Turn the Page Tuesday: 49ers Dominate MNF, Citrus Bowl Talk, Texas Football & Basketball Updates

Today is “Turn the Page Tuesday,” as we get set for the holiday week. The San Francisco 49ers dominated the Indianapolis Colts 48-27 on Monday Night Football with a big night from Brock Purdy. The University of Texas Men’s Basketball team defeated Maryland Eastern Shore University Hawks 94-71, with Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope putting up big numbers. However, Head Coach Sean Miller was still displeased with the team’s effort. NBA Christmas games are coming up, and the league has shaped up this year to this point. The Longhorn Football team is getting set for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. What should we expect this week before the game? Pittsburgh Steeler Receiver DK Metcalf received his fine and suspension for an altercation with a fan. We talked about the situation and how it could’ve been prevented. “The World’s Strongest Take!” We have several guests on the show, including Citrus Bowl Chief Marketing Officer Matt Repchak, to talk about the event. We have Joe Cook of Inside Texas talking about the Texas coaching change on defense, players moving on in the transfer portal, and the NFL Draft. Danny Davis of the Austin American-Statesman was with us, speaking about the success of the Texas Football and Texas Women’s Basketball teams. Voice of the Houston Texans Marc Vandermeer joined us to talk about the 23-21 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders and the upcoming game against the San Diego Chargers. You can hear it all here on “The Morning Kickoff Show!”

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:33):
Paso, San Antonio, and sials Be Texas or wherever you
may be listening.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
This is a turn the page Tuesday edition of The
Morning Kickoff right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
The Zone. The Texas men's basketball team handled business against
Maryland E Shore, but coach.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Miller was not happy.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
We'll be talking to Matt Repchik of the Florida Centrus,
York and the Cheese It Bowl breaking it all down
on what to expect on the way out there. Joe
Cook of Inside Texas joins us at seven point thirty four.
Danny Davis of the Austin, American statesman joins us at
eight o'clock. In the voice of the Houston Texans, Mark

(01:18):
Vandermere joins us at eight seventeen as the Texans continue
to roll. I am your host Mike Harbo Hart, my
co host, is a WWE Hall of Famer and recognized
as the world's strongest man.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
He is d Mark Henry. Good Morning, Austin, and.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Of course we've got our guy Marcus behind the boards.
And if you want to be a part of the show,
all you got to do is text the word Texas
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Standard data and message rates may apply. That's the word
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Speaker 3 (01:49):
Standard data and message rates may apply.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
And if you want to voice your opinion, all you
got to do is use that talkback feature on the
new and improved and always free iHeartRadio app. Leave us
a message. If it's good enough, you might be good.
You might even hear it on air. Also want to
make sure that everybody knows that this will be the
last show for the morning Kickoff.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
This week we are going to take a break.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
We love bringing you the news and everything that's happening
and providing you with info tainment. But we do need
a break. It is Christmas. We want to be at home.
We want to get some time off and enjoy the
break with family.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Don't know, everybody want a little time off.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Everybody deserves a little time off, and I know, I
know we deserve it from time to time. So just
wanted to make sure everybody was aware of the schedule
for the rest of the week. Of course, you could
listen to the craig Way Show, the Voice of the
Texas Longhorse Craig Way, this afternoon from two to five,
and then he too will be on a little high
atus as well. He and Jake Herman and of course

(02:51):
our guy Cam Parker holding it down. Let's get into
this conversation because last night we had NFL Football Monday
Night Football final game of the week sixteen, and now
we are starting to look at week seventeen. We got
games on Thursday, Thursday, on Christmas Day, you have three

(03:13):
football games in the NFL. But last night old Man Rivers,
Old Man Rivers was out there trying to do it again,
and all of a sudden, Father Tom said, no, sir,
come sit by me and understand that you are going
to throw a pick.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Six in this game, even though he threw the ball well.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
But the story isn't even about the Indianapolis coach. It's
about the San Francisco forty nine ers and what Brock
Purdy has been able to do, along with Christian McCaffrey
being able to lead this team into a situation where
the West, the NFC West, might be the best division

(03:53):
in football because of the Rams, the Seattle Seahawks, and
now an eleven win team in the San Francisco forty
nine Ers.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
You said, maybe, maybe, maybe, Okay, give me, give me
an argument, a compelling argument for a.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Three team race in any other division.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well doesn't necessarily, Well, it is definitely a three team
race for sure. And the forty nine ers controlled their
own destiny. They're all in the playoffs. You don't want
to play.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Any of those teams, none of them. I'm right the
way San Francisco looked on offense last night, I don't
want to play them. The Rams, they they were effective
without their Davonte Adam, the Vonte Adams there they're a
one or a two wide receiver, and then they got

(04:44):
b by a team that everybody is stuck a fork
in Seattle because of the last time that Seattle played
the Rams.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
They just stuck a fork in them against the ra.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Against the Ram okay, because I was like, because Darnald
just had a horrible game against he did and he
did not this time. So it was man, all three
of those teams can win the Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
And I had the Rams.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
I told y'all at the beginning of the year, I
had a ticket with the Rams winning the NFC West.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
I just felt like this was going to be a
great year.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Matthew Stafford is the leading as the MVP of the
NFL right now, but I'm looking at what San Francisco
has been able to do. Brock Purty looks like a
totally different football.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Well, I mean he can use this toe, he can
he can move, step up and make a throw.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
He definitely was able to do that. George Kittle had
over one hundred yards receiving big touchdown. But it's Christian
McCaffrey and what he's been able to do. He too
healthy for the first time in a long time, and
now this team is poised to make a run if
they went out. If they went out, they become the
number one seed in the NFC West, they become the

(05:56):
number one seed in football. They have done an unbelievable
job with putting things together, like just throwing it together.
In their next two games, they have the Bears, which
will be tough the Bears on the team, and of
course they have the Seattle Seahawks to end the season.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
Bro that's that's that's that's a hard road to host.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
That's right. This is a tough task for those teams.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
And you know Mac Jones is still their leading passer
right now with Brock Perty coming back because Perty missed
so much time. But if you had to rank these
teams as of right now in the power rankings, who
would you have as those three teams?

Speaker 2 (06:41):
I will still have the Rams above the Seattle Seahawks
because they won by one point and the and their
DeVante Adams didn't play. Yeah, Devonte Adams is guaranteed to
give you more than one point. And San Francisco I

(07:03):
don't think their defense would hold up in a war
against Seattle or the Rams.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
So it's going to be the Rams for me.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
ESPN has it their power rankings out this morning and
it has Seattle as number one at twelve and three.
I guess because they beat because they beat them. Yeah,
the Rams are at eleven and four and they are
sitting in the number two spot. They have the forty
nine ers sitting at eleven and four, and they have
them in the sixth spot.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Of those three teams, which quarterback would you? Matthew Stafford?

Speaker 4 (07:42):
And I think that's the deciding fact that it comes
to me, is I think.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Well, you gotta you gotta do. You can't just do
the quarterback. I'm saying, back, I'm saying the team combo.

Speaker 4 (07:52):
I'm saying the teams are so evenly matched, and the
coaching staffs of all three teams so evenly matched. The
factor is the quarterback when it comes to mind, Yeah,
it is.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
You look at the one, the one defensive coordinator, head
coach is Seattle's head coach. So he's the only one
that you would look at and say, all right, how
is he going to counteract what these guys do so
well with McVeigh, with Kyle Shanahan. But that's the other
part of it too, and that whole setup and the

(08:25):
way that they've been going about it.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
It's been very interesting to me.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
So this is this is one of those things that
when you start to look at these teams, you truly.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Wonder what it is.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
As I was saying, as far as MVP considerations, Matthew
Stafford is as of today minus two fifteen to win
the MVP. None of the Sam Darnold is plus ten
thousand to win the MVP. So it looks like it's
between jalb I mean, Jalen Hurts, It's between Matthew Stafford

(08:57):
and Drake May is sitting at plus one seventy five.
Josh Allen is plus twenty five hundred.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
You have light to get in on those. All that's
on Drake made at the biginning of the season, no doubt,
no doubt.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
You start looking at some of these guys and you're like, dang,
these guys are really putting it in. So you look
at Jackson Offensive Player of the Year Jackson Smith and
Jigba is sitting at minus one seventy five. The wide
receiver for the for the Seattle Seahawks, Puka Nakua is
plus one sixty and Christian McCaffrey, this is an interesting one.

