggest major media
market and you get even more money. Sometime during that
major league portion of your life. I know it's difficult,
but maybe you say this isn't what I should be
doing any more ever, at any point in my.

Speaker 1 (01:43:28):
Downtime or anytime. There's a lot of people that come
to that conclusion, but there's a lot of people that don't.
And you're aware of the mlbyond facts parody account.

Speaker 8 (01:43:37):
Are you not.

Speaker 2 (01:43:37):
I've seen it at time or two or ten. One
of my favorite all.

Speaker 1 (01:43:40):
Time, Edwin Diaz's interpreter, has been arrested over alleged eiz
to an illegal cop fighting operation. He's going to take
the fall, just like his teammate show Heyo Tani had
him due for him. No, in all seriousness, though, like again,
I gets it. People have their vices, people get into things.

(01:44:02):
I'll just never understand this.

Speaker 2 (01:44:04):
Well, it exists quite obviously, and a lot of people
do this and it's just part of what they do.

Speaker 1 (01:44:10):
And Micah replied to the MLB on facts account, Oh, Micah, cool,
if there's a if there's a legal cockfighting, does that
mean there's legal cockfighting? And the answer wex is a
very resounding yes.

Speaker 2 (01:44:23):
Like it's policed to here to the extent that it
is illegal in all fifty states. It's not policed and
delegalized elsewhere.

Speaker 1 (01:44:35):
By the way, would you like for me to reallowed
the text and one of the advertisements he appeared in.

Speaker 2 (01:44:40):
Uh, sure if you can.

Speaker 1 (01:44:41):
Puerto Rico Cockfighting Club invites all enthusiasts to a special
match and a grand tribute to one of our island's
greatest sources of pride. A tribute to the Puerto Rican
star and cockfighter, Edwin sugar Diez.

Speaker 2 (01:44:56):
So can I have the smart question? He's known as Sugar?

Speaker 5 (01:44:59):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:45:00):
Are you sure they're referring to him?

Speaker 5 (01:45:02):
I don't know?

Speaker 2 (01:45:03):
Or are they not referring to someone who is actually
doing the fighting? And by someone, I mean the animal
in question, the rooster. Either rooster is the rooster?

Speaker 1 (01:45:16):
That?

Speaker 2 (01:45:16):
Does the rooster not have a name?

Speaker 3 (01:45:18):
Could it not?

Speaker 2 (01:45:18):
That not be the name of the rooster?

Speaker 1 (01:45:20):
I suppose if the rooster's life is on the line,
it should at least get that afforded it a nickname.

Speaker 2 (01:45:26):
Well, we saw this in two very visible televised or
movie products programs. It was a little little tiny part
of Seinfeld Little Jerry, and it was in which I
can't even remember which one. I think it was Hangover two. Yes,
I only saw it first two. Okay, Well, then if

(01:45:48):
you saw it, it wasn't in the first one, so
that would be correct.

Speaker 5 (01:45:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:45:51):
By the way, my favorite sentence from the whole article.
A federal ban on cock fighting in all fifty states
and US territories took effect in Puerto Rico.

Speaker 2 (01:45:59):
In twenty nineteen. It took them that long.

Speaker 1 (01:46:02):
The copas continue on the island, where authorities and residents
have said the fights began four hundred years ago and
are culturally significant.

Speaker 2 (01:46:10):
No better topic than that unless you want to talk
about Giannis and where he might play next year. Let's
do that next.

Speaker 8 (01:46:18):
The A on sports talking. If I told you.

Speaker 1 (01:46:24):
That an NBA superstar got preferential treatment, you know that
inconvenienced his teammates and others on the team and in
the organization.

Speaker 2 (01:46:36):
Then I would be sad that I had still not
created Lebron James imaging. Imaging, Yeah, because we talk about
it so much to just be a part of the show.
What makes you think I'm talking about Lebron James. He's
just mad about a stupid basketball he didn't get. I'll
keep listening and see who you're actually talking about.

Speaker 1 (01:46:52):
Well, this isn't me talking about him, it's his own teammate,
Miles Turner, he's the center for the Bucks or he's
a center on the Bucks. He was talking about life
with Doc Rivers as the head coach. One of your
favorite topics of NBA conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:47:12):
Ton of NBA wins for Glen Glenn Doc Rivers, I
hate my voice. I don't think he's a very good
NBA coach.

Speaker 1 (01:47:20):
Well, uh, he said Myles Turner about Doc Rivers, the
former coach who's been fired. Obviously didn't find anybody, and
he also singled out Yannis for taking advantage of that
very situation, noting the franchise star would quote show up
whenever he wants. Guys were late all the time, Guys

(01:47:40):
were showing up to film whenever they wanted to show up,
Guys were missing meetings. It was one of the craziest,
craziest things I personally ever experienced.

Speaker 2 (01:47:49):
And he said, uh.

Speaker 1 (01:47:53):
When he was asked who was most light late, Mike
Lee to be late last season, he said it was
an easy and quote Jannis. Yannis is going to show
up whenever he wants. Really, I think that this kind
of just came with the territory that and once I
saw what was going down, I was like, hey, man,
more power to you, they ain't going to find you bleep.

Speaker 6 (01:48:14):
Do what you do.

Speaker 1 (01:48:15):
So I don't know why he's talking about it and
seemingly upset when he's also admitting in the same breath
I was encouraging him to do this.

Speaker 2 (01:48:22):
Well, he just wasn't doing anything about it. Little jose
Al too, they like response to all this, do whatever.

Speaker 1 (01:48:28):
It was crazy. Guys were an hour late to the plane.
It got to the point where I knew not to
show up until an hour after they said the plane
was taking off.

Speaker 2 (01:48:37):
It was crazy. That does sound crazy, well so far
all I'm hearing. And he was just sitting down for
a podcast which he hosts no Way along with Beranna Stewart,
another New York Hooper. What he's basically saying is what
we all know, Doc Rivers ran a very loose ship
and a losing ship partially because of it.

Speaker 5 (01:48:59):
What do you want me to do?

Speaker 2 (01:49:00):
And he Miles Turner has played his last game with
Yannis in a Bucks uniform one way or the other.
That's well, he's not going anywhere.

Speaker 1 (01:49:09):
Yeah, that's true because the gave him one hundred and
nine million dollars or me four years.

Speaker 2 (01:49:12):
It might be teams that would want him, but that
would be a tough trade to make.

