July 22, 2023 • 14 mins
Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News gets us ready for Cowboys training camp and explains the differences between covering the NFL and the NBA.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You're listening to a Saturday Sports Worldwith Mark Style presented by Panini Training Cards
Incollectibles on your official home dwell DallasMavericks Games ninety seven one The Freak all
Right, Everybody, Segment number twoof Saturday Sports World, presented by my
(00:20):
good friends at Panini. Thank youto Tim Reynolds from the Associated Press.
That was a spirited recap of whatwe saw yesterday in Miami with Lionel Messi
making his MLS debut. And weare momentarily we're going to get to a
(00:45):
Cowboys training camp preview with my friendCalvin Watkins from the Dallas Morning News who'll
be covering the goings on in Oxnard. But first I do want to bring
up the stein Line text line onemore time. Only one text so far
today asking for Dallas MAVs News,which I kind of feel like trolling me
(01:07):
a little bit, because that's thekind of that's the kind of demand that
I get when I do my substack chats on Fridays, my subscriber only
chats. Where is the MAVs Newsif you want to text me two one
four seven eight seven nineteen seventy onetwo one four seven eight seven one nine
(01:29):
seven one. Of course the stationembedded in that text line send me a
text message. We'll get to someof those in the third segment. But
we have him now. We wereteammates at ESPN. He was a Houston
Rockets beat writer in those days.But you know him now as part of
(01:49):
the Dallas Morning News staff. Hecovers the Dallas Cowboys. He will be
at training camp. He will beout of this miserable North Texas heat and
just rubbing it in our faces whenhe's in Oxnard, where I'm guessing the
temperatures are a little friendlier. Let'sgo to him now, my pal,
(02:10):
Calvin Watkins. Mister Watkins, thanksa mill for joining us, my friend.
How are you good? You?You guys all right, We're good.
Not as good as you? Imean you uh, I mean just
going to Oxnard has to be invigorating, just to be in that in that
air. What what I've never beento Cowboys camp. Just atmosphere wise,
(02:34):
how how good is it? Ithink? Um, the atmosphere is great
because the weather is so beautiful inthat part of the country. And you
know the hotel, one of thehotels that the media says that it's right
on the beach. You know whata Cowboys practice is a golf course right
(02:54):
next next to it. Um,this is you know at night, you
got to wear a pull over becauseit's about fifty sixty degrees. It's rough.
Man, that's rough. It's rough. It's rough. It's rough out
there. So, uh, myson goes through. Uh he's playing basketball
Pasadena City College. And he calledme one day and you know, he
(03:19):
I guess we did. We dida FaceTime. He calls our look and
he's got like a palm tree inthe background. So he's never coming home.
I don't blame him. Didn't hejust but he just didn't he just
uh he just signed a playoffs?Where didn't he? God two sons,
my youngest son, Uh, hesigned a playt Whale and Baptist Nice and
Ai squawked and playing view. Theyhad two kids. Yeah, and your
(03:40):
oldest is staying at Pasadena SEC.Yeah, they stay to Pasadena. Yeah,
home of Brad Turner Los Angeles Times, the mayor of Pasadena. But
we'll get in there. We'll getinto that. We'll get into that another
day. What are what are theone or two main storylines for you going
into Cowboys camp. Uh. Thebiggest one to me is Mike McCarthy calling
(04:01):
the offensive plays. When he gotthe job, Kellen Moore was the play
caller, and he allowed Kelling tokeep that job. And then obviously after
this past season, might had seenenough and Kellen found a job calling the
offensive plays in LA for the Chargers. So now McCarthy's gonna call the plays
(04:21):
again. A lot of Packer fanswere very dissatisfied of how McCarthy called the
plays and if his tenure in GreenBay. So we'll see if anything will
change here. But that's the numberone storyline for me, is that this
now we have a new storyline.Zach Martin, thee All Pro Pro Bowl,
(04:45):
potential Hall of Fame right guard.We believe he's going to hold out.