(09:36):
Christian McCaffrey for Offensive Player of the Year is plus
one thousand. James Cook, Jonathan Taylor two guys that you
could look at. And you was talking about James Cook
and what he looks like running the football for Buffalo.
He's plus fifty five hundred to win Offensive Player of

(09:58):
the You know what.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Come to think of it, you and I both agreed
that the way that Drake May looked last year that
he was going to have a great year this year.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
We both said that, Yeah, and then Coach of.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
The Year because of what we've seen from all of
these guys, Mark Mark, Mike vrabel is sitting at minus
one ten, Mike McDonald plus three thirty, Coon, what about
being Ben Ben Johnson plus eight hundred, Okay, Liam Cohen
is the one that everybody should be looking at. Link

(10:34):
Lion Cohman is the one that should be we should
be looking at what he's been able to do with
Jacksonville and turn that that team around. He's plus seven fifty.
That's a flyer that you might want to look at.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Because it's gonna be a hard race. It is. This
might be the toughest race.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
There you go, that's the hardest of all of the categories.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, you start looking at what the canalis, what he's
been able to do to Carolina. Carolina might win the
NFC South. Think about that Carolina Panthers who bitched Bryce
Young last year. Bryce Young came back and was like, NA, man,
I want my job, give me my daddy's records.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
I want my daddy's records.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Well, we're just getting started on this turn the page. Tuesday,
we're gonna go to Orlando, Florida and talk to the
folks that represent the cheese It in Centrist Bowl.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Matt Repchik will be.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
Joining us next on the Morning Kickoff. Don't go anywhere,
We're just getting started right here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred The Zone.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
We get us on.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, and of course always free on
that iHeartRadio app. Welcome back to the Morning Kickoff right
here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. Mike
Harballhart's World Strongest Man, WWE Hall of Famer, d Mark Henry,
and our guy Marcus holding it down.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Coming up in the.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Next segment, we'll have our guy Joe Cook of Inside
Texas breaking it down talking to all the latest on
the forty Acres. But the forty Acres is headed to Orlando, Florida,
and that's where we are going right now with the
CMO of Florida Citrus Sports. Matt repcheck correct, yes, sir,

(12:22):
all right, perfect, I'm going to make sure I go
on that right. The Texas Longhorns are headed to the
Cheese It Bowl, the Florida Centrics Cheese It Bowl. Exciting
time for the folks there at the Camping World Stadium.
And of course this is the eightieth edition of the
Cheese It Citrus Bowl. And Matt, how excited are you

(12:43):
to have two of the helmet teams, as we like
to call it, the blue Bloods Michigan and of course
the Texas Longhorns coming to Orlando, Florida.

Speaker 5 (12:53):
Yeah, good morning, guys. Hope you woke up feeling the
cheesiest we are, Oh real, Jesus, we couldn't have asked
for a better matchup for our eightieth game, right, two
of the power programs. There are people that don't know
college football that know Michigan Texas, right, So that's a
game that is going to be one of the best,

(13:15):
I think the whole postseason lineup. You know there's gonna
be up there against some of those playoff games at
the end of it, because you got two teams that
were probably one went away from competing in the playoff,
might have been in an expanded field. Like you said,
blue blood programs, amazing histories between the two two great
freshman quarterbacks.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
It couldn't have couldn't have been better for us. Yeah,
it's an exciting time for a lot of folks. But
there is obviously the changes that are happening and the
different bowls and opportunities to have different teams there. But
when you get these two blue blood programs, it's going
to generate some excitement. But more about it is you
get a lot of things that are going to be

(13:52):
going on. Previewing the cheese at Citrus Bowl. What are
some of the big activities that you guys really put
on to make it more exciting for the fans.

Speaker 5 (14:04):
Well, the best part of being in America's favorite tourist
destination is we don't have to program a whole lot.
We let people make their own itineraries around their attractions
all the theme parks.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
We do have a couple of things that are going on.

Speaker 5 (14:15):
So the number one, there's a Bowl HQ Live at
Point Orlando that's going to be going on all week
long starting Saturday, December twenty seventh. I believe that Texas
has a pet band performance scheduled for the thirtieth at
one twenty Eastern time, so that'll be one of their features.
But then they'll also have one of the bars at

(14:36):
Point in Orlando that's sort of set up as the
Texas Hqbar. I believe that's the PBR area in Point Orlando,
the Cowboy Bar, So that's kind of a home base
that fans can be at. They'll just the hotel for
the team will just be down the street and all
along International Drive we called IYE Drive here.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
There'll be a lot of activity throughout the week.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
Then obviously a lot of stuff have we have planned
for game day, and then there's a few local things
we have going on to celebrate our eightieth game. We
have a pop up bar we're setting up in downtown
Orlando starting on the twenty seventh as well.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
That is the Citrus Bowl Lodge to kind of celebrate in.

Speaker 5 (15:12):
The eighty years of history across that game to lead
up to it. So we're hoping we can get some
Longhorn fans out there as well.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
I'm wondering what being that you have two blue blood
teams that are coming to Orlando. What is the selection
or criteria for the teams for the bowl games?

Speaker 5 (15:33):
We have the blessing I guess to be the first
selection after the playoff in both the Big Ten and
the SEC. We're the second oldest relationship in both those
conferences after obviously Sugar Bowl and then Rose Bull for
the Big Ten. So as of late, you have a
lot of those teams that are getting into the playoffs.
So we're seeing, you know, what teams are potentially available,

(15:55):
often teams that.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Are in the mix for a playoff spot.

Speaker 5 (15:58):
Kind of late in the game, once the final rankings
come out, we have a sense of who's available to
us and have a quick conversation with the conferences about
our intention call the schools get the official invitation out.
So it moves pretty quickly for us in the case
of this year, when you find out that the Michigan and
Texas are available to you, it's a pretty quick decision
and all that stuff moves really fast.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah, no doubt win or Winter Chicken dinner right there?
Are you guys to be able to pull that right there?
We're talking to Florida Centrals Sports CMO Matt rapcheck talking
about the Citrus Bowl and everything that is going to
be going on there. There's a bunch of renovations that
were done at the stadium as well. The Capping World

(16:41):
Stadium is something that a lot of people don't know
a lot about. I mean, they know it's in Orlando,
they've seen the games on New Year's Day and New
Year's Eve, but a lot of people don't understand what
Camping World has done to make sure that the renovations
of the stadium have been outstanding.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
Can you touch on that a little bit? Absolutely? So.

Speaker 5 (17:02):
I know this is the first visit for for Texas,
so some folks may have been for another event, maybe
NFL Pro Bowl games, coming to another Bowl game or
something else. Yeah, a couple of WrestleManias. I was in
the stands for a couple of those.

Speaker 3 (17:22):
So there. We we've completely redone the lower bowl over
the last ten years, tore it out.

Speaker 5 (17:30):
So actually probably between the two WrestleMania appearances, mark the
whole lower Bowl was torn out. Now we're up. We're
getting up into the upper deck. So there'll be a
four hundred million dollar renovation that starts in January. It's
going to take take out the last kind of older
part of the stadium, replace it, modernize it, get us
to a stadium that state is competitive with everything else

(17:50):
in our region.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
And a lot of that's focused on fan experience. Across
the way.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
Right, your your entrance, you're finding your way around the concourse,
your actual fan amenities. If you're sitting in the upper deck,
you want that to be a comfortable right, does and
shouldn't feel like the upper deck all the time, should
feel like a chairback seat, and everything else. So we've
been working on that for many years. It's a city
owned facility. The county helps contribute part of the funding

(18:14):
to that, and we've had the opportunity to use the
revenue that we make from the games to reinvest in
the community around it. So there's about one hundred and
twenty million dollars in capital investments that has been made
in the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium. It's downtown, it's west
of the core of downtown Orlando, and so that renovation
has been then reinvested into how do we make sure

(18:37):
that we make a better life for the people that
live right around the corner from the stadium.

Speaker 3 (18:41):
Awesome, Yeah, that's good stuff right there.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
So Texas Michigan coming in. Coaches have already been there.
There's been some press release of them coming in and
talking about this event. I know you can't pick a
side or anything like that, so I'm not going to
make you do that, But as a fan of sports,
how excited are you about these two teams and getting

(19:08):
a chance to see arch Man and getting a chance
to see Underwood and these up and coming players that
are trying to make their way in college athletics.

