Texas Women Basketball, Texas Baseball, NFL, NBA Round Rock Express & The World's Strongest Take

Welcome to "The Morning Kickoff Show" with Mike "Hardball" Hardge & "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry.  Today the guys congradulate the Texas Longhorn Women's Basketball team who are going to the Final Four.  Then the guys tal about Texas Baseball, some NBA & NFL talk, & "The World's Strongest Take."  Plus we have a conversation with Joe Cook of Inside Texas & Chris Almanderez of the Round Rock Express.  You can hear it all here at "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 Hartz and the world's
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Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. Good Morning, Austin, k Town, Flugerville, Htown.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Paarland, Leander, and Sials with Texas or wherever you may
be listening.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
This is a Texas Tuesday edition of The Morning Kickoff
right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.
The Texas Women advanced to the Final four for the
first time since O three. Texas Baseball is dealing with
some adversity. Joe Cook of Inside Texas joins us at
seven point thirty four to talk Longhorn football. Mike Tomlin

(00:58):
speaks on Aaron Rodgers and OKC stays hot and teams
get ready for the playoffs in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
I am your host, Mike Harball Hartes, my co host, is.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
A WWE Hall of Famer and recognized as the world's
strongest man.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
He is Deep Mark Henry. Good morning Austin, and of
course we have Marcus on the boards.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
And if you want to be a part of the show,
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Speaker 3 (01:33):
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Speaker 1 (01:37):
Also, if you want to voice your opinion, all you
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(02:00):
Dirk's Bentley will be at the Moody Center, So make
sure you tune in for a chance to win as
I give you that keyword. As you heard in the opening,
The Texas Women have now advanced to the final four
for the first time since three with an impressive, suffocating
defensive victory yesterday against the.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
TCU horn Frogs.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Texas wins the game fifty eight to forty seven.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
And when I say mark.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
It was a all out team effort. It was one
of the most impressive defensive performance that I've seen all
year long.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Not just the in and normally I start with the coaching,
but the effort that people made and whenever they did
the high run through, whoever was playing, whether it was
any of the women in the post, they were hustling
to get back to the paint after running people off.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
I mean, it was a complete team effort.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, and it was important to see because of the
fact that when this team is really really going, because
let's be honest, at the beginning of the game, both
teams were struggling to score buckets. They were all I
don't know if it was the pressure of it all,
was it the way that the game was being played.
I don't know for sure what the reasoning was, but

(03:23):
both of those teams were having a tough time getting
things done.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
At the very beginning of the game.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
They were missing shots, but the hustle players continued to
be what they were, and you look at Madison Booker,
you look at Taylor Jones, Rory Harmon, Shae Holly. They
bought in to the defensive side of this game. That
is the difference in a lot of things that Texas

(03:52):
has been able to do. We've talked that nauseum that
they're not a team that shoots a lot of threes.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
That's not who they are. Their mid range team.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
They get to the bucket, they make you foul, and
they get their opportunities. But when their defense in the
first quarter can hold a team to shoot terrible, they
shot terrible in that first quarter for TCU.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Your operative word was forced them. Yeah, they yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
And my man Corey Moles posted this stat last night.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Texas up at halftime.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
The defense is stifling, holding TCU to just twenty five
percent in the first half. They caused eleven turnovers, four
of them, five of them they made Hayley van Leith
turned the ball off over and then of course Rory
was effective last night as a scorer, along with being
able to assist and play hard nosed defense at the

(04:52):
very end.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
But here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
Vic Schaeffer at his presser, he was very emotional about
the team and how they were able to get things done.
And Vince Shaeffer, you know as well as I do.
He works so hard. He gives everything to this team,
but he understands that the journey can be done without
his squad.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Coach.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
You fell to your knees as the clock was running out.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
What were you feeling in that moment? Yeah, I've been
there before, you know.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (05:26):
Like I said, I mean, you can want something so
bad for somebody and for some you know, for this team.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
I wanted it really bad for him. And you know, I'm.

Speaker 5 (05:36):
Emotionally invested in what I do. It's not a check
for me. Like I'm in this game and I see,
I see and it's fine, it's it's okay if that's
what it is.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
But it ain't for me. This is not a check.
This is who I am.

Speaker 5 (05:52):
Unfortunately a lot of people say it's not who you are,
it's what you do. But for me, it's who I am.
I can't sugarcoat that. There's no denying it. My family
has suffered throughout the course of time with time away
from them. My kids suffered when they were young because
I was so invested with who I was and what
I was doing. For coach Blair. But this is the

(06:16):
life I've chosen to live. And so when you're sitting
there and the minutes are ticking off, the seconds are
ticking off, and I have so much pride for my kids,
Like I'm so proud of them, how hard they played today.
Like nobody, anybody that watched that game today, when they
turned the TV off, they had to go, Wow, that

(06:36):
freaking team plays their ass off. Excuse me, but you
just have to be you have to admire them. And
for me, I was just giving thanks to the Good
Lord for blessing me with them and for that moment,
because I take it as a real blessing.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Hard man, I felt that. Yeah, and you can see it.
He is exactly right. And I'm not gonna say what
he said. I've been reprimanded already, but I'm just saying
I get it. Yeah, you know, they did play hard.
When when the game went off, exactly what he said,
I went, Wow, they did that. And I mean, how

(07:18):
many times do you see in a college game. And
you see it in high school all the time, but
how many times in college do you see a five
second penalty get called trying to in bounce the ball?

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Every day had it like they did it four times.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah, that's hustle.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
That's staying with your man, not let a line on
the ball to come in.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
The work that was put in is desirable, you know
what I'm saying. Like it is something when you watch
this team play, you have to be impressed with it.
You have no choice because they play tenaciously on defense.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
They get after it every single time.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
And the impressive part about it is the next person
that comes in they want to be a part.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Of that action too.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Give me some of that, give me some of that.
But the thing that is the most impressive. And I
know you joke about You'll talk to Danny Davis tomorrow
and I'm sure we're gonna talk about Rory Harmon and
what she was able to do.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
She was aggressive last night.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
She was aggressive to the point that at she was
getting all the points. And here is Madison Booker talking
about her friend, the young lady that missed last year
with a torn acl and now her and Vic Shaeffer
both were emotional during that time because now she gets
a chance to play in the final four.

Speaker 6 (08:43):
I want everybody know that Roy Harmans to that girl
and please on doubt her, like, please, no doubt her.
She's worked hard for her for this God got her,
and she has st all faith in her game too.
And I just want you know, I'm so proud of her.
I'm proud of you know, to do it with her
because she definitely made this team.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
The co That's what's happening. She's still that girl. She
came out, she was aggressive. She saw that the team
needed to score points, so they scored the points.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
She scored the point.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know what I'm the most proud of. She didn't
eat the cheese. She didn't fall for the banana and
the tailpipe.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
What you mean?

Speaker 1 (09:21):
They backed off her like three four feet on the
perimeter and said, I dare you to shoot it. They
wanted her to shoot because of her percentages were low.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
And you know what she did, dribble the ball back into.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
The teeth of the defense, kicked it out the Madison
let them run those plays baseline, and they beat them
because they didn't fall for the okie.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
Do I think this was Rory's first game where she's
taken that many shots. She took eighteen shots yesterday and
they were all them good mid range.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
Good looks.

Speaker 7 (09:58):
Right.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
She didn't fall for the deep she was.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
She was in the right position yesterday and it was impressive.
You asked me earlier what you thought the attendance was yesterday. Yeah,
twelve thousand, twelve thousand fans were there to be able
to watch that game. We'll continue more conversation about what's
going on with these Texas women as they advanced to
the Final four to take on South Carolina Don Stalley

(10:24):
for the fourth time this season. Also, Yukon beats USC
and now we'll take on UCLA. Paige Becker's dog another
thirty point game.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
She's a bucket.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Coming up next, we got to talk Texas baseball. There
was some news that was giving out yesterday that's a.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
Big blow to this Texas team.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Right here on the morning kickoff on sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred, the Zoon, Congratulations to the number five ranked
Texas women's basketball team as they clinch a spot in
the Final Four with the victory over TU fifty four
I mean, excuse me, fifty eight, forty seven, big time win,
eleven point win. They were favored by seven and a half.

