WCS in for #92Noon! 11am Hour 6/21 Tom Schreier

Max finishes the show with Zone Coverage’s Tom Schreier as they talk Twins Vikings and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
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(00:45):
This has pumped the brakes for asecond. Okay, ask me.
I might. I'll probably let youdo it, but I don't know where
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Company. It should be a lotof fun. Twins games have been a

(01:07):
lot of fun lately. They werehotter than fish grease over the last couple
of weeks, winning six in arow prior to taking these back to back
losses to the Rays, including lastnight when they came up short in an
extra innings. Twins have a primeopportunity to get back on track today when
they open up a three game roadtrip in Oakland or wherever the hell the
A's play now, I don't know, probably like some random holiday inn parking

(01:30):
lot. I don't even know wherethe A's play anymore. Who knows?
But I'm not sure the A's playerseven though. But maybe our next guest
does, because he's forgotten more aboutbaseball than any of us have ever known.
Thomas Schreyer of Zone coverage dot com, noted baseball expert, noted hardcore
gangster rap enthusday. That's right,that's right, damn straight. Yeah,
you wanted to open the show withthe freestyle. I was like, dude,

(01:51):
we don't got enough bleach for that. Man, Like you're just you're
dropping so many cars. We don'tgot enough bleach for that. We're gonna
have to save that for another day. He's here in studio with us,
Tom. Where the hell do theA's play these days? And they're still
in Oakland right for right now,still in Oakland. It's a decrepit arena.
It's terrible. I think it wasat one time a decent baseball stadium

(02:12):
and then they kind of transported footballand ruined it for both teams. You
know, they are they are tryingto make a move to Vegas. I
don't understand moving out of the BayArea obviously to go into Vegas, which
you know, world are nown city, but small market compared to the Bay
Area. They have diehard fans therein the A's. This is a little
bit for people who watched Major LeagueA little like that, you know honestly,

(02:34):
where like, yeah, they hatethe owner, they don't they don't
understand why they move those teams nowtIt's a diehard fan base. I mean,
if you are committed to the A'sand I know they've had past success,
but when you have the Giants rightWorld Championships recently, really nice stadium,
you have to die diehard fans.It's also just a chanky place to
play. There's a little bit Tampais actually like that, the Tampa Park

(02:55):
where their dimensions are weird, andit's again it's not fully built for baseball,
but it is. This is stilland we talked about this last time.
They're still in that stretch where theyshould be winning games. And obviously
this is why the disappointment with losingthe two to Tampa, even though it's
close. You know, you're tryingto make up ground obviously on Cleveland,
and to to have to have thesegames against Oakland still an opportunity go there

(03:17):
and win, and again it's gonnabe kind of an empty ballpark and you
kind of like, why are theirmajor league games? Yeah, it's and
it just sucks for the people inBay Area, man. And they once
it was kind of the randomest placethat had a bunch of teams of all
the cities that do have a bunchof teams. But the Warriors left.
Now the Raiders left, and theydon't even they don't even freaking got the
A's anymore. And obviously we knowthe A's now is you know, one

(03:38):
of the boy the consistent bottom feedersof the LB. But they're a storied,
historic franchise would be my favorite playerever Ricky Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, Like I mean, andthey the thing is, they may
go back. So I think they'regoing to Sacramento first, right, technically
I guess kind of the area.And then I don't think. I think
the people in Vegas were like,I don't think you really have a plan,

(03:59):
you know what I mean. AndI think might have been like,
hey, they put up a hockeyarena, but that you know, those
are multipurpose serrenas. You could putthe basketball team there and whatnot, have
concerts. You know, they werefirst in had a lot of success,
and obviously that's why there's interest theRaiders make some sense, and that they're
a global brand, right, Ithink the Raiders are the Raiders no matter
where they are La, Oakland nownow Vegas, Uh, you know,
I mean especially there. I assumethat's an indoor arena because of the temperatures

(04:21):
in Vegas, right, And andthere may be a situation where they come
back and go, hey, Oakland, what about we build a new arena,
you know what I mean? Andso, uh, they had their
own problems. I think when you'replaying a team like that, take advantage
of that. I think they youknow, I mean, I guess the
Twins went through that long time agowith the Metro Dome and all this stuff
before they build Target Field. Butbut yeah, I mean, I you

(04:44):
know, for the Twins, Iguess you have to go into this this
arena and they have to you know, kind of block out what's around you,
right, and go pick up somewins. Because as much as you
know, they had been saying this, like, hey, these were close
games against Tampa, I think Tampa'salso a reminder the Alias is good even
though the fourth best team, right, Like, yeah, they're always competitive
those teams in there, and youknow, and ultimately, you can't beat
yourself up too much un those twogames. But these are just missed opportunities.

