The Line Change Podcast Episode 4 - Jovan Alford

Two new seasons getting started this weekend. Jovan Alford joins Jon Jansen and The Line Change for a full MLB season preview and UFL as well! -Any concerns about the Phillies this season?

-Can the Phillies compete for the division? 
-Are the Dodgers or Braves the best team in the National League?
-Surprise NL/AL teams
-World Series prediction
-UFL Season Preview

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Is The Line Change episode number fourThe Line Change podcast you can find wherever
you get your podcasts, also onthe iHeartRadio app, all part of Fox
Sports. The Gambler. My nameis John Jansen. You can follow me
at Jay Jansen thirty four on Twitterand most social platforms and joining me.
I don't think I've ever had aguest at him as a guest on my

(00:24):
show. I know he's been onSean Show, which I've been on,
and he's been a guest on andI see him all around. He's in
the same sort of gambling space circlesthat I am in and always love interacting
with. This guy. It isJovon Alfred and you can follow him.
This is a bad job by me. He should have your Twitter account up.
It's just at Jovon ten. JovA n ten. That was easy.

(00:44):
I knew that. I don't knowwhy I second guess myself, but
Jovon, thanks for coming on thepod. And I know we were talking
a little bit before I hit therecord button. You got Ryan Howard in
your background, and I just gotto say you and I both were Ryan
Howard fans. That's my favorite athleteof all time. Barnutt favorite app.
Yeah, man, for sure,glad to be on the pod for first
time. Like you said, obviouslyoutside of thead on the radio when he

(01:07):
was on there, I think wewere talking like NBA props. I remember
that of it. Oh yeah,that's right, No NBA props now YEAHBA
P Johnte porter props. We don'teven know that, not at all.
But I'm I'm glad to be onthe pod talking to you today. Man,
break it down some day fall.Like you said, Ryan Howard,
you know one of my favorite players, like we talked about before the show,

(01:29):
that run from like six to liketwenty ten where he was just like
hitting fifty fifty eight home runs,like every you just knew every time he
comes to the plate, You're like, all right, this is gonna be
a home run. And his rookiewas I think it was five when he
was on Rookie of the Year,he was yeah, awesome, and he
just burst onto the scene. It'slike, who's this guy hitting massive tank

(01:49):
job home runs? And he wasable to do it the next season.
I always said, Now, Ithink it could be disputed a little bit
with Aaron Judge, but I alwayssaid that was the purest his home run
season and six, when he wonthe MVP, the purest home run season
in the modern era, because therewas no steroids, there were no juice
baseballs. It was just him mashingregular, normal baseballs fifty one hundred feet

(02:12):
in the air and he had fiftysomething of them. But Aaron Judge,
I don't think he had too manyjuice baseballs, even though you could maybe
dispute that. I think that's nowmaybe the more modern home run season.
But yeah, Howard had fifty six, no steroids, no juice baseballs.
This guy was clean. Baseballs wereclean, and it was great. Also

(02:32):
in two thousand and five, Ithink I can say I had the first
Ryan Howard jersey of all time.I had the first one. I think
so, because I saw him inTriple A and everybody was kind of this
guy coming up, and I waslike, this is my favorite player.
I saw him hit a it wasa double in the left center gap,
and I said, this guy's myfavorite player ever. Already there And so

(02:53):
he was maybe two weeks into hisPhillies career in the MLB and I went
to a game and my parents getyou know, you can get a customized
jersey I got. I got theHoward one, Howard six, I got
to customized, and I got somany compliments as a kid on that jersey
because there were not many out there. I had one. Did you ever

(03:14):
have a Howard jersey? You hadthat? No, I didn't have a
Howard jersey. I think I havea I have a Ryan Howard bibblehead.
I do have. That. Isit the stance? Yeah, it's the
batons stance. I used that forwhen I was younger. I used that
for good luck. Every time he'scome to bad he said, tap it
a couple of times, just likeall right, go ahead, a whole
run. I don't know if baseballas a kid, because that was that

(03:37):
was my stance. I emulated everybodyhad, you know, Ken Gurphy Junior,
so many stances, Sammy Sosa orGary Sheffield. Mine was always.
I love doing the Howard. Ilove putting the my left hand his right
ham my left hand extended with thebat up in the air. I always
did the Ryan Howard stance. Thatwas mine. I tried. I tried
to do that in soft when Iplayed softball a couple of years ago.

(03:57):
Yeah, but obviously I do nothave the same Howard. No, not
hitting tank jobs in sull phone.No, I'm trying it on beast.
You would think that that using thatstance would help you out. I think
that's I thought that's why I wassating no runs. But no, man,
I could go on about Ryan Howardall day. I think the end
of his career, everybody got abad taste in about the Howard. But

(04:17):
I think he celebrated more now thoughhe was even back then, So which
is very good. All right,Javon, I do want to get into
some baseball. I do want totalk mostly Phillies with you to start,
because I had I had mid majormatt On. In the last part we
were talking about college basketball, butultimately he landed on the Phillies as well,
and there we both share a sentimentof I am high in the Phillies.

(04:38):
I still think if you were tomake me rank the National League teams,
I think they fall third, andI think they're very clear third that
behind them is Arizona. But thereare some things to be worried about.
To me, like I'm worried aboutKyle Schorp, but now a few years
into his Philly tenure, worried aboutj T. Muto. Nick castianis in
a few years in their Phillies tenyureand what that's going to look like.
Especially JT is a thirty something yearold catcher. You know, there's some

(05:00):
things to be worried about. Overall, though, how are you feeling about
the Phillies heading into the season.Is there a little bit of doubt?
Is there a little bit of aconcern or is it Hey, these guys
have done it now the last twoyears. Who's to say they can't do
it again to make these deep runs? Yeah? No, I feel I
feel okay about this team. Ifeel really good. I know. I
know social media is a different thingbecause everybody you know or undecided about,

(05:21):
you know, Rojas don't know ifthey want him as the starting center fielder,
you know, to worry about startingrotation. You know, everybody you
know wanted them to get either Snellor Montgomery, even though not every team
can have like a god squad.You know, that's what I want.
I want a god squad. WorryMontgomery is the fourth behind range of Suarez

(05:43):
and give me a wheeler. Nola'sSuarez and uh and Montgomery and then height
Talwan Walker is at five. That'sgreat. But yeah, I know you're
right, that's it. That seemslike more of a luxury than something that.
Yeah, it's almost it's almost likewhat the Dodgers have, right,
Dodgers esque if they if Otani washealthy, figure like you're rolling out tany
glass now yeah my moto. Youknow they had a bad first start,
but you're rolling out those type ofarms, So you want to have that

(06:04):
type of luxury. But no,I feel solid with them. I mean,
the way I know, the waylast season ended was you know rough,
you didn't foresee that just because theway they were rolling and then they
just the offense just went dead atthe worst part of the time. And
it wasn't because of your guys,which I think that was the biggest thing
even last season, like what isthe bottom of your order going to produce?