Speaker 1 (01:49:16):
Any time or any other team I've been on. Guys
got fined and there was a sense of order and
a sense of understanding. So, yeah, you're late to the plane, fine,
you're late to treatment, fine, you're late to film, fine.
But I personally did not experience that last year for
the first time in my career. So we'll see what
Taylor Jenkins does, our new coach. I love that last line, like, hey,
it's on you, man, you better start finding people.

Speaker 2 (01:49:38):
It's not on him. It's totally easy for him. Hey,
this is how I want to do things, and it
will be no problem for me to do this because
I've got a team that wants to try to win
now that hasn't been and the person that would be
at odds with my plans isn't here. Piece of cake.
It's this is a fresh start. But do you really
Taylor Jenkins is not coaching Giannis next year? Do you

(01:49:58):
really want to win if you trade?

Speaker 5 (01:50:00):
Honest?

Speaker 2 (01:50:01):
Yes, why are you gonna win with him? Well, that
should be the team that trades for him. Answering that question,
now we're back into the immediacy of it. You know,
if you have Giannis on your team, you should be
trying to win. Gianness is an elite player. You should
be building around them to a point that you can
win a title, which they clearly did, and then they
have completely fallen apart since then. Every move that many
moves they've made since then have been awful, and his

(01:50:23):
health situation clearly finally got worse. He's a very healthy
player for such a long period of his career, and
they did not have much postseason success for a long time,
and then all of a sudden they found themselves as
NBA champions and not far removed from it. They can't
make the playoffs even and his injuries the last couple
of years have been a huge reason why. But they're
not going to win with him, and he now knows it.

(01:50:44):
He's convinced of it. Management has made it very clear
to him with their moves and where they are that
they can't. So I think not only Yannis can be had.
I think many other players on that team can be had.
I do think it's interesting that Miles Turner is saying,
you know, no team I've been on, and I get that.
The personnel chain every year, even if you stay with
the same team. He played in Indiana his entire career

(01:51:04):
from age nineteen to age twenty eight, ten years in
the NBA. He only played for one franchise. That's all
he knew. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen elsewhere. It
does happen elsewhere, but he doesn't know anywhere else. He's
been to the NBA Finals, clearly went there with the
Indiana Pacers before taking a big fat check, and smartly
so from the Milwaukee Bucks. He had his worst season.

(01:51:25):
I mean literally, he might have had the worst season
of his entire NBA career, even when he was a rookie.
He just, however they chose to use him, and however,
they were doing things with Doc Rivers that their head
coach just did not work out and sound This is
what I'm hearing when I hear the things you said
about what he said on his podcast. He's looking forward
to the Jenkins era and it's going to be a

(01:51:48):
totally different situation there. The atmosphere will be different, the
talent will be different, their expectations are going to be
different for the reasons you just pointed out. If you
trade Giannis, even if it's for another star level play.
It's not going to be Giannis is the best player
in the deal. That's fact. Wherever he gets traded, the
best player in the deal in next season, next season
will be somebody. It will be him now that they

(01:52:10):
could get a pick that turns into somebody great. And
you know, you look at the Sga deal. Sga wasn't
the best player in that deal. He is now and
he has been for a few years, but he wasn't
the day the trade was made. And that's where you
are if you Milwaukee, because you're not going to be
in a better position. I don't think unless you do
a lot of other things by trading Yannis immediately, you'll
be better in the long term and you'll have a

(01:52:31):
chance to build a winner because you made the move.

Speaker 1 (01:52:33):
Well, the interesting thing is, in order to trade a
guy with a contract like Giannis, you have to make
the money match. So whoever you're trading him too has
to give you back not only talent that you think
is and by the way, also draft picks, because I
just don't think there's a talent that can go back
that's going to be satisfying that need. But it has
to match money wise. So you're not really getting necessarily

(01:52:58):
salary cap flexibility.

Speaker 2 (01:52:59):
If you do this well, it depends, you know, you
salaries have to match for what their and it's for
whatever they're making per year. You can trade for Giannis
who's making fifty million each of the next several years
for a player who's making thirty next year. Only, Yeah,
it's just that deal or just that year and whatever else.
Taking it. Keep this other thing in mind. You're writing
articles about where Giannis might go. There's thirty teams in

(01:53:21):
the league, and now there's twenty nine. If you limit
take Milwaukee out of it, and you probably take some
of the other cellar dwellers out of it too. So
maybe there's twenty some odd teams in the league and
people are writing articles, well thought out, highly intensive salary
cap roster breakdown questions about who could land Giannis, and
there's ten teams that they're writing about. This is a
very wide net. They're open for business. It's a fluid situation.

(01:53:46):
We'll be able to cast because as much as I've
talked to negatively about what he could be in the future,
because of the injuries, the Clippers will be knocking down
the door of the Celtics could be the Rockets. Like
I said, I think they're gonna be easy six or
seven championship believing outfits that are trying to put a
deal together. To Landiannis, the Warriors have long been rumored

(01:54:07):
to have not only talked about it at the last
tread deadline, but plan on putting something together this offseason,
and we are getting We're about a month away from
it happening. If it happens, the draft will be, you know,
last week.

Speaker 1 (01:54:18):
Or they want it to be before that happens. So
last week of June is the draft where it may fifteenth. Well,
I mean these things take time to come together, especially
because of the money that's involved. I just don't know
that there's like if he does get dealt indeed, I
think you're gonna have to add more than two teams
involved to make this work for everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:54:39):
Kevin Durant deal was a seven team deal, didn't have
to be. But there are a lot of It probably
is going to include a couple of teams and maybe
in order to add the assets to it. In Rewafes case,
we need your first round picks, we only have these two,
Well we can get another one with this team, if
we bring them in and do this, and if teams
want to help other teams because it helps their team,
that's how you put together these MULTIJUSI the Utah Jazz,

(01:55:00):
they don't even have ask any questions. They'll just say yes.
The fifth Lucas on the line. At least Danny Ainge.
I still can't that trade.

Speaker 1 (01:55:08):
That the fact that that trade went down and it
was again to benefit the Lakers or at least the
best player in the deal is going to the Lakers.
And it's the second time that's happened in this century,
this millennium. You know, the Palgasol and the actually take
that back, Palgasol, Anthony Davis and Luca are all deals.