(05:09):
I think we said it last timewith Colorado. You got to use
this time to make up ground becausethey have not beaten the best teams in
Major League Baseball, right, theYankees, Cleveland, Baltimore, Right,
And I think you know, ultimatelythey'll probably have to do some stuff at
the trade deadline to give themselves aboost. But give yourself, put yourself
in that position, right, makepeople care about the Twins competing against Cleveland
as we get down the stretch,your best chance to win a division,

(05:30):
trying to have some home games inplayoffs. Yeah, you don't want to
deal with the wild card mess andall that type of stuff. Just try
to get in how you ever canget And you mentioned the MLB trade deadline
is about a month away. Ithink it's July thirtieth. I believe obviously
a lot can change in a month'stime. But do you see the Twins
going out and being buyers and makingany big moves out of the trade deadline?
I know that's not usually their bit, much the consternation of everyone in

(05:51):
the Twin Cities, but yeah,do you see them being buyers at the
trade dot? I do? Imean they were aggressive with the Molly and
Lopez trades. This was two yearsago, really weird trades where it wasn't
just us here that you know nationallypeople really like those trades did not work
out, and all of a sudden, you have prospects and other organizations.
I mean, part of why Baltimorewas succeeding is because some of the trade

(06:12):
they have a million prospects. Andthat's the thing is I think you don't
want to be in a situation.There were people asking about Royce Lewis,
Right, you don't want to tradehim for I think Cyinderguard. They wanted
him for Cinderguard, they wanted himfor Strowman. I understand at the time
there's demand for pitching, and RoyceLewis was injured. But we see now
when he breaks the ribbons, Imean that's crazy, right, He hits
it, hits it off the ribbondisplay they had. They had to tell
him that you don't have to payfor it. But you think kind of

(06:35):
the leader he is, how clutchhe is, the guy who can go
in the Yankee stadium isn't phased byit, Right, that's the guy you
want on the team. You gottabe careful with that. And you know
some of these guys brooks Lea,they'll go to right away. I don't
give up on Julian, don't giveup on Walnut. But at some point,
because you have the glut of theseguys, use those to go get
the pitcher you need. Right.I think low Pez will come back and
be better. Joe Ryan's pitching really, really well, but I you need

(06:57):
a third guy practically obviously for theplayoffs, but also so we know pitchers
get injured, we know how theycontrol the game. I also think when
you look at the topsy turvy season, part of that is a good pitching
can actually keep those games close andyou might even in an offensive lall be
able to win games. Right,So that's vital, and I think you
can't at some point you only haveso many major league roster spots. They
have to decipher who can we moveon to and who do we have the

(07:18):
replacement for, and understanding there's deathone step below, who aren't on the
cuss of the majors, who canstep in eventually, right, So I
think this is a time, giventhey have the prospects, go get that
and then inevitly they will trade.And I think you usually trade for two
relievers because going back you could getaround when you could get a Diyson,
right, you might get a guywho's a dud. You want to make
sure you at least get one guyat the deadline who can step in fletch

(07:39):
out the bollmen. Yeah, AndI think coming into the season, we
pitching was one of the things obviouslyfans had a little bit of anxiety about,
but we thought at least whoa,well we got Pablo, Yeah,
Pablos our ace. But lately,I mean he even called it this has
been he said that this has beenthe roughest stretch of his career. He's
given up a league worse sixteen homeruns in eighty innings and has the highest

(08:01):
e RA on the team at fivepoint sixty three. What. What's what's
going on with Pablo Lopez? Youjust said you believe that he'll bounce back,
But what's what's happening with them rightnow? Yeah? I mean I
think it's a little bit. Hehas a pitch for each side right left,
you, righty, and I thinkwhen he when was when isn't working,
he goes away from it. That'swhat you're supposed to do. If
you have a sweeper that's hanging up, you can't keep throwing it. It's
exactly right. But I think,uh, he will just abandon that.

(08:22):
Guys will pick up on that,and it becomes a little bit easier right
to decide for what's coming at you. I think part of it is kind
of what happened nice year. Ithink we talked about this last time,
that there was eventually the peryphyl numberswill say he will actually get better.
See all these like expected numbers areway below like his actual number. Yeah.
I always use fielding independent pitching,which is just how well is he

(08:43):
pitching, regardless of the defense behindhim. Some people use bad bit its
batting average on balls and play.When a guy so many different I know,
and to be fair, now he'sinto this stuff. He's really smart.
He I think it was like amed student, or would have been
a med student. So he playedbass. I mean what I said with
a doctor, I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, And he can
tell I've actually talked to him.I was like, hey, if you're
a football player, you'd actually bein a classroom. That's how those guys

(09:03):
right study film and right that inbaseball you're literally just talking a catcher and
like a pitching coach, but incrediblyintelligent. He'll go through this numbers,
a guy like Chris Paddock. Hewas like, what's FIP And I was
like, here's the thing. Idon't think you need to know what that
is. It only helps you ifit gives you context. Why I'm using
it is. I'm seeing these peripheralnumbers and going I think he is pitching
a little better than his raw erawould tell you. Right, having said

(09:26):
that he needs to have all thesepitches going. His thing is he's probably
not overpowering you. I think hethrows about ninety five, but he's not
overpowering you right with his fastball.It is you need to guess what's coming,
and that's very difficult for all butthe best hitters. Right. And
I think luckily he has the mindsetbecause he's a veteran, and I think
he's a relatively calm person because hehas all this context that he is not

(09:46):
going to go get overwhelmed by rawresults. Having said that, you need
to go deliver. Right, wehave Pablo data. We've seen him in
Houston, Right, Yeah, pitchlike an ace. The problem is when
when the Twins traded for him,it was are you getting kind of a
two or three and to give upa rise to everyone loved and hits four
hundred? Right. I think he'sovercome that a little bit. But can
he be more than just kind ofa guy at the top of the rotation.