(06:27):
And we saw in the playoffs,like from Stott down, like those
guys like god on basic got tohappen. It was the guys at the
top, like you mentioned, right, those guys at the top that didn't
kind of bring it through. Soyou hope that you know this year,
like now they have what two postseasonsunder their belt, so they know what
to expect, they know how toget there. I think they'll be fine.
I mean, I think, youknow, the Bullpens not have the
biggest concern. I think you knowat it oneven gears pass where you're like,

(06:50):
oh my god, like we havecoming out. It's kind of weird
because now there's actually expectations of thebullpen. I think somebody ranked them.
That'll be Network or maybe yeah,number one one. Yeah, I saw
it. It's a weird feeling tosee that with the Phillies coming in the
year. Yeah, you don't haveto worry about Craig Kimball at the at
the Knife Fenning and trying to worryabout Yeah, I mean, I don't

(07:13):
know that change up but pretty goodthough it did. That was a nasty
change up. But I don't knowif we're gonna be able to do that
against Aaron Judge and Yankee Stadium inthe Knife fitting. I don't know enough.
You know what that is. Thatis a fair assessment, I think
on that one. Who's the playeryou're most excited about seeing with the Phillies
this year player most excited about seeing? That's a good question. That's a

(07:33):
good question. I always always leantowards Zach Willer because I feel like he
doesn't get his just due in termsof being one of the better pitchers in
the league. Like I just feellike everybody remembers, you know, his
Mets tenure, which was kind ofup and down. He dealt with the
injuries, but he's kind of beenon like this consistent ascension ever since he
got to the Phillies where it's like, yo, like this dude is like

(07:55):
really good, like he's sighed younggood, and he's like getting better and
better. Like you know pictures,you know, they probably start better when
they're younger, but he's kind oflike the verse where it's like he's getting
better as he's getting older, agingvery well, aging very well, and
you know, just seeing I think, you know, for me, not
only what he's done, he's butin the postseason, the dude is like
a you know, a totally differentpicture. Like he goes in there like

(08:20):
lights out. You know, hey, if you need me to come in
relief in a in a game sixseven situation, like I'm coming in here
throwing ninety six ninety eight. Soit's like this guy is the right,
which is just ridiculous because he justdo like seven inns a couple a couple
of nights prior. So I'm definitelyexcited, you know, to see what
he can do. And I'm alsoexcited to see what Christian Pasha you can

(08:41):
do. He had a very goodspring, and I think a lot of
people last year were kind of like, all right, what is this guy
gonna do? He was former topprospect, didn't really do much with the
A's, Like what can the Philliesget out of them? And it seems
like they have this neck for liketaking other teams like former top prospects in
him and marsh and kind of turningthem into two you know, very solid,

(09:01):
you know, major league baseball player. So definitely excited to see what
those two can do. Yeah,it reminds me of the Phillies are kind
to doing the things that remind mewhat San Francisco does, because San Francisco
was the one that took to getout like Darren Ruff and found a way
to utilize him, found a wayeven if it was only just against I
think it was against left handed pitchingthat he was really good against. He
went over to the Mets and afterthat and the Mets made him a four

(09:22):
hundred. I think ops hitter likehe was terrible. So I think it's
just they have understood best use casesfor these guys, and I think it's
really worked out for them and reallyworked out for somebody like Christian Pace.
And then what's the confidence. Ithink it's going, you know some of
the other areas he'll be fine inbecause I know one of them is right
handed pitching, and j Cave didn'tdo well against right handed pitching. Pace

(09:43):
didn't, and it's trying to findthat. But I think it's trusting him
that his bad is getting better,the confidence is getting better. But that
also with Pace, he seems tobe a solid fallback plan just in case
the Johann Rojas thing doesn't work out. I'm I actually think I don't know.
I think the guy's bad as fine, It's just a shame that I
think he started to run into thatrookie wall. Yeah, the playoffs hit,

(10:05):
and that is a brutal time forthat to happen. You're facing the
most quality pitchers in the toughest atbats of your entire career. In the
the at pats are the most stakesthat you had in your entire career,
and then you also have to figureout what's going wrong with your swing.
That's a ton to figure out.I think with a full season there's gonna
be pumps in the road, andagain that's really good to have a fallback

(10:26):
playing with Podc. But I doI think there is something there with Rojas
bat I do think there's a littlebit of power there. It looks like
he got a little bit of powerin the offseason. Your outlook on Rojas
coming in because it just seems likepeople, I hate to say are doubting
him, but just are trying tolook try and get him in the minor
leagues, fine, tune him alittle bit more. I think the guy's

(10:48):
ready though. I think he isready for the major leagues. Yeah,
me too. And I think thatI thought it was funny when fans are
like, yo, man, theygot to go out and get Cody Bulger,
throw him at center field again,like having a god squad is you
know, it's like if we couldtake I'm not even the biggest Cody Bellinger
fan. I think that was reallyfluky what he did last year, very
fluky, right, because he haven'tbeen outside of last season, haven't been

(11:11):
that same guy from his rookie year. So I understand the idea of him,
but it's like when was the lasttime the Phillies actually brought up a
young guy that was twenty two twentythree and said, hey, like we're
gonna go let you do your thingand figure it out. Like we're starting
to see this trend with him,right, you know, ever since you
know, new management got in,like they let Alec Bohm, you know,
don't be in a minor so long, like you're coming up Bryce and

(11:33):
Stott, you're coming up like Rojas, you didn't have triple they let him.
And the thing is that too,they let him work through sort of
their things out. Boom had towork through a lot of stuff, even
Bryceton, especially defensively, especially defensivelyfor Boom, and even you know,
hitting for a Stot, you know, even coming in the last season,
like there was some holes in theswing, but as we saw last season,
he figured them out. So thenPictures couldn't attack him the same way

(11:56):
as they did the year prior.So I'm very high on him. Like
you said, he's going to beyour number nine hitter, so you're not
looking for him to hit twenty bombsand you know half, you know,
you know sixty RBIs like, I'mjust looking for him to get on base
because he has that speed, LikeI want him to be almost like and
I noticed a bad comparison almost likea story or Reese out in Oakland,
Like, I just want a guythat's going to get on base in just

(12:18):
Reek Havoc. Like there's no reasonwhy Johann rohats in the full season can't
have thirty stolen bases if he,you know, gets that opportunity. Yeah,
I think he should, and Ithink he will get on base,
steals some bases, And again Ithink there is a little not to say
he's going to be a thirty homerun hitter. But I do think there's
a little bit of power behind thatbat. Especially with his speed, you
get doubles power. I think hehas that in him. I think he

(12:41):
really does. So you talked aboutleague wide, I do think Zach Wheeler
can be kind of underappreciated. Ithink here locally in Philly, Aaron Nola
gets a bit underappreciated. Look,not the greatest Yere last year, came
on very strong at the end,came on very strong in the playoffs.
I am one of my bold predictionsI guess coming into the here with the
Phillies is I think Aaron Nola's gonnabe the higher side young candidate than Zach

(13:05):
Wheeler this season. I think Nolacan be a top three Your thoughts on
Nola. I know he's a littleinconsistent. I know year to year it
can be very different, but Ithink we're poised for one of maybe his
better years in the Phillies uniform.Oh yeah, I definitely think we're going
to see a bounce back here because, like you said, granted, he
had up and downs where it seemedlike last year it seemed like he was
giving up a home run, likefor every start, it's like, oh