(11:08):
Just in case y'all were wondering about that, I wanted
to talk about this Texas baseball team, because yesterday we
got some unfortunate news.

Speaker 4 (11:17):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
Max Bluu is dealing with a.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Hand injury and he seems to be out for a
little bit of time. The news came down he's dealing
with a thumb injury. He's batting three fifty eight with
six home runs twenty two RBIs, but it is a tough,
tough injury. They've listed him as week to eat week,

(11:41):
but other reports came out a little bit later yesterday
and it is not a good look for Max blue
Also dealing with injuries is Ryland Galvan who's dealing with
a hand injury as well, and Adrian Rodriguez. The third basement.
Texas will take on Texas State tonight. You can hear

(12:05):
the game right here on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
The Zone. I think Craig Way and those guys should
be back today. I know that they've been traveling a
lot and dealing with a lot of stuff that is
going on. But you look at this baseball team and
you say, what is the journey for them? Baseball is

(12:26):
dealt with at versity and we had coach Losnegle on
earlier in the season.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
We will have them on.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Every Thursday eight am, so go ahead and set your clocks.
But we talked about this numerous times about the importance
of developing depth. There's been moments throughout the season where
you've seen different guys step up and get an opportunity
to play. Will Gasparino and Ruger Riojas two players for

(12:55):
the Texas Longhorns. Both guys were recognized as se Player
of the Weeks respectively. Gasparino was tabbed the SEC Player
of the Week, while Riojas was named sec CO Pitcher
of the Week. This marks the first time that both
of these guys were recognized.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
Texas goes four to zero in the week.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Will Gasparino hit five home runs in total thirteen RBIs.
His slash numbers are through the root five thirty three,
five eighty eight and sixteen hundred on the extra bases,
leaving the yard three times in those wins. We also
have Ruger Riojas, who is able to deal. He is

(13:40):
now six and one on the season, with ten strikeouts
career high the other nine with two hits and zero walks.
He threw sixty three pitches and ninety of those pitches
were for strikes. Very consistent, always in the strike zone,
and he's been able to deal all season long.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Great and Darren, Yeah, I mean for a young guy,
you just got to build up to that.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
He's and he's still got a long way to go.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, he's one of those go to guys and coach
has talked about him numerous times about his maturity level,
the way he carries himself.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
He's always ready to go, and we heard.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
From him yesterday talking about dropping down on the side
throwing sidearm. So we'll see how Texas is able to
manage and juggle what's going on. There's some guys that
truly need to step up and take their opportunities, and
we'll get a chance to see that tonight. As I said,
you can listen to the game right here on Sports

(14:39):
Oh you can't hear it on right here. I think
it's one O three one now. Because Round Rock Express
Baseball will have opening night tonight, we'll have Chris Amadaris
on at the top of the hour.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
We are the home of the Round Rock Express.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
But Texas State comes into town, a team that Texas
always has a tough time with. They will be taking
them on at six thirty at the dish, and it's
a it's a big challenge for them because, like I said,
now Texas has to figure out who is going to
do what at this particular time.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
Coach, University of Texas is the evil Empire. Now, well,
every team in Texas, they we're gonna get their best effort. Oh,
they gonna, they gonna come up Alston, They're gonna listen, man,
we're gonna go eat at a nice restaurant after the game,
but we're gonna we're gonna go over here and try
to knock them off that throne. And that's a good
place to be. I would rather be at the end

(15:33):
the castle, standing on the throne having people try to
overthrow me, than to be the one trying to do
the overthrowing.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
But well, there's gonna be some opportunities for some of
these young guys to get a chance to play, to
be part of the journey. Right, You're gonna you're gonna
have to look if Max Bulou is out, if Adrian
Rodriguez is out, if Roland Galvan is going to be out,
you need guys to fill in those spots.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
Make the most of those opportunities.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
On one of those guys that need to get going
is Eastern Windfield. Eastern Windfield has played in fourteen games.
He's struggling a little bit, but now it's an opportunity
for him to step up and take off with this.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Well, those guys got to have the mentality, and you
want to bring in and recruit guys.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
That they want to be the starter.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
They're forced to have to play back up because the
person in front of him is so good. But you
need to have the mentality of now this is my spot.
They're gonna have to come in and take me out
of this spot. Yeah, it's mine now. Like that way,
you have number ones all the way across the board.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
You know this is Texas.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Like you know, you don't come here if you plan
on being a backup your whole career.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah, you definitely want to give yourself an opportunity to
capture those moments.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
And I believe that some of these.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
I mean, obviously, if you get recruited by the University
of Texas, you have to be pretty talented to be
able to get on excuse me, to get on to
the field. So we will see how that is going
to play out. But for me, you know, I'm worried
about Max Blow And I'm only worried about him in

(17:21):
this sense. You know, when you're having a good season.
And like I said, I gave you the numbers. He's
batten three fifty eight. He's been able to bang the
baseball and be able to move the ball around. Six
home runs, twenty two RBIs. He was a Big twelve
Player of the Year last year. He's got some skins
on the wall. But this for him, I know, the

(17:41):
mentality was this was a money year for me. This
was an opportunity for me to be able to get drafted.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
Is there a chance that he can you know, be
out for you know, it's a long period of time
and then come back during the World Series.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Okay, so here here, here's something. Here's something that I
went through. I went through some things I was told
and man, just relaxed, sit out. You don't have to
worry about it. Your numbers. You've done some really good things.
But as a competitor, you try to push yourself back
too fast. You want to, you want to you want

(18:18):
to make sure and you got to have excuse me,
you got to have some people in your corner that
you really really trust that is talking you through this process.
You know this, When you're rehabbing, it's a lonely place
to be.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
It's lonely.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
You're you're they're out on the field doing everything and
you're in the training room getting everything fixed and rubbed
and get.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
That phone call from your teammates. You know, get it,
But you want to be in that dugout.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
You want to be given You want to be given
an opportunity to go help your team win, and that's
going to be the biggest challengeing hurdle for him. But
I think his support system is really, really good. I
believe that he has a lot of people in his corner,
and I'm sure that some of these scouts and other
people are looking at him and saying, how bad is

(19:11):
the injury? When can he be back? And is this
something that's gonna hamper him throughout his career? Because now
you know as well as I do, it's an investment
now right, It's an investment for the next level. But
I believe that Max is gonna be just fine. I
know that this is going to be a journey for him,
and hopefully we'll get to know a little bit more

(19:33):
when we get a chance to talk to coach Schlasnegel.
We'll see or hear from coach Slasnegel tonight as Texas
techa on Texas State. The Bobcats come in and are
ready to uh you know, they always play Texas tough,
and this would have been a good This would have
been a matchup that Coach Pierce, the former Texas head coach,

(19:53):
would have been a part of. But now he's taken
the job at Rice. So now he left Texas State
to be able to go take that job at right,
so we won't be able to see coach Slawson will Yeah,
I mean coach Slasnig will definitely see coach Slasnegger. We
won't be able to see Coach Pears during this time,
but yeah, Texas is continuing the row. Congratulations to Will

(20:16):
Gasparino because if you look at Will Gasparino and what
he's been able to do, that's one guy that could
take some of the pressure off of Max Blu being
out because he's on fire right now.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
And then you.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Look at what Ruger Riejas been able to do in
the pitching. Because we didn't know who was going to
be the fourth, i mean the third starter. He told
us if he hadn't pitched a lot during the weekend,
he may be the starter. That's what he did, and
he heard Players of the Week again. Texas will take
on the Bobcats. The Bobcats are twelve and five, but

(20:49):
don't let that.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
Record fool you.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
You know what it's like when they come down here
to take on the long Horns. Coming up next, we
have Joe Cook of Inside Texas. We're gonna talk Little
Texas football because they have been practicing and we get
the news notes of nuggets from one of the best
right here on the morning kickoff on sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred The Zone. It's a Tuesday morning here on

