The Fellas with Anthony Gargano & Jason Fitz Talk NBA Finals, Inter-Sport Player Comps, NFL Win Totals & More!

On a new episode of The Fellas with Anthony Gargano and Jason Fitz, the fellas recap the NBA conference finals and look ahead to an electric championship matchup! Who has the advantage? Who are the X-factors? And most importantly: who comes out on top? Later, the guys have some fun comping NFL players to their NBA counterparts, then continue making their way through each NFL team's win total!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning,
good morning, good morning. A buddy, happy yeady abby. Fox
Sports Saturday Fellas Jason fitz Kevin figures, I'm Anthony Gargano
as we hang out, get ready for a little NBA

(00:25):
finals and get ready for a little summer. The first
day of June is upon us. You know what that means.
I look at it like this and fits You'll love it.
It's one one month really of no football because by
the end of July you got camp starting. So really

(00:47):
all you have to do is get through this month
and by the end of next month we got football.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Fits.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
E look at that. Look is that it's a vacation month.
My birthday's Monday, so like I like, I'm excited. I'm
excited right like, so you know, the way I look
at it is like June is the relaxation.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
You're right, June July relax until it gets right at
the end of it and it all begins.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
What are you doing for your birthday? Anything special?

Speaker 5 (01:18):
Don't doing anything special? Right like?

Speaker 4 (01:20):
You know, might might hit the casino down the road
for a little bit, might might bet a little money.
You know, lose a little money, give give, help them
build more casinos down the road.

Speaker 5 (01:29):
You know that.

Speaker 4 (01:30):
I don't know, man, I like, I don't really make
birthday plans. It was never a big deal for me.
So you know, I'm just gonna hang back and relax.
I'm just but I sure you're excitement because I was
talking to a buddy yesterday, right, and he works for
a particular NFL team, and we were just shooting the shot,
catching up and he was like, man, telling you end
of July that the training came, starts, it's right around

(01:50):
the corner, and it just didn't resonate until then. How
close that is? I mean, we are under one hundred
days till the NFL season.

Speaker 5 (01:57):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, it's funny.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
I usually still love the countdown one hundred days of football,
and I guess that hit this past week, the one
hundred days. So we're inside one hundred days and that's
that's the great countdown.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
You're right, this is the Uh, this is the time.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
A lot of teams think, you know, all of the
coaches go on vacation.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
There's one usually one more camp.

Speaker 5 (02:22):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
The college guys, they all disappear, they're good. They're good
for like a whole, like five weeks type of thing.
You know, Uh, this is this is like.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
The perfect Okay, so I always make this analogy, but
but your relationship with your favorite football team is like
a relationship with the girl you're dating. Right, and back
at the end of the season, you had the really
perfect view of it. You saw it for what it
really was. You understood all of the flaws and the relationship.
You understood why you weren't happy with the relationship. You
understand why the relationship is not gonna work your out right,

(02:56):
So you leave your break up. But then it's like
this dysfunctionally she can't walk away from because all of
a sudden, a few weeks go by and you hit
suddenly the combine and you're like, man, I don't know,
I kind of miss her, you know, like the things
weren't that bad. And then you hit the draft and
you're like, oh, but we did have some fun times,
right cre agency, and you're like, man, things were things
weren't that bad, Like I remember the way she made

(03:18):
me laugh at this. By the time you get to June,
you are full back in the You've forgotten all of
the bad you only remember the good and you're ready
to get back together.

Speaker 5 (03:25):
We hit you lie, You're back in love.

Speaker 4 (03:27):
It's all gonna and then by the time you hit September,
it's gonna be this is the most perfect.

Speaker 5 (03:31):
This is the one I have found my soulmate.

Speaker 4 (03:34):
And by week three you realize that you're back in
a destructive relationship that's only gonna break your heart.

Speaker 5 (03:38):
That's the way it goes.

Speaker 6 (03:39):
Yeah, that's great. It's a great analogy.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
And imagine like those teams that have had dramatic change quarterback,
like you draft of a young quarterback where uh you
get you know, Jim Harball as your coach. You're the Chargers, right,
Like you're a Charger fan. You go, oh man, I
got Horballs my coach. Right, I got hope, Like I

(04:03):
feel great. If you're the Bears, you go, oh my god,
like I got Caleb Williams, Right, you're the Commanders. You
go all these years just slop right, like just just
man football, bad ownership, right, And I finally got some
hope on the rise and here comes young Jayane Daniels

(04:24):
from LASTU And the next thing you know, I'm like,
I'm growing all right, I feel good I can't wait.
I'm looking five hope, Like hope is the greatest thing
in the world, and especially with a new coach or
a new quarterback, because it's like you're going through a
new cycle.