Speaker 5 (19:17):
So I'm thrilled. Like it's going to be a showcase
of that on ABC on New Year's Eve. It's going
to be the go to game, Like people are gonna
wake up on that day saying, oh, Michigan.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Texas on television. I'm gonna watch that game.

Speaker 5 (19:29):
Right So the only thing I'm reading for is to
go to overtime to get into cheese at crunch Time Bowl.

Speaker 3 (19:36):
That's if we can get there, we have the perfect day.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
Well, Mark, I need you to tell them your favorite
about your cheeses.

Speaker 3 (19:43):
Oh man, the extra toasted. I'm with you, come on
now far away right. You know I'm a big Orlando fan.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
We have the Performance Center for wwe down there and
I cried the last time I was in our land though,
because uh, the Oblivion Burger shut down. Is there any
way that we can open up? We open up Oblivion Burger.
Please give me talk to they. We can do a

(20:16):
pop up for you something, man, I'll come, I will
fly to Orlando, just get Oblivion Burger.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
That's that's economic impact. I'll tell.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
I'll tell everybody's economic impacts. That's a businessman. That's why
you're in charge of marketing. I love that you pay attention.

Speaker 3 (20:31):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
So speaking of that, the celebration at the end, what
which cheese its?

Speaker 3 (20:39):
Is it that they dumped on the coaches?

Speaker 5 (20:42):
It's usually the classics, just you know, you got you
gotta stick up the Classics in a moment like that.
The all the other flavors kind of come out throughout
the week at the training table and the hospitality suites
and stuff like that, all the fan areas, there'll be
some some stuff in the concourse. The fans can grab
different flavors of cheese it as well. But when it
comes to the cooler dump, which we think was the

(21:04):
first non sports string cooler dump, I'm appreciate nobody's been
able to check me on that, but it's the classic
cheese crackers.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
In that one, it might be safer to use the
snap because they're so fluffy and light.

Speaker 3 (21:17):
Nobody will heard. Yeah, then they get crushed up that
our stadium crew is. I'm sure they going they clean out.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
I want I do want to ask this because it
is interesting to me that about the cheese It and everything.
My mother in law is a big cheese It fan
as well. But my question is when when these type
of events are happening, do you break out new chips
because every new flavors because you want to try them out.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
I know that we were at another.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Bowl and they brought out these different flavors of beverages
and I was like, I'm not drinking that, But is
there a different brand that you'all try out during this
time with so many consermers?

Speaker 3 (22:00):
Is there they have?

Speaker 1 (22:01):
You?

Speaker 3 (22:02):
Like Snapped?

Speaker 5 (22:02):
I don't know if it launched at the Citrus Bowl,
but they did bring it out. They kind of did
a little public roll out for it at the game,
and so they have used it as a chance to
do some sampling and other things. I don't know necessarily
if they have anything secret in store for this, but
it is I would say being at the at the
Citrus Bowl is a chance to try cheese the flavors
that you did not know existed.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Like there are things when they've.

Speaker 5 (22:23):
They've shipped stuff to our office and some of the
things that we give out that I've found some some favorites,
some things that I didn't look. I mean, I'm a
big extra toasty guy. But you start to sample some
other options.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
What about princil Oh, that's an idea.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
That's an option, that's that's an idea consumer another.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
From a gay mark. Hey, I appreciate everything you're doing
for me. Right now, I'm here for you.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
Harje and I will come and we will stand on
the mezzanine and greet.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
People, hand it out bags and chips. Okay, don't believe that. Yeah, yeah,
you'll do it.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
I don't know if R and D can work that fast. Well,
I'll talk to somebody.

Speaker 3 (23:09):
We'll see what happened.

Speaker 6 (23:11):
Matt.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
We appreciate you taking the time.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
I look forward to the activities and all the folks
enjoying the trip to the Florida Citrus Cheese It Bowl
that will take place on New Year's Eve. Two pm
Central Time, three pm kickoff Eastern Time. As always, man,
thank you so much, Thank you, gentlemen, appreciate it. There
he has Matt Repchick talking all things cheese It citrus ball,

(23:38):
and when we come back, we'll talk to our guy
Joe Cook of Inside Texas get his thoughts on the
moves that were made for the University of Texas and
of course the cheese It ball. Right here on the
Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone
and always free on the iHeartRadio app. Welcome back to
the morning Kickoff right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen

(23:58):
hundredth the Zone. In the next segment, we'll talked Texas basketball.
They get the win last night. But right now we're
gonna talk to our guy, Joe Cook of Inside Texas.
You can follow them at Joseph Cook eighty nine and Joe.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
A lot has happened. A lot has happened.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
On the forty Acres in the last couple of days. Obviously,
the news coming out that Pete Kwakowski and Dwaynea Qina
were being replaced by Will Musschamp coach Sark having the
media availability that was kind of out of the blue
for us. I don't know if you was expecting it,
but I know I was not expecting it. And then,

(24:37):
of course the news coming out yesterday that Malik Muhammad
will now enter the NFL draft. Catch us up on
what your thoughts are on all the comings and goings
on the forty acres.

Speaker 7 (24:50):
Yeah, with Will Muschamp, you know, that was a very
kind of surprising thing, I think for pretty much everybody.
You know, Texas got out in front of it, you know,
and you know we're right right there, right behind him,
because it was one of those things where you catch
wind of it and you're scrambling and.

Speaker 8 (25:07):
Texas sends out the email.

Speaker 7 (25:09):
So you know, that was obviously very surprising because not
very many people probably thought like the defense was what
Steve Sarkisian was going to address. It's kind of become
pretty clear, and let's start has a change of heart.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
You know, he doesn't want to give up play calling duties.

Speaker 7 (25:24):
So if you look at that, and you look at
that decision, it's like, Okay, how do you make things
easier for him? You're the head coach, you're the play caller,
and you are the personnel guy. He has a titular
general manager and Brandon Harris. But sark has said over
and over that the final personnel calls usually are are
his to make. Okay, So how do you take something

(25:45):
off of your plate a little bit? Well, with Petekwakowski,
that's the defensive coordinator who obviously very accomplished and extremely
good at what he does. I don't want that to
get lost, but he was a defensive coordinator who often
need a little bit of He needed help from his lieutenants.
And I don't say that as a as a bad thing,
you know. I think anybody who's advanced to you know, football,

(26:09):
advanced and whatever, gets along.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
With a little bit of help along the way.

Speaker 7 (26:13):
But that help required some attention from Steve Sarkis, or
required attention from you know, the other coaches that he
brought in. And when you're start, when you have to
be the head coach of the team, which which he is,
when you have to be the head coach of the
offense and you have to be the general manager, that's
that's being pulled in a lot of different directions. And
so the first move that he made was to bring

(26:36):
someone in Will Muschamp, who he's like, all right, we'll
go do it see Saturday, and there's gonna be more
than that, obviously, but he knows that without much oversight
needed from him except for like the final Yes, well,
must Champ could take care of everything on that side
of the ball. He's someone who you know, has assistant
coaches and things like that.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
But must Champ knows defense and PK did too. But no,
must Champ and do everything.

Speaker 7 (27:01):
And I think we've kind of learned that p K,
for as accomplished as he was, with someone who had
his specialties and needed some you know, people to lean on.
And when those people he leaned on weren't able to
hold him up, everything kind of fell apart.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
And that doesn't mean it all collapsed.

Speaker 7 (27:15):
It just meant that, you know, the product wasn't as
good as possible.

Speaker 3 (27:19):
You know.

Speaker 7 (27:20):
Still, nothing's happened on the offensive side, except you know,
start push back said, well, I got.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
A new running backs coach.

Speaker 7 (27:25):
So Jabbar je Luke is in someone who another SEC
coaching veteran, uh, someone who has you know, basically if
he's if you've been on I ten or I twenty,
Jabbar Jia Luke's probably been there, uh during the during
the course of his career, and that's very valuable. Bring
some you know, a little bit of attitude, I think,

(27:46):
to that room, and we'll see what else might happen
on offense. And then yeah, like you mentioned Malik Muhammad,
this is one we've been expecting. I think from the
day the league showed up at Texas.

Speaker 8 (27:55):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (27:55):
He always thought he was a three and out player,
but you have to earn that, and he earned that.
I think he had a really strong career and he's
going to be someone who I think NFL teams really
look and see, like, oh he won an All American
and oh he won the All Conference.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
But he was really good.