(21:15):
the Zone, and what better way to kick off your
Tuesday morning than talking to our guy, Joe Cook of
Inside Texas and on three. You can follow him at
Joseph Cook eighty nine on Twitter. And Joe, let's get
right into it. I was gonna talk baseball with you,
but this is the time for us to talk some

(21:35):
football and the offseason is in full gear, but so
is spring practice. Texas football has been working out and
everybody wants to know how is Trey Owens doing as
the backup? I'm just kidding everybody wants to know how
how our guy arch man And is performing for the

(21:56):
Texas football team.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (21:59):
I think one of the things I've been really curious
about is, remember last year Steve Sharkejan really had to
coax leadership qualities out of Queen you or his vocal
leadership qualities. And not to say that's a bad thing,
it's just that's who Quinn's personality was. It doesn't sound
like he's got a coax at out of arch Manning.
Is this is a program that knows that number sixteen's

(22:22):
on both sides of the ball or the leadership figures
to start with, and as far as his play goes,
you know, he's been doing everything that he's needed to do.
I think at this point, whenever we catch up with
our sources, you kind of you feel like you know
what arch is doing. You feel like you know what's
going on with number sixteen in practice. So you try
to find out about some other guys. But we should

(22:43):
to make sure to try to get some info over
on inside Texas about arch Manning.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
And everything that we've heard.

Speaker 4 (22:49):
Is that he this is a guy who you know,
knows that he's a good player, knows he's a great
player and can do some great things. He's been connecting
with Parker Livingstone of late a couple touchdowns and Saturdays
work out. Don't think it was a full scrimmage, but
something that looks liked it, and it's gonna be key
for him to connect with some more wide receivers. You know,

(23:09):
we reported yesterday at Wingo had a slight hamstring issue.
Nothing that's really gonna affect him going forward, but enough
to where Steve Sarkis.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
Was like, Eh, you know what you're good, we know
what you have.

Speaker 4 (23:20):
So this is an opportunity for a lot of wide receivers,
especially some of the freshmen they brought in like Kelley
clock At, Jamie French and then red shirt freshman like
Parker Livingstone and Aaron Butler, to really go earn some
opportunities with Arch and build a little rapport as well
to show that they're ready for playing time as the
upcoming fall.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Joe, I'm I'm all, I'm gonna go away from the
speed guys in the skill position. How does this offensive
line jelling with? With Banks leaving and uh, you know
several others upper classmen that left in the in the draft,
then due to graduation.

Speaker 4 (23:58):
Yeah, that you know, with yesterday being full pads, you
don't get a full picture, a full story on what's
going on with the offensive line quite yet. But the
guy who the one guy who's returning, DJ Campbell.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
He knows it's kind of his offensive line.

Speaker 8 (24:14):
You know, there were multiple leadership figures in that offensive
line last year, like Jake Majors, like Kelvin Banks, Guys
who had been starting for three years, four years, maybe
five years in the.

Speaker 4 (24:25):
Case of Majors, knows what it looks like. And they're gone.
They're off the NFL. And so now it's DJ Campbell's
turn to really take over that leadership role. He's done that,
He's played pretty well. The good news on the offensive
line is you have a good sense of where guys
are gonna fit in. Trevor Goosey's probably gonna be your
left tackle because he showed you what he showed you

(24:46):
against A and M in Georgia. Left guard probably Netou Miyazulu,
but there could be some pushes center. You were waiting
on Connor Robertson, but at this point you think Cole Hudson,
who's kind of a pseudo starter in his own right
would get that nod and then right tackle seems like
like the purest battle between guys like Brandon Baker and

(25:06):
Andre Kojo. So so far, you know, it will be
one of those things where you hear more when you
know they got full pads on, they're really blocking, they're
really churning.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
But so far, d J. Campbell has been the guy
who has really taken.

Speaker 4 (25:20):
On a leadership mantle and tried to get replacing the
four guys around him to be an easier process.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Well, as you know, we were snake bit last year
in the running back department and c J. Baxter will
be back. How was the development of those younger guys, uh,
and the guys that we lost last year like.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
Crushing Baxter and Clark.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
Yeah, I think Baxter's gonna We'll be waiting to see
until fall camp with him.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
You know, it's about a year on those injuries.

Speaker 4 (25:52):
I don't think he's I think he's going through you
know whatever.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
The side workouts are just for guys who are injured.

Speaker 4 (25:59):
But and I saw a picture of Christian Clark running,
you know, with his helmet on and with you know
whatever path I had, And I know he's probably not
participating in every single drill. But the fact that he
had an achilles injury of some sort, I'm not sure
if it was a tear or something like that, and
he's already back and running and going through drills is impressive.

Speaker 3 (26:19):
And they're gonna rely on him. They're gonna they're gonna
be pushing him.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
They're gonna be pushing Jared Gibson because they think those
guys have the real upside. I think you look at
what Trey Wiser offered, and man, you'll you'll never turn
down the effort and energy and that and you know
what he gave you. But there are some guys on
this team that have more physical capabilities than he does,
and they not have more heart. And that's gonna translate

(26:42):
into some snaps probably on you know, third down, and
on a good occasion if that's your running back two
or even you're running back three.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
You got a great running back cores.

Speaker 4 (26:50):
But they're really pushing guys like Jared Gibson, guys like
Christian Clark, even in his return to injury, to be
ready for real big snaps and big workload. The suppombing fall.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
We're talking to Joe Cook of the inside Texas. Make
sure you follow him at Joseph Cook eighty nine. I
want to go on the defensive side of the ball,
and a lot of guys spoke highly of Jelanie McDonald
and what he's been able to bring. Obviously, Derek Williams
and Michael Taff are some guys that had some starts. Obviously,

(27:23):
Michael Taff coming back and is huge in that secondary.
But talk about Jelani McDonald and his upside of what
he's able to bring to this football team.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yeah, this this.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
May be one of the best pure football players on
the roster. He's someone that I think when they were
recruiting him out of Waco Connolly, they thought linebacker may
have been his future. And they looked at him about
when he enrolled and you know, the summer of twenty
twenty three and like, look, if you stay at two
hundred pounds, you're going to be fine, and you can

(27:54):
play a variety of roles. So he played some nickel
last year, kind of extra linebacker, but he's got some
good coverage skills.

Speaker 3 (28:03):
They're giving him.

Speaker 4 (28:04):
A shot there, but they've also deployed him at at
deep safety and even Andrew mccouba when talking after Pro
Day last week, was like, y'all need to watch out
for this guy. So he's got a great veteran by
him and Michael taff he's also got you know, veterans
in the room to like Derek Williams, to help him

(28:24):
with some of the responsibilities. But at the same time,
like he's a veteran himself. He's played a good amount
of snaps and I think when you have someone as
athletic as he is, you make use of him in space.
And so far, he sounds like he's really taken on
to all the different roles that he has, and you
kind of could see that coming. He played quarterback in

(28:44):
high school, he played a little receiver, he played a
little bit of linebacker. He was always around the ball
and doing a lot of different you know things that
require a little bit more thinking.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
Than you expect on the football field.