(13:26):
my god, here comes to AaronNola home run in the fifth or sixth
in the entire game. But thenbut then we saw him figure out against
that one of the second to laststarts against Atlanta and Atlanta where he figured
it out and was like, Okay, Like I think he's got it back.
And I think that's the thing withNola. He's not a guy that's
going to wow you, obviously withthe ninety six ninety eight. For him,
it is just can he get thatoff speed pitch established, he gets

(13:50):
that established, you know, he'she's lights out and he's the guy that
you can count on. Like mostwe see a lot of pitchers in the
game. You know they can't finish, see to get hurt, things like
that, Like this is a guythat's been consistent, Like you haven't had
to worry about him getting hurt.You haven't been able to worry about him,
you know, going long in games, like he'll go nine inns if
you, if you, if youallow him to. So I'm excited to

(14:11):
see him. I'm glad that theywere able to you know, resiun him
to that deal because he's been outsideof Cole Hamble's he's been one of your
best pitching prospects, you know,to come out of the system in a
while, and you got to rewardthat right for a guy that's absolutely doing
it. And then like you mentioned, he's been LIFs out in the playoffs,
like he just knows like it's playofftime, like and know for the
pictures you want, like I don't. I don't want to say I don't

(14:33):
care what you do in like Apriland March in May because that counts or
something. But when we get theSeptember in October. If I know that
I can count on you those twoguys that give you me six seven innings,
it makes the ball game so mucheasier for the rest of the team.
Yeah, it does. And Ithink knowing the playoffs, it's always
fun to see his fastball, andit's only for him. He needs a
couple ticks up. I think he'llbe like ninety one ninety two during the

(14:56):
regular season. Then you'll get theninety three ninety four doing the postseason and
with his with his breaking stuff,with that that extra couple mile an hour
on his fastball, I think makesit the world of difference for him.
So I love the talent. Ithink, look, he's a workhorse.
He's gonna have a better year.He's gonna be more consistent this year.
Again, I think he is goingto be cy Young material this season.

(15:18):
He has been cy Young material before. Yeah, I love Nola coming into
this year and it's again it turnsinto one of the best one to two
punches in all of baseball between thewith Wheeler and Nola, it's one of
the best. And it's the reasonwhy you can beat the Braves in a
five game series in the postseason withthose two guys. Speaking of the Braves
though, and that's this question hascome up more often. I know Ja

(15:39):
Tierra Muto has talked about this,but it's the Braves. The Braves thing
kind of hangs over the Phillies alot because they can beat on the postseason.
It's great, but the Phillies,I think they want more than just
hey, let's not just deak intothe postseason in a wildcard spot and you
know how to play the three gamesand get in. I think they really
want to compete for this division.Can they do? They have the starting

(16:00):
pitching depth to do it? Dothey have I guess the bullpen, maybe
the lineup depth to do it?Do they have the depth necessary? And
at least to me, it comesdown to starting rotation depth to be able
to keep up with what is goingto be one of the most consistent best
teams in the Braves this season.Yeah, I think. I think Offensively,
I think they can match them,right, Like if j t Romuto

(16:22):
doesn't have a down year like andCassiano's swing is in, yeah, we're
poised for a big tray years right, And I think Trey will almost be
like how Casianos was this past year, like second year, kind of figured
out, kind of more comfortable andthings start to happen. I think that's
the same way for Turner, Andlike I said, offensively, they can
mash with them. Like I'm not, I don't think nobody will disagree with

(16:44):
that. But like you said,rotation is tough. Right, you're talking
Willer and we'll see this right andopening week, which is great, Right,
you're gonna have Willer versus Strider.That's almost like a pick them.
I know Strider is the better pitcherat the moment, just those absolutely,
but again I think it's it's apick up. And then you got Nola
Fried another great matchup. Then thisberggets a little tricky, right do you

(17:07):
like Surez over Chrissell? Well,we know Chrissell is good, but can
Chrissell be that Chris Sell that wesaw, you know, in the early
part of career in Boston where hewas you know, the all star,
you know, the all Star guyon the mound and then four or five,
you know that's toss up, butit really focuses on those top three
guys. And I think they canmatch him because Ranger, again, he's

(17:27):
not a guy like Willer. He'snot a guy like Nola, which I
think helps the Phillies right, becauseif you're going against him, you're seeing
a lot of guys that can getstrikeouts and that can you know, throw
heat and do those things. Swartzis not the type of guy, but
Swars can make make life tough onyou, you know, for five six
in it by painting those corners andthrowing those all speed stuff from the left

(17:48):
side, which can make life hardfor guys, you know, like a
Matt Olsen, like an albe'st Soit's it's a wash Offensively, I think
pitching they can match with him isjust going to be and I think we
saw this little but last year.I don't think the discrepancy was that big
of a difference when you look atthe record of like head to head match,
like the Phillies actually got there andcaught them to there, and that's

(18:08):
gonna be the key the Phillies haveto if they want to win the division,
having a good start in March andApril. It's gonna be so care
about because the Braves, as we'veseen for the last few years, they
get out to a big start inApril and then it just you're playing behind
the eight ball the rest of theseason. Yeah, I think a strong
start. Really the last two yearshas been tough for the Phillies, and

(18:30):
if they can do that this year, I think they can compete. It's
gonna be tough again. Starting rotationdepth is where I have the problem.
I don't know if it's gonna beable to hold up for one hundred and
sixty two. But again, thatdoesn't come into play when it comes to
the postseason because they've been playing theBraves in a series of five, and
a series of five the Phillies havethe won two punchs to do it.
But speaking of the Braves, I'vebeen kind of thinking this too, because

(18:51):
it's very clearly two teams at thetop of the National League. But I
think people are kind of getting thisone wrong. Who's the best team in
the National League? The Dodgers ofthe Braves. Ooh, Dodgers are the
Braves because I think it's not theteam that's favored in the Dodgers, I
don't think. I don't think soeither. And what concerns me about the

(19:11):
Dodgers, like, I know theyhave the offense, but I think it's
the same thing we just talked about, right, it's the pitching. I
don't know if I can trust theirpitching. Like you're putting a lot of
pressure on a rookie Yama model whowe know did it tremendously over there,
you know, in Japan with amonster, but he's going to take time
to get adjusted, like this isgoing to be a huge adjustment for That's

(19:32):
a lot of pressure. You don'thave show Hey in the rotation. You're
going to hope for Walker Bueller tocome back from injury. You're hoping for
Kershaw Glass now if good, butcan you depend on him long like you
said for the Phillies, right,Dow one hundred and sixty two? Can
you depend on Glass now for theone hundred and sixty two? And then
you're depending on you know, you'redepending on young kids. You know,

(19:52):
you're you're hoping that you get somethingfrom Gavin Stone, right, he had
a very good, very good training, but now can he replicate that into
the regular seas Bobby Miller, whoa lot of people you know, have
poachs you know, to win probablyRookie of the Year. He's got the
stuff, But now teams seeing himthis year too canny replicate it. So
Dodgers is going to probably be oneof those teams where almost like how we