Speaker 7 (28:10):
He's got skilled, he's got trades, and I bet he's
going to be drafted probably, I don't know. I bet
he could hear his name called a day two, but
we'll see. I'm excited for him, Joe.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
There's a lot that Longhorned fans have to look forward to,
one of which is you talked about that toughness, that
attitude that coach deluc and as well as coach Blood
are going to bring to the forty Acres. But with

(28:40):
all of the guys that are opting out and guys
that are going to the NFL draft, Like, who do
we have to look forward to to calm the storm of,
if you will, of.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
People being held out?

Speaker 7 (28:58):
Yeah, I mean you look at that defense and you
got Malis Mohammad, Anthony Hill, the Angola Fel, Trey Moore,
Michael Taff Like that's half your starting lineup or maybe
a top backup right there who's not going to be
playing obviously, Colin Simmons. That's someone who I think that
everybody knows you're you're going to be looking to for
this game and for next season. Until he gets his

(29:20):
name called for early in the NFL draft, reports are
all positive on Hero Canoe coming back. That'll be big
there in the defensive trenches. And then you know, one
of the names that we're still waiting on to hear,
but we feel good at this time about is Jelani McDonald.
And if you're getting someone like him back. I wrote
something yesterday. If you spiked the ball every play, your

(29:42):
NFL passer rating would be thirty nine point six. When
teams threw at Jelani McDonald, their NFL passer rating was
forty two points something. So like that is a really
good football player. And if you're able to get him
back for next season with Will must Champ with you know,
a lot of the rising young players in that secondary,
a lot of them got a good amount of snaps

(30:04):
as the year went on. That's that's a good piece
to build around your secondary. So Colin Simmons hero canoe.
You know, Jelani McDonald luckily on offense. You know, the
only loss right now at this time seems to be
DeAndre Moore. You know, Jack injury is the tight end.
He's facing a very tough decision. We've been told it
inside Texas right now. He's going to play in the

(30:26):
Bowl game, but you know, what his future holds is
still something that he's kind of going back and forth
on every day from what we've been told. But the
offense is going to be, you know, an offense that
we're familiar with.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
The defense, there's.

Speaker 7 (30:38):
Gonna be a lot of different things going on, including
Johnny Nansen stepping up and calling plays. Granted, he'll be
going against an interim play caller in his own right
with everything that's happened at Michigan over the past couple
of weeks, but you know, the Helmets are going to
be pretty cool for this game. We'll see what the
players wearing them are like. Come you know, December thirty first,

(30:59):
no doubt about it. There's our guy, Joe Cook of
Inside Texas. You can follow him at Joseph Cook eighty nine. Joe,
thank you for all that you do.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
Man, enjoyed the holidays and enjoyed the family man.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
We appreciate you.

Speaker 6 (31:13):
Bro.

Speaker 7 (31:14):
Well do you guys, Mary Christmasy all March.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
There is Joe Cook of Inside Texas coming up next.

Speaker 3 (31:20):
Well here from the.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
Texas men's basketball.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
Coach Sean Miller.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
After last night's performance, and let's just say once I
told you before, he does not sugarcoat it. We'll talk
about it right here on the morning kickoff on sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred to Zone and always free on
the iHeartRadio app cam.

Speaker 9 (31:39):
Heidi drives baseline cross court, cask swayin in the corner.
Pope rises up for three and knocks it down. Ken
the weaver to Pope in the corner. Mark thought about
a three. Now Tremont Tribes in the lane that scores
off the glass under nine to go in the first half.
Pope ass at top of the art to the left
side works of basketball to Kendal Weaver. Weaver sweee up
left side, Pope will rise up for three and drain

(32:01):
his third three pointer of this first half. The wrong
ones almost tipped it out of their own hands, but
Swain comes away with a bounce pass a good low
hard pass into Boca Titus for the two ended flush.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
At the left side.

Speaker 9 (32:12):
Weaver in the corner cam Heidi opened for three and
he drains it Cam's first bucket of the ball game
at Tremon behind a Ocatitas screen to the right wing.
With the dribble bounce pass, Pope goes to Swain to
a cutting kindle Weaver, who elevates for the one handed slam.
His Weaver kicks it to Tremon Mark double team got
rid of it out on the right side of swinging
down the three to shoot, Dayalon spins in the paint.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
Puts it off the glass for two.

Speaker 9 (32:36):
Right at the shot block buzzer, Daylon Swain gets the
bucket nine minutes forty seconds to go into Boca Titus
for the slam. Done great pass there on the roll
on the dribble, Justin Mandan leaves it back for Michael
Teel again seven to shoot. Wea regarding tightly pass pick off,
Here goes tremon Mark. He'll throw it down, so chasselm

(32:57):
with five. Sean Miller says, no need to shoot any more.
Texas will look to exit. This will look twenty three
point win off the Dayland swayin. The Longhorns will head
to the Christmas break with a nine to four record.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
Final scorre here.

Speaker 9 (33:18):
Time at Movie Center where Texas Longhorns ninety four and
the Maryland Eastern shore Hawks seventy one. And with the win,
the long Worns have some positive momentum headed in now
into the Christmas break.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
You would think that the Texas man would have some
positive momentum heading into the Christmas break after that ninety
four to seventy one victory where we got a chance
to see Matus get busy agale with twenty two point
eight rebounds. You got a double double from Dalon Swain.
You also saw Jordan Pope and treymond Mark shoot the

(33:59):
ball very well. But coach Sean Miller wasn't having it,
and he wanted to be one honest.

Speaker 10 (34:08):
It was our worst performance of the season. And when
I say that, I'm leaning heavily towards the defensive end.
You know, we just we have to be able to
be better. Everybody uses the words the standard. You know,
we have one, and uh, when it's not met, you know,
it's not just okay, like man didn't meet it tonight, guys.

(34:29):
You know at some point from an accountability me as
a coach, our staff, individual players, this deals about getting better.
And I've just never seen a team that you say, man,
they play with amazing effort and they're selfish.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
It doesn't it sounds funny.

Speaker 10 (34:47):
So I think when you're an unselfish group, you're able
to give more of yourself, You're able to be a
better overall defensive team, You're able to play more intensity,
and you're able to take some of these things that
I'm talking about out of the game. And for us
to have a chance to be successful moving forward, this
is an area we have to always be able to
put a check in the box. The other coach and

(35:08):
the other team, they're trying to do the same thing.
If nothing else, it's a stale Nate. Both teams fought,
both teams played hard, but I thought tonight our effort
was kind of up and down, and it really reflected
on the defensive end.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Yeah, whoa, Hey, listen, we talked about this earlier, maybe
the second and third game. I can't remember who it
was against, but they played like very selfish. That's the
second time that the word selfish has a rose. They
have got to pass the ball and try to get

(35:46):
into a guy that has a better option to scoring,
and you want to do that within the framework of
whatever the coaches offense defensive strategy is playing together communicating.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
Like what what is the what is the issues?

Speaker 2 (36:03):
Is it just the fact that they're not getting that
he is he won'ts it his way and he's gonna
have it his way.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
Is his team he's coach.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
Well, the one thing that stands out to me, and
this is the most important part, is he said, you
don't ever hear of a team being unselfish, like you're
playing hard, you're doing everything, but you're selfish.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
It's never They don't sound they don't.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
And the main point of what I think he's saying
is quit looking for your shot and be unselfish. On
the defensive end, you gotta be able to play defense
at a high level in the SEC. If you're not
gonna play defense in the SEC, you're gonna get beat.
And you're gonna get beat soundly. It sounds like he's

(36:52):
saying it defensively. They don't have each other back. That's
what I'm communicating. You're not talk You gotta say right here,
this is me, this is you. Let's move the ball.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
Hey.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
Communication is everything in every sporting each other out.

Speaker 4 (37:08):
Also, when somebody gets beat, there's nobody to switch or
come help. Yeah, it seems like defensively that's what his
focus is on the selfishness of the team.