Speaker 4 (28:54):
So this is someone who has just tremendous athleticism. I
think I found the spot with him in a defensive
back role that they move around the line of scrimmage
a little bit more than dropping the coverage.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
But he's someone who is working really hard to keep
that safety drop off at a minimum.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Well you know why he's representing because he's representing a
two to five four, so you know he's got to
show up front of two to five four. Hey, I
appreciate you always, Joe. Continue to follow Joseph Cook eighty
nine on social media. He'll get you the latest as always.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
Thanks Joe, Thank you, guys, appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
There is Joe Cook of Inside Texas coming up next.
I got a special announcement that I think is going
to be interesting. You'll understand what I tell you when
we get back right here on the morning kickoff on
Sports Radio Am thirteen hundred design.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
Now's your time.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
Get over to that iHeartRadio app and push the talkback
feature on the new and improved iHeartRadio app all week long.
Is We're going to give you a pair of tickets
to go see Dirk's Bentley May the twenty ninth at
the Moody Center. All you got to do is hold
that microphone down and leave the keyword burning. Burning is

(30:11):
the keyword for a chance to win a pair of
tickets to go see Dirk's Bentley. I'm gonna give you
some news right now, folks, that gives you an opportunity
to see someone that is more controversial than anyone I've
ever known in my life. But here's the deal. You
get a chance to go out to Gerald, Texas. You

(30:35):
get a chance to go to Total Wine and More off
of Lakeline, and you also get a chance to go
to the Fieldhouse in Cedar Park to see the one
and only Hulk Hogan.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
That's right. You get to go to Jerrold at Brookshire.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
He will be in Jerald at Brookshire Brothers Grocery Store
at twelve noon.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
He'll be out.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
There giving his real Mimi American beer. He'll sign autographs,
take pictures. Let me, yes, brother, I'll come and get
some all American beer out here in Brookshire, Brother, Texas.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Then you can go to Total Wine over off a
Lakeline at three o'clock, and then you can go to
the Fieldhouse in Cedar Park at six pm.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
But don't just stop there.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
Tomorrow Wednesday, he will be in Kyle, Texas at the
quick Check at noon. He will be at excuse me
at eleven. He will be at Specs off a Mopek
into ninety at two o'clock, and then he will finish
out at the Armadillo Den off.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
Of Minchaka at five pm.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
So here's your opportunity to go see the Hulkster brother
and get yourself some real American baker, you know, get
your beer.

Speaker 3 (31:55):
I'm good, but I do want you already have a sponsor. Yeah, yeah,
that's that's part of them.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
So I want to get into this conversation because I
think there's something that you and I have been talking
about for a while, and this is Texas women's basketball team.
If you're just tuning in that Texas women have advanced
to the Final Four in Tampa, Florida to take on
South Carolina. But I want you to hear from Madison

(32:23):
Booker because we talk a lot about Vic Shaeffer and
all the head coaches and the motivational factor in which
that they leave these teams, how they lead them leaves
a bearing for later on in life. If Vic Shaeffer
is someone who really really gives his all. We heard
from him earlier, but Madison Booker talked about her gratitude

(32:45):
for Vic Shaeffer because of the fact he gives so
much to them and he's not even playing in the game.

Speaker 7 (32:52):
It means a lot to us, but I think it
means a lot more to coach Schaeffer. I mean, if
you all just got a camera just kind of following
them around, you know, like being life to Vic Schaeffer.
I just think that you'll be the gym all day.
You're being his office, watching a film with him all day.
And just the dedication that this coach has, and just
like the want he wants for us, you know, to
be a great basketball player, especially a great team, like

(33:15):
I think he deserves it, Like he puts in the work.
I mean, and he's not playing a minute right now.
We are, and I just think, you know, for us
to kind of come out today especially and play this
great like TCU team, great offense, and just play defense.
I mean, like that's the game of the game for him,
is defense. Defense with its games and just to be focused,

(33:36):
like locked in like first five minutes. I just think
that means a lot to him. And and I'm happy,
you know, to be part of that and to help him,
you know, get to the Final four. I watched him
the Missy State and I'm happy to you know, be
a part of it.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
Texas, And that's what that's what it's all about. Now
He's getting a chance to go to the Final four.
That's why he was so emotional with his team, and
he's always been that. He always talks about you remember
last year when Roy wasn't playing he was It was
gut wrenching for him. Yeah, he felt so bad for her,

(34:11):
But he got a chance to teach Madison how to
play point guard. Rory got a chance to see the
floor from a different angle and she was able to teach.
So I believe that when her playing career is over,
Roy Harman will be a coach with Vic Shaeffer somewhere somehow.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
Yeah, I mean that's that's a given.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
You want somebody that understands that can preach your level
of basketball, your style, and who speaks more to what
coach Schaeffer is all about than Roy Hormon.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
Yeah, Rory is.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
I mean just oo's his confidence and that defensive dog
that you have to have. You know, you and I
were sitting watching the game, and I was explaining to
you that you can tell that the player didn't want
it as much as the coach did.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Right, That's not the case with these women. He won't
sit for them, and they want it. They want him
to have it, right, which is a great combination. I'm
and you know what I was almost just said, I
feel sorry for South Carolina. I don't because Don Staley
has instilled that in her team, like they've been there.

(35:32):
They know it, but they've been They're about to run
into a Texas team.

Speaker 3 (35:36):
That realizes this is the only chance we have.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Well, you start to look at this team and who
they are together, right, like what they've been able to
achieve together, and they've got it from everywhere you look
at it. Shaye Holly was the three point shooter at
the very beginning of the year. They would find her,
she would hit three and she would knock them down.
But she was also one of the best defensive players

(36:03):
on the team. You saw what she was able to
do yesterday defensively, running all over the place, frustrating, frustrating
every single player that she was guarding. You look at
the improvement in the work of a Taylor Jones and
what she's been able to become. Then you bring in
those freshmen that have understood their role and taking it

(36:27):
on from the jump.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
Think about it. Mark, you know as well as I do.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
As a freshman coming to the University of Texas, you
obviously were highly touted. You were probably the superstar. No,
you were the superstar all your team, on your summer
team and every team that you've ever been on.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
Then you understand.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
You get here and you see Madison Booker, you see
a Rory Harmon, you see Kylo Oldacre coming in, and
now you understand that, Hey, I got to put my
work in. I got to continue to work hard and
then I'll be able to make it happen. So to
me and the things that have gone on throughout these processes,

(37:05):
I've been very, very impressed with the whole thing. And
yes we're excited about it. But it's not over. It's
not over. It's just now beginning. Because now that you're
in the final four, it's all up.

Speaker 9 (37:19):
Now.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yeah, I'm a big winning time devan.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
I want her to play more minute, yo, That's the
only if.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
I had any anything, any omissions or any like.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
Can we get this done? Can we give it like
six to eighty more minutes?

Speaker 1 (37:32):
You see who do on the court? I know you
got book in front of her. It's a big difference here.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
We put them out fan at the same time, we
gonna see what happened.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
Coming up next, we have our guy Chris Amadaris of
the Round Rock Express talking all things expressed as the
home opener is tonight and we are the home of
the Round Rock Express on Sports Radio and thirteen hundred
This is on. Just like in all sports, sometimes you
gotta audible, and that's what we had to do. We'll

(38:02):
adjust and we'll have Chris Smaderis of the Round Rock
Express join us at eight seventeen. But we started off
talking about Texas.

Speaker 3 (38:10):
Women and how they have been doing.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
Now they have advanced themselves to Tampa in the final four.
Now they will take on Don Staley and the South
Carolina gamecocks yukon behind Paige Becker's beat a Juju Watkin'
list USC and now takes on UCLA, so they got
a chance to beat all of California as well. We

(38:35):
also talked Texas baseball as Max belou is dealing with
a thumb injury that happened on a diving play in
the outfield. He is out for some time, not sure
the length of it yet. We haven't got an official
word of how long he's going to be out, but
it doesn't look good. Ryland Galvan and Adrian Rodriguez will

(38:57):
be out as well.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
They're considered day to day.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
But Texas Baseball Texas on Texas State tonight six point
thirty First Pitch.

Speaker 3 (39:04):
Joe Cook of Inside.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
Texas gave us some update on what's going on in
college football for the University of Texas. A lot of
players getting the opportunities after other players are dealing with
some injuries, and of course the Holkster will be in Gerald,
Texas today starting at noon. But I want to get
into the NFL because the coaches.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
And owners are having their meeting in Florida.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
And Mike Tomlin obviously is the person.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
That has had a lot of scrutiny.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
Mark made his world's strongest take about him and the
efforts of which he may end up regretting when it
comes to the effort of trying to get Aaron Rodgers.
So Mike Tomlin was asked to yesterday about Aaron Rodgers

(39:57):
and where they are with the discussions free agent.

Speaker 9 (40:02):
As you guys know, he came to visit last Friday.
We had a really productive day. He's been in this
thing a long time. I've been in this thing a
long time, but there's no substitute for you know, intimacy
and spending time together and getting to know one another
in a non competitive environment. And so that was really good.
But I don't have any new updates in terms of

(40:24):
where the process is. We'll see where it leads us.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
How unsettling or is it to not have this situation.