Speaker 2 (01:55:29):
Like that breaking it all down. If you want, I know,
it's up Matt Thomas Exclusive. If you want your most
detailed Texans information, you have to tune in ten to
two every day. But we're going to do our best
to figure out what we think the upcoming Texans season
will look like. And I'm going to do my best
to tell you how you should view the social media

(01:55:50):
schedule releases out yesterday. We'll hit you with Football at
five next the eighteen very special edition Football at five.
We do it every day. Wow, not really all that special.
Couple quick notes before we get into the Texans layout
for the twenty twenty sixth season and subsequent postseason as
Division champions. The Astros will have an eye elsewhere tonight

(01:56:14):
in addition to their own game against the Arlington Rangers.
Josh Hater will throw the first pitch of the game
tonight for the Corpus Christy Hooks. He's getting the start
so he could get his inning in. Jeremy Payne will
be back in the lineup there. Jaike Myers is expected
to play games Saturday and Sunday, so he could play
back to backs, and his schedule still seems like there's

(01:56:35):
a possibility he could return for the series against the
Minnesota Twins. No indication definitively from Joe a Spot on
whether or not Jeremy Paine is two days off due
to a sore neck. We're going to alter his return
to play timeline. I'll find out a little bit more
after he plays in the game tonight. Nate Pearson expected
to throw tonight and Sunday, and then he also would

(01:56:56):
probably be very very close to have them about to
be ready to make a decision if there's some spot
in the bullpen they'd like him to take over, whether
it's Jaden Murray or somebody else. Not sure where they
would go, but would be deemed healthy enough to return
to the team. Mentioned the lineup earlier did not include
Jose Altuve. Did not hear anything from Joe Aspata, And
you can check our social ross out there covering the

(01:57:19):
Astros this afternoon in advance of tonight's Astros on Deck show,
which is now an hour away, so you have anything
up to date on that. But obviously today this is
our first chance really to dig in on what lies
ahead for the NFL and the Texans. The primetime games
are fun. In the standalone games, trip to London is occurring,
I usually look at the schedule to see about whether

(01:57:42):
the off week and looking at everybody else's schedule to
see where are some pockets that maybe benefit the Texans,
So before we run through their whole schedule. You bring
it up all the time. On the NBA side, back
to back games four games and five nights, which they've eliminated.
I think you do talk about it a little bit.
On the NFL side, and in the case of the Texans.

(01:58:05):
I don't know that it's a factor this year, or
if it is, it's a factor in their favor. Well,
the Texans play every week except Week eight. They'll have
their off week after a home game against the New
York Giants, So the following week when they take on
the Chargers, the Chargers will be catching the Texans, and
the Texans will be coming off of an off week.

(01:58:26):
A lot of people think when you're the team and
it's only one of you coming off the off week
playing into the next week, then you have some sort
of physical advantage going into that game. Well great, because
the Texans won't face anybody this year coming off of
an off week. None of their opponents will have rested
the week before. See why can't we have this happen

(01:58:47):
with the Rockets. I would be so much happier. I
brought up the Chargers just by happenstance because I knew
the Texans were one of their games. Sub of that case,
they actually have it four times. The Eagle and Chargers
will both have an opponent coming off an off week
into their game with them four different times. The Texans
are one of basically half the league that doesn't see

(01:59:11):
that instance even once, so good for them. The schedule
itself if you have weigh in on what things you
look for and what might make a difference to you.
Starting the season with three or four at home Bill's Bengals,
and Cowboys in weeks one, two, and four, with the
third week a trip to Indianapolis a good because they
don't have to go anywhere very often, and I also
think that lends itself towards a positive start to the season.

(01:59:34):
The other three games before they're off week in Tennessee,
in London against the Jaguars, and then the New York
Giants game I mentioned at home. That means you knock
out your first three games with your division opponents Colts, Titans,
and Jags. Those are actually the first six weeks of
the season, and all three of them are your visits
to their game because you're going to London, but each

(01:59:56):
of the three remaining games inside the division are in
Houston the back half of the season, weeks eleven through eighteen,
they'll see the Colts, Jags, and Titans visit. Look at
the first game and look at the last game. Usually
those things kind of jump out to me. Open with
the Bills at home, and then you finish with the
Titans at home. And they haven't put the schedule out
for the Week eighteen games yet other than the opponent,

(02:00:16):
because they like to line it up with as many
games that impact each other in the afternoon window and
early window on Sunday, probably will have two games that
impact the postseason picture singularly on Saturday, and then the
last game of the season Sunday night, which is very
unlikely to include the Houston Texans because the Titans are
their final week opponent and I can't imagine both teams

(02:00:39):
have something to play for in that game. There will
be a different game in the NFL where the two
teams do have something to play for. And again, the
off week comes in Week eight. To me, that's fine.
Last year was a week earlier than that. They ended
up winning ten of their final eleven. They won nine
straight games. We've given you the primetime games and clearly
with Foro their first saving at home. They do have

(02:01:01):
a lot of road games and is weather a factor.
Their December road games are in Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia, and
Green Bay and the Philadelphia. All of those games, except
for the Commander's game, are night games.

Speaker 5 (02:01:18):
On top of that.

Speaker 2 (02:01:19):
Yeah, they're gonna play some snow or some ice or something.
Remember the Texans fair the last time they played in
cold weather. They're great in cold weather. How cold was
it in New England? It was a blizzard. Well it
was prior to the game starting, or I guess. Sometimes
it's a big deal, sometimes it's not, And sometimes it's
the other parts of the weather, like the wetness of

(02:01:41):
the day, whether it's snow, sleet or rain, wind, wind
is a factor.

Speaker 1 (02:01:45):
The game in Chicago they won where it was like
fifteen below the one hundred years ago. Yeah, the one
in Green Bay they won where it was like fifteen below.

Speaker 2 (02:01:54):
Tell me how the CJ. Stroud teams have done. That's
all that matters. He's great and cold. Well, that's fine.
I mean, it's not relevant what they did with Shaub
or Brock or David in this weather. It's how this
team they won.

Speaker 1 (02:02:05):
They won at Pittsburgh in the postseason, which is their
last win even later.

Speaker 2 (02:02:11):
Yeah, I don't remember how cold it was at night thirties.
It was very cold that night. Yeah, and again that
was the Monday night opening weekend of the playoffs. It
was the last of the six games that opening weekend,
so Monday night like these games will be Aaron Rodgers
remembers it. Not really a whole lot else stood out
to me. I mean, we obviously know who the teams are.
I do think it could lend itself to a strong start,

(02:02:33):
but you know, especially week two, Week two, you've got
the Bengals. I say this to bring in the strength
of schedule aspect of it. Everyone wants to throw it
everywhere and have its stick. Oh, Texas have the six
easiest schedule. They four to seventy whatever winning percentage of
their opponents. What the teams did last year under different offenses,

(02:02:53):
different coaches, different health of their players, all that, it's
not very relevant. I'm just saying it's not relevant at all,
but not very relevant. Is Joe Burrow playing in this
game for Cincinnati. I don't know as of right now,
but I know last year Cincinnati Bengals didn't have very
many games with him. Same thing with Kansas City Chiefs.
You're catching a six and eleven record on your strength

(02:03:13):
of schedule because that's what they were last year. These
teams change year to year, and the better teams probably
changed less. The Bills and the Texans opening week. The
Texans are currently not favored to win that game at
home at home, even the whatever I listen, it's a

(02:03:34):
new season. Nothing matters about the past because of that
very fact. But Josh Allen, I guarantee you they can
talk about favorites all they want. When Josh Allen saw
that he's got to start the year on the road
against that pass rush after what happened last year with
his undefeated head coach, well, I mean again, you undefeated

(02:03:56):
head coach Joe Brady.

