Knicks Fire Thibodeau, Texas Longhorns Defense Preview, CFB Hall of Fame Ballot, WCWS Championship & Texans OTAs

Today, the guys talk about the New York Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau. The Texas Longhorn defense is the one to watch for the upcoming season. The college football Hall of Fame ballot was released, and a former Longhorn is among the names listed. Texas softball team is ready for the Women’s College World Series Championship Game.  The Houston Texans start their OTAs. Why does Tyrese Haliburton still have a chip on his shoulder? “The World’s Strongest Take!” Plus, a conversation with Danny Davis of The Austin American Statesmen. You can hear it all here on “The Morning Kickoff Show!”

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you for tuning in to the podcast of The
Morning Kickoff with myself, Mike Carbar Harts and the world's
Strongest man in WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry. Guys,
we really would like it if you would advertise with us,
because we only go as far as you let us.
That's right, Folks, tune in and make sure you tell
five friends to tell five friends. The Morning Kickoff seven

(00:22):
to nine am Monday through Friday, right here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. Good Morning, Austin, Ktown, Flugerville, Htown, Pairland,
Leander and Seals. Be Texas or wherever you may be listening.
This is a way back Wednesday edition of The Morning
Kickoff right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.

(00:46):
Texas and Texas Tech prepare for a World Series.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Matchup New York. State of mind is foggy and they
need help.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Danny Danny Davis of the Austin American Statesman joins us
at seven thirty four. The Texas football team has a
defense mindset, and we'll discuss that college Football Hall of
Fame ballot has another Longhorn on it, and the Texans
have a big problem that Demiko Ryan wants to discuss

(01:19):
I am your host, Mike Carball. Heart's my co host
is a WWE Hall of Famer and the world's strongest man.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
He is d Mark Henry. Good morning Austin, and we've.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Got our guy Marcus behind the boards. And if you
want to be a part of the show, all you
gotta do is text to word texas, follow by your
message to eight one five three zero.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Standard data and message rates may apply.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
That's the word texas, follow by your message to eight
one five three zero. Standard data and message rates may apply.
And also we're gonna give you a chance to win
a pair of tickets. All you got to do is
leave us a message by using that talkback feature on
the new and improved iHeartRadio app. I will give you
the keywords for the day. All right, let's get right

(02:02):
into it. Breaking news, breaking news. Yesterday we had breaking
news that the New York Knicks did something that well,
there's a lot of debate about.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
A lot of people.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
My phone is blowing up right now with executives everyone
around the league just stunned. But every player on this
Knicks roster it felt like overperformed. You saw Jayleen Brunson
become an All NBA All Star guard, karl anthy Townsend
All NBA performer, as well a lot of Knicks players
Josh Hart as well, who tweeted out something positive on
Tom Thibodeau. They all had great years under him. But

(02:38):
clearly the Knicks did not feel like Tom Thibodau was
going to be the coach to take them over the top.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
So they fired Tom Thibodeaum and the world is in
an uproar, especially New York Knick fans. The debate will
continue the rage, and we will get into our debate
in just the second. But now's the time, folks get
over to our social media pages and let us know

(03:05):
did the Knicks do the right thing or did they not.
I'm about to get into the conversation. Mark's about to
get into the conversation, and I will let you give
your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Mark, Henry, listen, I think he deserved to be fired.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
And you're crossing your arms, you're rubbing your face all
the antics.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
He deserves to be fired.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
He did not coach at the level in the playoffs,
even with the wins. It was hey, hand Jalen the
ball and go good luck. Like how about those eleven
times eleven, not one, not two, but eleven times you
had people the knixt score outlet layup. Eleven layups in

(03:56):
the playoffs. Excuse me, two series they had eleving. Man,
that's horrible coaching. After the second time, I'm like, guys,
we put the ball in the basket, you're gonna just.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Let him go get a layup.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
In the NBA, that's a lack of discipline, a lack
of effort, and and just an overall lack.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Of awareness as a coach.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
You you basically are saying, Okay, that's okay, we'll get
it back.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
He's got to do a better job.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
Call it time out, throw your clipboard on the floor,
and say, look, you're you're not gonna play.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
I'm gonna pull you off the court.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Like he didn't do the necessary things that a real
coach should do. And yeah, he knows more about basketball
than I'll ever know. But the debate is not about
whether or not Mark Henry knows enough about basketball to
coach a team.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
I don't, but he's supposed.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
To, and he didn't, regardless of the fact that he
got him there win games in two seasons in a row,
Regardless of the fact that Jalen Brunson's dad is his
number one guy, and he is primarily the reason that
the Knicks have Jalen in the first place.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
But you have to coach the team.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
You can't stand there and allow guys to grind for
forty eight minutes and you're gonna only play six eight
guys at the most. Baseball teams play more than them.
Baseball teams play more players than Thibodeau. How you expect

(05:44):
them to play at a high level against NBA competition
like the Celtics, Like they beat them, but you know,
but they was due. They were due, and they and
they played exceptionally well at times, but it was also
herculean efforts by the key players that drove them to that.

(06:09):
And they were fresh, harsh, they were fresh. Luckily they
got Boston early in the series because if they would
have got Boston, Lady Boston would have Peter rolled them.
You know what Peter rolling is, That's exactly what would
have happened. All Right, I'm off my soapbout, okay, because

(06:31):
let me just tell you this, this is something that
feelings either I'm about one thousand percent gonna make it
about feelings because here's the deal. The New York Knicks
and I said this on social media yesterday.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Were a laughing stock for quite some time.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
They rolled through coaches, didn't get it figured out. But
you get a guy that demands that these high dollar
players show up, grind and let's get a championship.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
New York City, big city of dreams.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
This is where everybody really gets We from the streets.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
We got it outside. We work hard. We're not pretensious,
We're not what.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Now, all of a sudden, you got a coach that
demands a lot from you because he knows you have that.
And if I'm Mark Henry, I want my best five
on the court at all times. You know why because
if you look up and down that bench, the front

(07:50):
office didn't do you any favor.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
No, they didn't. That's I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
The front office should have did a better job. What
was one of your favorite players that they ended up
letting go Sims from Texas defensive offensive liability, but defensive.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
He was protecting them.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Play every position on defense. They didn't resign them. They
didn't resign her. Ja Jalen Brunson got voted most best
clutch Player of the Year.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
By the league.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Why is that Because Tibbs knew if I had the
ball in that young man's head, I have a chance
to win the game.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
That's a good point.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
And when you go out and you make all these trades,
all these trades where you give up your future to
go and get them Michel Bridges to go and trade
away Defandenzo to do the things that are happened. Hello, well,

(08:51):
but you need to put that on the Mark Henry
list as against Tibodeau, that he didn't make the moves.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Those are the other people in the front office.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
They this is what the New York Knicks are. They
are the Dallas Cowboys because they had everybody come out
of the woodworks. Because Thibodeau put a team together for
back to back years. They went over fifty wins back

(09:21):
to back years. And you're gonna say, hmm, it's time
for him to move on because he grinds on our players.
You talk, all right, This dude is two twenty six
in one seventy four in the regular season, and he
led them to the postseason four times out of his

(09:46):
five seasons. There constantly had improvements. If you want to say, oh, well,
he was grinding his players. Okay, go get him more,
have a conversation with him, because he delivered a culture
back in New York. I gotta clear something up with you.
Come on, are you mean are you telling me that

(10:10):
he has nothing to do with who goes and who
stays on his team? Knicks president Leon Rose is the
one that I mean, Wait a minute, Mark, are you
gonna ask a question like that when you know, when
you know, you gonna tell me that Mike McCarthy had

(10:31):
anything to do with the players that was on his roster.
I'm sure that he had something to do with it.
They evaluate those players hard, They go.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
Why didn't you get more defensive players?