He's thinking about it. He wantsa new contract. He's making fourteen
million dollars a year, the topguards at his position or at the twenty
million dollars range, So there's aseven million got a gap and he would
like to close on. So whetheror not he shows up to camp will
(05:06):
not be very interesting, and whetheror not the Cowboys give him a new
contract it's also going to be interestingbecause they've caved in the past two guys
that have held out. The mostlatest example was Zeke Elliott Back in twenty
nineteen. Dalton Schultz tried to pullthat same measure by a quote unquote not
showing up. Well, he didshow up to the offseason workouts, but
(05:29):
he didn't practice, and then hesought a new contract and the Cowboys and
not give him one. So,but Zach Martin might have a lot of
leverage here because, as I said, he's the all world offensive lind Name,
I've seen this team described as themost talented team in the DAK Era.
(05:49):
Accurate you agree with that? Isthis the best team they've had with
dak at the QB Holme? Well, he's got Well, it's interesting that
people would say that because when hefirst got the job from Tony Romo,
they had a pretty damn good season. I think they won thirteen games that
(06:11):
year. And you know, he'shad Amari Cooper on the team and he
doesn't have him now for the secondconsecutive year. I always think we in
the media and even fans overrate theCowboys talent, to be honest with you,
because they are the Cowboys and theCowboys don't get further than the second
round of the playoffs. So whatdoes that tell you about some of the
(06:31):
talent. I would think his rookieyear he had a lot of talented players
just based off the number of winsthey obtained. But going into this season,
I would say, yeah, he'sgot a lot of talented weapons.
You get Brandon Cooks here from thefrom Houston doing some speed a ceedee lamb.
Obviously he's gonna be the number oneguy for a second consecutive year.
(06:56):
Now you've lost Ezekiel Elliott, buthe was on the decline. The defensive
lines got some issues, as wementioned with the potential holdout of Zack Martin.
Defensively, they're fantastic, you know, I mean, they're great defensively,
But I'm gonna say that rookie yearfor Dak he had more talent just
because we kind of realized we didn'thave the thread of a holdout like we
(07:17):
do with the starting right guard,and we don't. And you know,
here's the thing. Dak is losinghis starting running back and Zeke Elliott.
Yes he was on the decline,but he's losing his starting running back and
the guy who is replacing him.Tony Poller's coming off surgery to his ankle,
so there's a lot of question marksthere with the offense and Mike McCarthy's
(07:39):
calling the play. So that alsoimpacts whether or not you know how to
utilize the talent. Calvin Watkins Cowboys, writer from the Dallas Morning News,
joining us here on Saturday Sports Worldpresented by Panini Trading Guards and Collectibles.
This morning, I actually read ourpal Tim Kollishaw's column kind of looking at
(08:00):
where Doc Prescott falls now, youknow, as as a thirty something,
and kind of what the outlook isfor him, how much pressure is on
the quarterback? And I mean,do you see this team as a Super
Bowl contender? I think so.Yeah, they are a contender the biggest
(08:22):
they're cryptonizers the forty nine ers andthe Niners have knocked him out of the
postseason in the last two years.They're just talented and more talent on the
forty nine ers, and they knowhow to utilize their talent. That's the
other key. But they are aSuper Bowl contender obviously. San Francisco Philadelphia
Cowboys, those are you know,those are the top three teams in the
(08:43):
conference. Whether or not, asI said, Dalston will come to San
Francisco remains to be seen. Theyplay them in a regular season, but
that doesn't really mean as much becauseyou got to see them in January.
As far as the pressure on Dact, there's always a lot of pressure on
him. This year, maybe alittle bit more because he see in a
new contract. You know, he'sgot this year and next year luck on
(09:03):
his deal. To remember Mark,he signed a four year extension a couple
of years ago at the richest contractwith franchise history, and as you know,
the price goes up because everybody elseis getting a new contract in his
position. So we're interesting to seehow much more money Dak Prescott can take
from Jerry Jones over the next coupleof years. And while people always want
(09:24):
to replace Dak, I always sayto them, who are going to replace
him with? And they go silent. You know, someone would take Cooper
Rush, but I would say he'snot on Dak's level. To me,
Dak's a top ten quarterback in thisleague and you're gonna have to pay him.