Speaker 1 (02:03:57):
This is what I always think about when it comes
to like, for example, look at the end of the
Texans schedule this year at Philadelphia.

Speaker 2 (02:04:05):
On paper, that looks that's kind of rough.

Speaker 1 (02:04:08):
Yeah, like Christmas eat But even with the cold weather,
even with it being in one of the most hostile
places in the NFL, because those people are degenerates with
no souls. You know, you're talking about who's their best
player on offense and.

Speaker 2 (02:04:19):
It's not Jalen Hurts. It's twenty six.

Speaker 1 (02:04:23):
I mean, the chances of him being one hundred percent
on December twenty fourth versus September thirteenth, What what if?

Speaker 2 (02:04:30):
They?

Speaker 5 (02:04:30):
What if?

Speaker 2 (02:04:31):
I'm just saying that Giants and Cowboys are all awful,
and all the Eagles have left to play for with
three games to go, is it's not out of the
number one seed, the number two seed, number three talking
about I know what you're saying, because you're talking about
I can't forecast an injury, even for the most injury
prone players.

Speaker 1 (02:04:51):
I'm just talking about what's your quality of life in
December as an NFL player at any position versus you know,
they're gonna play Josh Allen.

Speaker 2 (02:05:01):
At his healthiest this year.

Speaker 1 (02:05:02):
That sucks, but probably Josh Allen's gonna play daneil Hunter
and Will Anderson Junior with fresh legs. Okay, they might
actually kill him this time.

Speaker 2 (02:05:13):
So he goes to last year's game, he's good, Well,
he barely did. Didn't the ambulance come in through the
side door? He stayed down. He hurt his elbow in
that game and a couple other times. I think when
he went I mean, I know I was watching him
go to the sideline, broken his time.

Speaker 1 (02:05:27):
I got driven forward on that one sack they had
like twenty So yeah, I did all of this stuff.
That's why going game by game, especially with the NFL,
the most violent game Yeah, whatever number.

Speaker 2 (02:05:41):
I would have given you yesterday and we didn't run through.
I think the Texas rowing eleven or twelve and five,
it's the same thing I would give you today. Nothing suggested, No,
no long run of tough games is going to make
me change my mind. What are the Buffalo Bill's favor
by right now? Two and a half? Yeah? Come on,
I think the Texans are not favored in four games.
That's such a BS number. You're not actually favoring them

(02:06:02):
by saying that. That's I don't I don't know what
do you mean. It's it's just not two and a half.
That's that's literally, like you exactly what you're doing. You're
favoring them, they're their favored to win. Do me a favor.
Don't do semantics for once a month. I'm trying to
understand what you mean because it's such a close margin
wreck Okay, that's all I'm saying. Like the Texans probably

(02:06:23):
are looking at that and laughing. So anything under three
and a half four points, maybe you kind of figure
these teams are close.

Speaker 1 (02:06:29):
Well, what do we always say about that? Well, if
they were in a neutral play, Well you're not, and
you're not actually in Buffalo. They're going to open their
new stadium some other time.

Speaker 2 (02:06:39):
This is in Houston, So this is probably a trap
game for Buffalo because they're already looking ahead to their
their home opener.

Speaker 1 (02:06:45):
I'll tell you who's not looking at it as a
trap game, Josh Allen. I just like I'm going to die.

Speaker 2 (02:06:50):
They will open their stadium the following week or a
couple of days later. Actually, they have the Thursday night
game in week two for their home opener against the Lions.

Speaker 1 (02:06:59):
Well that's great, since, wow, Josh Allen has to go
up against the Lions in week two. What is he
trying to kill him? At the NFL league offices.

Speaker 2 (02:07:07):
The first five games of the season for the Bills
are against the Texans defense, the Lions defense, the Chargers defense,
the bad Patriots defense's terms of a very front they
don't get to the quarterback, and the Rams defense. Bro
is going to be in a stretcher so soon. Well,
he was part of what I thought, Let's see where

(02:07:28):
did I put the like would they do that to him?
Buffalo Bills and the Wesler schedule release rankings. They came
in very very poorly and he was featured very very prominently. Well,
he's not the actor in his family. So I'll tell
you all about it when we come back here on
the other side here on Sports Talk seven to ninety

(02:07:50):
I guess are we what are we doing next? Chanl
ron Oh news to me. We got Astros baseball for
you this evening on Sports Talk seven ninety six o'clock
on Deck Show and a little bit after seven o'clock,
first pitch of their first series of the season against
the Texas Rangers, the last of their Al West foes

(02:08:12):
that they will get to see this year. Spence Araghetti
and Jack Lighter, the respective starters. No Jose al Tuove
in the lineup. We've got Chandler Rome here with us
here on Sports Talk seven to ninety a weekly visit
or second weekly visit here with us Astros and Rangers.
Following Astros and Mariners brought up Jose Altuve obviously not
having a particularly strong offensive season, and now, unfortunately it

(02:08:35):
seems like what we could say about everybody that isn't
Alvarez and Walker, And as you pointed out yesterday, Braden Shoemake,
is anything different with al Tuove this year from a
at the plate standpoint in your mind about how he's operating.

Speaker 10 (02:08:51):
Well.

Speaker 4 (02:08:52):
You know, at the beginning of the season, I and
a bunch of others and you know, we came on here,
we talked about it. You know, it was pretty obvious
that his plate discipline was had gotten better, right, I mean,
he was working more walks, like he was seeing more pitches.
He's been one of the best, if not the best
hitters in terms of ABS challenges, So I think he
really took to the ABS system and just like kind

(02:09:13):
of how that has changed the game. But I think
in the in recent weeks, you've seen that plate discipline
kind of diminished to a point that we were used
to seeing from Altuve. He does this a lot when
he's in a slump, when he's in a funk, you know,
he'll swing at everything trying trying to chase hits.

Speaker 5 (02:09:33):
You know.