(10:07):
There's probably only ten twelve true acesin MLB, right, everyone technically
has one, but it's just theirbest picture. Is he the Twins best
picture. Can he be the Twinsbest picture, which is a question with
Joe Ryan right now? Beyond that, could he be an ACE caliber pitcher
you can trust in the playoffs again? So again, long season, you
may get it going again, butyou don't want this to be the trend.
You don't want the trend to be, Hey, he's not good in

(10:28):
the beginning of the season, Like, that's just not acceptable, right,
And he wouldn't accept that either.But yeah, I think you know that's
the next step for him is justget to that place you were. He's
working towards that. It is discouragingwith the results he's had, though,
Yeah, no, And it's interestingto read that because everything else I'm reading
is saying just in general, andobviously every individual has their own struggles and
stuff, but across the board inthe MLB, offense is way way way

(10:52):
down this season. They said,if it continues the pace right now,
it's the fewest homer since twenty fifteen. He was hits per game in a
full season since nineteen sixty eight.I mean, that's not Martin Luther King
Junior was a lot. I don'teven know how many brothers were playing ball
at nine six sixty eight. That'snothing the lower and if it continues,

(11:13):
the lowest batting average on balls inplay since nineteen ninety two, what do
you think is is it because ofjust top tier pitching? Is what?
What do you think is going intothese this offensive slow kind of around the
league? Yeah, I mean Ithink people are doing what the Twins are
doing where they have the track Mandevice, it says this, so many
rotations you have, this is thepitch shape. They're getting more precise in
terms of what they throw. Right, Guys are throwing harder. I mean

(11:35):
that's biomechanics. That's just using yourbody right and your big muscles to generate
velocity. What I'm trying to lookinto And it's hard because like no one
really wants to admitting to this stuff, but some of it is literally the
ball right in twenty nineteen they saidit was juice. That just means the
laces were lower, and I thinkit was harder to grip. Guys were
getting blisters because they couldn't hold ontothe ball. The pitchers and I think

(11:56):
who knows, again, I don'tknow the conspiracy if the league was trying
to choose home runs or whatever.Yeah, regardless of what it is.
The league found out people actually likeballs and play. They don't like it
where it's just strike out, walkhome run, and they want home run
to be a big event. Listen. It's why we love Royce Lewis is
because he's doing something that's rare veryoften, right, yeah, right,
and for him, I mean again, with that ball that looked like the

(12:16):
game winner. Everyone right thought thatwas out. If you actually looked at
the trajectory of the ball, therewasn't. He admitted off the bat it
was not going to go out.But we think Royce Lewis, we think
I'm run. Almost anyone else yougo, hey, they're having trouble.
And I don't know, they havehad some hard hit balls. Sometimes it's
right out of field or some Idon't know what it is, but I
do think the league has figured outyou actually want you want bass runners,

(12:37):
right, you want balls and play, You want to see great defensive play.
You want the home run to bea special event. And I don't
know if they try to kind ofcurtail that right and bring that back or
it's just a matter of and Ithink it might be a balance of both.
There are just there are experts now, right. The Twins have a
guy like this who literally say thisis how you should throw a baseball.
I know it sounds dumb, butit's this is how you avoid injuries,
this is how you increase velocity,and it can happen in a season.

(12:58):
Chris Paddock was throwing eighty nine.A couple of starts ago, right,
goes to Cole Sand's reliever. He'slike, Sands, goes, I think
you're throwing off your toe. You'reactivating like your quad or something like that,
not your glute. You want touse the big glute. You want
to use the big muscle, right, right, And all of a sudden
he's thrown ninety seven. And yousee this with Simmon and this, and
again he's capable of doing that,right, he just wasn't doing it.

(13:18):
They are making adjustments on the fivestart to start. Simon Wo's Richardson again.
Why he's pitching so well. Heincreases VOSSI from like ninety to ninety
seven. I mean obviously that samething with Joe. Ryan throws incredibly precisely
right and he's up. He wassitting eighty nine to ninety one. The
reason why the Rays gave up onhim. They took Nelson Cruise, aging
Nelson Cruz in a trade for JoeRyan. Right. It was because he
was throwing something like sixty percent fastballs. And if you're throwing that at ninety

(13:41):
miles pour, they're going, yeah, that might work in Triple A.
Even with how precise you are,the big leagues are going to tee off
on that. And he has remainedprecise in his command. He's thrown ninety
five, He's switched his pitch mix, and that's why Joe Ryan is Joe
Ryan. So it's just I thinkthe technology so much better, communications better.
I just think you have different experts. It is not just next pitcher.
Those guys can help you mentally.This is where I was was when

(14:01):
I was a player. This ishow you get through this. You also
need someone with the degree to go, hey, dude, like throw the
ball this way and you'll throw ninetyseven. They're not kind to touch it.
Right. So I think that stuff'sfascinating. Those stats is getting bigger,
more specialized. It's one of thosethings we just can be so much
more precise and adjust so much quickerin Major League Baseball. And speaking of
pitching, I got to ask youbecause you cover the Twins beautifully, you

(14:22):
cover the Vikings beautifully. Obviously thiswas gonna come up J McCarthy first pitch.
I mean, can we get oneof those pitzy export guys. Hey
work with my guys. Jay's nexttime he's out on the mound. I
mean him and Dallas Turner both kindof threw some duns out there. Yes,
yes, that's right. And DallasTurner you go whatever he listen,
he just has to get after thequarterback. Right with McCarthy, the surprises

(14:43):
A Usually these guys are multi sportathletes. I don't know if McCarthy played
baseball at a high level, right, but he does throw a ball for
a living, right, And Ithink you know, in the abstract,
I don't think this reflects his accuracyA right, nothing to do with him
on the football, right, it'sjust a time. I'm gonna here's the
thing. You need to watch thatvideo if you haven't seen it, and
laugh at it because it's hilarious.It's an objectly hilarious thing that happened.