Speaker 9 (40:31):
I'm really comfortable with being unset this time of year.
To be quite honest with you, it's about talent acquisition.
We got two means of main means of acquiring talent
free agency. In the draft, we multitask.

Speaker 6 (40:44):
Uh.

Speaker 9 (40:44):
We do both those those needs that we fulfill in
free agency. Uh, we do so there and when we
don't be fulfilling in the draft. And and so I
just learned over the years that this this time of year,
although you know day to day could be somewhat uncomfortable,
it is a process.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
It was very, very uncomfortable. I wish that all of
y'all could see this video. Please go online and look
up Mike Tomlin uh talking about Aaron Rodgers. It looks
like somebody has a gun to his back.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
While he's talking about this situation. He is sweating like
he is at a spelling bead and he is not prepared.

Speaker 5 (41:31):
The dude is.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
Sweat, I mean interrogation sweating. They might have been waterboard
him before this. It was horrible and he babbled. When
was the last time you heard Mike Tomlin's babble?

Speaker 3 (41:45):
Well, here's the deal man, and you know, no, no,
don't try to cut out. I'm not.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
I just tweeted it out on my social media attagged.
You can see the video of Mike Tomlin. Everybody obviously
concerned because my man is sweating like something is going
wrong right now. It is because it is because here's
the thing mark in these situations.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
For him to.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
Come out and be panicked in it, that means that
he's not having trust in his front.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
Oh, he is not in control.

Speaker 1 (42:22):
He's been forced to cover for his ownership for the
first time in his career. He is not in control.
They has stripped him of his power. He is doing
what he is doing what he's told.

Speaker 3 (42:38):
I do.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
He has been unsuccessful, harsh in the last eight years
of having a quarterback that's in the top twenty in passing.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
Yeah, if I'm an owner and.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
The guy that I hired to do the job has
not done his job in eight years, You're done with this.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
I got this, Let me do this. You do everything else.
We're gonna get a quarterback, let me talk to him.
I want you to meet him, because this is who
we're gonna bring in. That's why he was sweating, because
he was lying through his teeth.

Speaker 3 (43:18):
He was sitting there with the gun to his back.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Well, I mean he said everything, but well, you know
what the owners have told me that we were gonna
have Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 3 (43:30):
That's what it is. He has no answer, So he
has a filibuster in cover.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
I wouldn't putting that old tomlin man because I think
for him he is that guy. He's earned the right
to be able to be a part of it. I
don't think he's not in control of the situation. He
said we need we needed to be and what do
he say, intimacy conversation because we haven't spent time unless

(44:00):
it's been competitive. So now he's in a different mindset
of what needs to be done and how it.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
Needs and that means he should have been calm. It's
a non competitive environment, is what he said, right between
two and in a non competitive environment, I'm not sweating.
I'm I'm I'm basically talking to you like I'm talking
to you now, right and and and it's like, hey,
look that's going on.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
We don't know what happened. We don't know what's going
on with Mike Tomlin. He might have something going on
where he's sweating profusely hot in there. Yeah, we could
definitely mark mark mark this day now because when this seaton,
when season is over next year and Mike Tomlin gets

(44:46):
fired because Aaron Rodgers goes out there and poops the bed,
then we'll know that he was going to get fired.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
If he didn't make this successful venture. Let me ask
you this, if he does not.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, if he's not part of
any of that, what does that mean as far as
his job is concerned.

Speaker 3 (45:14):
That would be part for the course for Aaron.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
No, but along this is going to pull out at
the last minute, Go nah, I can't do it.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
This is going back to Mike Tomlin though. That's the
one thing that I'm trying to figure out is how
are you going to judge this player, I mean, this
coach in this situation.

Speaker 3 (45:35):
If Aaron Rodgers does not come there, If.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
Aaron Rodgers has not come there, the Steelers will be
in the top three in losses and Mike Tomlin have
his first losing season because the only quarterback that they
have on their roster right now is Mason Rudolph.

Speaker 3 (45:55):
They had him.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
On their roster before, which is why the familiar aarity
and why Mike Tomlin wanted to bring him back. He
felt like he's done some things. They cut him, They
let him go and paid him his money.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
Hey man, here take your check, and got Thompson on
the roster too.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
They got scholar Thompson, who used to be a k
stadium played for the Dolphins.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Marcus Spears over here behind the board has a better
chance of winning five games in the NFL than scylet
Thompson does.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Come on, man, don't put that on Thompson. Don't put
that on Marcus. Don't put that on Marcus Man today.
Both got the same chance, is what I'm telling you. Marcus,
I mean Marcus. But Scott Thompson started the playoff game
times got his face ripped off. He did because he
stood in the pocket and he saw every he saw

(46:52):
twenty two players on defense.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
He was seeing double vision. Why you do? How you
doing like that? He was horrible. He was horrible. That's
why I said it.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
Go back and look at Miami Dolphins when they I
think it was the Ravens they played. I mean who
I mean, like, the Ravens are really good defense, but
there's not twenty two of them on the field. Well,
you made it sound like they're It looked like him,
You made it sound like there was. He threw the
ball like it had gasoline on it and he lit it.

(47:26):
He looked like a mouth off cocktail the way he
threw the ball.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
What is wrong with you?

Speaker 6 (47:31):
Man?

Speaker 1 (47:31):
I'm just saying he horrible. He had his moments. Let's
just say that there what DJ say, Oh Dad, he trash? Yeah,
yeah he did. He didn't call him that, not him that.
Don't put that on him.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
But DJ said his basketball player was trash, which I
thought was a music he play in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (47:50):
Yeah, tra man, he's in the NBA.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
Okay, scouting, Thompson's not trash, but he is not good
enough to be a top tier quarter leading the Pittsburgh
Steelers hard. But here's the other part of it too.
What's gonna happen with the Pittsburgh Steelers is they're gonna
end up getting someone in a draft. They may end
up trading for somebody, and I think the person that
might end up being the quarterback. If it's not gonna

(48:14):
be Aaron Rodgers, might just be Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins
may come in and be the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I don't see where the bad, the awful would be.
He will be two years removed, just like Aaron Rodgers
from his torn achilles. And but Kirk comes in and works.
Kirk comes in and is ingratiated by his teammates. He

(48:36):
is somebody that is definitely being looked at as a
leader in the locker room and not a cancer. So
therefore Kirk Cousins, that is cancer. He might be the answer.
But we shall see, all right, when we come back,
We've got Chris Amadaris of the Round Rock Express opening

(48:58):
night at.

Speaker 3 (48:59):
The Dell Diamond, A lot of good food out there.

Speaker 1 (49:03):
Marks on the morning kickoff on sports Radio A.

Speaker 3 (49:07):
I'm thirteen hundred design.

Speaker 1 (49:11):
Joining us on the home of the Round Rock Express
is the Express President, Chris Ahmadaris. And Chris, you are
celebrating twenty five seasons at the Round Rock Express and
this is one of the biggest seasons of the year.
You have opening night at the Deal Diamond, postgame fireworks

(49:36):
how excited are you to celebrate the twenty fifth season
of the Round Rock Express.

Speaker 10 (49:41):
Well, PBA, thanks for having me, of course, and Mark
good is good to hear you as well. Look, man,
I've been up since three this morning. We've had a
big media day. It's it's always exciting, you know. The
great note Joe Demaggio said was quoted as saying, you
always get a special kick out of opening day, no money,
no matter how many go through.

Speaker 3 (50:00):
It's kind of like a birthday.

Speaker 10 (50:01):
And so, like you said, we're gonna we're gonna celebrate
twenty five seasons for twenty twenty five and just exciting
a lot of We're expecting a big crowd. I got
in this morning and looked at the numbers, so it's
gonna be fun. Seven seven to fifteen first pitch and
uh five works afterwards.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
Hopefully we'll get a.