Speaker 1 (10:43):
If that was the case, Because he is a defensive
minded head coach, So why wouldn't you get more of
a defensive minded team on that bench to be able?

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Will you ask?

Speaker 1 (10:56):
And I will tell you, quote unquote rotate. He has
people on his team that he didn't develop. McCrae should
have been developed and been a better player on the bench,
off the bench, you should have been better. What took
him so long the whole season? He never played forty
four until the to the last playoffs against the Pacers.

(11:20):
Why was he sitting on the bench. He should have
developed him over the season. But the music is playing,
and I know we got.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
More to talk about, but I'm listen. We Hey, there's
gonna be the furniture moving around here a minute the
entire time.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
But we're gonna move on because there is a lot
to get into. As we break down Texas athletics, we're
gonna talk defense. And then we have Danny Davis of
the Austin American Statesman, and we have a longhorn on
the Hall of Fame ballot for college football. Don't go
anywhere away Back Wednesday edition of The Morning Kickoff is

(12:00):
just getting started right here on Sports Radio and thirteen
hundred the Zombie coming up. In the next segment, we
will talk to Danny Davis of the Austin American Statesman
and get his thoughts on the ending of Texas baseball season.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
And he used to cover the Texas.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Softball team, so we'll get his thoughts on that as
they get ready to take on Texas Tech in a
three game series for the National Championship of Softball. We'll
also talk about Casey Hampton being named on the College
Football Hall of Fame ballot.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
And we'll get marks.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
Absolutely, we'll get that to finish out our number one.
But right now I want to get into this conversation
about Texas football. You and I have had conversations yesterday.
We talked about our impact players and who we taught
offensively and defensively would make an impact. And I want

(13:02):
to go to Greg McElroy because Greg McElroy on his podcast,
he talks a lot of Texas football Alabama to be
an Alabama guy, although he's born and raised in the
state of Texas, South Lake Carrol. He is a guy
that has really been infatuated with the journey of the
Texas football team, the change since Steve Sarkesian has taken over.

(13:26):
And we keep going back to this, and we probably
will refer back to it often. Texas was five and
seven in Steve's first year, and he said that, man,
I keep going back to that video of him on
the sideline looking at his plate sheet and he's just.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
Going, man, we are bad, we are bad.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
And I'm sure he had some expletives in there as well.
But you start to look at it and you start
to think about the journey of how you become a
great football team with that being said, Greg McElroy understood
the journey, and the one thing everybody continues to talk
about is the arch Manning effect on the offensive side.

(14:12):
But let's not forget the reason why so many teams
have Texas ranked so I mean, so many analysts have
Texas ranked so high. It has to be because of
the defense.

Speaker 4 (14:25):
The number one defense and college football coming into the season.
Are the Texas Longhorns what they have? It's honestly off
the charts from a star power standpoint, I don't think
there's a team in the country that has a higher
ceiling than Texas with the amount of guys that could
take over the game and absolutely wreck the opponent's offense.
Colin Simmons, I'm not sure there is a more feared

(14:47):
pass rusher in the SEC outside of maybe Dylan Stewart,
but he's expected to take on an even bigger role
if he can go alongside Trey More and Anthony Hills
in the middle. You got Colin Simmons on one side,
Tray Moore on the other.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
I don't know what you do. One of those guys
is going.

Speaker 4 (15:00):
To get home on a down end down out basis
of obvious passing situations.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
In the secondary.

Speaker 4 (15:05):
They have five players back that are really really solid
kind of across the board, and they went out and
got some of the top young players in the country
to come in and reinforce their depth there in the
back end. I don't think there's a group in the
country that can get after the quarterback better. That's what
makes the Texas long Horns the number one defense in
the country heading into the twenty five season.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
And a culture to impact.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
And he didn't name Leo, He didn't name all of
the guys that they brought in in the portal to
reinforce that defensive line that he didn't talk about the
He talked about the second level, but there are guys
that he don't know about because he's not here as

(15:50):
close to the program. Harde like this defense is not
only good up front, but like their back en depth
is just as good. Brought in Justice Terry As he's
a freshman, he's not to really battle to get on
the field. But man, when you see him, you don't
think freshmen. You think grown man. So let me ask you.

(16:14):
I mean, you mentioned you know some of these other
players and the fact that there certain guys aren't close
to the program but those are the marquee guys that
he mentioned. Those are the guys that people are walking
in to go and see Leal. Yeah, he's gonna get

(16:34):
a look. But when you put those names together and
you look at that defense and you you say Colin
Simmons and Anthony Hill, Yeah, you talk about we He
talked about Malik Muhammad yesterday. Yeah, you start looking around.
Mooky is back, yes. And another guy that if he

(16:58):
didn't get hurt, he would have been an All Conference player,
and that's Derek Williams Junior. Yeah, he's a freak. And
I said it one't a day they got him. I said,
this is a guy that can be an impactful player
right away. Now he's got to stay healthy and if
he can do that, he's another level on that defensive

(17:20):
backfield that we're not talking about.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
We mentioned Kobe Black and what he's been able to do.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, Ethan Burke and Colton Vassy, these are guys.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Great man.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
So yeah, I mean a guy we have not mentioned
either just got done playing football, I mean baseball, and
that's Jonah Williams. Forgot, I completely forgot because he's playing
baseball right right and now he's fixing to walk in
there and get on that way program, get in them workouts,
and he is going to be a type of player,

(17:55):
five star player that they have recruited that is talented
enough that he's gonna get some run this year.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
And he could play. He could have.

Speaker 1 (18:05):
Started at a lot of university. You go through the
list of.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
All of the blue.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Bloods, all of the top twenty let's just say the
top twenty, not the top twenty five. How many of
those teams do you think that that guy could start on.
I mean, that's that's I mean, at least at least
ten of the top twenty he could have started, and
he'll be coming off the pen. That is why I say,
when when Texas has gone from five to seven to

(18:31):
back to back final fours in college football in a
short period of time, that's how you get that. Yeah,
defense first, but you know everybody players, Yeah, everybody's putting
all the love on on Arch Manning. Yeah, and just

(18:51):
finally so I think he deserves it. But these receivers
and the running backs and if the complement of ends
that they brought in like they're they're gonna.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
Be really good. This I don't I don't see why.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
The optimism for them winning the national championship or being
in the final four again, anything.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Could happen, but is uh should be a doubt in
any way?

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Yeah, By the way, I stood uh next to arch
Manning on Friday.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
That dude is huge. Yeah, he he is huge.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
Like he's put together when when when they talk about
the size he has that so he's he's not only
six five and tall, but he's also wid I've never
stood next to him. I've stood next to him. He
is absolutely as advertised.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
So but yeah, but you getting back to the defensive
side of the ball. But you start to look at
how this team is going to flourish, and you start
to listen to some of the names that are getting
an opportunity to shine a little bit. You look at
the name that we hadn't even brought up yet. Is
Jolanie McDonald from the two five four two five out

(20:19):
representing So, yes, you got guys on the outside that
can can go and bring pressure, but you also have
those guys where the run game is not going to
be what you think it is. When you're going up
against the University of Texas as they bring in different
guys and as they develop these guys, you start to

(20:40):
see recruiting is at an all time high when it
comes to the University of Texas. Man, we had Joe
Cook on yesterday and he was bringing up guys that
I thought, Man, I didn't even really think that that
he was going to play important minutes. But apparently if
Joe Cook is like saying, hey, I'm I'm real Hound
is defensive tackle, right, and and with Bredford Cobra Bard

(21:06):
b Bard like man like, that's that's just another name
of a guy that that really could pay dividends. Yeah,
and for Texas to bring in that many young players
at the break at the at January, fall spring workouts,
for them to be acclimated to the college life. Now

(21:26):
there now they're full go during the strength and conditioning
with Tory Beckton, and the leadership is about the show.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, I can see.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
I can see all of that being why Texas is
being talked about as a potential national champion. But guess what,
it's only June, bros. Just so coming up next, we're
gonna talk to our guy, Danny Davis of the Austin
American Statesman. Recap the Texas baseball season by Danny's eyes.
And of course we're gonna ask them some football stuff

(21:58):
as well. Right here on the morning kickoff on sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred the zomb we are efforting Danny Davis.
As you know, sometimes technology is just that it's my enemy.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Yeah, why do you say that it's kryptite?