(15:07):
But I do I mean, inall seriousness, Alex Lewis, so I
know people are familiar with here.He did a story on how they're actually
working on quarterbacks on throwing motion becauseironically, as much as baseball did it
out of necessity, right, becauseguys were getting hurt and you invest all
this money in the pitchers and youhave to keep them healthy, they're looking
at quarterbacks and going, well,you're gonna be better if you throw more
accurately, right, And they're usingpeople from the baseball side and saying you

(15:31):
should improve your throwing motion. Right. Again, I don't know what to
make of McCarthy other than I'm actuallyshocked. Dallas Turner, you can tell
me whatever you can throw backwards,I don't care. You're just trying to
pick off someone at second. ButI think with McCarthy, I just don't
know. And again, I justdon't understand if there's something with the mound
or it's just he was nervous orwhatever. But you think of him,
he actually reminds me mentally of kindof Royce Lewis, Like he has that

(15:52):
moxie. He's been a winner atevery level. He doesn't seem like someone
who be phased about like throwing afirst pitch right, And maybe it's just
again, he hasn't been on amill. Maybe it's a small baseball.
I mean, like I said,you can't do this in Minnesota. You're
gonna have to say panics, right. Our two biggest insecurities Fritz Betsy and

(16:12):
Vikings cornerback is he did it bothboth at the same time. So yes,
McCarthy, you should have practiced alittle bit. You gotta talk to
me about this, talk to expertsif you can go out there and otherwise
you're in siting panic. Man,Well, I want to talk to you
about JJ McCarthy had much more Vikingsaround the corner. This is Thomas Schreier
of Zone coverage dot Com. Acouple more segments of nine to him to
go, man, nothing defines Minnesotaquite like it's ten thousand lakes and we

(16:40):
need help to keep them beautiful.Post on social media using the hashtag choose
chill to course like Cafe and ConservationsMinnesota protect the lakes, rivers and waters
we love, use the hashtag choosechill. Max s Fuller here filling in
for nine to now. Normally thisis the a football beee to a PA

(17:03):
and charts, and we haven't eventouched on the purple yet. So we
decided to have Tom's Try or Hangoutfor another segment. He not only covers
the Twins Prazona coverage Dot Company coversthe Vikings as well. He just had
a very eloquent breakdown of the JJMcCarthy for opening pitch the other night.
And speaking of JJ McCarthy, prettymuch all the reports are unanimous from various

(17:26):
sources that he's not going to theVikings, are not viewing him as a
as a week one starter. He'snot necessarily ready to be a week one
starter. And I even saw themost recent one. So there's less than
ten percent chance of JJ starting overSam Darnold, and you go to the
mini camps you go to and yougo to trading camp and training camp start
year and just like a little overa month or under a month, I
should say, is that kind ofwhat you you're you know, your summation

(17:49):
of it as well. I thinkthat was the expectation going in. I
mean, obviously the option to tradeup and draft someone as a little older
I think like Pennix was like twentyfive JJ McCarthy. I think they want
a guy that can mold right,someone with the mindset of a winner,
someone who must have enough technical ability. We didn't see a lot of it,
right because it was a running offensewith Michigan, but they must believe
in his technical ability to deliver.I also think, you know, O'Connell

(18:12):
is maybe a realist in some waysthat that not a ton of teams actually
have the quarterback that drives winning.Obviously those are the championship caliber teams,
but those are really rare players.Hopefully McCarthy is that. But we know
he he really liked Kirk Cousins,and we knew Cousins rep right going in
where it was five hundred quarterback,fourth round pick drafted, be a backup,

(18:33):
all that stuff, and he embracedhim, I think because he does
everything right. And I think that'swhat he's trying to get McCarthy to do.
Drop back five yards. If Itell you five yards, look at
your reads and the way you youknow you're supposed to do that, Understand
the offense inside and out. That'svery complicated that even a veteran like Cousins.
Actually, I think Darnold, right, who's twenty seven veterans having some
trouble picking up and so that youknow that leads to longer incubation period.