Speaker 3 (37:18):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
And that is where you get beat. That is how
you get beat in these games. As Booge mc farland
would say, you can't win games if you get beat.
He's so brilliant. I'm just saying you and it's universal though.
You think about it and forget about the Chris Beard

(37:41):
off the field stuff. Chris Beard was talking defense every
single day when he was coaching wherever he's coaching at.
You heard him a couple of weeks ago when he said, coach,
are you gonna be able to find the answers? He said, yeah,
I will start playing the people that deserve to play.
I'm not gonna be playing people that aren't out there
giving me everything that I need.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
Period.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
I mean, these guys are getting paid. Now, it's a job.
You have to get out here and get to work.
And if you're not going to buy into what coach
Miller is telling you to buy into, he's going to
ask to make some changes.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
And yes, Texas.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
Won the game. They were playing Maryland Eastern Shore. They're
supposed to win that game, right, But the reality of
it is, that's a twenty three point win that should
have been higher. Skill level wise, those guys weren't on
your level. Talent wise, they're not on your level. So
why are we Why are we not doing the things
that we need to do getting ready to head into

(38:39):
the one of the toughest conferences in America And they
have to make these adjustments and they're not together.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Bro, this is this could be bad hard. This could
be one of those that we just hasn't chogg it
up to the game. Just like these cowboys. Man, just
we just have to grin and bear.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Come on, man, come, I don't want to We're now
grin and baronet. We're gonna continue to support and we're
gonna see what's gonna end of happening. Our number one
is in the books. Our number two is just around
the corner. Danny Davis of the Austin American Statesman joins
us next to talk all things Texas Longhorns right here
on the Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred

(39:19):
Zone and always for you on that Ihart Radio app.
Welcome back to our number two of the Morning Kickoff
right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred the Zone
and our number one. We talked about Monday Night football
and Old Man Rivers, but the story was the forty
nine ers. We also went down to Florida to talk
to Matt Rapchik of the Citrus Bawl and finding out

(39:41):
that he was the cheesiest. Joe Cook of Inside Texas
joined us just a little while ago, and of course
we just finished talking Texas basketball.

Speaker 3 (39:50):
Coming up at eight seventeen.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
We got Mark Vandermere, the voice of the Houston Texans,
joining us at eight seventeen. But right now I know
we had to move him up a day because we
are going to be off for the rest of the week,
so we had to bring in our guy, Danny Davis
of the Austin American Statesman, and Danny, let's get into it.

Speaker 3 (40:11):
Nice shirt brother. By the way, I'll see it.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
Yeah, yeah, I noticed you didn't have your Montana jersey,
your shirt on today.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
Huh. I just want to see Mark.

Speaker 11 (40:21):
I don't know how you work with this guy Like
I volunteered to come on today early. You know, I'm
in a happy holiday holiday mood and this is how
I'm treating.

Speaker 3 (40:32):
And I was gonna compliment you.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
I was going to say, look you and you look
into Christmas spirit, and you know, I feel like I
made a mistake not wearing my Christmas sweater.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
And he goes and does this, Hey, it's it's hey,
my bad man, My bad too. I do what sand
is dropping off your I'm wearing a cold right now.
That's what I'm wearing. I'm wearing a cold shirt right now.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
But I wanted to get into this conversation because we
were all kind of surprised last week when the news
came out that there was going to be a change
on the forty acres, out with Pete Kwakowski and out
with Dwayne and Kena bringing in Will muss Champ. And
then you get the news of players in the transfer portal.

(41:20):
We found out DJ Moore is now into the transfer
portal and Malik Muhammad is now going into the NFL Draft.
What's your thoughts on the state of Texas football at
this particular moment.

Speaker 11 (41:36):
Well, first, I think I think this Texas season got
more disappointing. If it's DJ Moore, not DeAndre Moore's.

Speaker 3 (41:41):
Oh yeah, Dre Mark. He definitely disappointing.

Speaker 11 (41:51):
It's interesting, I'll say that much. I mean, the coaching
news obviously last week. It's kind of it's almost kind
of a shame that Dwayna Keenan is kind of a
secondary footnote to all of this, with all the career
he's had, but he's just kind of a you know,
tacked onto that, tacked onto that, that press release and
when everyone's a you know, post a news analysis, but

(42:12):
it is what it is when you fire a defensive coordinator.
But it's been five years. I mean, they've you know,
Steve has often touted his the continuity of his coaching staff,
and that's been an asset.

Speaker 3 (42:25):
But at a certain point, you know, when things.

Speaker 11 (42:27):
Don't go your way, which is nine to three, not mao,
the playoffs is not going your way, you kind of
need to shake some things off up and unfortunately for Pete,
even though you could argue that he did the best
job out of everyone of the coordinators when you're not
an offensive coach, and Steve is not going to fire
one of his offensive coordinators because it's kind of an
indictment on himself.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
It's kind of it kind of falls back on you.

Speaker 11 (42:50):
And he's also you know not you know, Kyle came
to Texas with Steve, Jeff came to Texas with Steve.
Pete did not, So he's also not really in the
inner circle. So I mean, he was kind of odd
man out. There's definitely some slippage in that defense. And
he also sometimes maybe there just is a new a
new voice that's needed. Sometimes you do need to shake
things up and you know, get some new ideas and

(43:11):
you just change.

Speaker 3 (43:12):
It's not an indictment on Pek.

Speaker 11 (43:13):
I'm sure he's going to Texas, probably isn't gonna have
to pay too much of his buyout because he's going
to get another job and someone will pay someone will
pay some of that offset money.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
But you know, sometimes there's just some changes needed.

Speaker 11 (43:24):
And after five years and not really fired anyone, I
think Steve had fired one assistant his entire entire time here,
and that was when they hold overs for Tom Herman's
staff who probably needed to be probably needed to go
in the first place. I mean, sometimes the change is
needed and the shocking news really isn't that shocking when
you step back.

Speaker 3 (43:40):
And and look at it.

Speaker 11 (43:41):
But definitely, you know, when I was a Thursday Thursday Windesday,
Thursday news came down, it was definitely pretty surprised, and
I thought it was a prank when I when I
started seeing the tweets.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
In the emails.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Then the defense is definitely like the biggest topic. You know,
spoke about university text on the forty acres right now,
But at some point we have to start talking about
the offense and the the offensive line was the major
issue protecting arch, keeping Arch upright, people being able to

(44:14):
identify and recognize what they saw in front of them.
When is that going to take place? When is Texas
going to a dress?

Speaker 6 (44:24):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (44:24):
The offensive line? Well, I mean they didn't address it
last week because Kyle funds, So that's a job.

Speaker 11 (44:31):
I'd imagine this offseason they get pretty pretty aggressive both
in the portal and probably what they try to do
with their development program in the in the off season. Yeah,
you do, you know as much As. I think Kyle
probably should have gotten a little more scrutiny this year.
And they didn't lose four starters to the NFL, and

(44:51):
they're one returner and played played all right this year
in Trevor Gusey was all right. But when you're mixing
in three you guys who really haven't gotten into kind
of playing time the last last year or so, sometimes
you know, this this is what happens.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
And you know we've man, you know.

Speaker 11 (45:08):
Misevaluated the ability just to jump up and you know,
say that we're going to pick up or you know
Texas left off last year on this offensive, Lind. Sometimes
the things to take development, this is the sec this
is Ohio State is not uh, you know, this is
not you know Flockerville Hendrickson High School or McCallum High
School or Lake Travis High School.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
You know this is uh. Sometimes it takes a little
while for these new starters to develop.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
Yeah, we're talking to Danny Davis of the Austin American Statesman.
You can follow them at Underscore. Danny Davis, you know
we're heading into this Bowl matchup and and obviously Texas
is going through a lot of changes. Did I see
that there's only sixty scholarship players or sixty five scholarship
players that are that are actually making the trip to

(45:55):
to Orlando. And if so, if you can name one
guy that you want to see a lot of just
because we hadn't seen a lot of them, is there
one guy that will stand out to you that you
want to see play a little bit more?

Speaker 11 (46:11):
Yeah, I mean I think Eric Eric Henry wrote that
story last week something about like sixty five scholarship players.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
They've blast like two or three more. So I don't
know exactly what the number is, just.

Speaker 11 (46:23):
Seem to speak dwindling and dwindling, but I mean that
it's going to happen as some more and more guys
can start to re evaluate their feet, their future and
you have their.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
Meetings with their families and stuff like that.

Speaker 11 (46:33):
But I mean the guy I want to see, I
think it's a guy many people want to see, whether
you're a football fan or a baseball fan, And that's
a that's number nine, that's a Jonah Williams's kind of
you kind of want to see what he can bring
on the football field. And if football is I mean,
he's going to make the decision for himself. But you know,
whether or not we think that football is his future
or if his future is over at the dish and
he should be focusing on one sport more than together.