(20:15):
saw the second game of that Soulseries, where it's gonna be like eleven
to ten, nine to ten untilthey can like get into that groove and
figure out rotation wide. So Igotta give them the edge of the Braves
because, like you said, thepitching pitching, it's too good. The
pitching that is great. That theycan go maybe seven deep in their starting
rotation, that's crazy. Yeah,that's it's terrifying. And look, once

(20:37):
you gets to the five, six, seven, not all those guys are
amazing, but there's such quality arms. And you know, the Braves are
gonna make some trade in the alwaysit's gonna be such an underrated trade that
everybody's just gonna go, Okay,well they got to nobody, and that
nobody turns out to be, youknow, such a key piece and X
factor in their playoff run. Yeah, the Braves are are terrifying, But
those are the top teams the NationalLeague. I'll ask these for both leagues,

(21:00):
and since we're in the National League, I'll start with the National League
Surprise Team. In the National League. I know, for me, I
like the Reds a lot. Ilove the Reds. But is there a
surprise team, a team you thinkthat maybe could make a run here in
the same vein that the Phillies dida couple of years ago, the same
way Texas did last year. Anysurprise team in the National League for you
this year? Surprise team and NationalLeague? Let me see, let me

(21:23):
see, let me see, letme see. There ain't that many.
That's how that's how top. Iknow, that's a problem. That's why
I land on Cincinnati. I guesstop heavy, and then it's like it's
top and then it's just bottom.Like there's no there's no in between.
I would say the Cubs, butI feel like they're a favorite to win
the Central because the Central is justso bad this year. Like you can

(21:45):
still see the Cubs though, interms, because this is more of contending,
not just for division, but contending, you know, make that surprise
run. Uh you know like previousyears, I think the Cubs could,
But for them, it's gonna becan they prove that a lot of things
that happened last year wearing a flukeright ken justin still replicate what he did
now and now you don't have Strowmenat that number two spot. You know,

(22:07):
can you know their off season editionsof in Magna can slide in?
Can they get you know, Ithink they got a couple of young guys
at the back of their rotation everygoing depend on. Can Christopher Morell continue
to take that next step? AndI hope So I drafted him in Fantasy
baseball. I love it, butyeah, I just I don't. I
don't know what that is. AndBellinger, like we talked about, like
was that second half fluke where hewas just hitting home runs and doubles and

(22:30):
just hitting three hundred that a wasthat a mirage or was that a thing
to come? So the cubs ofthe team that that that I have my
eye on, you know, inthat central along like you said, with
the Reds, I think I wouldjust talking. I was just telling my
friend who's a Pirates fan. Isaid, the Reds are like the perfect
young team that they have everything onpaper. You just want them to put

(22:51):
it together, like if there's timeto put it together, like fifth of
the year to put it together.Because all the talent that you waited for
for those couple of years are nowin the majors and now it's time to
kind of put that together and startone in Yeah, one team. I'm
just kind of I'm still trying tofigure out because last year was supposed to
be the year for them didn't reallyhappen. Now this year they lose Juan

(23:12):
Soto. We kind of don't knowwhere the Padres are, Like, what
are the Padres? Still some talentthere? And man, we saw them
mash Yamamoto, and Yamamoto is goingto go through his struggles coming over from
Japan. It happens to every Japanesepitcher, every I think foreign player you
know, has to adjust the majorleague sadjust to how major league hiders do,
major league pitchers, all of that. But the Padres still mashed for

(23:33):
fifteen runs and they took the dreamfrom the Dodgers. How are you feeling
about them? Is this a teamthat could make some noise or did they
lose too much in the offseason andkind of that window has sort of closed
on them. They got the pitching, right, they got those three front
line starters that we talked about,right, you get Dylan Ce, she
only gotta give up prospects for it. Obviously you're telling your fan base for

(23:56):
going all in, we don't careabout the future. When the future is
not now futures and it's the present. We're not doing that no more so.
I think having sees Musgrove and Darvishis a great one two three mile
concern. Again, my concern withthe Padres is just offensive consistency. Can
can you guys not strike out aton? Can you not go through these
long scoring droughts? And not havingSoto I think will hurt them because that's

(24:21):
another power bet that you would loveto have that can that kind of help
them? But hey, now you'regetting a full year of Fernando Tatis.
Your Manny Machado looks looked pretty wellin that series. So if those two
guys can carry you, like Ithink everybody's expecting them to, then I
think they'll They'll be there. Andthe question is just offensively, can they
not have those slumps because they don'thave as much power hitters as the top

(24:45):
teams do. Like we mentioned theBraves to Phillies, the Dodgers like guys
that can just mash. Even thoughlike we said, the Padres they did
it, they did it, youknow, and in South Korea. But
can they do it consistently? Andcan the guys like the crona Worths in
the in the Kyms, can theyget on base and ono reek havoc,
because that's gonna be the key forthem, Like your pitching is going to
hold up. It's just gonna beking you at least score four or five

(25:06):
runs to get to the finish lineand get to win. Now over to
the American League. I asked aboutsurprise team for the National League. Last
year, the surprise team was Texas. Texas went all the way to the
World Series. They end up winningthe World Series, and nobody thought even
though they got the ground, butthe ground then got hurt. Every thought,
Okay, well they that's what theyspent on. There's no way they're
going to make the playoffs now.But they get into the playoffs and like

(25:29):
they did like for the Phillies acouple of years ago, they just needed
to get in see it go through, and then everything was sort of smooth
sailing for them in the postseason.Thanks to Creed as well. I always
got a shout out, Yeah,I just but is there any surprise ting
because I don't look, I don'tknow if Texas going to be any good.
There's some other teams that have maybetheir expectations have been high and they
haven't been able to quite reach them. There is one team I like to

(25:52):
be a bit of a surprise,and I hate to say surprise, but
just I think finally fully realize theirexpectations. But to you when I say
surprise team in the American League,what comes to mind? Surprise team American
League? The problem is the teamsthat you think to be surprised, they
just playing very tough divisions. Theyplay in the East and West. The
American League is completely different than NL. It's really tough. So I think

(26:15):
for me, I know this probablylike a trendy pick, but I think
the Royals. I think a lotof people are nice. I have been
hearing a lot of that. Yeah, a lot of people are buying that
Royal stock. And you kind ofseen this offseason like they'll make a priority
and getting the pitching. You know, not nothing crazy, right, not
nothing spending you know, millions ofdollars on tops of millions of dollars get
pitching. But they add I thinkwhat Michael Waka they add, you know,

(26:38):
Seth Lugo again, not guys everygoing wild you, but guys,
such a bunch of underrated moves rightunder the radar, perfect place for a
team like that, much better thanrolling out you know the Chris Bubis of
the world. And you know theJordan Lyles George Yeah, no more Jordan
Lyle number. Jordan Lyles, Heyhe did he did there? Like I
think you have like three straight homeruns in sprint that one spring training game

(27:00):
this city. Yes to Bayles Daywas amazing. But I think it's the
Royals. I think a lot ofpeople are excited about them. Cole Reagan's
has been like this trendy cy Youngpicking out and I like it. I
think, you know, that's whereyou want to go. I mean cool,
because what we saw last year isjust when we can do it for