(18:55):
But you know, mcarthy's younger,twenty one. I also just look at
it. The first part of theschedule is very difficult, right New York,
San Francisco, Houston, Green Bay, and then the Jets in London,
which this is a really difficult,difficult game going into buy and I
think Donald's job is take us throughthat, right, keep the Vikings relevant,
keep people talking about the Vikings,kind of keep that hope alive going
into bye week, and then hopefullyin the two games coming out Detroit,

(19:18):
Los Angeles. From there, ifpeople are kind of in the back of
their mind going where could you seeMcCarthy, it could be against Inneapolis,
Jacksonville, Tennessee. Depends on howgood Chicago's but Chicago, Arizona. I
love to Chicago. Right. That'sthat that middle part of the of the
schedule. I don't think that meanshe will start there. And you start
to see reports that they are comfortablewith Donald. They're talking of Donald.
By the way, I think Donaldcould be a very likable figure here because

(19:41):
you look at his situations and yougo, well, who's going to succeed
with the Jets. The Jets arealready having problems, and they signed to
Aaron Rodgers and they have this greatdefense, right, all this infrastructure.
Supposedly they're already having problems. Thatis the Jets. They are just kind
of they always have a problem.And I think, you know, he
starts there in the Carolina situation.As much as he should have competed for

(20:02):
a starting job there, I guessthey were never fully committed to him.
I don't know why they would be, but it was the Matt rule.
It was kind of this this clusterof an organization. We've seen what's happened
to him since. Yeah, right, and so I think, and I
you know, football is a littlebit I think any sport nature versus nurture.
Right, the Vikings are saying,we're taking care of the nurture,
right, justin Jefferson, Right,Addison looks pretty good. T J.
Hogginson and when he comes back,finally have some connuity against the offensive line.

(20:26):
Also, here's the thing, andBrian Florest has to be pumped.
They went and got talent, right, trading up for Dallaster. I love
it. I know they don't haveany draft picks in the coming year,
but like, yeah, Dallas Turner, Atlanta should have taken him probably eighth
right, and they go, yeah, we got him at you know,
seventeen or what it was. Thatis a talented dude. I think he
can step in and make an impact. That dude looks like a raw athlete.
I think he's that he'll figure outthe defense. And the other thing

(20:48):
is it's different, right o'connells isa system. Flores goes, who's my
guys? How do I use him? Right? That's why tell us you
know it succeeds here. And Ithink if you have the talent of defense,
rate is suppress offense. What they'resupposed to do right these games close.
The offense is supposed to be dynamic. A guy who understands the system
and does everything right. That wasKirk Cousins. That could be Donald should
succeed in it. And why Ithink people may fall in love with them

(21:08):
is everyone loves the redemption story oftwenty seven. Now the Sultons, we're
natural underdogs especially love the underdog storyexactly exactly. So you know that doesn't
mean Donald's staying longer than the season. It don't get too attached, right,
But I think in terms of ifhe does his job, and that
obviously doesn't mean winning every game.There's gonna be uphill battle here. But

(21:32):
if he does his job going intobye week and immediately after, it not
only sets up McCarthy potentially, whichdoes suck for Sam Donald, right.
I mean it's like, hey,did my job and then McArthur you take
over all come back to him.But but it sets himself up to be
good enough this season, and itis. I mean, it's gonna be
difficult. There are no longer gimmes. I don't know when Chicago's gonna be

(21:52):
ready, but they have their quarterbackright now, and they have the cap
space, and I think eventually they'llstart building out a team. So I
mean, Caleb Williams is what wethink is and we know Detroit's good,
right that Detroit was always a funnygame where I was like, this actually
probably just sucks for everyone. Right, It's a game you're supposed to win.
We remember some close ones, Imean Cousins Shake and Zimmer and obviously
some losses the guy Dancer or whateveris too far back in the end zone.

(22:15):
But you don't really want football gamesthat you're like supposed to win,
right, These are supposed to becontested and ground out and stuff like that.
Now they will be Obviously that teamis really really good and I know
everyone hates it here, but GreenBay they have the franchise quarterback and they
have figured out something a lot ofteams have not figured out. I think
Pittsburgh's done a little bit. Buthow do you get that many receivers who
are good? That's drafting, butthat's also player development, right, and

(22:37):
I think that you know the Vikingsare trying to replicate that as well.
Right, Addison has said this allyear that guy is dynamic and really really
good player. When you ask himwhy he succeeded, he goes, well,
eighteen over there, right, hetakes away a lot of attention.
For me, it'd be different.He had to step in and be the
number one guy. I think,even like a Brandon Powell had some moments
and stuff like that. And thenyou know obviously Adam Howkins and when he
comes back from the injury. SoI I just it is. It is

(23:00):
gonna be tough given the division,given how the season starts, but you
can see a pathway where they stayrelevant and then you just have to take
care of business. You need toobviously be healthy but ready to go once
you get that mushy middle, becausethat would set you up to be in
the mix with the NFC north right, and it's gonna be a super contentious
NFC north Red Blakemore is over therewith a with a S, just so

(23:22):
happy, just glowing about about hisGreen Bay Packers. It's gonna be a
contentious division. But luckily the Vikingsare in a place where they don't necessarily
they're not the Patriots, you know, they don't need JJ McCarthy to start
week one like Drake may is.Kind of that's a tough spot, especially
with the with the difficult schedule.Like you said, I just I'm sorry.
I can't help it. You mentionedMichigan. Brett knows where I'm going

(23:47):
with this. I don't know ifhe saw the newest recruit. No,
what's this? Oh man, you'regonna kill me, dude. This is
unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I thoughtthis was the Onion. I thought this
was Tam I checked every possible song. No, it's a kid. His
first name is Noah. Oh,just turn your mic off. It's his