(46:54):
But you know, he's I think the coaches have been
pleased with his progress, not the season, I think maybe
unfairly kind of with the offensive line. A lot of
people just expected him to be a day one starter,
since he's the five star kidding and in high school,
and as he kind of worked his way back from injuries,
you know, the playing time was kind of a little
hard for him to defind. And he started to pick
up a little big at little bit more playing time
at the end of the season. And now there's gonna

(47:16):
be lots of playing time available in that secondary. So
I'd assume he gets he gets more run this weeking
in Orlando, and we'll kind of be able to evaluate
his football what he's able to do on the football field,
because you know, we'll see plenty of him on the
baseball field and about a month, because I'm not getting
it's like a month, which is much another story in itself,
So I want to see what Jonah does.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
In the football field. Then the same question for offense.
Who is the guy that on the offensive side of
the ball that you know, we should kind of wait
anticipated brit hold our bread to see.

Speaker 11 (47:52):
I mean, are there any running backs left?

Speaker 3 (47:58):
I mean, I think obviously of them.

Speaker 11 (48:00):
The news this week that DeAndre is definitely head into
the NFL. You know, you kind of want to see
what some of these freshman receivers are going to do.
I mean, Texas is going to have with them at Mostley,
with the Parker living Stones, with the Ryan Wingoes. I mean,
they have an established receiving core coming back. You think
that's one of those other guys decides to move on.
But you know what, some of these young guys, you know,

(48:21):
jump up and say, hey, we're here too. We're gonna
be continuing for playing time in this spring and this
is these are the toys that Arts gets to play
with next year. So I would like to see what
some of these because the fact of the matter is
this offensive line, this running back round. Chances are there's
gonna be some portal additions, There's gonna be some you know,
development over the off season. It's gonna be really tough
to get a gauge what twenty twenty six is gonna

(48:42):
look like in the in the Citrus Bowl. But you
can kind of see with these receivers and so see
some of these freshmen can step up this weekend.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
Let me ask you this, Danny, because we're gonna transition
to women's basketball. Obviously, Texas UH goes to South Dakota.

Speaker 3 (48:58):
State gets the dub.

Speaker 1 (48:59):
But Vic Shaeffer after the game was not very happy
with the way his team performed. He felt like they
were Russian shots and not being very selective. Obviously on
the defensive end, they played well, and of course worry
Harmon dished out assists once again played at an elite level.
Is that Vic being vict Or? Was there some solace

(49:21):
to what he was saying?

Speaker 11 (49:24):
It's big being Vick. I mean, we've all said in
enough press conference, is a bick after what seemed like
a blowout win, and he's unhappy with something I've seen
him in after forty point wins, clearly ripping to his
team over over over something that happened.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
And that's his job.

Speaker 11 (49:39):
He demands for perfection and he demands greatness from this team,
and they didn't show that at South Dakota State. But
the fact of the matter is they won by nineteen
on the road at a team that Vick was touting
throughout the week going up to the you know, going
up to that game, a good Mick Major program.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
It's three four three four days before Christmas.

Speaker 11 (49:57):
I'm sure a lot of their focuses out was elsewhere,
as it tends to be during this time of the year.
It could have been an easy trap game. They weren't trapped.
They got it. They got out of there with a win.
And sometimes you just gotta be happy getting getting Devin
stand undefeated. I mean, it's fist job to figure out
stuff that this team needs to work on. And by
no ways was that team flawless. But at the end

(50:18):
of the day, they're still undefeated's starting number two. And
I don't think they were punished too much by the
by the AP voters or the coaches poll voters for
the way they performed up in South Dakota.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
But you know, they could have won that game by.

Speaker 11 (50:32):
Forty points if they would have done something to nitpick
in film session or in the FoST game fress conference.

Speaker 3 (50:38):
So when I heard.

Speaker 11 (50:40):
Him going on in that FoST game Fress conference, I
wasn't necessarily surprised by his by his reaction.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
Hey, the one and only Big Shape for bringing it
as always, as does our guy Danny Davis of the
Austin American Statesman, Danny Wash, you and your family a
very merry Christmas. Enjoyed the time. And guess what next
week is? Game week? So you got a lock back in?

Speaker 3 (51:00):
Brother?

Speaker 11 (51:01):
Yeah, I just want to tell Vick his his ladies
performed better than my Montana Grizzlies.

Speaker 3 (51:05):
That's all. That's all. That's all. Hey, I want to
go break it up again.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
I already got I already got slaid earlier, so I'm good.

Speaker 3 (51:13):
Now.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
Enjoy your Christmas shirt and enjoy the time with the fam.
And as always, man, thanks for all that you do
for us and hopping on with us.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
We definitely appreciate you. Happy holidayst all, and we'll see,
we see, we'll see all on the line.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
All right, brother, there is Danny Davis of the Austin
American Statesman.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
Coming up next. We're going to htown.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
We're gonna talk to our guy Mark Vandermere, the Voice
of the Houston Texans. And you best believe you better
put your seatbelts on if you're in the car, because
you better get it ready because He's bringing the heat
right here on the morning Kickoff on sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred The Zone and always free on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
Welcome back to the morning.

Speaker 1 (51:52):
Kickoff right here on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.
As always, we gotta go to h town and talk
to our guy, the voice of the Houston Texans, which
you can hear right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred The Zone, Mark VanderMeer, as the Houston Texans continue
to roll. It was a little scary, but no matter

(52:13):
what how you look at it, the Texans get a
two point victory twenty three to twenty one over the Raiders.

Speaker 3 (52:21):
And let's just say who we got the.

Speaker 8 (52:24):
Dumb Yeah exactly, guys.

Speaker 6 (52:26):
I mean this is one of those tough games where
you're playing an opponent with a bad record, but they're
having a good day, right Gino Smith is back, They
feel good. Ashton Jenty is run of the daylights out
of the ball. I mean, all the running backs the
Texans have faced this year, Christian McCaffrey, Derek Henry, J K. Dobbins,
Jonathan Taylor, I mean, this guy was as tough as

(52:48):
any of them, maybe tougher he was having a game
of his rookie life, and I think the Texans had
something to do with that. I think it's human nature.
This is my theory that you might not be at
your sharpest when you just beat the Colts and the Chiefs,
and then you come home to play the Cardinals and
the Raiders and everyone's telling you, not that you're gonna win,
but how much you're gonna win by. And then this happens.

(53:11):
All of a sudden, you're in a fight. They're down
a point, but they got the job done. You know,
in years past they might have lost a game like this,
but they didn't. They've hung on, They won, and they
move on.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
One of the things that I thought was brilliant on
the Raiders part is they win against what they've done
all season in the running game. They've been giving the
ball to ashingenty in the stretch. I had him in
fantasy football. He failed every game this year. The most
points I think he ever score was like thirteen. And

(53:45):
for them to go into the system that he ran
in college where he got the ball basically.

Speaker 3 (53:52):
Running behind counter traps and.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
Zone reads, that's what he should have been doing the
whole year, this time against the Texans to throw a
wrinkle at him. I don't think it was just the Texans,
you know, letting down. I think it was the fact
that the Raiders used a different strategy than they normally
would have.

Speaker 6 (54:13):
Well, that's great, and the fact that you follow him
shows that you know, he's running downhill a lot, and
then he'll get met three yards deep and he'll take
guys another two three yards.

Speaker 8 (54:24):
He's like that, he's getting some yack. And I thought
the reception was.

Speaker 6 (54:28):
A brilliant play call, and obviously the long touchdown run mistackle,
but he made the most out of it, so you
got to give him a ton of credit. That's the
most rookie scrimmage yards for the Raiders since Bo Jackson.
I mean that's saying something right there. So maybe the
future is good for them. But their problems are their problems.

Speaker 8 (54:47):
We've got other problems with the Chargers.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
On Saturday, speaking of the Chargers, we're talking to Mark
vanderber the Boys of the Houston Texans. You can listen
to the games right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred Zone and always for on the iHeartRadio app. The
Chargers go into Dallas, win thirty four, to seventeen, their
winner of four straight. The Texans are a winner of

(55:11):
seventh straight. And now you get to face each other
this Saturday on the road going out to LA. What
is it that you see about the Chargers that keeps
you up at night?

Speaker 6 (55:24):
Justin Herbert running with the football, right, We all know
he can throw it, and the Texans had that great
playoff game against him last year where he came into
the game with three picks on the season and they
intercepted him four times in one afternoon. So that was
a glorious day for the Texans on wild card weekend
and the Chargers, I'm sure remember that. And now they
come to the table with the Marion Hampton, who's a

(55:47):
good rookie running back. But Herbert's ability to make plays
not just with his arm, but run the ball a
little bit more. I think it's been very effective. You
look at his game log. He didn't run it against Kansas,
but some of the other games. It's not a ton
of yards, but it's selective and effective, and you got
to be prepared for that.