Speaker 1 (22:16):
Man?

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Technology is my kryptonite? Why do you say that?

Speaker 1 (22:20):
I tried, man, but every morning, you know, I know
Marcus told me yesterday, he told me five or six
times last week and the week before. But it's something about, hey, man,
just click on this and go here and go. I
don't know exactly where to go. I just can't get it.
I really really don't understand that because it's an everyday thing.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
I know, man, it's every day and I care too.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
It's like sometimes you can't get stuff you don't really
care about, like I care.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
About this show. I want.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
I want us to be on point every day and
I want people to follow us, and and yeah, I
just can't get I can't get right. Well, we're gonna
see if we can get to Danny Davis right now. Danny,
can you hear us? Hello bello? Well, we can't get

(23:18):
them here. You're working on Yeah, we'll work on it,
and we'll make sure that we get Danny Davis of
the Austin American Statesman and Mark. We do because of
technology sometimes it just turns out to be that way
sometimes and we try to improvise.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
You know, I'm gonna improvise. Come on, dude, let me
see what you do.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
You know what I always do at these particular moments,
We find a way to get Danny of the Austin Americans.
That's right, and joining us on his phone on my
phone is Danny Davis of the Austin American Statesman. You
can follow him at Underscore Danny Davis. Danny, let's get
right into it. Texas baseball season comes up short. Where

(23:58):
do you think the season went wrong?

Speaker 5 (24:02):
I mean, I think it's one of those things where
this Texas team over atchieved. We probably thought a little
too highly of them, but the problems we figured go
into the season, pitching depth, overall talent. I think it's
kind of caught up with this team that you can
argue whether or not losing to ECHSA and the way

(24:23):
that they did was acceptable regardless of was on this team.
But I think this team when you're starting Hudts and
Hamilton in a must win an elimination game in a
regional that this kind of shows just kind of the
pitching depth and some of the problems that this team had,
and it just finally finally caught up to them at
a at a bad time. But I think depth was

(24:45):
an issue with this team all year. They were able
to mask with some mask with some early wins, and
it finally just caught up from Danny.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
I mean, as you gotta admit, it was a really
good starting point. Even though Texas kind of falled it
at the end, they they started off really well.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeah, I mean this is I think it's still a
successful season.

Speaker 5 (25:07):
I mean, you know, it's just a disappointing end, and
there's probably really something I you know, hate watching et
s A UCLA this weekend, But.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, this is still a successful season.

Speaker 5 (25:20):
They got obviously got that great start, won the SEC championship.
You know, faltered at the end, but you know, you
can't this is a team that's picked i think eight
in the pretty season goal in the SEC, and I
think a lot of people with the way that David
kind of left and Jim kind of getting, ah, you know,
a slow start to his recruiting, just because at the
time he came in and I don't think a lot

(25:42):
of people had a ton of expectations. I mean people
expected him to make the nsub A tournament, maybe make
a Super Regional. I don't think anyone had Omaha pencil.
Then definitely no one had an SEC championship expected. So
I mean, get a good start, a good season, just
you know, poor finish for the team.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, we're talking to Danny Davis, last American Statesman. You
can follow them at Underscore Danny Davis. Well, you brought
it up a little bit, Danny about the expectations and
now where we go as far as recruiting, guys got
jumped into the transfer portal. These were people that didn't
have a lot of playing time or even got the opportunities,

(26:20):
so now they get a chance to go somewhere else.
The one that really hurts me is losing Ace Whitehead.
Ace Whitehead and his family have been great to the
University of Texas, and the University of Texas has been
great to them. So I'm a little hurt because I
always pull for the Central Texas kids and make sure

(26:41):
that they do well. But now that the recruiting and
the portal is active.

Speaker 2 (26:47):
Do you expect to see Texas do.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
A lot more in the portal now that coach Slas
Nagle has a full year.

Speaker 5 (26:54):
Yeah, you'd expect Texas now that I mean Penn Carol
in the next couple of weeks with other kids jump
in the portal and you know, Texas kind of gets
a feeling about you know, who they're going to lose
in the draft. That's another part of this discussion is
who you know, you know be able for us, You're
going to come back or you know a guy like
that kind of like well Gas Breno who you know,
kind of struggled down the stretch. What's what's what's what's

(27:16):
what's his future? But you know, obviously, you know Texas
needs to be active. I mean they need there's definite
parts of this roster they need to improve. I think
we're going to kind of find out this offseason how
committed the Texas one fund is this baseball team and
how much you know investment they're going to make in
that aspect of Texas has a blank.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
Check and we're able to kind.

Speaker 5 (27:38):
Of go go after who they want and not definitely
an advantage, but you know, Gym's going to have an
entire full off season behind him. They're going to be
able to I guess kind of get ahead start with
their portal recruitment since they're not coaching this week, So
I would expect Texas to be active. How active they're
going to be, we'll find out, but I expect them
to be and they were decently active last year. Is

(27:59):
just they kind of a late start because of you.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Know, and Jim and his coaching staff. You know fully
got on board in Texas. Danny. You brought up the
recruiting and bringing in players next season.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Is there one particular person or one side of baseball
that you feel like they really need to focus on,
whether it's the pitching or hitting or fielding?

Speaker 2 (28:21):
What what is the guys that they really need to
go after?

Speaker 5 (28:25):
I mean, they needed to get better, They need to
deepen that pitching staff. You give up at the guys
that they have on the roster. Obviously some of those
guys you'd expect to be back and we're depth and contributors,
but Jared Spencer is not going back next year. You
expect Dylan Buantez to have a bigger role, but they
need more more power arms and have those guys who
kind of stepped up and compliment them, whether it's in

(28:47):
the bullpen or you know some some midwek midwek starts.
But you know they're gonna need to find some pitching
depth in the portal. And then once again, you know
someone like Jaylen Flores is not coming back.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
You know you need a shortstop. You know there's other
other parts of this.

Speaker 5 (29:01):
Uh, you probably need to probably need to catch her
because I assume mar Island is going to be going
to be drafted and won't we'll be back. You know
that he's gonna take some evaluation. You can feel cold
Chamberlain is your next guy? Is that's w you need
to attack in the portal. So, I mean there's there's
plenty of things that they could do. I don't think
any position you see, you know, recruited or someone who

(29:23):
commits to Texas something, it's gonna be surprised because there's
also some guys who are versus can probably move around
a little bit if if a big name decides to commit.
So I would say pitching, but any any kind of
position is not gonna be too big of a surprise.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
Yeah, And that's one of the areas of need because
as you said, no no, no slap at Hudson Hamilton.
But in a must win game, you gotta have another
guy that's ready to go.