Speaker 4 (02:09:33):
A j hench used to say that about him all
the time, and he is a guy that he will
chase hits, he will bunt for hits, because it just
seems watching him like he's the kind of guy that
if he can get one to fall, or if he
can get on base and feel good about himself and
like that can kind of start a cascading effect and
just kind of hasn't done that thus far. You know,

(02:09:53):
he's talked about when he gets when he's going bad,
he's trying to pull the ball too much, he's closing
himself off. You know, I think it's just kind of
an ebb and flow kind of thing with him. He's
a difficult hitter at or really you know, PenPoint kind
of what's different amount just because what he'd done, how
he how he his entire approach is on orthodox. His

(02:10:15):
entire career has been kind of unorthodox. But I think
it just gets magnified now when they're really just not
running a representative major league lineup out there every night.
They need the guys, they need their main stage to
play well. And you know, jor and Alvarez obviously got
off the schneid yesterday with a homer, but he's been
in a little bit of a funk. Same with Christian

(02:10:35):
Walker and same with Josel Tude, and then those three
guys have really carried this thing in the absence of
other players, and they're suffering for it.

Speaker 2 (02:10:43):
Did you get the sense from talking with Joe today,
and I mentioned the updates he gave on the rehabing players.
Did you get the sense that, you know, either in
the Minnesota series or that starts next week, or in
the series that immediately follows, that we should see all
of those players other than Josh Hater, who's not yet
eligible to come off.

Speaker 4 (02:11:00):
Yeah, I think, I think my I mean, Jake Myers
is obviously like coming along pretty he's normal, right, like
I mean, his schedule hasn't been interrupted. He's he's doing
the same thing. I would imagine you see him that
first game in Minnesota. It's to be determined with Jeremy
Pania only because he had to not play in the
last two days because of the next thing when he
got in the collision on the base paths.

Speaker 8 (02:11:22):
He is going to play tonight.

Speaker 4 (02:11:24):
They're gonna wait and see how he feels. I would
imagine if he comes out of the next two or
three days, I don't know how many games he's gonna
play this weekend, but if he comes out of them
feeling good, I would imagine he would be back with
them on Monday in Minnesota at Target Field. But they're
going to play it by year.

Speaker 1 (02:11:40):
Though I asked you this question, I think last week
and I was thinking about this portion of the schedule.
You know, Seattle came in, had its way with you,
and everybody pretty much is right now and now the
Rangers are here, and it's just another reminder of where
the Astros used to be and where they are now.
And of course these injuries factor into it a lot.
But I'm once again kind of presenting the do you

(02:12:04):
think someone doesn't make it out of the weekend because
of the way things are going right now.

Speaker 4 (02:12:12):
Look, there's one person that can answer that question, and
he hasn't answered questions from the media since January. I'm
sure that I'm sure that there are people listening to this.
I know that there's people that really enjoy when I
open my mouth or when I write on the Athletic,
and I know that kind of gets around. So if
they're listening and they'd like to put this rumor to
bed and they like to debunk this, they could make
him available to talk. But I don't know if that's

(02:12:33):
going to happen. You know, Look, it'd be difficult to
do anything now, only because they go on the road
after this, right, Like, there's no offer, there's no like
convenient time to do it. If they're going to do it,
because they leave Sunday Anglers straight to Minnesota and then
they're on a ten game, eleven day road trip. But
I have not been told anything is imminent. I've not

(02:12:55):
been told it's even a discussion that's being had. I
think it's fair to point out, as I wrote Athletic yesterday,
that you know Jim Crane and his ownership tenure. Yes
both Porter got fired on September first, twenty and fourteen,
but that team was, you know, twenty games under five
hundred and twenty five out of the division and not
trying to win. Other than that, he has never made

(02:13:17):
an in season change with his manager or his general manager.
You know whether that precedent sticks here, I don't know.
But as I noted in that story as well, standards
and expectations and that that's all changed since twenty fourteen,
So I don't know where it is. I wish I
could give you a better answer. I wish I could
give you more insight. But it has been business as usual.

(02:13:40):
You know, Joe spot is working business as usual, being
a Brown the same thing. You know, it'd be it'd
be tough optically to get back from if you get
swept by the Rangers, and you go one and six
on this homestand and you're looking at a nine or
a ten game deficit in the division. It'd be tough.
But I mean, there's a lot of season left, And
like I said, I think last time I was with

(02:14:01):
you guys, I think Jim would have to ask himself,
is there is the cavalry of injured guys coming back?
Is is it worth giving this brain trust time with
a full roster because they have not had a full
roster since the first week of the season, and they're
not gonna have a full roster going forward because called

(02:14:22):
his career is not playing again this year. But is
it worth letting it see how it looks with paying
you back, with Myers back, with Hater back in a
couple of weeks, with Hunter Brown back maybe next month.
Do they give them that leash and that runway and
just chalk this all up to injuries. I wish I
could ask that question, but not be given the opportunity
to do so.

Speaker 2 (02:14:42):
Clearly, there are other factors. That's a huge in season
record wise, where's this team going factor? And then the
bigger question that involves those people you're talking about, specifically
Dana Brown, and the personnel side of things is you're
every day that goes by, you're another day closer to
this season's Major League Baseballs and Major League Baseball trade deadline.

(02:15:02):
And obviously the people that are currently in place are
headed towards making all of those decisions as they get
to those two points in the season without commitment for
their futures here because the contract runs out at the
end of the season. Weighing all that together with how
much again, I know you don't know the answer to it,
but do you believe, based on what you've seen from
Dana at the respective drafts and deadlines that the commitment

(02:15:26):
to believing in him to do those things is still there?

Speaker 4 (02:15:31):
Well, it's difficult to know. The draft is one thing, right,
the draft like Dana. That's why Dana's here, right like
that was part of why he was attracted to Jim
Crane with his player evaluation and his player acquisition capabilities
on the amateur side, Like the draft is Dana's dojo.
That is where he is good, that's where he has
built his whole career. There is an argument to be

(02:15:52):
made that you know, it would behoove them to keep
that in place, but Also when the draft comes around,
you have to remember that the Like when the draft happens,
there's not much the GM really does, right, Like the
board is set, like they've scouted all the play they're
not going to find a new player. Like while they're
on the clock for the first pick, the GM really

(02:16:12):
just kind of has the final say is like, all right,
we'll pick this guy or this guy. The deadline's a
little more fascinating, you know, We're we talked about precedent, right,
Like the Astros haven't sold at the trade deadline in
what ten years? Like I mean, like Jim Crane doesn't
sell at the deadline, Like even in twenty twenty when
they were, you know, at the time, very very out

(02:16:34):
of it, and I know it was a sixty game season,
I know everything was so weird that year, but they
didn't sell at that deadline in twenty sixteen. They really
didn't sell at the deadline in twenty sixteen either, when
when they were out of it, they shipped off a
couple guys, but it wasn't a full scale selloff. So
I guess that also begs the question, like if they

(02:16:55):
are out of it at the deadline, if it still
looks like this, at the deadline, will they even sell?
Will they just stand pat and you know, try to
play it out and just for lack of a better word,
get to the end of the season, figure out what
they're going to do in the GM and manager spot,
and then you know, go from there and try to
build a roster in an next year. I don't know,
because that's the one thing that's kind of been the

(02:17:16):
hang up here is they don't sell at the deadline
under Jim Crane.