(27:22):
bigger sample side than offensively. Everybodylikes Bobby with Jr. And with Bobby
with Junior, and hey, youjust look at what they have out there
on that team, Like there's alot of players that I think that you
know, the casual baseball fan doesn'tknow about. But I think if they
get out to a good start,especially at the Vision, that's a very
winnable division, Like Cleveland got thepitching, but offensively no pop offensively,

(27:53):
Oh yeah, in the same thing. Power and pop scares. And it's
the same thing with Minnesota. Theyhave the pitch in somewhat, but offensively.
Can you depend on Carlos Korea andByron Buxton and stay healthy? I
don't know. Yeah, I'm notsure about that. So Cleveland is one
team I'd be somewhat interested in,but the one I was thinking of for

(28:15):
surprise and again not surprised, butthey had a down year last year.
I think this year they could fullyrealize those expectations. But to me,
it's the Seattle Mariners. I likethe Mariners. I think Julia Rodriguez I
have him as MVP, but Ilove the pitching. Pitching is very very
good there. So you have thislineup, you have that lineup that could

(28:36):
potentially have, you know, thisMVP caliber player and Julio Rodriguez, a
bunch of pop as well. Insome other places. Even guy like JP
Crawford has made his way into beinglike a really solid Major leaguer at eight
eighteen ops. Last year. It'sa lot of stuff that I just I
love and it just didn't come togetherquite enough. Last year. I think
this is the year again, almostlike Texas and the Phillies a couple of

(28:59):
you years ago, where the Marinersjust once they see it go through,
once they the confidence level goes up, and Julia Rodriguez has that full complete
year, they get maybe sneak intoa wild card, get into the postseason.
I think that's when things ramp upand then you start to see and
highlight, well, look how goodthey're starting rotation is, Look how good
some of these bats are in theirlineup that can absolutely mash Seattle. To

(29:22):
me, is one of those teamsthat I think, because last year kind
of burned a lot of people,because I know a lot were on Seattle
to have that breakout year, Ithink it's kind of under the radar that
this could be the year that itfinally happens. Because again, I think
pitching is the reason why it could. Yeah, man, I mean,
anytime you can throw out what Castillo, Kirby Gilbert get wu as the top

(29:44):
four, like, that's much betterthan rolling out Robbie Ray and Marco Denvallet.
Poor Robbie Ray, Poor Robbie Ray. But it is it's so true,
and I man, I am inlove with that Seattle starting rotation.
So Seattle to me the surprising there. I talked about top teams in the
National League. The thing is,it's pretty clear, not just they're the

(30:04):
top two teams in the National League. I think Dodgers and Braves are the
top two teams in all of baseball. And I think that is very very
clear. The American League, Idon't know if it's as clear. We
kind of just give the you know, just give it to Houston because of
pedigree and that they've done it before. Baltimore because they have a bunch of
great young players, put one hundredwin year last year, so we kind

(30:26):
of give it to them as well. But is there any other team in
the American League? Is it justHouston and Baltimore? And how how for
sure are we confident in Weed thatone of those teams are the best team
in the American League. It couldbe Houston and Baltimore. Everybody loves the
Yankees, but I kind of did. But now this right problem heard and
things the only thing that ruins themevery year every year because now you add

(30:51):
because when you came to to theright cleveand you're thinking, so you have
Soto and then you have Cole Stroman, Cortes and rode On like, Yo,
this could be the year finally doit. And then boom like he
gets hurt. So now you're introuble. I hope, and this is
like a weird hope. I hopethat the Blue Jays can figure it out
because I just feel like they're thatlike just with the Mariners, right,
there's this is this is the otherteam that they're just sitting there on the

(31:17):
precipice and they just continue. They'llget into the playoffs in fold like last
year they folded like the manager takesout Burrios after four innings in the playoff
game, and kind of like theFlates, you know, any chance of
anything happening. But that's a teamwith talent, right, You're hoping that
Golsman isn't you know that he canstart because he's you know, dealt with

(31:37):
some injuries. But you just lookup what they have on paper. Offensively,
you have Bobashet and Vladimir Garel Junior, Like you have two of the
better You no, not bad atall, and and for and for a
lot of people they would said vladhad a down year even though it was
still a pretty good year in mostfor most players. So I think what
he came in in better shape andlost and lost some weight. So if

(32:00):
that's if he comes back looking likethe guy that we saw what go head
to head with shohe in the homerun race, you know a couple of
years back then, the Blue Jaysthey might be there. They just they
just gotta believe in themselves, likeyou gotta believe in yourself. Yeah,
and be consistent, be consistent.That's the key with them. They're not
consistent. Yeah, I think theygotta find that consistency. And again that's

(32:20):
another team. You just get himin and I think things can really start
to happen for them. Uh Sowhen we talk about the top of the
league, there's also fun bets sometimesof who has the worst record in little
boy. I would have to checkto see if what that future special would
be if that would be one ofthese teams. But I let me just
ask the question and I'll find theodds as you answer, who is the

(32:43):
worst team in Major League Baseball?Worst team off the strip? I'm just
gonna say that, I'm just gonnago with the A's. I feel like
they're just they're just middling there.Like they have some talent, like Zach
Geloff showed up a little bit lastyear, you know, Stuey ma Ree
showed up, But you can't trustthey're pitching man there there you people if

(33:07):
people were out here betting on LuisMedina over two and a half earned runs
like it like it was Christmas,like him and Ken Walk the Chuck like
they were just they're just they're justgas cans, like you're just waiting for
them to blow up. So Istay the age just because it's more so
the talent, like they just don'thave the talent, Like it's getting there,
Like you can see the young players, but for some reason it's not

(33:28):
clicking. But no, they're gonnathey're gonna be another team down there with
the eighth this year. Yeah,it's just a franchise that seems in turmoil.
And I know Cincinnati was able tokind of pull themselves out of it
because before last year, I thinkit was last year, it started out
with the owner saying, well,if you don't like it, you know,
don't buy tickets and stuff. It'slike it the Reds were kind of
this this organization that nobody really thoughtwas doing anything that good and then everything

(33:52):
started to really click for them.I just Oakland, it's just getting worse.
You know, there's this looming threatof Vegas hanging over that franchise.
There's not a lot of fanfare.The ballpark stinks. It is an awful
ballpark. It's old, it's outdated, it's disgusting. And they the moneyball
thing is great, but like themoneyball thing is not going to work all

(34:12):
the time. And also teams aredoing exactly what the moneyball thing was all
those years ago. You can onlyget lucky so much with all these players
that they've been able to over theyears, and really the past five to
seven years and past decade that havebeen very good. You know, those
guys walk away, You don't paytheir contracts and you're left having to replenish
that farm system over and over again. And it just seems like it's not

(34:34):
working right now. It's a badorganization. It's an organization that again going
through a lot of turmoil, thelooming threat of Vegas. It the vibes
just don't feel good at all whatsoeverin Oakland. And if there's any inkling
of a player getting some kind ofgood value at the trade deadline. They're
going to trade them as as fastas they possibly can, so it can
only get worse after the trade deadlinefor Oakland. Yeah, I'm just it's