Speaker 5 (29:50):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
Thank you, Danny Davis of the American Statesman. You can
follow him at Underscore. Danny Davis, have a good one
and we'll talk again next week as we talk more football.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
Danny. That's good. All right, you've answing the tough question.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
There he is, Danny Davis of the Austin American Statesman.
When we come back, we've got a couple shout outs,
and of course we got to make sure we tell
you about the Hall of Fame Ballot four college football
right here on the Morning Kickoff on sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred The Zone. Welcome back to the morning kickoff

(30:25):
right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.
Shout out to Danny Davis for making it work.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
That's what we do.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
We improvise and get it done. And right now we
want to improvise and give you an opportunity to get
it done too. For a pair of tickets to go
see Breaking Benjamin in three days Grace September third at
the Moody Center, All you got to do is get
over to that iHeart radio app, you know the one
that you got us number one on your preset, Tap

(30:53):
that red microphone and leave the keyword of the day,
which is three. The keyword is three for a chance
to win a pair of tickets to go see Breaking
Benjamin in three days Grace September third at the Moody Center.
Give yourself an opportunity to get a win. All right,

(31:14):
let's get into it. The College Football Hall of Fame
has announced its ballot and a former Texas Longhorn is
on the ballot.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
Casey Hampton.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
Casey Hampton an absolute monster on the defensive line. He
and Sean Rogers made up one of the original well
not original because Kenny Simms and Steve McMichael whether the
originals and Doug English. You can go on and on,
but that defensive line with Casey Hampton and Sean Rogers

(31:53):
was one of the toughest defensive lines that was out there.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
He is on the ballot.

Speaker 1 (31:59):
There is a lot of cool names of people that
are on the ballot. DEAs Bryant from Oklahoma State, he
is on the ballot. KAJOHNA. Carter, if you remember him,
on pennst Rocky Kalmus from OU, Matt Kavanaugh from Pittsburgh, Dallas,
Clark Randall, Karb, Karb Randall, Cobb, Brad Colepepper, Vernon.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Davis, he is on their.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
Aaron Donald Ken, Dorsey, Vaughn Dunbar, Elvis Duberville, he is
on their.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Ellis is on this list, cow Boy.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
The Brickershaw Ferguson, I'll just like his name. RG three
is on there as well. Byron Handspar from Texas Tech.

Speaker 6 (32:47):
He is on there.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
Casey Hampton was a two time first team All American
Consensus honors. In two thousand, he was the anchor of
the UT defense that ranked six nationally in total defense
two hundred and eighty six point six yards per game,
and in nineteen ninety nine they were seventh and with
two hundred and seventy eight yards per game, he was

(33:12):
the Defensive Player of the Year.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
In twenty twelve, he was a three time.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
All Big Twelve performer and who finished ranked his career
second all time in tackles for loss with fifty four.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
He is now fifth.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
When you break that down hard, I bet you that
Casey Hampton is still in the top three all time
in University of Texas and the bench press. I trained
in the gym with those guys and when at that time,
and Casey was a five hundred pound bencher five eleven,

(33:49):
but nobody ever pushed him backwards. Never I ever ever
double teams. Put it out your mind, forget about it. Yep,
he calls the big pile up right there where he
was like, it's you need an unstoppable force like that.
It's an honor to see him finally getting his just dude. Yeah,
he is definitely one of those guys that a lot

(34:10):
of folks would pay money to go see because he
is that that that talented. Another name that is on
there is Eric Public b enemy Uh from Colorado as
the running back. He was another guy when you watch
Colorado football, you knew that he was going to get
the ball and he was going to do damage as well.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
He wasn't going to get just one hundred yards. He
was gonna get one hundred and fifty. Yeah, he was
going he was gonna get a touch. You know, he
was gonna fumble one too. He had baby hands. He
would have been a great pro if he had bigger hands.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
As you know, former Texas Longhorns that have been inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame. We mentioned him, uh,
Kenny Simms, uh Steve McMichael. They're they're they're playing football
in the sky together right now and probably telling each
other they was lying about something because they always had

(35:05):
each other's back. Then you also look at Vince Young,
got Derek Johnson just went in as well. Michael Huff.
You just got so many guys that are recognized at
the University of Texas, and it's unique in the thought
process that all of these players are now being, like

(35:29):
you said, immortalized forever. So it is cool stuff. Also,
I want to give a shout out to my daughter Jasmine.
She turns nine today. I am so proud of her.
She is one of the beacons of light, as I
said earlier today, and she makes me laugh even though

(35:52):
she's real mean to her dad, but she is definitely
one of my favorite people on earth.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
So I wanted to make sure I gave one of
my my baby birthday jas man.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
And it's her birthday, so you as you know, we
probably got a lot of stuff playing today as she
will make sure.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Come on, man, just man, just open it up.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
Yeah, already know I'm already prepared for that, but we
just wanted to wish her a very very special birthday,
number nine.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
She is number nine today, uh Mark.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
We're going to continue these conversations on the other side,
but before we go to break, I want you to
give me one more reason why the New York Knicks
shouldn't have fired Tom Tibbodaugh.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Why they shouldn't fire why they should have fired them. Well,
I mean one more reason.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
I would have to say that along with uh incompetence
in the playoffs, the development of the players, and I
mentioned that right at the end. You know they they
have a couple of young guys on that Robster. Those
guys haven't gotten better. They they did a horrible job

(37:04):
at deciding who was gonna be the guy that's gonna
play center. They kept Mitchell Robinson when they had opportunity
to trade him last year when he came off of injury.
He was never gonna be better than he was at
that moment. You gotta you gotta be able to evaluate
your cap and they didn't do a good job of it.

(37:26):
And you say, well, that's not Thibodeau's job, that's the
front office. He has to say so, guys, I can't
win with him. He got soft tissue. All right, I'm
gonna read I'm gonna read you this roster that y'all
keep saying. He should have played more guys, precious Achuva

(37:49):
should have played him more in the season.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
Last year and this year. Terrible mar John bullshit. They
ran with him, came win with him. BECOLLI the diet.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
Or kill Hooper tech, Okay, Tyler Kolk, Miles mcboddy, exactly,
Cameron Payne. He looked like he hurts every time. He
looked like he is fragiley. Every little you take should
be in a hospital. Exactly.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
PJ.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Tucker forty years old but still tough. That has zero
to do with footwork. He is he his check engine
is on. That thing has been on for so that
it goes off. I'm Tucker got That's how God. The

(38:47):
PJ will be the first to tell you, I ain't
got it.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
I ain't got it.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
He would have got in and did something, but exactly
PJ understood.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
What it was. That's a horrible bench.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
And Tom Watson heard not Randy Watson, Dlon Wright. Wow,
the last guy on the bench he played. I'm gonna
show you a video. He played four minutes in the
entire playoffs. That's why Thibodeau played six guys the entire time. Wow,
let it be known that it was not his fault.

(39:23):
Our number two just around the corner. Texas Softball, let's
go get them trophies. Right here on the morning kickoff
on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred, the Zombie, welcome.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
Back to our number two of the morning.

Speaker 1 (39:38):
Youvalve right here on sports me because this dude just
randomly be throwing stuff out there.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
Our number one.

Speaker 1 (39:48):
We talked about Texas defense and how it is ready
to achieve at a high level. We also got to
talk talk to Danny Davis of the Austin American Statesman
with his breakdown of the Texas baseball season and his
thoughts about moving forward.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
We also just talked about Casey.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Camp Hampton being the long longhorn on a college football
ballot for the Hall of Fame with names like RG
three and of course Eric Public be enemy. But we
started the show talking all things New York Knicks. The
finals are about to start, but they don't talk about

(40:30):
the Knicks. I mean, they don't talk about the teams
that are participating.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
Everything is New York. Everything is New York, and you're.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
Not talking about the Oklahoma City thunder in the Indianapolis pace.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
And that is terrible, terrible conversation, which I think.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
I think it's horrible because everybody's saying, oh, this is
nobody's going to watch this game and this series.