Speaker 8 (02:17:20):
They never really have.

Speaker 4 (02:17:21):
They never have since the expectations have gotten to this level.
So I can't really give you a good.

Speaker 5 (02:17:26):
Answer to that.

Speaker 1 (02:17:27):
Yeah, it's interesting because I last I asked you last
week about, you know, the the basically whether or not
Jordan Alvarez being traded would even be something that would
be approached as a topic, and you you said, to
your credit, you know, I don't know for sure, but
I just wonder what that would look like like if
it's not him, But who would it be?

Speaker 2 (02:17:48):
And I don't know.

Speaker 1 (02:17:50):
There's a lot of parameters that go into It's a
very general question to ask with so many different I
guess possible answers, But I would wonder under Jim Crane's leadership,
what a fire sales pseudo fire sale might look like,
or a selling deadline might look like.

Speaker 4 (02:18:04):
Well, he'd ha like The question that Jim would have
to debate is what is the point let's say they're selling,
is what is the point of this deadline? Is it
to get salary off the books? Or is it to
get prospects or zero to three players or young players
back in return. If the point of it is to
get salary off the books, you're looking at Josh Hater,

(02:18:26):
You're looking at Christian Walker. Estcoc Paradus isn't making a
ton of money. He's making like ten million dollars, But
so Estoc Paradus would be traded in either equation. But
I think fans kind of have to condition themselves. I
know Christian Walker's playing really well, but he's thirty five
years old. It's going to have about thirty million dollars
remaining on his contract at the trade deadline. The Ashers
aren't going to get a haul for Christian Walker. Same

(02:18:49):
with Josh Hater, who if he comes back and pitches well,
could put himself in that conversation. But he's got a
full note trade cause, and he's got three years and
fifty something million dollars left on his deal. You're not
going to get a prospect capital or zero the three
player capital in Aturn for that.

Speaker 8 (02:19:04):
If the decision is you want.

Speaker 4 (02:19:06):
Players back, and you want prospects back, and you want
to rejuvenate the farm system, you look at he thought Paradis,
you look at Jeremy Panna who. I think Jeremy Payne
is going to be a trade target. I think he's
gonna be talked about in trades this winter if he's
not traded at the deadline, just because he's going to
be in the same position that Kyle Tucker was a
couple of years ago. They couldn't extend him, they know
they can't pay him, so they're gonna trade him to

(02:19:29):
rejuvenate the farm system or get some big league ready
talent here. So it's really going to depend on what
the objective of the deadline is. And maybe the objective
is just the stand pat and you know, play this
string out and figure out what to do after the
season as a reset. But to me, that's kind of
those are the guys you're gonna hear. I don't think
Alvarez is realistic again, never say never, but you'll hear

(02:19:53):
paying you Paradus Walker hater, Brian A. Bray you if
he keeps, if he can keep maybe getting turning the
corner a little bit. And then there's always you know,
a contender that needs a random position that we're not
even talking about yet that maybe the Astros could match
with on a guy that we're not talking about.

Speaker 2 (02:20:10):
But those are the guys.

Speaker 4 (02:20:11):
You're gonna hear a lot about.

Speaker 2 (02:20:13):
Chandler Rome covering the Astros in Major League Baseball for
the Athletic. You hear him as well on a crush
citty territory and we always appreciate you joining us here.
Enjoy to the fullest your weekend ahead. All right, thanks guys,
Chandler Rome of the Athletic.

Speaker 1 (02:20:28):
Here on Sports Talk seven ninety we got a half
hour or so to go in our week before we
get into the weekend and get you ready for the
opener of that Astros Rangers game. So we'll do that
starting with in case you missed it when we come back.

Speaker 8 (02:20:45):
The A on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (02:20:48):
Well, our like today's program in every programming we get
you in case you missed it. Last two segments of
the show will consist of giving away tickets to Jeff
Foxworthy and it is this Sunday, so be ready to
go a couple days from now. In case you missed
it obviously, and the rankings I've been promising you all
day of the creative departments inside each NFL team on

(02:21:11):
their schedule release videos. So we'll start with in case
you missed it, well we have Josh Yeah.

Speaker 11 (02:21:18):
I remember Ac yesterday was talking about I was kind
of maybe a little risky putting the Broncos and the
Chiefs this early in the season with both those guys
coming off injuries. Andy Reid saying, hey, NFL didn't come
ask us how Mahomes is doing. They're just rolling the dice,
and he even joked that maybe them scheduling this game
early in the season is motivation for these quarterbacks to

(02:21:41):
rehab faster and get back on the field.

Speaker 2 (02:21:43):
What do you think Kansas City opens the season with
a standalone primetime game, the week after that another standalone
primetime game. I think they would have done this pretty
much for going guardless is almost what they're saying the Chiefs.

(02:22:04):
If the news comes at any point prior to kickoff,
ninety minutes before kickoff that he isn't playing. Yeah, they
would probably see a little bit of a tick down.
It's also the first game of the season. It's the
first broadcast of the season for them. It's going to
have very good numbers.

Speaker 1 (02:22:22):
Regardless they get beaten by the Broncos and the opener,
They've got a really cupcakey schedule until they get to
that Seattle game.

Speaker 2 (02:22:32):
Yeah, they got Indiana Jones Malik Willis the other step brother,
and then an off week. They've got the Indian Ashers again,
Miami and Vegas after they open the season against Denver.
We'll just have to wait and see if Pat Trick
Mahomes is healthy. What else do we have.

Speaker 11 (02:22:49):
Yeah, I'm kind of surprised this games in case since
Denver won the division last year.

Speaker 2 (02:22:53):
But anyway, either here nor there.

Speaker 11 (02:22:56):
Second thing, JJ Watt all this talk of international games,
he's saying that the international game slate is nearing the
realm of a traveling circus as opposed to an occasional showcase.