Speaker 7 (56:07):
They will.

Speaker 6 (56:08):
I'm impressed with Herbert though, playing with an oven mit
on his left hand or whatever that thing is. What
is that one of those.

Speaker 8 (56:13):
Gloves they use in the deadliest catch.

Speaker 6 (56:15):
I don't know what it is, but he's got a
broken left hand and he's still slinging it, so you
got to give him a lot of credit.

Speaker 8 (56:21):
And they play defense.

Speaker 6 (56:22):
Look, this is a top five defense yardage wise and
top ten in points per game surrendered, So they can
d up and the Texans better play.

Speaker 8 (56:29):
Offense better than they did against the Raiders.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
Well, offense is finally starting to catch up to that defense,
which is nasty. And nobody wants to play the Texans
in the playoffs. Last thing you want is a strong
defensive team that can nullify your best players. Who do
you think that the Texans are. I don't know if

(56:54):
they're gonna be the number one, but what space do
you think that they'll be in the playoffs?

Speaker 6 (57:00):
All right, So Jacksonville's a game up on them in
the AFC South if the Jags lose to the Colts Sunday,
and that's a big hit because we all saw the
Colts last night. And you know who knows if Rivers
still plays. I think if the Texans beat the Chargers,
see that knocks out the Colts. Do they still play
Rivers anyway, because why not or why not sit them

(57:21):
and develop Riley Leonard through a couple of games. I
don't know how they're going to handle that. But the
Texans need help to win the division, and they got
to win out Now. Maybe the Titans can get the
Jags the last game of the season, but that's doubtful.
So Houston is likely a wild card team, and I
don't know. You know, there's so many different possibilities right now.
You know, we talk about it all the time.

Speaker 8 (57:41):
One place we do not want to go is Buffalo.

Speaker 6 (57:44):
Because you have to face Josh Allen in Buffalo. Everywhere
else I'll have to accept it.

Speaker 8 (57:49):
You know.

Speaker 7 (57:50):
If you go to Jacksonville and they're somehow a high seed,
and they probably will.

Speaker 6 (57:54):
Be, I'm up for that, you know. I think the
Jags are playing really well. They won six in a row,
they haven't lost since they lost to the Texans. But
it's Jacksonville, and I know Liam Coe's doing a backup job.
Lawrence is playing well, but something about playing that team
and your division on the road of the playoffs really
entices me. So that's my.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
Pick, especially because y'all knows so much of each other.
Over the years of being able to attack. I was
looking at ESPN's power rankings and they have, you guys,
the Houston Texans at number thirteen, behind the Steelers and
behind the Green Bay Packers.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
But when you start to look at the division.

Speaker 1 (58:33):
And you see what Jacksonville was able to do to
go out to Denver and get that win. As you mentioned,
Lawrence is playing elite football, which is going to be
the toughest out.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
Is it still Buffalo? Is it still? Is it going
to be Denver?

Speaker 1 (58:49):
How do you see this playing out in finishing out
the season.

Speaker 6 (58:55):
I think it's probably It's a great question. I think
Buffalo at home with Josh Shallon is a very difficult
team to beat because he can do so many things.
He's a superhero. He's like Deadpool.

Speaker 8 (59:06):
You know, he gets hurt.

Speaker 6 (59:07):
And he glows another body part in the tent. I
don't know what he's doing, but he's always out there.
He got banged up against Cleveland, and I know, yeah,
they had a rough time against Cleveland relatively, but a
lot of teams have they beat the Packers. How the
Packers ahead of the Os and the power rankings.

Speaker 8 (59:23):
Don't get me started, and don't get.

Speaker 6 (59:24):
Me started about teams that don't deserve to be ahead
of the Texans, like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Really, what have
they done other than have brand name recognition. But that's
what it is being the Houston Texans. Until you win
big games in the postseason, you're not going to get
that kind of respect. And they've only been to the
divisional round the Steelers haven't.

Speaker 8 (59:43):
The Texans have way more.

Speaker 6 (59:44):
Playoff wins than the Steelers in the last ten to
fifteen years, but they're not the Steelers, so that plays
into people's mindset. I think, sorry about that ramp, but
I had to do it.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
No, we appreciate anytime. Any time you do you brother,
get it off your Yes.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
The Texans will be taking on the LA Chargers in
LA on Saturday, right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred the Zone and you can hear it all with
the voice Mark Vandermeir doing his thing with our guy
Andre where Mark as always Merry Christmas. Hope you guys

(01:00:21):
enjoy some time, but most importantly go out to LA
and get that win.

Speaker 8 (01:00:26):
Thics, guys, Merry Christmas.

Speaker 6 (01:00:27):
It's the most wonderful time of the year. And that's
not just because of Christmas. It's football season. Down the stretch, baby,
let's have some fun.

Speaker 3 (01:00:35):
I love it, I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
There is the voice of the Houston Texans, Mark vandermir.
You can hear it all right here on sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred to Zone and always free on the
iHeartRadio app. 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 and free on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
You heard to be dropped. That can only mean one thing.
WWE Hall of Famer World's Strongest mande market.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
We'll be bringing you his world's strongest tape.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
Take it away, big fella hard You know what time
it is.

Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
We'll tell me if time for the World's Strongest tape
by the world's strongest man.

Speaker 3 (01:01:22):
My guess back then they didn't know. Now I'm hot,
they're all on me. Oh man, here we go, Heart.

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
We've talked about this and we're gonna enlighten the world.
We're gonna give them an update and a report on
the DK metcalf saga. I spoke about this yesterday and
this is a continuation of DK metcalfs the as the

(01:01:58):
World turns. DJ Metcalf is a wide receiver for the
Pittchburg Steelers. He's making thirty million dollars this year, a
lot of money, and now he's gonna be docked five

(01:02:19):
hundred and fifty thousand dollars the next two weeks, not
to mention it voids a forty million dollar future guaranteed
money insurance, on top of the fact.

Speaker 3 (01:02:37):
That another twenty.

Speaker 2 (01:02:40):
Million dollars in injury guarantees in the year of Our
Lord twenty twenty seven, all every every protection that he
could have had, he just voided guys million dollars in

(01:03:01):
salary guaranteed he voided. Now he has to earn the
forty million dollars he was gonna get a guaranteed but
not now. So basically sixty million dollars because in twenty
seven a guaranteed twenty million dollar insurance would have been

(01:03:21):
added to his deal, which he.

Speaker 3 (01:03:25):
Is gonna lose out on. Now.

Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
I've been in DJ metcalf spot. I had somebody antagonize
me and I lashed out. I was a young guy.
No excuses. I'm not making excuses I made I made
mistakes and DJ is done the same DK has. I'm

(01:03:54):
thinking about you. I know DK has done the same thing.
And let me let me tell you who this person
see DJ, DK is followed by this guy. This guy
has it out for DK. It's not the first time
that DK has had an altercation with this guy. But

(01:04:18):
he can't let this guy get in his head. He
should be focused on his game. He should be focused
on his teammate. He let his team down. The hell
with the money. Just disregard all of the money. He's
the best receiver on that team. And now he's not
gonna be playing these next two weeks and the Pittsburg

(01:04:42):
Steelers have to win these two games. He has let
his team down. He's gonna have to live with that
the rest of his career. He's I mean, he's still
gonna make thirty million dollars this year. It's not gonna
hurt him to lose another sixty million dollars over three years.

(01:05:03):
He don't care. I'm sure he don't care. Only us
people that's broke care. But hard you said you don't
feel sorry for him, that he needs to do a
better job of controlling himself. And a lot of the

(01:05:24):
other NFL guys have said the same thing, and I
just want to say, in my take is this, Yes,
you have to be a better man, but the law
has to do a better job of not allowing people
to bait you because they know they can't they will

(01:05:45):
be protected. If you're a grown man and you're antagonizing
another man to get him to snap, and you should
not be protected by the law.