Speaker 7 (40:50):
No.

Speaker 1 (40:50):
I think a lot of people are going to watch
it because these are the two most fundamental teams.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
And they and they moved the ball in the coaching state.
It's interesting to watching.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
But tonight, you know a lot of folks will be
tuning in to the Texas softball game as they will
take on Texas Tech the best of three Teak and
Cavan versus Nigeria. Nigerie Kennedy, the girl who made a.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
Million dollars this year, other million dollars.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
And now she gets a chance to face the Texas
Longhorns and Jolie Mitchell, who has been a star home
run after home run. They were at a press conference
and they were like, are you disappointed that you're not
playing Oklahoma?

Speaker 2 (41:34):
And she gave the best answer. You said, you both
watched Oklahoma lose and this very entertaining. Are you relieved
you're not playing Oklahoma in the championship round.

Speaker 7 (41:47):
Personally, I wanted it to be OU. I mean, if
you want to be the man, you got to beat
the man. So I'm happy either way, regardless that i
want to win this thing and I'm ready to go,
but I'm happy that we get I mean, we have
a challenge right in front of us with Naja, so regardless,
it was going to be a tough series.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
But yeah, I wish it would have been OU, but
it's not, and so just got to focus on what's
in front of us. Who.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
Yeah, and that's she threw the Rick flair on them well,
and she also took your advice. She was ready to
play them. She wanted to play them because you didn't
order to be the man, you gotta beat the man.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
But she was.

Speaker 1 (42:23):
She was complimentary to what she's getting ready to face.
And I'll get into the numbers about the matchup between
these two teams. Yeah, she kind of wanted to laugh
at that question.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yeah, yeah, she did. It was kind of inciting the right. Yeah. Yeah,
it was like, man, we are in Oklahoma still, so
let's let's not We're.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
For next year and the year after that because Oklahoma
will be back into the scene, for sure, but she
was talking about the World Series and the championship manner
in which she's getting ready in her teammates, getting ready
to prepare.

Speaker 8 (42:56):
I saw Ponta. I'm here with Julie Mitchell Texas long home.
Julie guys clinched a World Series Championship series spot yesterday.
Just what does the last twenty four hours look like
for you?

Speaker 2 (43:07):
So I'm really exciting.

Speaker 7 (43:08):
Watched atootball game last night looking for a next opponent,
But yeah, I think we just started cherishing every moment
that we have with each other right now.

Speaker 8 (43:15):
Yeah, definitely going up against one of the best pitchers
in the country, but also kind of a sneaky tech offense.
Just what's the approach for you and your team going
into this match?

Speaker 7 (43:25):
Yeah, offensively, just being disciplined and trusting ourselves that we
can make things happen and score a couple of runs
off of nausea. As a staff, pitching a defense, I
think just focused on not letting them get any runs.
We know it's going to be tough, so just making
sure that we play our game.

Speaker 8 (43:40):
Yeah, you've made it to the biggest stage again, but
just dreamt of this moment since you were a little girl.
If you could tell anything to that younger self, just
what would you tell yourself?

Speaker 7 (43:48):
Well, that I did it, and I'm very proud of
myself just everything that I've gone through, and so it's
pretty awesome. Small town kid, grew up in a town
of less than five hundred people.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
And one of the biggest stages.

Speaker 7 (43:59):
So just enjoying it and I'm very happy to be here.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
Thank you so much. Man.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
It's an exciting time for all Texas Longhorns. That seems
to be the story, especially in the softball world. The
community of softball, a lot of small towns, a lot
of girls that have been playing softball since they were
little little kids, and the dream of being able to
play in the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City
is huge.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
But we're going to talk about the matchup.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
Teagan Cavan and Kennedy have gone have played each other before,
but in this College World Series, both of them have
thrown three games. Kennedy is everything for them. She has
thrown every pitch in every inning all twenty one innings.
Teagan Cavan has thrown seventeen. Both of them have only

(44:47):
given up two runs for Tegan three runs, for Kennedy
one and earned of three twelve strikeouts to twenty five strikeouts,
five walks. The three walks and they've only given up
a couple base hits extra base hits, and that was
a couple of home runs that Kennedy has given up.
So this is going to be a huge, huge battle

(45:09):
between these two clubs. Well, I mean it's it's the
final yeah, like you know, you that's why you lift
all them ways that they say, you know and and
and hard, like you got to look at it like
this too. In football, baseball, for the men, golf, marble,
tilly wings, there's always somewhere else to go after your
college career, and they have professional softball leagues in the

(45:34):
world in the United States, but this, this might be
the biggest stage you'll ever be on playing softball, So
you have to maimie.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Yeah, this is the biggest stage. And so I like
to see Texas shine in this moment.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
And even if you don't win, go out there with
a bang man, do the best job you can do
well first, so they better witness this is their opportunity.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
This is this is it. And the reason why I
say this is it is because you know, as well
as I do.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
Even though Texas has been to it a bunch, you
have to get over that hump because you say, here,
we're just Mike White's not going anywhere. So don't take
that as what I'm about to say. We just talked
about a team in the NBA that got to the
Eastern Conference Finals that were a couple of plays, not games,

(46:36):
plays away from playing for the NBA title.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
You don't.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
You're not promised to get back there again. Even though
recruiting is done well, even though Texas has the talent,
you still have to eventually get over that hump. The
giant of it all is now gone. Oklahoma Texas Tech

(47:04):
storybook year because of the fact that they've never been
to this. They went out and spent the money on
a top notch player, let alone number one picture.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
You have to find a way to get it done
in this particular moment. It can't be one against that. No, no, no,
that team Texas Tech is scrappycrappy.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
I'm just saying, like scrappy, you're making the argument that
you know, Oklahoma is that we're crowning them. They got
beat That's why they're not in the game. So like
let's not let's not pat them on the back too
much right now. Like I'm I'm all Texas, I'm horns up, man,

(47:52):
Like I don't want to hear about them. I told
you the biggest revenge would be to beat them. They did,
and Texas did that. They did, So I'm standing on
this soapbox right now, hook and I'm all about that life.
And I think that Texas Tech's gonna find out miss
around and find out that's what they're about to get.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
Well that's what I'm hopeful of, Okay, but they have
their work cut out for them.

Speaker 1 (48:19):
Just like everybody else. You're gonna have to go up
against a pitcher that has shown that she is worth
the money. She has shown up and brought a program.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
She's gonna pitch both games.

Speaker 1 (48:32):
I'm sure they brought up program that has never been
on the map for softball. If they pitched her two
games in a row, they're going to Texas has beat her,
though Texas is they're one.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
And three against her.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
When she was at Stanford and when they faced each other,
I don't know if it was this year or last year,
but they played against each other, she struck Teaking Kaban
struck out eighteen. Texas Tech players struck out eighteen. She
can go both of them. This is going to be
who flinches. Wow, this is the pitching duel.

Speaker 6 (49:08):
Yes, and you know there's the reason why you know
Texas tickets here so you don't sleep on them.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
But we about to see a pitch off.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
Yeah, this is what it's all about because both of
these teams are talented. I'm excited, man, Like, that's why
you left all them White, what you said, this is
what you do, what you do. This is the moment
that we continue to look at what Mike White and

(49:36):
his crew, his recruiting staff, We've talked about it.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
He's mentioned it throughout the process.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
You have to be on top of your game and
if you continue to get to the World Series, what
top recruited in the country wouldn't.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
Want to want to play with you?