Speaker 2 (50:17):
W Chris, I got some bad news, man, got bad
news you got. I was gonna come out there, man
and go for the eight hot dogs. I'm not gonna
be able to do it. I'm going to Oklahoma see
my son. He's out there on the Oklahoma football team,
and I mean they it's a parent day, so I

(50:40):
gotta go. But I promise you, I promise you you
can get the cameras out, invite a bunch of kids.
Me and Hards are gonna come out there, and I'm
gonna eat those eight hot dogs.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
Let's do it, man, let's do it.

Speaker 7 (50:54):
Well.

Speaker 10 (50:54):
Look, first of all, kudos to you families first, and
that's what always tell our staff. So look, I quit
you for going to see your son. And you don't
get those those days often, you know, and so you know,
I don't.

Speaker 3 (51:05):
Want to go to Norman.

Speaker 10 (51:07):
It's all right, it's all right. You got to support
your son, It's all right.

Speaker 3 (51:10):
Yeah, thank you. So Chris, you got all the games.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
Yeah, I was want to say, we play a lot
of games out there at hot Dogs and everything else
that goes with it, because actually hot Dog Day is
going to be Wednesday, where you can come out there
and get those dollar dogs and enjoy it. But you
guys have done so much and one of the biggest
relationships that you and I have. You told me this,
you said, listen, Mike, I can't control what happens on

(51:36):
the field.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
You're in charge of that.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
What you can do is make sure that everybody has
affordable fun and enjoy it so they can come back
out there once again.

Speaker 10 (51:46):
Well look, that's that's exactly right, you know. The look,
we're development baseball for the Texas Rangers. So what happens
on the field is the players that are assigned to
us from the Texas Rangers, and we want to make
sure that when they get here. We met with them
last week with the team meeting. We want to make
sure they have the best expert and we do everything
we can to development and we know what the ultimate
goal for those players is is to get to Arlington
and be a Texas Ranger.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
But while they're earin Roundrock.

Speaker 10 (52:07):
Our ownership group, you know, expects the first class experience
with us, and so what we do is myself and
Tim Jackson, our general manager of Lord for Goso or
Senior Vice President of Marketing Stu Scaley, our assistant GM.

Speaker 3 (52:19):
We focus on the experience.

Speaker 10 (52:20):
When people walk into the doors of the gates of
Dell Diamond. We want to make sure number one, it's
about whatever they're going through their life. We want to
bring joy their lives to the game of baseball, and
that's the first thing that we're shooting for. And then
number two, we're in the customer service business, so we
want to make sure the experience they have. Whatever we
can do to make the experience that much better, we're
going to do it. And then, of course, like I
said earlier, our ownership expects us to do everything first class.

(52:42):
And look, we try our best, and sometimes when we
fell short, we just got to sit back and figure
it out. But we're expecting a big crowd denied, and
it's just it's opening day is always fun. We've got
a lot of people. It's been We've kind of been
on the media tour this morning and the radio interviews
like this and TV interviews, and it's just fun that
the text I'm getting of people saying, hey man, we
started on TV. We're excited for you, good luck, and

(53:03):
the support we get is just is just unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
Chris, you said that you don't get to pick the
players that come here. They get sent here, uh to
do their stint. Is there anybody that's notable that we
would know if you said their name?

Speaker 10 (53:20):
Well, Evan Carter, I mean Evan Carter was the was
the you know, the world series hero two years old.
He was called up in twenty three at the end
of the season played played eight games with the Roundrock
Express Wall We're on the road, and then went up
to the to the Rangers for that playoff run. And
you know, single Handley beat almost helped beat the Houston
Astros and the Alcs to get to the World Series
and just had a big world had a big playoff run.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
But I got a chance to meet him.

Speaker 10 (53:44):
He had some back injuries last year and they sent
him down to start the season with us to kind
of get his swing back and kind of get back
in the groove. But Evan's a kid that you know,
because you know, it's courtesy that.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
The Matrix team.

Speaker 10 (53:56):
Usually when they won a World Series, they get the
team president and the general manager or worlds ringing.

Speaker 3 (54:00):
So I got one last year.

Speaker 10 (54:03):
And when I saw Evan on last Thursday, I just
I went to them and I said, hey, I want
to pull you aside. I pulled them aside and said, hey,
I just want to thank you because what you did
two years ago to out the Rangers.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
I only got you guys in the World.

Speaker 10 (54:13):
Series in the state of Texas a World Series, but
you got me here rings So pretty cool, pretty cool experience, no.

Speaker 3 (54:20):
Doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
We're talking to the Express Round Rock Express president Chris
Almadaries as they start their first home game tonight, seven fifteen.

Speaker 3 (54:29):
First pitch.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
You can hear it all right here on sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred the Zone, Chris. But one of the
biggest things that you guys do, well, you always have
a giveaway. You have something going on all the time.
And I was there for the pressers the other day
and got a chance to talk and see all the
things that you have going on. Obviously, you know we'll

(54:51):
be there for Princess Night. My daughter won't let me
not take her out there. But you know, as well
as I do, I'd like to buy all.

Speaker 3 (54:58):
Those hats that are going on.

Speaker 1 (55:01):
And you got different theme nights, like you have a
soccer jersey night giveaway, you have Nolan Ryan Express Hawaiian shirt,
oversized baseball cap, the Round Rock Briskets, jersey, reversible jerseys.
Those are the things that the fans love to come.
Obviously they want to see what's going on on the field,

(55:21):
but they love coming out to the ballpark for all
the giveaways that you guys have.

Speaker 10 (55:26):
Well, look, I think it's a it's a great mixture
of our our diehard baseball fans that are that are
following the prospects that are going to help the Texas Rangers.
But like you said, hart's a lot of the folks
are they just those things are are are great to
expose with the game of baseball. But like you said,
Princess Knight, Star Wars Night, We're doing a Minecraft night.
You know, those are things that kind of drive people

(55:47):
with the different theme nights. And then of course, like
you said, the the promotional giveaways, you know, tonight, you know,
folks are going to get a commender commemorative uh ticket,
you know, for for today's game.

Speaker 3 (55:58):
And then we're also giving out Michael Dell.

Speaker 10 (56:00):
Dell Technologies is one of our big legacy partner, naming
rights partner. We're going to give out his book to
the first twenty five hundred fans. There's just a lot
of things that we have this weekend now, Maxwell Caps
are going to be out on Friday night, and then
we've got some Neat Jersey hoodies from a Sensing Seaton
on Saturday. So it's just, you know, it's a lot
of fun and a lot of you know, just great
opportunities for people to come out enjoy baseball game and.

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Get some pretty cool expresswag.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
Another thing you guys love to do is make sure
that the community. You mentioned that, but you have all
the different communities bring their little league teams out there.
I know that Lago Vista Little League will have a
Dale Diamond Knight coming up and a lot of other
teams that you have represented throughout your time here. And
that's what makes it all so cool that this has
been twenty five years in the making and a lot

(56:48):
of minor league teams, you know as well as I do,
because they've cut a lot of teams, They've gotten rid
of a lot of teams. But now you guys have
made it twenty five seasons and that says a lot
for your ownhip group and the people that they have
in place, like yourself.

Speaker 10 (57:04):
Well, look, I think it's about community, And look, it
starts with the city of Round Rock and round Rock
Youth Baseball. You know, both of my boys were blessed
to grow up in the Round Rock Youth Baseball League
and you know, playing games at Old Sellers right next
door and then playing their select mass. But that's one
of the things that we really make sure is to
connect with the local youth baseball leagues and the select leagues.

(57:24):
I think we have about thirty nights playned this year
with different leagues throughout the Central Texas community. But Mike, look,
as you know, growing up wanting to be a major
league baseball player, that's the thing, you know that that's
the thing that we're always trying to work on is
making sure that we make the connection with with youth baseball,
and we really want the connection to be. Look, you
get the opportunity to watch, you know, play little league

(57:47):
and come out and run on the field at the
Round Rock Express and really kind of just start fostering
those dreams for kids to dream about being a major
league baseball player, no.