Speaker 1 (01:05:57):
What say you, Okay, here's where here's where I am
with this DK metcalf deal. Number one, you shouldn't have
walked over there. Number two. If you know that you
have an issue, and as soon as that voice pops

(01:06:18):
in your head, you go get security and you say,
can you please remove this person out of the deal?
Number three? You know who this is. Why have you
not filed a restraining order on this person? There's ways
to prevent these things, and once that restraining order is violated,

(01:06:45):
all bets are off. All bets are off. But most importantly, man,
you are a professional athlete. You are making a ton
of money and you just jepp all of that by
letting someone break character in you. You know you said

(01:07:08):
in the beginning of that deal you were talking about
you got to do a better job of policing these things.
You do, you do, you don't, he does. There's a
problem that has been happening obviously that it provoked you enough.

Speaker 3 (01:07:30):
To go there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:32):
And you know the consequences of your actions are bigger
than that person in the in the bleachers. That guy
has nothing but wants to antagonize you as he physically
touched you, as he physically assaulted you.

Speaker 3 (01:07:51):
Man, we're past the age of this.

Speaker 2 (01:07:56):
Break the words and never heard me is a is
a nursery rhyme that's for children in the real world
with grown men and egos and pride.

Speaker 3 (01:08:05):
He called you by your name, Mark.

Speaker 1 (01:08:08):
He called you by your but I've given your parents
named you that you are arguing with a wall about
your name. And as Miss Becky just said, DK just
gave that dude more power by reacting to that I

(01:08:31):
heard you the other day. I'm not putting your business
in the streets. But we've had this conversation before. Why
are you swinging down at people by interacting with them
that have no bearing on anything about you?

Speaker 3 (01:08:42):
Nothing, Hey, stop.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
Zo bearing to anything that affects your life.

Speaker 2 (01:08:51):
Yet you take the image because it happened to me before.

Speaker 3 (01:08:57):
Before. But I didn't have the find out at your
means that you had. I was a minor league baseball
player and I tore.

Speaker 1 (01:09:03):
The whole bar up by somebody being an idiot. And
I've made sure that since then, I've tried my best
not to slap the fire out of people when they
make me mad. I've had to learn that. And and
I have nothing compared to what DK just gave up,
because he gave that person the power to ruin his life.

Speaker 3 (01:09:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:09:27):
Lot for somebody calling you by your name, Jerious, I
mean that's what your name is, bro, So why are
you upset about your not?

Speaker 2 (01:09:37):
I think it's the fact that man is messing with
him and he's tired of it. That's that's what it's
all about, Pride. I'm sure a lot of people about bride.

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
So did Ben Raims, And that's Jackie gonna feel a
sting exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:09:56):
Keep it moving. We're gonna close out the show and
send you to Damn Patrick. But first we just talked
about DK.

Speaker 1 (01:10:03):
I got to ask Mark about this NBA stuff that's
going on right here on the morning Kickoff on Sports
Radio and thirteen hundred to Zone and always free on
the iHeart Radio app.

Speaker 3 (01:10:13):
What a great, great week. Two days that we've had
of show.

Speaker 1 (01:10:18):
Two days, Yeah, two days this week, this is the
final show of the week. We're gonna take some time
off and go enjoy family, friends, and all those festivities
that go along with Christmas. Make sure if you want
to hear us, get over to the podcast page wherever

(01:10:38):
you get your podcasts, which is always free on the
iHeartRadio app. Tune in to it, go back and miss
up with listen to some of your favorite moments, some
of our favorite conversations. But of course stay tuned in
all day today so you can listen to the voice
of the Texas Longhorns, Craig Way, Jake Herman and Cam

(01:10:59):
Parker makes a parents every once in a while on
the shelf.

Speaker 3 (01:11:02):
So make sure you stay locked in as we do this. Marcus,
thank you for the Christmas music. That's my favorite Christmas
song mine, So that's the reason why I had to
get it in.

Speaker 1 (01:11:13):
Yeah, that's good stuff right there, good stuff right there,
minus the temptations.

Speaker 3 (01:11:16):
But that's cool with Billy Holliday, that's cool.

Speaker 1 (01:11:19):
I wanted to get in with this conversation because Mark,
you love NBA basketball, You like talking basketball, and as
we get ready to go to our Christmas break. There
was a lot that was going on last night. The
Warriors defeated the Magic one twenty to ninety seven, but
there was a huge altercation involving Draymond Green.

Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
I am shocked. You shocked, Yeah, Draymond Green.

Speaker 1 (01:11:47):
But the problem was it was with his coach, coach
Steve Kerr, and got to the point where Draymond excused
himself to the locker room in the third quarter, then
came back in the fourth quarter and Steve Kerr was asked,
was Draymond gonna go back in? He was like, no,
he was not going back in. He removed himself from

(01:12:08):
the bench and he came back. But at that point
we went and went with our guys and we end
up winning the game against a very talented Magic team.
Mind you, you also look across and you get a
chance to see the numbers that the thunder have put up.
They beat them Grizzlies last night one nineteen to one

(01:12:28):
O three Shay Gil Chris Alexander. Another thirty point performance
continues to make things happen. You saw the Nuggets defeat
the Jazz one thirty five to one twelve.

Speaker 3 (01:12:40):
Another triple double, Bob the Joker.

Speaker 1 (01:12:44):
But one of the stories that we have not talked
about and have not touched on is kan Konnipple. Conk
Nipple is the fastest player to one hundred three pointers
in a season and we're not even to the yet, right,
and he continues to shoot lights out? Could he be

(01:13:06):
the one that everybody talks about as the rookie of
the year over one Flag?

Speaker 3 (01:13:13):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 2 (01:13:14):
When I sent that to you today, I said, this
guy is bawling and I watched excuse me, I watched
him play last week and he had twenty points at
halftime and I'm like, wait a minute, twenty points a half,
and I didn't get to watch the whole game. He

(01:13:35):
ended up getting thirty two points that game, so he
tailed off in the second half. Is going twelve points
in the second half. But they won that game. It's
about winning the games. They're winning games.

Speaker 3 (01:13:49):
You know. So Cooper Flag is going to have to get.

Speaker 2 (01:13:51):
On his horse because there's a new sheriff in town
and his last name is Kannipple.

Speaker 3 (01:13:58):
Yeah, and he's been playing well.

Speaker 1 (01:13:59):
Guy from Duke who has done an unbelievable job, who
was a teammate of one uh Cooper flag and now
he is showing his way in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
Get a chance to watch him tonight. They play tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:14:13):
Washington Wizards take on the Charlotte Hornets at six o'clock tonight.
You also got OKC in the San Antonio Spurs. That
game tips off at seven thirty. That is a big
time matchup that I look forward to checking out as well.
And you finished the night on Peacock with the Houston

(01:14:34):
Rockets taking on the l A Clippers at nine third.

Speaker 3 (01:14:39):
I might I might miss that one. Yeah, they'll probably
be watching. Yeah, no, yeah, you gotta watch it. Man,
Why KD all those guys?

Speaker 1 (01:14:48):
But on Christmas Day, On Christmas Day, we start the
morning off eleven a m.

Speaker 3 (01:14:53):
You've got Cleveland at New York.

Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
That's the game. I think you're gonna I'm gonna be there. Yeah,
you're gonna be sure that they're gonna find you somewhere
in the crowd and have your face on TV.

Speaker 3 (01:15:03):
So we'll be looking forward for that. We're a more
the kickoff shirt.

Speaker 1 (01:15:09):
San Antonio will play at OKC on Christmas Day. That
tips off at one thirty. Then you have Dallas at
Golden State that's a big matchup, Houston Rockets at the
LA Lakers. So they just gonna be chilling in LA
for Christmas. And you finish it off with the nightcap
Minnesota at Denver. Big matchups for Christmas Day. Cannot wait.

(01:15:35):
We also got NFL action as the Cowboys will kick
off the Christmas Day festivities on Netflix. They will end
up taking on the Washington Commanders starting at noon on Thursday,
Detroit at Minnesota. Here we go again, these teams playing
on Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, and I'll be all

(01:15:56):
on Netflix and they finish out the night at Kansas City.
I'm sure they're very sad about that because not only
is Pat Mahomes out, Gardner Minshew is out in boat
with torn acls. Merry Christmas from the morning kickoff. Thank
y'all so much for the love and the seven continue

(01:16:17):
to show us every single morning as we bring you
infotainment for Marcus.

Speaker 3 (01:16:24):
I'm Harball Harts.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
Tune into the Craig wait Show this afternoon starting at
two o'clock right here on Sports Radio and thirteen hundred
cops on. Dad Patrick is up next, and just remember
those folks don't believe everything you see because even salt
looks like sugar.

Speaker 3 (01:16:39):
Peace,