Speaker 7 (49:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (49:53):
And you know what I just thought about.

Speaker 1 (49:55):
When you win a championship, there's a kid at home,
maybe your high that's like, man, I want to go
to Texas exactly.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
So we need this. This is we need it.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
That is why they say when you're big, when you're
on the biggest stage and you perform on the biggest stage.
You change lives for generations. That's why Vince Young is
what he is for the University of Texas.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
TJ.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
Ford is what he is, Kat Austrom, and the list
goes on and on because they saw them achieve.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
At a very high love.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
Come on, when we come back, we're gonna talk in
fl lot going on in h town. We're gonna touch
on it and find out what's really going on with CJ.
Stroud right here on the morning kickoff on sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred the Z one.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
Hey, Mark, you know you love to look at that
refrigerator so much.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
My boy Dave, so sidon Feld said, Hey, you better
come in here and get everything out of that.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
Freezer and that refrigerator that is yours, that ain't yours.
Just clean it up. We need to make sure that
we clean this thing. Who's in charge of the snack
because there ain't nothing in there.

Speaker 1 (51:08):
Well, she she is on vacation. She is watching her
kid play baseball, so she is the one that brings
the snacks. So you're gonna have to wait or or
or mister generosity, why don't you bring some fruits and
some vegetas man, My wife suggested it. I told her no,

(51:28):
because there's always stuff in there.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
Why can't we have more? Well, I'm telling her man,
she was she listened to the show. You just like
the SEC. It just means more. So just hey, are
we coming up here? We stocked, stocked the joint.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
Let's get into this conversation with your order in now,
because there is a lot to get into. And this
is what we're gonna talk about. We talk Cowboys all
the time and coming up in the World's Strongest Take,
we will continue the Cowboys conversation, but I want to
talk Houston Texans. And the Houston Texans are a team

(52:08):
that is although they have won the division back to
back years, they are like a jeckyal and High team.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
And CJ.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
Stroud is somebody that put the NFL on notice his
freshman year, rookie year, and then they got the sophomore
year and things looked a little bit different. Now he's
going in the year three as the starting quarterback for
the Houston Texans. But the story of the offseason is
now that they're doing OTAs he's not truly participating and

(52:43):
a lot of folks believe that he's got a shoulder injury.

Speaker 2 (52:47):
So Dmico Ryans talked about it.

Speaker 9 (52:50):
First off, I know everybody's gonna ask first, CJ not
throwing again. There's no concerns with CJ. It's just general soreness.
We're taking extra precaution with him.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Will be good to go.

Speaker 9 (53:00):
No concerns on my end. They're really excited the way
our guys are working.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
I don't believe that when guys have although I will
say this, it is what June. There's no games being played,
there's no rush to have him ready to go. But
as someone who, let's just be honest, didn't play his
best last year, and that was because he was under duress.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
That's because he was horizontal most of the time.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
Well, it's funny that you bring that up, because they
also talked about the offensive line and the continuity in
which they're starting to form.

Speaker 9 (53:38):
Our offensive line. The mindset I see it drastically changing.
I see coach Cole Popovitz his instant impact on those guys.
You can see it from the way they work and
their individual drills, the way they come off the line
with low pass. It's just a small technique things that
you see, how they're dialed in on their hand placement

(54:00):
speaking the same language. One of the coolest things I'm saying.
When we were working out in phase two, we work out,
we activate our guys here in the bubble and we
all travel outside to do our different drills and to
see the o Lione come out. And whoever was out first,
they waited on the other guys and they waited. They
joined together as a group and then they traveled down

(54:21):
to the opposite end of the field to do their
position work. So that just shows me that togetherness, that
connection that I truly believe in. You want to be
a great unit, you have to be connected. So Cole
has kind of spurred that connection, that intensity, the mentality
that I'm looking for, and we have that, we have

(54:42):
the intangibles of what it takes.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
Now we just got to go out and get it
done when we put pads on. Yeah, it's real hard.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
When I say really hard, it's really hard to throw
a touchdown from the land down position.

Speaker 2 (54:55):
And that's it happen before we've seen it. Cope threw
from his friends, but before Patrick Mahomes has been laid
mister side.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
Yeah, gotta tell you what, you don't want to do
that on a consistent basis, and last year it was
very consistent that CJ.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Stroud was laying down throwing. It's horrible. This is hard.

Speaker 1 (55:19):
Ye, there's a There's a lot to desire as a
as a Texans fan, and most of it has to
do with the offensive line.

Speaker 2 (55:28):
They have made some adjustments.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
You still have your running game with Joe Mixon and
Damien Pierce.

Speaker 2 (55:36):
That's gonna help the run games absolutely.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
And then you also and if you decide that you're
going to be a run first team, you still have
that talent on the outside. With all those good, good
players that have come in, Nico Collins has taken a
huge step in the leadership road. They also brought in
uh at the draft picks Jayden Higgins and Jalen Noel

(55:59):
to to wide receivers that they brought in, but they
also made the move for Christian Kirk. And Christian Kirk
who originally when he got paid that money in Jacksonville,
I thought Jacksonville was on.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
That good cause in alcohol.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
Hey, he took his money and went to Monaco or
something because he wasn't going to Galve, he wasn't going
to the Bahamas. No, he got that long train smoke
money he went to Monaco and now he went to
h Town and now we find out how he's fitting
in with this new squad.

Speaker 10 (56:35):
The transition has been nothing short of amazing. Everybody in
the organization has been welcoming from day one, uh, players, coaches,
staff included, and like you mentioned, playing at Texas A
and M.

Speaker 2 (56:46):
It's it's good to be back.

Speaker 10 (56:47):
It's been a long time, uh since I've been back
in the state of Texas, and you know, even down
the street from from A and M. So definitely looking back,
looking forward to getting back over there. But it's been great.
And now that we're in O ta Is and getting
on the field, you know, working out the system, laying
the foundation.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
VE just been really happy from day one. That's what
he's all about. Man. I forgot he was an aggie,
right Man, I used to like him. You still like him? No, man,
no more? You wild out, you wild I mean, this
is this is what they needed though. They needed to

(57:27):
sure up the wide receiver room after all the changes
that they had gone through. We talked about them, and
he is a burner.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
Yeah that that guy works to seem and deposed as
good as anybody in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
But you got to do more. And you know, is
he going to be able to run across the middle?

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Is he going to be able to hit the short
routes and and actually catch the ball, because in Jacksonville
it seemed like the short game was where he.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Had the problems.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
But if he goes into that role of the Tankdale,
you know, not to Yeah, yeah, if he goes into
the Tankdale role, that's gonna fit him perfect.

Speaker 2 (58:08):
That's that's where that's where he thrives.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
He lives over there. So let me ask you this, Marcus,
you are a Houston Texans fan. Are you worried about
the c. J. Stroud situation?

Speaker 2 (58:20):
Are you worried about the way that the things are
being handled right now? Are is things headed in the
right direction?

Speaker 6 (58:29):
From I would I would only be worried if this
was like like coming to the end of training camp
or right during any period during the season.

Speaker 2 (58:40):
But this is O t A's I'm not really as concerned.

Speaker 6 (58:43):
I just realized that they're probably uh this probably would
problem will probably be solved. But because of the last quarterback,
I mean, well yeah, the last well a couple of
quarterbacks ago.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
You know, you couldn't get a good massage in for CJ. Man,
what you.

Speaker 7 (59:03):
Like?

Speaker 2 (59:03):
What are you.

Speaker 7 (59:06):
Like?