(24:10):
last name starts with a K andthen it's literally and I'm not making this
up. Just the N word withno e R, but it's just k
m hmm end word. And I'mlike, first of all, how did
the people at LS Island let thisbecome a name? Like someone should have
changed this a long time ago.There shouldn't be a generation or generations of

(24:37):
this. I just have somebody like, what was the first day of school?
Like you know, like you knowthat teacher was sweating like a sinner
in church? Like is there aNoah? Is there a Noah? K?
And I'm like, hey, man, props for you. White people

(24:57):
can't say it, so they justinvented there. Well played. Now anytime
somebody gets caught up saying there's likeI was just talking about Wolverine' lama truly
genius work. I mean, justbe careful Michigan fans out there, just
be careful of you if if noone becomes a standout player, just think
twice about buying that jersey. That'sall I'm gonna say. And anybody covering

(25:18):
the Wolverines this year, especially TVand radio guys, god speed to you,
my friends. I don't even knowhow you're gonna do that call Like
Mama, there goes that. Yewhat how are you gonna do? Iron
Eagle is gonna have some tough decisionsto make on those calls this year.
That's all I'm gonna say on it. It's unbelievable. I'm not making this

(25:40):
up. That's really the kid's name. Okay, I just had to.
I had to mention that it was. I could not believe my eyes when
I saw it. I still needto see a birth certificate. I think
someone. I think someone might havebeen making that up. Maybe I've been
trolled here. Back to the Vikingsthough, you're gonna be at training camp.
They start training camp July twenty seven. They go through August eighth.
I think there's nine practices open tothe public. You can go on Vikings

(26:03):
dot com. Check that out.You know, the kids love it.
There's tons of activities for kids todo and families to do and everything like
that. Heading into training camp,I think a lot of like the big
like you know, Big Bill,big name positions. We kind of know
who's going to be there, who'sgonna be starting. What are some sneaky
position battles Heading into training camp inyour mind, I always go to the
cornerback right because it's such an importantposition, and they approach it so differently.

(26:26):
Mike Zimmer used to all the firstround picks right on cornerbacks, knowing
he those guys had a lot ofguys down. He was used to savior
roads and writes clothes take out thebest receiver. When you don't have that,
your life becomes a lot more complicated. I'm actually pulling this up to
see who they have because it iskind of a mix of guys here.
But uh yeah, I mean,I think you know calebout Evans, Makai

(26:48):
Blackman, you know, Andrew BoothJunior. I'm trying to look at some
of these young guys. You know, Booth, can he get healthy?
Evans? Can he give you kindof the good part of what he's giving
you of his career? Obviously hethey replaced him on the depth chart last
year. You know, Byron Murphyis probably your most certain player, right
the veteran I'm a guy who heplayed through an injury. I'm trying to

(27:12):
remember what it was, but inthe Cincinnati game that happened on like the
third snap. And these guys arecrazy, man with the adrenaline going,
and I guess in the in theyou know everyone in the stands didn't notice
it, and then that took himout throughout the rest of the year.
Assuming he's healthy, I think he'sthe most certain player. Shaquille Griffin was
a really good player for Seattle.Can he get that back? I understand

(27:33):
why gms do this, right,They say, if we can get him
healthy in the right system, maybea guy like Flores who's grinding tape see
something in him and puts him ina position to succeed. He's a guy
with some upside, but he isthere's so much uncertainty around him. I
don't know what to make of howto project him right, and so I
think that that's a big one tome. I mean, I think we

(27:55):
kind of there's some interior to linestuff too, but we know who's gonna
be rushing the quarterback. We kindof know what that that linebacker corps is
going to look like, right,And I think with cam binam emergence with
with Harrison Smith, everyone knows whohe is is safety in the secondary pretty
certain. But I really I thinkno matter what in the Flores system,

(28:18):
as much as the Dona Tel thingdidn't work, you could be a bad
tackler because there's multiple guys coming toright. Everyone's supposed to be hind In
this system, you have to besure tackling, and given it's a passing
league, even with Flores's genius andeven with the components they've added, it
doesn't really matter if like Ben Ganko, Cashman Turner, you know, these
guys they added, if they're doingtheir job, if the corners aren't,
I just I don't think it's gonnawork. They're gonna use a lot of

(28:41):
rushes, They're gonna put their cornersin tough spots, and so to me,
that's the big question. That's whatthey need to answer. That's what
I'm looking at, is how arethese guys going to hold up, especially
in the early part of the seasonwhen you're gonna have good quarterback play,
when they will be tested one hundredpercent? That is the elite football mind
of Tom Shrey his own coverage dotCom. Last question for you, Tom,

(29:03):
just kind of NFL at large.A story broke earlier this week that
some owners are discussing a possibly apossible QB A salary cap again all these
growing contracts. I mean, TrevorLawrence, I mean, I'm a Titans
Fancer. I grew up with Tanabsolutely a hater. I will I will,
I will preface that with this,but I mean a guy like Trevor
Lawrence is getting top level. Imean he's one of the most highest made

(29:26):
players in NFL history. Any chancewe can get this done before Jordan Love,
Guy Brett are sweating Owners around theleague are just these contracts are just
getting so so big that there hasto be some type of either implosion or
some type of salary cap or somethinglike that. So what do you think