The pressure is going to be tremendousbecause if he doesn't succeed with Mike
McCarthy me and you might be talkingabout coaching change next winner. And just
(09:48):
for clarity, Dak Prescott's birthday isnext week. He will turn thirty next
Saturday, on Saturday on Saturday SportsWorld. In our last few minutes here,
I actually want to ask you moreof a personal slash technical question.
Please compare for me covering the NFLday to day to covering the NBA day
(10:09):
to day. I would say coveringthe NBA day to day is a lot
more fun because you have more ability. You have the ability to talk to
the players and the coaches is greaterbecause they're always playing games, and I
like covering games. The NFL isfun from a standpoint of if you have
(10:30):
one game a week and you're buildingup to something like a boxing actual building
up to a fight. So youbuild it up to this one game and
this game means everything, but asin the NBA game on November sixteenth might
not mean as much, you know, because you might see that team again
January third, you know. Sothe reality is I dislike the NBA because
it's more relaxed. You could talkto the guys more, you see them
(10:54):
more. It's a fun game.The NFL is a brutal game. It's
fun as well, but it's verybrutal because the wear and tear on your
body is just it's just it's acar wreck every night, every excuse me,
every week. It's a car wreck. NBA is not so much that,
But I would definitely say, uh, the NBA is a lot more
(11:16):
fun. NFL is very structured.I compare it to a nine to five
job. You know, it's verystructured. You know, a ton of
press conferences, No, what timepractices, no, a time the games
are. NBA is we're not doinga shoot around today. Oh okay,
you know that kind of thing.So it's it's a little bit looser,
but a lot more fun. Now. In your time in town, you've
(11:37):
obviously you've covered lots of MAVs andyou were a Rocket Spat writer in addition
to all of your NFL stints,and you're covering the Cowboys now. But
I think I think you, Ithink you have been around the NBA more
than enough for me to ask youthis question. Dallas, coming off the
rough season they had last year,the big changes they've made this summer,
(11:58):
Houston spending all kinds of cap spaceto bring in Fred Van Vleet and Dylan
Brooks, and they've revamped their team, and the Spurs winning the draft lottery
for the third time in franchise historyand get to bring in they get to
draft Victor Weiman Yama. In abouta minute, you tell me which of
those three teams next season is themost interesting to you? Which of the
(12:22):
three Texas teams will you find capturesyour attention the most. I'm not saying
it's because I'm here, but I'mgonna say to Mavericks because Lucas just this
sensational player as is Kyrie. Kyriecan be this you know what, I'm
taking a week off, So justthe drama around the potential Shenanigans of Kyrie
(12:46):
irving the talent of Luca and thisMaverick. He did not make the playoffs
last year with those two guys.Now they weren't around a lot after the
trade was made, but this willbe a tremendous amount of pressure on them
to to not so much get inthe playing game, but to become one
of the top six seeds. Ithink, because if you're in the playing
game, I'm like, man,that's like you didn't make the playoffs to
(13:09):
me, So I think the tome is the Mavericks will have more magic,
more attention. I love what they'regonna do in Houston because that's a
really young team and like you said, family is going to help them.
The Spurs of the Spurs, Victor'sgonna be fine, will pop down here.
But to me, as the Mavericks, that's the most intrigued. Well,
(13:31):
listen, I'm really glad you cameon because, as you know,
having worked closely with me, Ican barely spell NFL and I know where
I live. If I'm gonna havea radio show on the weekend and Cowboys
camp is starting, I probably needto mention the Cowboys and talk about them
at least a little bit. Sothank you for coming on here, educating
me, helping me through that.And we will all be highly jealous of
(13:54):
your temperature surroundings incoming days when youarrive in Oxnard. Well, I appreciate
you. Man, take it easy, let's talk soon. There he goes
next weekend, so you gotta talkabout that. Sounds good man, There
he goes. Everyone. My palCalvin Watkins from the Dallas Morning News,
Congratulations to both of the young menin the Watkins household playing college basketball.