Speaker 2 (59:06):
Where in the wide world of sports? Don't say it,
don't say it, but his mouth like Steve Harvey, his mouth.

Speaker 1 (59:15):
Oh he just got to keep talking. Yeah, it was
just okay, Well, yeah, that's all you can say. Yeah,
we're gonna see what's gonna happen with CJ.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
And in his shoulder. Yeah, we're not gonna talk about
the Shawn Watson Randy Watson.

Speaker 1 (59:33):
But if I'm a Texans fan, I'm still excited about
the way that this organization is now moving. This thing
has now happened. This thing has now moved to the
point of CJ is our quarterback. You got your franchise quarterback.
You still have a good running back. You're building on

(59:53):
that offensive line. The defense is top notch and Demico
gonn always but that offense he had to make a
change in How dramatic and big of a change was
it When Bobby Slovak was once considered an offensive coordinator
that was gonna be the next one to get a

(01:00:14):
head coaching job. He decides to stay and then his team,
his offense is crap, and now he's got to look
for a job.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
Because he gets fired by Demico Ryant, who he brought
with him from San Francisco.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
My my mind, times have as already change in the NFL.
Coming up next, we're gonna talk about the World's Strongest Take,
brought to you by the World's Strongest Man. And let
me just tell you best believe it got something to
do with the Cowboys. We'll talk about it right here
on the morning kickoff on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:56):
Zub You see it, you hear it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:59):
WWE Hall of Famer in the world Strongest Man brings
you his world's Strongest take.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
Take it away, big fella, hard what's up, ef? You
know what time it is? What time is?

Speaker 1 (01:01:13):
It's time for the World's Strongest Take by the World's
Strongest Man.

Speaker 2 (01:01:21):
My cast back then, they didn't know me. Now I'm hot.
They all on me. Guys. Oh, it never stopped, It
never stopped.

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
I try to have an open mind to my cowboys.
I say my cowboys because it's hard for me to
get off of it. Man, I've been there since seventy three,
seventy three. There's a lot of businesses today that don't
that didn't exist back then. But here we are, and

(01:02:01):
once again we're in the news because one of the
guys that I'm very critical about with the Cowboys.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
Is Trayvon Diggs. And I'm not gonna talk about his
brother because he ain't had nothing to do with that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:20):
But there is a very good chance that he will
be out of five hundred thousand dollars of his base
salary because he had a surgical repair knee last season,
missed most of the season, and has been doing all

(01:02:42):
his rehab on his own. And they're okay, listen, there's
nothing wrong when you had the money, when you make
twenty million dollars a year, you can hire a pretty
good medical staff. I think you can hire a pretty
good staff. But the protocols are set up in the
NFL that if you don't go to the franchise where

(01:03:09):
you play and use their medical staff a certain percentage
of the year, especially in OTA's and other offseason programs
that they're they're entitled to find you eighty four point
three seventy five percent.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
Of your contract. Wow, I don't want to give up
that much money.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
But he's not there yet. He's not at training camp,
he's not at the ots. Well, they haven't started training camp.
He's not at the OTAs and they're talking about it.
They're discussing on whether or not they're gonna.

Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
They're gonna do this.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
Now, there are other players that have done it as well,
but they did come to training camp. If he is
not with the head trainer by the end of June,
they're gonna assess this.

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
Hard. We'll say you.

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
Well. I'm still a big Digs fan, and even though
he's injured, I think that he is definitely gonna be
somebody that can help the Dallas Cowboys in this season.
I don't think he's gonna forfeit all that money. I
think once he has to be at camp, he'll be
at camp. I don't I don't care how much money

(01:04:40):
you got. Five hundred thous that's a lot of money.
I don't care how much money you got. You just
especially when all you have to do is show up. Yeah,
he's the other thing. If all I have to do
is be there, I'm there. I may not do a
dog all thing. The other day, CD lamb he didn't practice.

(01:05:01):
He was in a huddle, but he was there. So
those are the types of thing that you start to
look at. He is the epitome of a guy that
if he can make it work, because look at what
his brother was able to do.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
Now, I might be chemically enhanced, but he.

Speaker 1 (01:05:18):
Came back from injury and looks like a brand new player.
And this is a guy that tore his aco. Yeah,
that's true, and he's already back on the football field. Well,
I'm gonna tell you what Shoty said. Shot he said, listen,
all signs are positive. We've been in communication, and executive

(01:05:38):
president Stephen Jones said, Diggs has been diligent and communicating
with the team and he is doing rehab with his
own organization. All right, that's all finding well, and everybody's
in communication and so forth.

Speaker 2 (01:05:56):
But it sent a message.

Speaker 1 (01:05:58):
They just drafted a corner yep, who had a torn
a c l as well. Right, wouldn't you want to
be there just to be able to you know, hey, rook,
this is how we do it. You know, like you're
not setting a good example. That's you got all those
other guys that are there. He got in kium Elam.

(01:06:21):
There's another guy that come in, a veteran, former first
round pick that you can go over there and kind
of talk to you. You have Doran Bland, who also
is coming back from an injury. This will be year
two from that. You got Carson who is in his
second year.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
You're letting a.

Speaker 1 (01:06:43):
Lot of these guys because the future is those guys,
So this is giving them all the reps that they
could possibly have.

Speaker 2 (01:06:51):
You've been trying to trade tray Von Diggs forever.

Speaker 1 (01:06:54):
So if he's if he's halfway healthy, getting in a
perceptions that are overthrown because of his speed and untimed
people's shoelacers, because he won't tackle nobody. He's diving at
your shoe. As Dion said, I get paid to cover.
I don't get paid to tackle.

Speaker 2 (01:07:15):
Neither does he.

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
Because he is getting nine million dollars in base and.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Fourteen million in escalators.

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
Yeah, that's a fourteen earned earned thirteen million dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
It's still not enough for me to lose five hundred thousand. Agreed.

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
That's why he's gonna be where he needs to be.
I'm gonna go on with you with what shot he said,
it's going good. I talked to Trayvon last week. He's
down in Miami doing some training. No timeline for his return,
but he had a good but he did have to
come back a couple of weeks ago to get checked
out by the doctor. So all signs are positive. So

(01:07:57):
again goes back to what we said about uh CJ.

Speaker 2 (01:08:01):
Stroud. He ain't throwing. It is June.

Speaker 1 (01:08:07):
We're gonna be okay to see what he does when
he has to be in camp. Let's see what happens
when they have to rookies. You can't be sitting now,
that's come when you need to be around. Understand the
one thing that I do agree with you on. He
does need to be around because this is a new

(01:08:28):
defensive there's a new defensive scheme too. This is a
new eber Flus is the new defensive coordinator. Former Dallas
Cowboy as well coach before, but now he is the
one calling the shots on defense. So that I would
understand for him needing to be in unless they've sent

(01:08:48):
him all the videos and he can skype in and
do all that stuff. He need to jump on one
of them Southwest flights. And we just talked about how
much money this dude bank.

Speaker 2 (01:08:59):
He's not line on Southwest. Hey, I'm just I'm trying
to get that special hook up. If you go out that.

Speaker 1 (01:09:06):
Five hundred, if you're gonna try to get that five
hundred K. You can use that to make sure you
got the right flight on the way back.

Speaker 2 (01:09:12):
Yeah, I guess so, I'm gonna go with what you said.

Speaker 1 (01:09:15):
When we come back, we'll close out the show and
send you to Dan Patrick. Big matchup in the College
Softball World Series, Texas Softball versus Texas Tech.