Speaker 3 (57:55):
Doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
Anything else that you have going on that you want
to touch on, because you mentioned Star Wars night, you
got new food out there, and it's not just hot
dog no.

Speaker 10 (58:06):
Look, I think that's one of the great things with
our sister company, Ryan Sanders R.

Speaker 3 (58:11):
Three.

Speaker 10 (58:11):
You know, every year they're bringing out something new. One
of the neat things is down the left old line
kind of where a lot of the kids sit in
the left will Burn. We've got the Chill District was
a kind of just an old school ice cream shop,
so there's all types of different ice cream, you know,
Sundays and shakes and you know, pepsi floats and things
you can do. And then of course we've got a
new storefront called now Showing, which is gonna be just

(58:34):
different items that they'll kind of open up throughout the year.
And you know, again you also have the dollar hot
dogs on Wednesdays like you talked about, and you know,
the old school nachos, and of course you know, maybe
a cold beverage share there with our friends from bud Light.

Speaker 3 (58:47):
You gotta do that, my man, Karis.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
As always, I wish you nothing but love for the
rest of the season. You don't control what's happening on
the field, you control what happens in the stands, and
we have a great time every single time we come
out there. Make sure if you can't make it to
the ballpark, make sure you tune in to AM thirteen
hundred The Zone, seven fifteen, first pitch right here on

(59:10):
Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.

Speaker 3 (59:13):
Thanks Chris, all right man, thanks you guys. All right brother.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
Coming up next, we got the World's Strongest Man bringing
you his world's strongest take right here on the morning
kickoff on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.

Speaker 3 (59:27):
He's a WWE Hall of Famer.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
He's also recognized as the World's Strongest Man. But he
is my co host and he is d Mark Henry
bringing you the world's.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
Strongest Tech taking away, big fellow, large, what's up?

Speaker 7 (59:40):
Man?

Speaker 3 (59:41):
You know what time it is? What time is it?

Speaker 1 (59:43):
It's time for the World's Strongest take by the World's
Strongest Man, My Guss.

Speaker 3 (59:51):
Back then, they didn't know me. Now I'm hot, they
all on me. Guys. I think it's safe to say.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
That both of you were wrong when you said that
the Houston Rockets were surging.

Speaker 2 (01:00:14):
And that they would be one of the teams left
at the end with the chance of going to the
NBA Championship. My Lakers did them in last night? Did
them dirty? Did them dirty? And it was because of

(01:00:37):
one Lebron James.

Speaker 3 (01:00:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:43):
My take is I think that Lebron James has sold
his soul to the depth And you said, Mark, what
do you what do you mean by that? In the
last eight games, Lebron James, at forty years old, is
averaging twenty three points a game, seven rebounds, seven assists.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
Last night, He.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
Pretty much had his average twenty two points, six and seven.
But the thing that he had that was kind of
unusual was he had two steals in clutch moments.

Speaker 3 (01:01:31):
He had an early steal in the second quarter.

Speaker 2 (01:01:34):
That resulted in a three point basket by Luca, who
was not shooting a good percentage, might I add. And
then in the closing moments the Lakers had the Houston
Rockets had a chance to run a play, get a
three point basket, tie the game and take it in overtime.

(01:01:56):
What did Lebron James do? He closed that his man,
ran across the paint, jumped and pinned the ball to
the backboard with a key block. His hand went across
the rim. He was a foot above the rim. At

(01:02:17):
forty years old, you should not be able to do that.
And yes, oh he spends a million dollars a year
on his body, but there has never been a player
ever to do the things that Lebron James is doing.

(01:02:37):
And even if he is not the goat, and Michael
Jordan is the goat, the best basketball player that's ever
lived and played fourteen seasons, Lebron James should be the
goat of basketball in the longevity department.

Speaker 3 (01:03:01):
What say you, there's unpacked.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
There's a ton of unpack because last night that was
the first time that they beat the Rockets beginning of
the season. Rockets beat them in January one, nineteen to
one fifteen. They also that game came down to six points.
You said that they had a chance to make a
three pointer and they didn't and they ended up losing

(01:03:29):
that game. Lebron he was okay. I mean, he wasn't
great last night. He did make some free throws. He
was kind of clutched there. But that's that's rare for
Lebron to be that type of person. Now, somebody as
a Lebron fan. It wasn't just Lebron. It was more
of Dorian Finney Smith. It was more of a Gabe

(01:03:52):
Vincent that was able to bring in twenty points coming
off the bench. That was the difference in the game.
It was their bench scoring compared to what the Rockets work.

Speaker 3 (01:04:07):
Well, they should hit those shots. They're by themselves. I'm
just wide open shots, Dring Finney. At the end of
the game.

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
Lucas said, I was asking Gabe, why why wouldn't you
shoot the ball more?

Speaker 3 (01:04:21):
He asked Dorian Phinney Smith. Why wouldn't you shoot you're open?

Speaker 1 (01:04:25):
Luca and Lebron draw double teams and they forced they
forced the defense to sag, so people get open shots.
If hard, you can hit at least two for ten.

Speaker 3 (01:04:38):
I'm sure I shoulder herd sometimes though, So I mean.

Speaker 2 (01:04:42):
I mean, these guys are getting wide open shots in
the NBA, players that play every day and their job
is to hit open shots.

Speaker 3 (01:04:49):
So yeah, they did their job.

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
You're trying to make it seem like just now, wait
a minute, I got a little hot right now.

Speaker 3 (01:04:56):
You're trying to make it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Seem like it was just any times they shot fifteen times,
What is the time that you believe that Gabe Vincent
is your guy to shoot the ball fifteen times. He's
not the guy. He's not that dude. He's not that
you gave so much props to a Dooka as a coach. Absolutely,
and I'm still going to they beat him by while

(01:05:19):
when they didn't blow them out. You made it sound
like they just came in and moved all the furniture
around in the house.

Speaker 3 (01:05:26):
You just said at the.

Speaker 2 (01:05:27):
Beginning of this team refrigerated, They moved the living room
all the way out.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
I'll just say at the beginning of your statement, you
told me that they had a chance to hit a
three to tie the game, and they missed it.

Speaker 3 (01:05:37):
In there's how they ended up losing by six.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
So to me, a young team, a young team in
the Houston Rockets that has a guy a twin of
Amen Thompson, young cat, second year in the league. He
gave him twenty. Dylan Brooks, I don't even want to
talk about him. You've been really incited.

Speaker 2 (01:05:55):
It gets another technical he's had mandatory miss right a game.

Speaker 3 (01:06:00):
But you like sing.

Speaker 1 (01:06:01):
Gon, he's been able to have been playing well for
the Rockets. And then you sit there and you look
at what they were able to do. You got Dylan
Brooks gave you sixteen, You got Singhan gave you fourteen,
and you had a young player give you that.

Speaker 3 (01:06:15):
The reason why.

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
They lost their game is because Jalen Green didn't play well.
If Jalen Green plays well, if he gets you ten points,
twenty point fifteen points, they win this game. If Jalen
Green plays like Jalen Green, they win this game. So
I will give you your Lakers winning at home.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
Do you think that your Rockets can beat the Lakers
in a series.

Speaker 1 (01:06:40):
First off, they're not my rockets, But yes, I do
believe that they can't beat them in the series. You
know why, because they're young and athletic. Lebron and them
are old. They may be wise. And you think Luca
is going to be that guy for you guys, I
don't see it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:58):
I don't think that.

Speaker 2 (01:06:58):
He's only a guy that took his team to the
championship last year and lost.

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
That's that's all. I'm just saying a lot of people
have done that at loss, and he was not. People
have done that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:10):
Google was one of seven from three point Land. That
will not happen in a series over four games. Okay,
all right, Well, if they end up playing each other,
it's only gonna take four because your team's gonna need
to make sure that they're in the right standings when
it comes to the playoffs. So we'll see what ends

(01:07:31):
up happening. But as of right now, you can smile.
You can smile a little bit. They don't smile.

Speaker 3 (01:07:36):
They moved to the number four spot.

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
They're sitting there, but John Moran is starting to come
to the forefront.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
They beat them by twelve the last time they played.