(14:16):
Fantastic More. Saturday Sports World presentedby Panini is next. One more segment
to go here on ninety seven one, The Freak
You're listening to a Saturday Sports Worldwith Mark Style presented by Panini Training Cards
Incollectibles on your official home dwell DallasMavericks Games ninety seven one The Freak all
Right, Everybody, Segment number twoof Saturday Sports World, presented by my
(00:20):
good friends at Panini. Thank youto Tim Reynolds from the Associated Press.
That was a spirited recap of whatwe saw yesterday in Miami with Lionel Messi
making his MLS debut. And weare momentarily we're going to get to a
(00:45):
Cowboys training camp preview with my friendCalvin Watkins from the Dallas Morning News who'll
be covering the goings on in Oxnard. But first I do want to bring
up the stein Line text line onemore time. Only one text so far
today asking for Dallas MAVs News,which I kind of feel like trolling me
(01:07):
a little bit, because that's thekind of that's the kind of demand that
I get when I do my substack chats on Fridays, my subscriber only
chats. Where is the MAVs Newsif you want to text me two one
four seven eight seven nineteen seventy onetwo one four seven eight seven one nine
(01:29):
seven one. Of course the stationembedded in that text line send me a
text message. We'll get to someof those in the third segment. But
we have him now. We wereteammates at ESPN. He was a Houston
Rockets beat writer in those days.But you know him now as part of
(01:49):
the Dallas Morning News staff. Hecovers the Dallas Cowboys. He will be
at training camp. He will beout of this miserable North Texas heat and
just rubbing it in our faces whenhe's in Oxnard, where I'm guessing the
temperatures are a little friendlier. Let'sgo to him now, my pal,
(02:10):
Calvin Watkins. Mister Watkins, thanksa mill for joining us, my friend.
How are you good? You?You guys all right, We're good.
Not as good as you? Imean you uh, I mean just
going to Oxnard has to be invigorating, just to be in that in that
air. What what I've never beento Cowboys camp. Just atmosphere wise,
(02:34):
how how good is it? Ithink? Um, the atmosphere is great
because the weather is so beautiful inthat part of the country. And you
know the hotel, one of thehotels that the media says that it's right
on the beach. You know whata Cowboys practice is a golf course right
(02:54):
next next to it. Um,this is you know at night, you
got to wear a pull over becauseit's about fifty sixty degrees. It's rough.
Man, that's rough. It's rough. It's rough. It's rough out
there. So, uh, myson goes through. Uh he's playing basketball
Pasadena City College. And he calledme one day and you know, he
(03:19):
I guess we did. We dida FaceTime. He calls our look and
he's got like a palm tree inthe background. So he's never coming home.
I don't blame him. Didn't hejust but he just didn't he just
uh he just signed a playoffs?Where didn't he? God two sons,
my youngest son, Uh, hesigned a playt Whale and Baptist Nice and
Ai squawked and playing view. Theyhad two kids. Yeah, and your
(03:40):
oldest is staying at Pasadena SEC.Yeah, they stay to Pasadena. Yeah,
home of Brad Turner Los Angeles Times, the mayor of Pasadena. But
we'll get in there. We'll getinto that. We'll get into that another
day. What are what are theone or two main storylines for you going
into Cowboys camp. Uh. Thebiggest one to me is Mike McCarthy calling
(04:01):
the offensive plays. When he gotthe job, Kellen Moore was the play
caller, and he allowed Kelling tokeep that job. And then obviously after
this past season, might had seenenough and Kellen found a job calling the
offensive plays in LA for the Chargers. So now McCarthy's gonna call the plays
(04:21):
again. A lot of Packer fanswere very dissatisfied of how McCarthy called the
plays and if his tenure in GreenBay. So we'll see if anything will
change here. But that's the numberone storyline for me, is that this
now we have a new storyline.Zach Martin, thee All Pro Pro Bowl,
(04:45):
potential Hall of Fame right guard.We believe he's going to hold out.