(34:59):
a shame to see because the A'swere a fun team at some point.
You did have some really fun playersand they just let them all walk away,
And it's really a shame to seesomething like that. So yeah,
I think you're right with right withthat for sure. Yeah. If the
Ava, the White Sox, whiteSocks are gonna be down here too.
Yeah, white socks. Hello,that a lot of promise and then that
didn't work out at all, they'regoing to be down here too, because

(35:22):
that could be a team, likewe say that could move guys and trade
deadline. Yeah, oh, they'reselling a bunch. If you know,
if Eloy stay healthy, that's theeasy guy to move, right. If
Mankatah yeah plays well, he's goingto get moved. Now do they move
Luise Robert That would be the biggerquestion. Now, if you move them,
then you're completely selling you know,every and every and I think it

(35:44):
could happen, like I think it'sit's very gonna be very close to that
at the dead Arry. All right, so last baseball question that we've got
to move on to spring football,by the way, spring football, which
is crazy. So real quick withthe last question, who is your al
L champ and World Series winner AL NL champ, NL Champ, NL

(36:12):
champ. It's the Braves NL champs. It's the Braves. Yeah, yeah,
I had to. I had tobe that voice in your head that
way, they have to pick theBraves. I feel like eventually that Kirks
is going to get broken where theyreally stopped just smoking them in the NLD.
Yes, and they're which is thecraziest curse to have the Phillies.

(36:35):
The team that couldn't make a playoffsfor a decade is the one that is
now preventing you from having any playoffsucess last right, preventing you from getting
to the World Series multiple years now. So yeah, I don't mean with
the like, we'll go with theBraves. And then in the American League
American League, I don't know,I have the Yankees, but I think

(36:59):
I'm back tracking on that now.Yeah, because you want to go Yankees,
you want to go to Orioles ifthey grow up, you know,
continue to grow up. You wantto go with Houston because you said based
off of pedigree, but again,can they continue to go with it?
You know what, Let's let's gowith the Mariners. Let's go to the
marriage. Let's let's Yeah, Ithink that's going to change my pick too.

(37:21):
Now, let's let's go. Let'sgo with the Mariners. Everything that
you laid out earlier about what theyhave and even at the bullpen what they
have, they have the pieces todo it. Like it's it's just like
you said, getting over that humpand doing it in the American League,
like we just kind of went through, you know, just now it's kind
of wide open where it's anybody's gameand they're waiting for somebody to take it.

(37:45):
Not like the National League where weknow one, two, three.
In the American League, somebody's they'rewaiting for somebody to come and just say,
hey, I'm the number one team, So why not can it be
Seattle? Yeah, again, oncethat pitching staff gets into the playoffs,
I think it's going to play veryvery well for Seattle. So yeah,
I'm a big Mariners fan heading intothe season. But we also have a
new season starting up, not justbaseball, and we do have Sweet sixteen

(38:07):
Elite eight. But something I amso looking forward to is actually spring football.
I haven't done as much research headinginto this year. I can't wait
to watch it, though I can'twait to bet it. I love the
XFL when it first came back,unfortunately COVIDFL through then USFL was good to
see back. But the merging ofit seems like a really good thing.
It seems like now maybe there couldbe a more stable spring football league now

(38:30):
that they have merged together in theone, this could feel like finally now
a stable a stable frand or anorganization that can consistently give us spring football
every single year. And I thinkthere is at least some kind of market
for it. But heading into thespring football year, your thoughts on just
the merger. Are we heading intoa time where spring football now does seem

(38:51):
like it's getting a stable foundation tofinally build upon. I definitely think so.
I think having you know, obviouslywe had to the XFL on twenty
twenty, and you know, Ithink I just listened to an interview with
a Russ Brandon back in twenty twentysaying like, don't even even about the
XFL. You know was successful intwenty twenty, like if it wasn't for
the pandemic, like it probably wouldhave still that iteration, probably would have

(39:13):
still been around. And we sawhow that kind of like opened up people's
eyes because we kind of saw,you know, guys becoming household names like
the Jordan Tayamus of the world.Yeah, yeah, J Walker, PJ.
Walker and you know cam Fills wereable to do in Houston, like
with Jus Jones, I remember that, right, And people were tuning in
like yo, like what is this, Like Howard these guys It was a

(39:35):
lot of fun to watch that offense. PJ. Walker was a lot of
and you when you're sitting there wantingtasself like Howard, these guys not in
the league. And now we gottwo years of USFL in which I think
that was huge, right, thisshow consistency and guys getting chances, getting
opportunities to come in household names andhaving that stability in the XFL last year.
Like you said, now everybody's beenone and we kind of have the

(39:58):
same teams, the same had coachesfor the most part, same players.
So now everybody that's watched you know, the USFL the last two years in
the XFL. Last year, youkind of have an idea of like,
Okay, I know player A ishere, player B is here, Like
I'm already familiar. So now I'mnot kind of zoning what work was,
Like what is this like brand offootball? Now we're playing all by the
same rules. You know, wehave the best of the USFL and the

(40:22):
becks of the XFL. And youhope that, you know, this year
goes well and that guys get opportunitiesin the league, in the NFL,
CFL wherever. I love saying that. I still love saying that it's great
because a lot of these guys,you know, you can't you can't get
tape. You can't get opportunities bysitting at home like it's or even playing
on a practice squad. Like respectto guys on practice squad, like you're

(40:45):
on practice route for a reason becauseyou're a good player and teams don't want
to let you go to It ishard to get tape. It is hard
for them for somebody to see whatyou do just a blind faith of maybe
a preseason game they saw exactly exactlyexactly. So I'm excited for it,
and you hope that, like say, you hope that share gooth well in
that maybe we're looking, you know, an expansion next year and we add
and he add a couple more teams. Philadelphia, give me Philadelphia back.

(41:07):
Hey, I have stars back.I want it back. I want them
back. Yeah, I wasn't back, and I want them playing in Philly.
I want that. Yeah, wellwhy did that have to go away?
That's come on, Please give thatto me. So right now I'm
seeing on DraftKings Saint Birmingham three toone, Saint Louis plus three fifty DC
Defenders plus three eighty, Arlington Renegadesplus four seventy five, then Houston Roughness

(41:29):
plus six fifty, and then I'lljust come them into the Showbotes eight to
one, and then Michigan thirteen toone, San Antonio fourteen to one.
Birmingham is a favorite. Birmingham hasa stacked quarterback room, I mean stacked.
Yeah. The Gills with really goodquarterback play. I know we don't
know much about Mat Correal, butI think Matt Corrall can play. And
in the NFL, you just nevergot his opportunity, not to see he

(41:51):
would have been a starter, butI think he would have been back up
somewhere and a lot of things happened, you know, off the field with
him and sort of some things thatkind of led him not to get a
shot in the NFL. But herecomes him in the Birmingham Stallions. You
already have Davis. There has beena proven spring football quarterback who is in
your mind going to start in thatquarterback room. And what kemys fa?
Is Birmingham the best team in theUFL? I mean, hey, when

(42:14):
you talk about a team that hasconsistency and the same guys you know leading
the charge, Skip Holtz and theirGM Zach Potter, Like that's the Skip
holds to go pirates. Hey thereyou go, Like the dude is a
machine. Like I think they're almostlooked at as the gold standard of like
spring football because these guys can justgo out and get guys to come and