Speaker 1 (01:07:45):
Now John got his coach fired, and now we're gonna
see what ends up happening now the World's strong Basketball
exactly by the world's strongest man. We'll go come up
and close out the show. Talk a little bit more
baseball right here on the morning kickoff on sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred The Zone. What a great, great show

(01:08:07):
we had once again, And if you're not making us
part of your journey, I'm.

Speaker 3 (01:08:12):
Sorry for you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
You're missing out on all the good times. We've had
all kinds of special guests throughout these weeks. And if
you missed any part of the show, get over to
the podcast page on iHeartRadio app the new and improved iHeart.

Speaker 3 (01:08:27):
Radio New as always.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
I also want to make sure that we think Chris
Amadaris of the Round Rock Express. We are the home
of the Round Rock Express as they take on the
Toledo mud Hens. Tiger fans, if you want to go
see your team, they will be out at the Dell
Diamond for opening Day for the Dell Diamond.

Speaker 3 (01:08:49):
You can hear it right here at seven fifteen.

Speaker 1 (01:08:52):
Also, Texas Baseball will be taking on Texas State tonight
Texas State twelve and fifteen.

Speaker 3 (01:09:01):
Texas continues to.

Speaker 1 (01:09:02):
Roll on and always those midweek games that you gotta
deal with all the time. Texas is twenty three and
three on the year, eight and one in conference play,
but they have to come out and play well tonight
as the number five ranked team in the country.

Speaker 3 (01:09:20):
We also talked about.

Speaker 1 (01:09:22):
The Texas women's basketball team taking down TCU fifty eight
to forty seven. And now we'll face USC on Friday
night against Don Staley for the fourth time. Yukon defeated
USC and now we'll take on UCLA in the final four.

Speaker 3 (01:09:41):
We've also talked NFL. We saw Mike Tomlin.

Speaker 1 (01:09:45):
You didn't said that man was sweating like he didn't
study for a spelling bee, didn't study rum word, My goodness.
You are hard on a brother, but it is what
it is. But I want you to hear from Vic Shaeffer.
Vic Shaeffer is an emotional c You've seen it every
time he takes his jacket off. He's been wearing his
jacket a lot more this year. I think he understands

(01:10:06):
that his team is going to give him everything that
they can. But here is Vic Schaeffer after the game,
and I think this is something that if you are
a recruit. You need to play for somebody like this,
if this is how he rolls all the time.

Speaker 4 (01:10:25):
I know I'm not their world, but they are my world.

Speaker 5 (01:10:31):
They say, you know, it's not who you are, it's
what you do. This is who I am, this is
what I've done for all my life. My family has
suffered at times because I put so much into this,
but wonderful wife, I've got two beautiful kids, but this
is what I do and who I am. And you
invest so much, you invest your heart and soul into

(01:10:52):
these kids. You want it so badly for them, but
sometimes it's hard to show them, know, especially if they've
not been there and you're going against them. I think
Sadona is a seventh year, she's.

Speaker 3 (01:11:05):
At least six. Van Left is five.

Speaker 5 (01:11:10):
That's two veterans, and they got great players around them.
And so I'm just proud of this group. Man.

Speaker 3 (01:11:16):
They that today.

Speaker 1 (01:11:18):
That is Texas fight right there.

Speaker 5 (01:11:20):
That's what we're all about.

Speaker 3 (01:11:21):
Gotta love it, man, man, gotta love it. I'm telling you,
I wish I had some eligibility. Well, it seems like
a lot of people do. When you get a chance,
that does just make you want to run through a
wall for him. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:11:36):
Yeah, Like, and how do how do these Texas kids
get out of the state where you have somebody like
him that that is that is going to Oklahoma? Yeah yeah,
I mean a lot of people are still trying to
figure that out. Well, I mean, thousand play matter, absolutely,
but you know what, She's not meant to be a

(01:11:56):
Texas basketball player.

Speaker 3 (01:11:58):
She's a scorer.

Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
She wants to go and where she can run up
and down and score and shoot five times a quarter.
And you know those people that loved that style a
more power to you.

Speaker 1 (01:12:14):
Speaking of returning for another year and granted another year,
Hunter Dickinson, the center from Kansas in the Big twelve
former Michigan wolver Raine went to Kansas in the transfer portal.
He has been granted a seventh year to be eligible

(01:12:36):
to play in college one more time.

Speaker 3 (01:12:40):
Are you a realist? What do you mean? Yeah? I'm
a realist, and I think Hunters are realist.

Speaker 2 (01:12:48):
He realizes that he is not going to be a
high level NBA player, Yep, that the best that he
could do is probably playing year.

Speaker 3 (01:13:00):
What's wrong with that though, I mean, there's nothing wrong
with it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:03):
But he might as well stay in college because in college,
he's going to make the same money and you don't.

Speaker 3 (01:13:08):
Have to uproot. Like what, what? What classes are you
taking at this point?

Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
Bowling? I mean, are you are you trying to get
your masters?

Speaker 3 (01:13:16):
You take bowling? Badminton? No, No, I don't want that.
I want you culinary art.

Speaker 1 (01:13:22):
If like Sean Adams used to say, don't let the
scholarship use you use the scholarship. So if you're in school,
maybe he wants to be a radio host, maybe he
can start and film and television. You still got to
go to class, That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
Large seven years, How do you know that he's not
a communication major already and all he has to do
is take a couple more classes like communications, Like.

Speaker 1 (01:13:45):
Like, listen, are you taking classes to get your masters?
Are you taking classes? You've been in school in years.
You could be a physician by the time you get
out of here.

Speaker 3 (01:13:57):
I'm like, what are you doing this?

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
I'm like, you are and not only that, you're taking
it away from another kid that is trying to play.

Speaker 3 (01:14:08):
You're taking it from.

Speaker 1 (01:14:09):
A kidney not not if he's a starter.

Speaker 3 (01:14:12):
This dude is seven years.

Speaker 1 (01:14:14):
Do you realize that DJ was in the third grade
That's what I'm saying. So he's trying to use Jacob
as an example. You want Jacob playing against a twenty
seven year old dude on the offensive line and he's
playing defensive tackle.

Speaker 3 (01:14:28):
Not really.

Speaker 1 (01:14:29):
Yeah, that's my point. When do we start putting the
regulations on these things where these guys you have a
window of opportunity, regardless COVID year, a couple of injuries
here and there, there's a possibility of Roy Harmon coming back.
There's a possibility of that. Well, she missed some time
because of injuries. How many injuries has this guy had

(01:14:50):
in his career to where he's been eligible? Because there
are people that have tried to transfer and go to
school for legitimate reasons that have been denied, that have
been denied because of that and been ruled ineligible. So
what makes Hunter Dickinson, the guy that is going to
be playing seven years of college basketball? He played for

(01:15:13):
Juwan Howard at Michigan. What are we doing with the eligibility?
Those are the people that I'm worried about. I'm worried
about a kid who his entire life all he wanted
to do was go play Division one college baseball, But
We've got twenty six year olds that should be already

(01:15:34):
in the major leagues, playing in college and barely getting
at bats. Those are the moments because that kid has
busted his behind the entire time to achieve that. That's
why kids are now going to JUCO. Those are the
moments that I'm talking about, like when is enough enough?
And he obviously ain't helped you win a championship.

Speaker 3 (01:15:56):
Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 1 (01:15:58):
That's all I'm trying to say is, yeah, I got
to on this one because.

Speaker 3 (01:16:02):
I got a kid that's coming up.

Speaker 1 (01:16:04):
You got a kid that's in college that is one
trying to make some moves.

Speaker 3 (01:16:08):
Yeah, so he's going up against dudesday.

Speaker 1 (01:16:10):
I'm with you, man, I'm with you, car Rental Places.
I want to thank Mark, Henry, I want to thank
Mark the spirits, and I want to thank you and
the people.

Speaker 3 (01:16:21):
And that's always.

Speaker 1 (01:16:22):
I don't believe everything you see because even salt looks
like sugar.

Speaker 3 (01:16:26):
We'll see you tomorrow. Peace,