(29:47):
that that's a possibility. You thinkthat's something that could come into play here?
I understand it. And obviously fromthe CBA standpoint, like the people
who are representing the players are goingto go, well, this is the
most important player. That one guy, even in a flawed system, even
with the plowed team, flawed ororganization, can overcome that. If you
have the quarterback, that guy shouldmake as much money as possible. The
issue is, even as the salarycap goes up, right is, even
as football continues to get more popular, there's more money in it, it

(30:10):
tends to go to the same positionsthan the same guys, right, And
so that doesn't really solve the issue. I know, in the back of
someone's mind they go, well,if there's more salary cap, you should
be able to spend a more team. The problem is, as soon as
you flip from that quarterback. Imean, the Packers fans know this,
Like you didn't get the Jordan Loverookie deal, right, So like as
soon as you flip from let's say, if McCarthy plays well, right,
and you get him cheap and he'sperforming like a fifty million dollar player and

(30:30):
making less than that, then allof a sudden you start bleeding players,
right, and that becomes less funfor everyone you want to see. I
mean, unless I guess you hatethe Chiefs. You want to see the
Chiefs and the you know Cincinnati andthe teams you know Buffalo. The teams
with the best quarterbacks play on reallygood filled out teams, and from the
quarterback standpoint, they're going to takethe run of this. Even though they'd
be like, well, yeah,but my defense is terrible man, that

(30:52):
we can't keep anyone on there becausethey pay me, right, I mean,
the guy I can't come out andsay that, but the back of
his mind he go, hey,you know I need other oponents around me,
given the way football's play. ButI think the I think it makes
sense. You have to You're gonnahave to fight the people represent the players
obviously, because they're not gonna wantthe quarterbacks not gonna want that. The
other thing is, all their positionsare getting more more expensive, right,

(31:14):
Look at what and by the way, I think Justin Jefferson earned every cent,
absolutely, but receiver, that market'sblowing up defensive end because you need
two of those guys right to getafter the quarterback, probably a premium corner.
All this stuff, and I thinkI just believe that in general,
taking a step back, right,you want to see great teams. You

(31:34):
want to see great players too,but you're not gonna see that greatness,
right if they're taking up too muchthe cap, and I understand from the
player standpoint, they may go,look, Tom Brady took discounts, right,
Supposedly the Patriots were as well runas any other team, right,
But we look back on that andwe're like, actually, the Crafts actually
didn't spend a lot on some ofthose teams, and like the receiver situation
didn't work out. That's why againI hate to say this, but if

(31:56):
you're the Packers, you go,well, we can develop receivers. Were
good almost every other team. Theygo. The reason why Justin Jefferson makes
that much money, why the topguys is they're so rare. Right there
might you might get a Jalen rigoryou might get some of these guys up
who have busted out. And soI understand why they want to cap it.
It's actually probably best for the game. I don't know how functionally do
that because quarterbacks have so much leveragein the NFL. Aaron Rodgers in his

(32:17):
prime could have thrown for all threeof us and getting usty one hundred yards
on the game. I know hebelieves that, right, He for sure
believes. Tom appreciate you stopping bythe studio to share some of your elite
baseball and football knowledge and your eliteNoah k knowledge as some of the Texters
have texted, and Covenant cleanup.He's signing to Eastern Mission. He's committing
to Eastern Michigan. Thank you saystupid things all the time. There's gonna

(32:44):
be some Covenant cleanups on the EasternMichigan call. No doubt when Noah Ka
gets loose. Tom working that peoplefinds you on social media at t Schryer
three on Twitter, and my websiteis zone coverage dot com daily content on
the Minnesota sports. They do greatwork over there at zone coverage dot com.
Go ahead and check them. Iwill close out the show with some
more listener questions. We got plentyon the text line six four six eight

(33:07):
six. If you want to callus eight hundred three two zero five three
two six or texting one of yourquestions, we'd love to hear from you.
Final segment of nine to noon forthe week coming at you next final

(33:32):
segment of nine to noon for theweek. Appreciate all of you guys for
tuning in. Whether you liked it, loved it, hated it, I
appreciate you for listening. PA,Paul Allen, and Nordo should be back,
same time, same place, andnext week. I don't think,

(33:52):
I mean it's impossible to fill baby. We don't know. I know PA
will be back next week. It'simpossible to fill the PA shaped hole in
all of our hearts, but it'sbeen a lot of fun getting an opportunity
to fill in over these last coupleof weeks or so. Kevin Falness did
a great job. Dave Sinikin dida great job, of course, ya.
My man Alec Lewis did a greatjob. But it's been a lot

(34:13):
of fun. Brett Blakemore. I'llshare all week, you know. I
mean, you're the you're the realMVP after like Kevin Durant, I'm about
to tear up right now. You'rethe You're the real MVP of this week.
You do an amazing job producing.You might be you're one of the
best producers in the building. Brett, I definitely, you know, like
i'd say, you're like one Done e. You know what I'm saying,

(34:35):
Like it's hard to pick, likeah, one D yeah, like
one D one you know, it'slike, yeah, this is one A
one D once. Everybody's number oneexcept for me. I'm like third,
fourth somehow. But you're you're amazing. You've done amazing work today. We
got a bunch of texts on thetext line for both of us if you
have any questions, comments, whateveryou want to talk about. This is
the People Show. We want tohear from the people. Six four six,

(34:55):
eight, six eight hundred three twozero five three two six out.
Couple more minutes to go, BrettBlakemore. Someone says, if Brett was
named after Brett Favre, then whowas Max named after? And that is
true that you were named after BrettFire, that's not a bit. That's
not a bit at all. Thatis undred true. It was it was
I think it was the season afterthey won the Super Bowl. I can't.