He's thinking about it. He wantsa new contract. He's making fourteen
million dollars a year, the topguards at his position or at the twenty
million dollars range, So there's aseven million got a gap and he would
like to close on. So whetheror not he shows up to camp will
(05:06):
not be very interesting, and whetheror not the Cowboys give him a new
contract it's also going to be interestingbecause they've caved in the past two guys
that have held out. The mostlatest example was Zeke Elliott Back in twenty
nineteen. Dalton Schultz tried to pullthat same measure by a quote unquote not
showing up. Well, he didshow up to the offseason workouts, but
(05:29):
he didn't practice, and then hesought a new contract and the Cowboys and
not give him one. So,but Zach Martin might have a lot of
leverage here because, as I said, he's the all world offensive lind Name,
I've seen this team described as themost talented team in the DAK Era.
(05:49):
Accurate you agree with that? Isthis the best team they've had with
dak at the QB Holme? Well, he's got Well, it's interesting that
people would say that because when hefirst got the job from Tony Romo,
they had a pretty damn good season. I think they won thirteen games that
(06:11):
year. And you know, he'shad Amari Cooper on the team and he
doesn't have him now for the secondconsecutive year. I always think we in
the media and even fans overrate theCowboys talent, to be honest with you,
because they are the Cowboys and theCowboys don't get further than the second
round of the playoffs. So whatdoes that tell you about some of the
(06:31):
talent. I would think his rookieyear he had a lot of talented players
just based off the number of winsthey obtained. But going into this season,
I would say, yeah, he'sgot a lot of talented weapons.
You get Brandon Cooks here from thefrom Houston doing some speed a ceedee lamb.
Obviously he's gonna be the number oneguy for a second consecutive year.
(06:56):
Now you've lost Ezekiel Elliott, buthe was on the decline. The defensive
lines got some issues, as wementioned with the potential holdout of Zack Martin.
Defensively, they're fantastic, you know, I mean, they're great defensively,
But I'm gonna say that rookie yearfor Dak he had more talent just
because we kind of realized we didn'thave the thread of a holdout like we
(07:17):
do with the starting right guard,and we don't. And you know,
here's the thing. Dak is losinghis starting running back and Zeke Elliott.
Yes he was on the decline,but he's losing his starting running back and
the guy who is replacing him.Tony Poller's coming off surgery to his ankle,
so there's a lot of question marksthere with the offense and Mike McCarthy's
(07:39):
calling the play. So that alsoimpacts whether or not you know how to
utilize the talent. Calvin Watkins Cowboys, writer from the Dallas Morning News,
joining us here on Saturday Sports Worldpresented by Panini Trading Guards and Collectibles.
This morning, I actually read ourpal Tim Kollishaw's column kind of looking at
(08:00):
where Doc Prescott falls now, youknow, as as a thirty something,
and kind of what the outlook isfor him, how much pressure is on
the quarterback? And I mean,do you see this team as a Super
Bowl contender? I think so.Yeah, they are a contender the biggest
(08:22):
they're cryptonizers the forty nine ers andthe Niners have knocked him out of the
postseason in the last two years.They're just talented and more talent on the
forty nine ers, and they knowhow to utilize their talent. That's the
other key. But they are aSuper Bowl contender obviously. San Francisco Philadelphia
Cowboys, those are you know,those are the top three teams in the
(08:43):
conference. Whether or not, asI said, Dalston will come to San
Francisco remains to be seen. Theyplay them in a regular season, but
that doesn't really mean as much becauseyou got to see them in January.
As far as the pressure on Dact, there's always a lot of pressure on
him. This year, maybe alittle bit more because he see in a
new contract. You know, he'sgot this year and next year luck on
(09:03):
his deal. To remember Mark,he signed a four year extension a couple
of years ago at the richest contractwith franchise history, and as you know,
the price goes up because everybody elseis getting a new contract in his
position. So we're interesting to seehow much more money Dak Prescott can take
from Jerry Jones over the next coupleof years. And while people always want
(09:24):
to replace Dak, I always sayto them, who are going to replace
him with? And they go silent. You know, someone would take Cooper
Rush, but I would say he'snot on Dak's level. To me,
Dak's a top ten quarterback in thisleague and you're gonna have to pay him.