Speaker 2 (02:23:07):
You guys agree that is the overwhelming sentiment now that
it has grown to the level that it has nine
of these games and in all of these different places,
I think that's now what everybody thinks they're testing. I
say it, they are pushing the envelope on what is
overkill and what is a turnoff, and what is unnecessary

(02:23:28):
and what is not creating what they're looking for. What
they're looking for obviously is more money. And if it
continues to be profitable at without being at the expense
of anything important, then they'll keep doing it. But they
at some point they will also have a cap. I
think their cap is eight more of these games or

(02:23:49):
nine when they get to an eighteen week schedule. I
don't think they have any issue at this point yet
the league, the owners of pushing this closer to every week?
Do you think.

Speaker 1 (02:24:01):
Again, I realize what I'm saying when I say this.
Do you think that JJ, because he's a prominent, you know,
Hall of fame.

Speaker 2 (02:24:08):
Owner of a soccer team that too on the air
every week, does one of the better jobs.

Speaker 1 (02:24:14):
But he is a very visible face of the league
still to this day, even not having played for several seasons.
He ain't anybody ever reaches out to him for saying
stuff like this, like please don't Yeah, nope. Do you
think other leagues do that alike? With teas. Charles Barkley

(02:24:37):
confident and quick in that answer about this.

Speaker 2 (02:24:39):
The I think there's a difference between the two things
we're talking about those guys. If they said it, it's
not tracy going to social media and saying it. It's
tracy on the NBA's TV NBA on NBC's broadcast, where
it's Charles and Kenny and Shaq ripping the league to
shreds on their broadcast, which they do all the time.
They've done it less this year. Yeah, they have had
less broadcasts too. They're on for less time. But jj

(02:25:03):
Watt works for one of the networks that carries games
and posted a comment on his social media account, no.

Speaker 1 (02:25:09):
Problem, but it would not surprise me at all if
the next time, well maybe he's not making regular appearances
right now, he's on Pat McAfee all the time as
a big platform on a big network that is very
much in bed with the NFL all that game.

Speaker 2 (02:25:22):
JJ Watt and Tom Brady probably, unless you're gonna tell me,
Troy Aikman are the most important, most visible current NFL
television broadcasters, and I still don't think they would have
sent anything his way and said please don't do this
I mean, it's not he it is not a positive

(02:25:42):
assessment of where things are on this top. Also a
very recently retired player, and I think knows a lot
of the player's feelings, and you should not. They shouldn't
be I should have answered it that way. They shouldn't
be telling him not to do this. They shouldn't be
telling any of these people not to do this. This
is what you think, then tell yeah, it's okay, No, hey, listen.

(02:26:02):
I think that's how it should be, but it's not
always how it goes. And lastly, yeah, this.

Speaker 11 (02:26:09):
Is from Pro Football Talk, and it's they're saying that
that's Florio, I guess or one of his riders saying
the Rams could end up with nine primetime games. Now,
the NFL has a rule that you can only have eight,
but they point out in week seventeen two games are
going to land on Saturday on NBC and Peacock in
Week eighteen, all games are fair game to be picked

(02:26:29):
for the final game of the regular season. So, for instance,
that the Seahawks and Rams are battling for the NFCT
West title, maybe they get flexed in there. So are
you up for possibly nine Rams primetime games.

Speaker 2 (02:26:41):
Their games have been awfully entertaining over the years, even
the lower scoring entertaining game against the Texans at the
beginning of the season, followed by their super entertaining games
later in the season, and that last game of this season,
like you mentioned, it's against Seattle. I don't know that
it's the game of the weekend and it ends up
being the night game, but it's probably gonna have some

(02:27:02):
weight on it of pretty big magnitude when it comes
to the playoff picture. It's also the second time those
teams will have played in three weeks. Because those two
of the final three weeks, Seattle and the Rams, those
are their games. I think they want to spread it
around if they can. There was a really good answer
from Mike North on the teams that have almost no

(02:27:24):
or literally no primetime appearances this year. He was pretty
blunt about it, but he also said, look, if they're
upset about it, or if they don't like it, that's
what flex scheduling exists. For sure, play your way into
those games, and we've got those spots later in the season,
all that surprise team that makes it an appealing matchup. Absolutely,
so we've got those tickets to give away to je

(02:27:44):
Jeff Foxworthy next segment. Like I said, I'll give you
the bottom of the heap, the top of the heap,
the best of the best in these schedule release videos
and next fast, we got tickets to go see Jeff
Foxworthy an evening with him Sunday, May seventeenth. That's this Sunday.
It's that Smart Financial Center and Sugarland. Tickets are available
via smart financial Center dot net. We have a couple

(02:28:07):
of pairs of those to give away, should you want them.
We talked about a bunch of different things last segment,
and this is what we're asking our question about Diland
at seven one three two one two five seven ninety
seven one three two one two five seven nine if
you know the answer to the simple question that we
discussed last segment. In calling and win those tickets, we
talked about a very prominent NFL broadcaster who had some

(02:28:32):
not very flattering things to say on a social media
account about the large number of international NFL games traveling
circus is what he referred to it as. Who is
that very prominent NFL broadcaster that had some unfriendly vibes
and spoke about it about the NFL's international schedule seven
one three, They were not seven one three, two one

(02:28:54):
two five seven nine. If you know the answer to
that question. Which NFL broadcaster who also used to play
in the NFL said that doesn't think the international schedules
You didn't like it. He wishes would go away or
be less. He's like me in that way. Which teams
videos besides Houston's that featured Brian Cushing getting bloodier and

(02:29:17):
bloodier as he loudly announced their schedules game by game.
Which of the other teams videos have you seen? The Colts,
Like I mentioned the Simpsons, Colts did an entire schedule
release based entirely on The Simpsons, the open of The
Simpsons and a bunch of scenes throughout the Simpsons years
that are very recognizable, and it was awesome. It ranked third.

(02:29:40):
We looked at creativity, we looked at likely time spent,
and in my voting, I liked them to actually walk
you through the schedule in a normal way within it.
If they did a big old video that was awesome
and neat and then at the end they said, oh
and here's the schedule didn't rate very highly with me.
I want to integrate it into what you do, so

(02:30:00):
they came in third. Who else's did you see?

Speaker 5 (02:30:03):
I saw.

Speaker 2 (02:30:05):
The Chargers. Chargers did a maka or a knockoff of Halo.
It was very long, but a super detailed graphics were incredible.
Everything they did was awesome. However, like the team that
finished ahead of them in first, I had the Chargers second,
and each of them had a dig on the Houston Texans. Right,
Chargers did the they mocked CJ and Caleb Williams chat

(02:30:28):
after their game in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (02:30:31):
I'm trying to remember. I only think there was one
other one that I actually even saw a part of.