(42:35):
play and say, hey, youcome here like you're going to ball out,
You're going to show something. SoI think that's what we're going to
see. It's going to be interestingwhat they do at quarterback because there is
no more Alex Magoo who had ajust an out, just a ridiculous year,
and he's been able to translate thatto stick on the NFL roster,
which I think of another feather andthe spring football. Even though he didn't
start or you need to even bea QB two, the fact that he

(42:58):
was able to stay Green Bay isthat third guy and not get jumped back
and forth to practice squad. That'sa good sign. I'm gonna lean.
I know I'm gonna lean Corral.I think Corral could get to start there
just because we already know what JamarSmith is and I feel like if things
were to go south, skip Holeswouldn't feel, you know, wouldn't feel
pressured to go like all right,I know I have somebody in the option

(43:21):
in Jamar Smith to kind of goand throw them out there if you know,
things were to go south for theStallions. But it's so hard to
think that because they're so loaded.CJ. Marrable, Jay Sternberger, I
mean Mark Gilbert, who was youknow, in outstanding dB with the Malers,
now he's over there in Birmingham.I mean Mari Rodgers, Dion Kane,
like so many guys like they're likealmost like a fifty, like another

(43:42):
a thirty third NFL team with someof the talent that he have. So
They're really good. Yeah, theyare fantastic. Who's the team that can
compete with them? Is it thebattle Hawks or are we looking at the
Fenders and were the Arlington Renegades orsome other team? What team do you
think and compete do you think withBirmingham? I know a lot of people
think that a lot of people thinkthat the Defenders can compete with them,

(44:04):
just because Greg Williams and his styleof defense, Like those guys get after
it like Greg Williams, like youif anybody watched the XFL last year,
Greg Williams was like throwing the houseat everybody and just playing physical, fast
paced, you know football, Andfor them it's just going to be You
have Tayamu Back. I think theyhave a very They have a very underrated
quarterback room too. I think DeAndreFrance wis you know, didn't have France.

(44:30):
He didn't have the best of experiencein Orlando. That was just a
very tough situation because they were ona great football team in the least.
But you have him, you haveJayalen McClinton, who really showed well with
the Vipers late last season. Underratedquarterback room. The question for the defenders
just gonna be where are you gonnaget at running back with no Abram Smith
this year because he's hurt. Andthen receiver they've had had some guys go

(44:50):
to the NFL, some guys retiring, so you're trying to figure out,
like who's going to be that playmakerbecause they have kind of everything else.
So the defenders and the team,obviously everybody's going to be watching out four
and I would say, you knowwhat, we'll go, We'll go to
BattleHawks. I think the BattleHawks becausethey feel like a team. Last year
they had a lot of close winsand then he had a lot of close

(45:12):
losses and it was just like ifyou just do one or two things better
or like play better in the fourthand don't mess it up like you could
have there and they are another team. You know, you have the same
quarterback and head coach Anthony back AjMcCarron comes back for a second year.
You have you know, Hakeem Butler, who was outstanding left. Yeah,
you balled out running backs a littlebit questionable because I think they thought they

(45:37):
were gonna have Max Max Borgie.They're you know, out of Stanford in
that backfilbe but I think he retired. I think so now they're gonna be
probably on Wayne Gorman, another formerNFL guy, so it's gonna be interesting
to get It's gonna be interesting ifhe can bounce back there. And then
Jerome Cap I know everybody remember fromthe Hard Knocks with the Jets. He's
on that roster. So they gota lot of guys offensively, defensively.

(45:59):
So I would say those two teamsright now, I think are what people
are going to be hoping that they'regoing to be gunning from. You have
the runner up in the XFL andthen the other teams XFL and Saint Louis
that everybody thought should have gotten toothe playoffs and they didn't because of the
whole time breaker points thing. Sothose two teams, I think for sure
are going to try to be competingwith. I cannot wait. I cannot

(46:20):
wait to talk more spring football withyou because your knowledge of just the depth
chart of these teams is amazing.I love spring football, and I love
I love those that will grind outspring football, grind it for bets and
have a lot of fun with it. It's what makes spring football fun to
me. Javon That is awesome,And I'm definitely gonna talk to more spring
football. Maybe I'm going to betsto spring football with you. You know
what, we'll do that, we'lllead the lead the charge for spring football

(46:44):
betting. We'll have a lot offun doing it. Where can they find
your stuff? Where can they findyour bets? I know you're doing a
few things these days. You're doingawesome work as always. Again, they
can follow you at jovon ten onTwitter, But where can they find some
of your work? Yeah? No, for sure, appreciate you having me,
Like you said, yeah, springfil balls should be fun. Like
we just we didn't even touch thesurface of everything. We didn't talk about.

(47:05):
We didn't talk about we didn't talkabout holding ailers and we didn't talk
about that. So yeah, sopeople can, like you said, follow
me on Twitter, check out Totalsports Live dot com, Total Sports Love
Podcast, FTN bets as well.I'm over there and all these other great
people. Yeah, yeah, theyYeah, they're it's loaded, man,

(47:27):
just straight just gas over there,so f T, FtM bets and then
also over at fan Sided where I'man associate editor, helping the leader,
helping the lead their local sites overthere, so section in two and five,
Empire Rights back all the city localsites I'm over there helping run and
create content for So those are allthe places that you can find me.
And then obviously Twitter, where I'llbe tweeting picks and stuff and all the

(47:50):
random niggas that I found across sportsbooks because that's fun. Love it.
Jove On, thanks for coming on. Man, We're gonna definitely do this
again. You're going to be aline change guest. We're gonna we're gonna
write down to spring football this year. I love it. But yeah,
you do great work. Been meaningto get you on. One of the
reasons again I started this pod wasbecause there are a few people I'd certainly
wanted to talk to and I've seenyour stuff everywhere and I definitely wanted to

(48:10):
get you on the pod. Soglad you came on. Appreciate you for
coming on the line Change. Thankyou appreciate it. And yeah, everybody
enjoyed the first weekend of spring footballand opening weekend baseball. It's it's gonna
be fun. Thanks again to JovonAlford for coming on the program again.
Follow him at Jovon tenjo v An Ten. I talked to him a

(48:31):
little bit after the show, andyeah, the guy just was barely scratching
the surface to spring football, andI can't wait. I've been spring football
a lot in twenty twenty and Iactually had the rough necks. I had
them when June Jones was there withPJ. Walker. So I love spring
football. I get very into it. I love football in general. I

(48:52):
think it is really cool that there'sa Spring Football League and a chance to
see these guys in college players againplaying and maybe revitalize in careers that they
once had in the NFL, ormaybe spark a career to get into the
NFL. I think it's always greatwhen that happens, and I am very
much supportive of something like that.So I certainly can't wait to start getting

(49:13):
into the trenches with UFL and doingit with Joe vonn who's going to be
on the program again for sure.So no bets for today's show. We
are kind of waiting for what nextshow. We'll get into some of the
Sweet sixteen and Elite eight bets.But I do have a movie review Roadhouse
the remake of twenty twenty four,and I'll tell you what, There is