The pressure is going to be tremendousbecause if he doesn't succeed with Mike
McCarthy me and you might be talkingabout coaching change next winner. And just
(09:48):
for clarity, Dak Prescott's birthday isnext week. He will turn thirty next
Saturday, on Saturday on Saturday SportsWorld. In our last few minutes here,
I actually want to ask you moreof a personal slash technical question.
Please compare for me covering the NFLday to day to covering the NBA day
(10:09):
to day. I would say coveringthe NBA day to day is a lot
more fun because you have more ability. You have the ability to talk to
the players and the coaches is greaterbecause they're always playing games, and I
like covering games. The NFL isfun from a standpoint of if you have
(10:30):
one game a week and you're buildingup to something like a boxing actual building
up to a fight. So youbuild it up to this one game and
this game means everything, but asin the NBA game on November sixteenth might
not mean as much, you know, because you might see that team again
January third, you know. Sothe reality is I dislike the NBA because
it's more relaxed. You could talkto the guys more, you see them
(10:54):
more. It's a fun game.The NFL is a brutal game. It's
fun as well, but it's verybrutal because the wear and tear on your
body is just it's just it's acar wreck every night, every excuse me,
every week. It's a car wreck. NBA is not so much that,
But I would definitely say, uh, the NBA is a lot more
(11:16):
fun. NFL is very structured.I compare it to a nine to five
job. You know, it's verystructured. You know, a ton of
press conferences, No, what timepractices, no, a time the games
are. NBA is we're not doinga shoot around today. Oh okay,
you know that kind of thing.So it's it's a little bit looser,
but a lot more fun. Now. In your time in town, you've
(11:37):
obviously you've covered lots of MAVs andyou were a Rocket Spat writer in addition
to all of your NFL stints,and you're covering the Cowboys now. But
I think I think you, Ithink you have been around the NBA more
than enough for me to ask youthis question. Dallas, coming off the
rough season they had last year,the big changes they've made this summer,
(11:58):
Houston spending all kinds of cap spaceto bring in Fred Van Vleet and Dylan
Brooks, and they've revamped their team, and the Spurs winning the draft lottery
for the third time in franchise historyand get to bring in they get to
draft Victor Weiman Yama. In abouta minute, you tell me which of
those three teams next season is themost interesting to you? Which of the
(12:22):
three Texas teams will you find capturesyour attention the most. I'm not saying
it's because I'm here, but I'mgonna say to Mavericks because Lucas just this
sensational player as is Kyrie. Kyriecan be this you know what, I'm
taking a week off, So justthe drama around the potential Shenanigans of Kyrie
(12:46):
irving the talent of Luca and thisMaverick. He did not make the playoffs
last year with those two guys.Now they weren't around a lot after the
trade was made, but this willbe a tremendous amount of pressure on them
to to not so much get inthe playing game, but to become one
of the top six seeds. Ithink, because if you're in the playing
game, I'm like, man,that's like you didn't make the playoffs to
(13:09):
me, So I think the tome is the Mavericks will have more magic,
more attention. I love what they'regonna do in Houston because that's a
really young team and like you said, family is going to help them.
The Spurs of the Spurs, Victor'sgonna be fine, will pop down here.
But to me, as the Mavericks, that's the most intrigued. Well,
(13:31):
listen, I'm really glad you cameon because, as you know,
having worked closely with me, Ican barely spell NFL and I know where
I live. If I'm gonna havea radio show on the weekend and Cowboys
camp is starting, I probably needto mention the Cowboys and talk about them
at least a little bit. Sothank you for coming on here, educating
me, helping me through that.And we will all be highly jealous of
(13:54):
your temperature surroundings incoming days when youarrive in Oxnard. Well, I appreciate
you. Man, take it easy, let's talk soon. There he goes
next weekend, so you gotta talkabout that. Sounds good man, There
he goes. Everyone. My palCalvin Watkins from the Dallas Morning News,
Congratulations to both of the young menin the Watkins household playing college basketball.
(14:16):
Fantastic More. Saturday Sports World presentedby Panini is next. One more segment
to go here on ninety seven one, The Freak
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