Speaker 2 (02:30:35):
So the team that came in first did take a
shot at Houston, and they play them in week four,
referring to Houston as ghetto Dallas.

Speaker 1 (02:30:45):
But I still rated them number one. Ghetto what does
it even mean? I could just go to Dallas to
see ghetto Dallas. It's there everywhere. Cowboys put together a video.
They're a team that has, you know, like the Texans
have a bunch of people with the same name on it,
like Jalen.

Speaker 2 (02:31:02):
And Jayden and Jalen and Jayden and over. They have
a bunch of Tyler's on their team. So they put
them all in a room together like this covert operations room,
and then they walked through their schedule and said, we're
putting undercover agents on all these teams because every team
in the league has somebody named Tyler or tie on it.

(02:31:23):
And they just ran that theme all the way through,
and the guys that they had involved their Tyler's. They
just did a great job. They put a lot of
time and effort into it. They wrote a great script,
they acted it out. These guys were great. It was
super entertaining. It was crazy long. I had no issue
watching all eight minutes of it. So those were one, two,
and three. You brought up minutes. You brought up the
Seahawks earlier because of last year's Mattel inspired work action figures.

(02:31:46):
This year they had a fragrance type and I was
kind of wondering if there's going to be some sort
of sex panther in there. There wasn't, so I was
kind of down on it. But it was very well done,
and that reminds me. I did say, I saw the
Chris Jerry portion. They came in eighth. It's not bad.
Top ten. Yeah, the Seahawks were all about perfumes and

(02:32:06):
scents and colones. It was great. The Vikings just sent
their kicker to a very fancy restaurant. His waiter was
Chris Jericho, and he just asked them to make everything
on the menu, and every item on the menu was
a opponent and an opponent inspired. It was super creative,
highly intensive workload, and get well delivered on the great

(02:32:27):
the acting. They used their kicker though, which made it
even more ridiculous and funny. And the Titans, who've been very,
very good at this, they came in fifth. They went
around Nashville and I couldn't tell if they also tried
to gather some of this at the NFL Draft because
they would run into people. They just ran into random
people who they pretended looked like someone that was associated
with one of their opponents. They ran into an old

(02:32:49):
guy from the UK and they said, Jerry, Jerry Jones
is at you. And just the reactions from these people
they just some random person on a bike, Derrick Henry.
We got the Titans in week four. The guy turns
around like I'm not Derrick Henry and just over and over.
It's very creative and very well done. Rob Wriggle was
the Chief's host along with his ex wife for qvc

(02:33:11):
QV Chiefs. So they did a knockoff on that. They
were awesome because they were both funny and it was
written very well. And the Falcons these are my top seven.
They did a knockoff on this is Sports Center, this
is Falcons Football. You brought up Drake earlier. So Drake
London had two specific ones here. They're saying, oh, Drake London,
he's been great here with us. I mean he's kind

(02:33:32):
of taking this receptions thing a little bit far. So
they have the guy at the front desk answering the
phone call and Drake rips the phone out of his hands,
yells at the collar. He goes boom ten receptions this morning.
But he was even better when he showed up later
and someone was bringing around a new employee. Hey, Drake,
I want you to meet our new employee here. Yeah, Drake,
this is Kendrick. He's starting today, and they just stared

(02:33:54):
each other down.

Speaker 5 (02:33:55):
I like that.

Speaker 2 (02:33:56):
It was very creative. Matt Ryan was in it quite
a bit and every time he raised his voice or
cursed it was hilarious. Bijon running people over in the hallways,
very very well done.

Speaker 1 (02:34:06):
I did see that there was a lot of talk
about the Titans because it was so good last year apparently,
and I kept seeing the same frame the beginning of
it with the old guy.

Speaker 2 (02:34:16):
Yeah, I never actually watched it. He was the Jerry
Jones look alike. These people didn't even really look like
I can't even tell you how many times I scrolled
past the start of it. Tampa Bay could have been
better with the theme. They went with Tampa Bay Watch,
but it was Bert Kreischer and two huge offensive linemen
looking redheaded dudes that were just doing all the bay
Watch stuff. Could have been a lot better as attractive.

(02:34:37):
The other end of the spectrum, I told you earlier,
the Eagles rated last for me was eleven minutes plus
of five current Eagles in a boring plain boardroom with
seventeen little envelopes. I bet I know who wasn't in it.
They just opened it and said who it was our
opponent in week one and so and so on the road,
and they had a little bit of discussion about it.

(02:34:57):
It was not entertaining. They weren't trying to be. They
were just be here's the real reaction to the schedule.
It just I didn't. I didn't get it. They didn't try.
Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins a knockoff of step Bros.
You know they introduced each other. You're gonna have to
call me Kirk O Chains and you're gonna have to
call me the Mendelarian or Fernandelarian. Did we just become

(02:35:19):
best friends? All sorts of good stuff there. Romadonsay would
probably have rated very high with you. He was Bob
Ross and he was really really good. All right, I
need to show that one to Carson. He's like obsessed
with Bob Ross. Maybe you just make this into a dolphin.
Maybe maybe this is a little animal.

Speaker 1 (02:35:39):
You put some birds up here in the three Bird
opponenties they say, happy little turnover, a little fumble?

Speaker 2 (02:35:44):
Is this making a happy little picture? And don't forget
to bear down?

Speaker 8 (02:35:47):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (02:35:47):
I like that.

Speaker 2 (02:35:48):
That was for the Bears. You said, yeah, that was
very good. Okay, check out one of the other worst ones,
by the way, the Jaguars.

Speaker 5 (02:35:54):
Duh.

Speaker 2 (02:35:55):
They put Trevor Lawrence in a barber's chair and he
got a haircut, and with the end of it, when
you saw what it looked like, it was clear as day.
There's no way he got a haircut. It's the worst
looking haircut ever. And of course today he's just like normal.
And they didn't do it. They didn't really do anything.
They just cut his hair. And here's our schedule. That
was the whole thing.

Speaker 1 (02:36:14):
High hair Expect nothing less from AFC South teams that
highlight their quarterback getting a haircut.

Speaker 2 (02:36:18):
Astro schedules say the Rangers are in town first of
three tonight, Tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon. Rossville Real has
the Astros on deck show for you coming from dyk
In Park and it comes your way.

Speaker 8 (02:36:32):
Next the Age on Sports Talk