(49:35):
not much to say about this movie. This script was all over the place.
There were multiple love interests. Itwas looking like for Jake Gyllenholme that
never really materialized except for one intosomething. But it was so awkward,
it was so fast, it wasweird. But it's a microcosm of what
the movie was. It was allover the damn place. You never really
got to settle into Roadhouse, thebar, you never really got to settle

(49:58):
into the world. It was avery st standard kind of setting for the
keys area in this Florida town,and then the very standard, well,
there's somebody that wants to take himout. It was nothing and the hope
that you would get and what kindof I think made Roadhouse the original.
I didn't watch it, but itseems like the original so so much into
a cult classic. Was the cheesyB side stuff, and I don't know

(50:22):
if action movies really have that now. I don't know if there's a lot
of movies that can capture that Bstyle. A film from the eighties and
the early nineties, this one doesn'tcapture that. Jake Gillenhall is a good
candidate for it, and it givesa bit of a weird performance, but
it's too much of an uncharismatic characterthat Jake Gillenhall plays and then obviously turns

(50:45):
into this ruthless kind of guy towardsthe end. It just doesn't work.
You want a little bit more cheese, you want the cheesy one liners,
you want something crazy, and youget a bit of that gillen Halt the
end, but not enough during themost of the story, as he's a
very subdued, not so charming andjust mellowed out, play it cool guy.

(51:07):
It doesn't really work in this one, and I don't think that's what
really the original one was loved for. If you want action too, the
action scenes I didn't think were thebest. The fight scenes were a little
odd. It was very tough towatch some of the fight scenes at times,
Shaky cameras, very wwe looking sometimes. Have you ever watched wrestling and

(51:28):
the shaky cameras when they're strikes.That's what it was. It was very
nauseous at times. The only thingthat looked kind of good. It kind
of bamboozles you. In the beginning. There's some really great camera shots and
great lighting, and there was somethings early on you go, okay,
this looks the part of a decentmovie, but then the script and everything
falls apart, the acting falls apart, and it was bad. And then

(51:51):
Connor McGregor shows up on the screenmaybe about halfway through, a little bit
more than halfway through, and itbecomes an absolute nightmare of a train wreck.
Every single time that guy shows upon screen. That's when the movie,
to me, really, if ithad any likes to stand on,
if there was something there it wasbuilding, it just throws in Connor McGregor

(52:12):
becomes a cheap, cheesy, dumbnot even cheesy, just a cheap dumb
Netflix movie that goes, okay,well we got Conna McGregor. Conn McGregor
was awful in it. I guessyou could say he was a set himself,
but it was nauseating to watch.It was unbearable to watch his performance.
His showing up into that got Imade the movie a lot worse than

(52:34):
it was. I gave Roadhouse astar and a half on Letterbox. It
is not my worst movie of theyear because again, I think it started
off with some decent things. Andmaybe I'm wrong in this. Maybe I
did like Madam Webb more than Roadhouse, because I really have nothing great to
say, other than there were acouple of really cool shots in the movie
early on and some interesting things thatthey did do with camera work in Roadhouse,

(52:57):
Madam Webb, I did like alittle bit more than that because I
thought the to John's performance fit thatvery bad B side Marvel comic movie.
And I thought the Coda Johnson performancewas absolutely perfect for what the script she
was given. This was a littlebit different. I don't know, maybe
I should knock it down a bitmore. I didn't like it almost at
all. Nothing really worked in it. Again for some camera work stuff,

(53:19):
and Jake Jillenhall sort of at theend when he does this kind of ruthless
turn, becomes a little bit moreinteresting on screen. But other than that,
it feels like you got jillen Hallfor a reason and he's just trying
to play this cool UFC fighter thatjust wants to settle in in a remote
town and just help out this barthat wants to stay open. In Roadhouse,

(53:43):
that could be a little bit rough, but the fights will be less
if Dalton, which is Jake Jillenhall'scharacter, can help intimidate everybody into not
fighting. It doesn't work. It'sagain all over the place. The script
stinks, So no recommendation to mefor Roadhouse. I will not be recommending
that whatsoever. I will recommend thoughchecking out doing two. I think the

(54:06):
last time I did mention I didsee it in imax. But that's still
the movie to me that is buzzing. Gotta be watching some more movies this
week that I'll get to hopefully onthe pod on the next show. But
yeah, Roadhouse, I know everybody'slooking forward to that. It's an no
go for me. I would sayI do not recommend that whatsoever. Skip
it. Everybody's gonna forget there wasa Roadhouse remake in the very near future.

(54:30):
That is it for the line changethough. Thanks again to Joevon and
follow him at Joe von Ten.You can check out the line change search
up on the Apple podcast search upthe line Change with John Jansen. There's
a few other shows that have theline change with the line Change with John
Jansen and it'll show up. Theline change presented by the Cut sports betting

(54:50):
app. Cut was on fire duringthe tournament. We had a ton of
fun and Brace and I talked abouton the Daily Ticket. It is a
lot of fun going peer to peer. It was just fun to go,
so, hey, somebody want tobet. You know, somebody want to
bet Gonzaga, or you know,put a bet on that Gonzaga game,
or put a bet on whatever gameit is. It was just really fun
to talk back and forth in thegame is what you like, and if
somebody likes something different than you think, go, hey, you want to

(55:13):
bet it, Let's go ahead,put some money on it. On the
cut sports betting app and there arestill public plays that you look at if
somebody already putting a bet on aplay and you accepting that offer, accepting
that bet. On the other sideof it, it's really fun to go
around scroll through what people are bettingand if you can find sort of an
edge there, if you can findsomething you like, find something that maybe
somebody is a bet on but youthink the opposite's gonna happen. It's just

(55:34):
it's a ton of fun to reallyplay that market instead of just looking at
the sports book going okay, there'sa team is a three and a half
points favorite, Do I bet thefavorite underdog? This is finding some really
interesting bets with either people that youknow or in the public going against somebody
it's a lot of fun to kindof play that and think of it in
a different way. I compared itto playing playing against a computer and maddeness

(55:59):
fun, but it's not as funas going head to head with somebody and
playing online and Madden. That's whatit feels like with Cut that you do,
you end up, you know,winning against somebody, losing against somebody.
You're not just losing against the almightybook or this like giant entity that
you're you're betting against. You're bettingagainst someone, and it makes for a
lot of more entertainment to me,and it's a lot more fun, especially

(56:21):
when you're betting your front, whichwe were doing a lot of. I
did not win any bets over theweekend against anyone on the Cut app,
So I got some more to dofor this sweet sixteen and the lead a
but yes line change presented by Cut. Download it as you can see there
on the screen k t T searchit up Kutt dot com, Cut dot

(56:42):
com. You can download it also. They have a desktop version, but
go search up Kutt wherever you getyour apps and download the app. Start
playing now. Use the promo codeGambler. I think it's called a referral
codes. Use the referral code Gamblerwhen you sign up, and then also
join at fox Ards to the gamblerour group chat. It's public. Just
look it up, join us,have some fun and start posting some bets

(57:05):
there if you want to post somebets, have some fun with us,
post bets and we'll be betting withyou all throughout the tournament and throughout the
Major League Baseball season, and maybesome UFL bets on the Cut app as
well. But the line change presentedby the Cut Sports Betting App. That's
it. We'll be back next time. Here for the line change.