(35:19):
I always get mixed up which oneswas which, But the season before
then, that's no. I knowI'm not a super Bowl baby. I
think I was born when they wonthe super Bowl or shortly before they won
the super Bowl. But but yeah, they were watching the playoffs in the
hospital and my dad was like,that's it. That's amazing. Yeah,
that's one hundred center. And healso said it's a good radio name,
which is because my dad's My dad'sa radio nerd. He sets you up

(35:42):
for success, sets you up asa Packers fan, and sets you up
for your radio future. I don'treally know that when people screw up my
name all the time, I don'tknow that many famous people named Max.
I know the no Max, Oh, never mind Max Payne. Yeah,
I mean, but I don't thinkI was named after a video game that
came out ten years after I wasborn. There's the Max Greenfield. I

(36:06):
just googled it. The guy fromSchmidt from a New Girl. If you
ever seen me, not a wholelot of There's not a whole lot of
famous people named Max. So Idon't know what I was named that.
Maybe just because my volume is tothe max, as some of the texters
have pointed out, maybe they justknew they anticipated that I was going to
be loud and obnoxious. We gotanother text coming in that says, do
you prefer concerts or festivals? Ifeel like you have an opinion on this

(36:30):
bright I feel like you have astrong opinion. I do like both.
I'll say I miss Warped Tour.Every day I think about Warped Tour and
the nostalgia that it was that wasthe best. I'm not going to accuse
you of not knowing anything about theWarped Tour format, and I'm gonna say
it was unbelievable as a kid injunior high and high school and like the
prime of it, Oh my god, I would go back to warp Tour

(36:52):
today. It's it's the best,wasn't it? Didn't it come back for
a little bit or something like that? It was it wasn't the same.
It wasn't the same as when youwere a kid. Of Yeah, we
got Brandon from New Mexico, loyallistener, always showing us some love.
Shout out to Brandon down in NewMexico. He said, Hey, Max,
who's an old school rapper that passedthat you wish you could see in
concert? And would you rather seehim in concert or a festival? Yeah,

(37:15):
that's a good point. Yeah,I didn't even I like both.
I like concerts, I like festivals. I just like live music in general.
I like being around people. Obviously, sometime the weather can be a
factor in a festival and stuff likethat. You don't really have festivals inside,
so that's always a factor. ButI just I just love live music.
Man an old school rapper that passI mean obviously Tupac is one of
my childhood heroes growing up. Iwish I could have seen Tupac live.

(37:37):
Man. That would have been soldyou find that island? Yeah, I
mean right exactly. Maybe somewhere inCuba, someday, maybe I can still
accomplish that dream is there, Andjust in general, artists in general that
have passed, like I would haveloved being able to see Sammy Davis Junior.
You know the rat Pack, Iactually do. I love big band
like kind of swing music. Alot of people probably wouldn't expect it,
but they just put on such ashow back in the day. Man.

(37:59):
Honestly, part of it is becausea family guy, because of all the
goofy songs that they say, ohyeah, it's that's a lot of references
that my mom will be like,how do you know that? It's like,
it's it's a cultural educator. Butjust in general, I mean,
Rick James would have been so awesometo see. Obviously, I mean,
James Brown would have been awesome tosee. They just it was more than

(38:20):
just a guy standing on the stagedoing the music that you know and love.
It was a whole entire production.There was a dance team, there
was costumes and and and outfit changes, and it was this whole grand thing,
which obviously some artists do these days. But sometimes it is just a
guy standing on the stage. Andsometimes that's fun too. But who's who.
Who's an artist that's passed that's notthat's no longer with us that you
would have liked to see in consolebecause you had a lot of more like

(38:42):
contemporary modern music. I feel,yeah, I really don't have a good
answer for you. Thankfully, allmy favorite bands are are alive and well
hopefully for a long time lucky.So yeah, that my my music tastes
so off the wall, so I'lljust I'll just leave it at that.
We got another text that says whowon the Drake and Kendrick beef? And
I'm assuming that is, Yeah,Brett, what is your opinions on the

(39:07):
Drake and Kendrick thief? I'm assumingthat's like tongue in cheek saying that because
Drake absolutely got obliterated in that beef, and Kendrick Lamar basically just had a
whole concert dancing on his grave broadcastto millions on Amazon Prime the other day.
I mean, Bloods and Crips reunite. They put aside their gang beef

(39:30):
just to hate on Drake. That'sa generational fat and absolutely Kenjick won that
beef. Bret Blake Moore won theday. He's the real MVP producing Nine
to Noon. And shout out toTomas Schreyer for joining us, Shout out
to Crazy Legs for enlightening us onthe break dancing culture, and shout out
to Heather Rule for talking a littlepuck with us today. It's been a

(39:50):
lot of fun. We got theCommon Man Program, tenne Bee and my
Man d C coming up next.It's been fun, y'all. Peace the
podcast, Today's Paul Allen Show,or listen back to previous show and interviews
by going to the iHeartRadio app,orgf an dot com m