Speaker 2 (01:09:28):
We'll talk about it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:29):
And Todd Reese Halliburton put some respect on that brother's name.
Right here on The Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio and
thirteen hundred The Zone. Welcome back to another great episode
of the Morning Kickoff right here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred The Zone. If you missed any part of

(01:09:51):
the show, all you got to do is get over
to our podcast page on that new and improved iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcast, type in the
Morning Kickoff and share and laugh and have a great,
great time. We're going to talk Texas Softball in just
the moment, but right now I want you to hear
from Tyrese Halliburton, one of the stars of the Indiana

(01:10:14):
Pacers that ended up getting Tom Thibodeau fired in New York.
That's what some say, but I digress, but I want
you to hear from him being in that green room,
so to speak, where you're sitting there as a potential
high draft pick and you think you're going to a

(01:10:36):
team and they keep passing you by, and that is
what creates that chip on the shoulder.

Speaker 4 (01:10:42):
The teams that passed on you, was there one that
felt the most personal for sure?

Speaker 11 (01:10:47):
Detroit? I mean there are a lot of teams I
wanted to go to. I like Golden State, a lot
that was like dream but I knew they probably wouldn't
pick me. At two m I work out with him.
I probably missed like five shots. I'm giving you my
best possible interview here. I was like, they're still probably
not going to be the Bulls I thought would have
been cool, the Knicks, the Pistons. With the Pistons, I
knew they needed a point guard. I already felt like
I was the best point guard in the draft because

(01:11:08):
on ESPN it has like the top players available one, two,
and three were Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, and LaMelo Ball.
So after that, I'm the number one best available. So
every pick that's coming up is painting to the camera
in my room, and every five seconds, I'm popping up
and I'm like, I don't know what I'm supposed to
be doing right now. I remember looking at my agent
and he was like and I was like, what is this? Like,

(01:11:29):
they're not picking me slashed out Killian Hayes whatever, and
I'm like what. In the moment, I was just angry,
like I was like, what.

Speaker 9 (01:11:35):
Do you mean?

Speaker 11 (01:11:35):
They're not like they need a point guard, They're not
picking me. So that one definitely felt the most personal,
no question.

Speaker 2 (01:11:41):
When when they say the dude name, Oh, they're not
the one you got.

Speaker 1 (01:11:45):
Yeah, that's the one that's a little bit personal, personal
when you start to think about it, because as well
as you think that things are going but you know,
he did that well, he didn't say it with reverends either,
like Killian Hayes. He said like Killian Hayes whatever, whatever. Yeah,
it's a you're gonna pick that dude before me.

Speaker 2 (01:12:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:12:09):
Yeah, it seems like that's what they decided that they
were going to do, and they did. And as those
things start to happen, you really understand that I need
a lot of work.

Speaker 2 (01:12:20):
There's a lot of work to do for them to
think that I am that guy you know who was
the worst, Randy Moss.

Speaker 1 (01:12:28):
Randy Moss grew up being a Cowboy fan yep, and
the Cowboys passed on him at seventeen because he fell
and fail and fail, and he was like, oh.

Speaker 2 (01:12:40):
My god, I'm here for the Cowboys. They want a
wide receiver yep.

Speaker 1 (01:12:44):
And they didn't get it, and he told them, listen,
I will never forget this.

Speaker 2 (01:12:52):
I'm gonna torch you every time we played.

Speaker 1 (01:12:55):
And the first game, you remember the first game, I
do remember, he had like nine catches, yeah, for like
two hundred and something.

Speaker 2 (01:13:03):
Now you don't even have that many catches. It was
all touchdown.

Speaker 1 (01:13:05):
Well yeah, he had three touchdowns out of like five
catches in the first half.

Speaker 2 (01:13:10):
Yep, like something ridiculous.

Speaker 11 (01:13:12):
No no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 1 (01:13:15):
Three catches for three touchdowns and two hundred and twenty
something yards.

Speaker 2 (01:13:19):
Right, yeah, yeah, he was that dude. He was that dude. Yeah,
some people you don't pass up on.

Speaker 1 (01:13:25):
And Tyrese Halibert trying to make everybody pay right, I love.
It's the thing that is interesting to me is like
you start to look at who he is and what
he's become as a player, and that changes everything. But
that's the stuff you can't judge in the draft. But
you can't quantify heart. You can't quantify killer instinct. You

(01:13:48):
can't quantify the fact that you got that dog that
you want to make somebody pay for looking over you, right,
Like is it? Jylen Bronson is one of those guys
nobody thought that he would ever be who he is
right now except for the people that played with him.
Right when you hear the other guys talk about him,

(01:14:09):
they like, yo, man, he different. Yeah, that guy always
was our leader. When he was a freshman, he was
the leader. Yeah, it's a it's an interesting topic.

Speaker 2 (01:14:19):
But we'll see.

Speaker 1 (01:14:19):
Because the way that Tyrese Halliburton has now created this
aura about him, they called him mister uh what do
they call it?

Speaker 2 (01:14:28):
Relevant?

Speaker 1 (01:14:28):
Irrelevant basketball player, somebody that wasn't good. Yeah, that's a
little that's a little something that he's gonna have to
try to figure out. Also, tonight Texas Softball, Texas Softball
will be taking on Texas Tech. Uh tonight seven o'clock.
You can hear the game on HDM I three or

(01:14:50):
something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:14:51):
One of them. Yeah, no, disregard that passed me by
right there.

Speaker 1 (01:14:57):
I heard it I heard it, but I want to
make sure that Texas Tech doesn't pass Texas by and
have tech Man be able to knock Texas Tech out
and be able to get a championship brought back to
the forty Acres so we can light the tower for
a championship tonight. It will be on at seven o'clock.

(01:15:19):
You can watch the game on ESPN. Also, we talked
about the pitching matchups. This is a big time pitching matchup.
I saw a stat the other day that entering the
championship series of the College World Series Women's College World Series,
the only Division one softball program to have over six
hundred hits in a singular season. There's only one team

(01:15:44):
to ever do that, and that is the Texas Longhorns.

Speaker 2 (01:15:47):
They swing the bats.

Speaker 1 (01:15:48):
They gotta be able to swing the bat against one
of the top pitcher. If d if not the top
pitcher in college athletics. She they paid little money for her.
She came in and she performed. Not only did she
perform on the mound, she also performed at the plate
as she led their team in home runs this year too.

(01:16:09):
Has there ever been anybody that should be the postal
child for pay me and I do my thing.

Speaker 2 (01:16:15):
I mean, she is definitely that.

Speaker 1 (01:16:17):
She definitely I came think in recent years where somebody
came in and made such a splash like this woman had. Yeah,
this is an historic matchup and this is something that
Texas fans are excited about. I know Texas Tech fans
are excited about it because now it's SEC versus Big twelve,

(01:16:40):
the power of Texas softball versus the up and coming
form of Texas Tech softball, and so it's gonna be
a big time matchup. We'll talk about it, get some
postgame reaction, and so much more. Tomorrow we will preview
the the NBA Finals as Indiana, and you know, okay,

(01:17:05):
see get after it.

Speaker 2 (01:17:06):
We will have Eric.

Speaker 1 (01:17:07):
Henry of Horns twenty four seven, and we will have
head coach Jim Slasnegel tomorrow to wrap up the impressive
baseball season.

Speaker 2 (01:17:17):
Although it was.

Speaker 1 (01:17:17):
Disappointed, it was very impressive. We'll talk to coach tomorrow
as well.

Speaker 2 (01:17:22):
For Mark Henry, for Marcus.

Speaker 1 (01:17:24):
I'm harball Hart and just remember this, gonna believe everything
you see, because even salt looks like sugar.

Speaker 2 (01:17:30):
See tomorrow. Peace,