Speaker 5 (04:44):
Yeah, you're absolutely.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
This is the way I always think of how you
can tell how much changes happened with your team? Do
you gotta buy the new Madden? Like that's the easy
answer to this, Like we all know if you grew
up a Madden player, you know that if you've got
a new coach or a new quarterback, you're buying new Madden.

Speaker 5 (04:59):
You don't want to see the old guy they got
fired on the sideline in the graphics.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
And if you got the new quarterback, you want that
hope that comes with having that new quarterback. Even on Yeah,
if you got to buy the new mat, and then
things are good. So now look up and down the
list and remind ourselves, by the time free agency and
the draft was done, how many teams, how many.

Speaker 5 (05:15):
Fans are out there saying, man, I got to buy
the new Mat.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
And that's one of the beautiful things about the NFL
is that there's so much changeover that is significant every
year that you end up with a dozen teams or
so that feel like, man, this is the year we're
about to take a meteoric leap into the standings. And
you know that's the drug that continues to get us
coming back.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
I know, I know, I had, I had a weird
week and and I'm gonna I'll relay it back.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
First, Good good morning, Figgy, How worry brother?

Speaker 6 (05:47):
Doing well?

Speaker 5 (05:47):
Boys?

Speaker 6 (05:47):
How are we?

Speaker 3 (05:48):
That's the baby?

Speaker 7 (05:49):
Mayby's great baby. He's doing excellent. Me not sleeping so much,
but it's cool.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, you know we're fifty about birthday, right, fifty's birthdays Monday?
You know that you your birthday out ceases to exist. Oh,
of course, you know what you should. I've never been
one to celebrate my my birthday anyway. Like it's almost
like what Fitz.

Speaker 7 (06:10):
Was mentioned, like that I don't really do a whole
lot if my friends wanted to take me out to
dinner or whatever.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
It's girl think girls love their birthday.

Speaker 7 (06:17):
Well yeah, well see I have a friend, a female friend,
who has a birthday season and this is like yeah,
and this is a violation man.

Speaker 6 (06:26):
Woman.

Speaker 7 (06:27):
Otherwise, if your birthday, I'm just gonna pick an arbitrary date.
If your birthday is June first.

Speaker 6 (06:32):
Today.

Speaker 7 (06:33):
You can't sit here and tell me my birthday. Season
began on May twenty at the ends on August second.
Your birthday is June first. If you're getting a gift
or some sort of text or congratulations for me, it
is going to be on June first, and on June
first only, and maybe June second if it's belated.

Speaker 6 (06:47):
But this season stuff you missed me with that is
not happening.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
No, no, no, you can't do that.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
And listen if you if your birthday folds on a
you know, Friday or Saturday, and you want to call
your birthday weekend, sure, I'm fine, you know what I mean,
I'm down. But other than that, no season. Yeah, it's crazy.
There's people that do the week I've heard that. I'ven't
heard season before.

Speaker 6 (07:11):
I've heard half birthdays. That's a thing too.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
For some people.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
It's not half stop there the half birthday. That's that's
a violation too. We didn't stop it in the half birthday.
What's half birthday? Give me a break.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
Look, I think this entire like the one thing that
screams is just high maintenance.

Speaker 5 (07:27):
Like a girl says, I've got a birthday season.

Speaker 4 (07:30):
You just like sit back and you understand if you're
gonna keep dating that girl, You're like, you know what,
I understand. I've now figured out the most important thing,
which is you are wired to be high maintenance. Not
better be ready to accept nothing wrong with that, Like,
you know, I maintenance people can be great you just
like I got. I got a buddy in Nashville. His
name is Mikey, and Mikey one day was just he
was complaining about something and somebody looked a him and said, man,

(07:52):
you're going off, And he said, you know what, I'm
a complainer.

Speaker 5 (07:54):
And I loved it.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
Like I just looked at it and said, I appreciate
someone that can look at it and be like, yeah,
I'm a complainer.

Speaker 5 (08:00):
I want like, if.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
Your high maintenance, just own it, right, but you will
own it from every side.

Speaker 5 (08:04):
Like high maintenance is fine.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
But if you if you're the type of person that
has a birthday season, you're probably the type of person
that also takes two hours to get ready to the
grocery stuff.

Speaker 5 (08:12):
Like I'm just saying, like that's just the way it works.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Real talk, Oh man, the two hours get ready for
the supermarket. Oh you know, God for a big strong
on a pair of sweats.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
It's cold to day, you Lulu, let me like.

Speaker 6 (08:26):
Oh, it's a bad hair day. Put on a cap
and let's roll.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Like what I mean, here's the thing about they don't
understand how guys look at it, Like we love a
girl in a baseball cap?

Speaker 6 (08:36):
Oh kidding me? Now you love a girl in a cap?
Of course?

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Like casual? Are you kidding me? You love that?

Speaker 5 (08:43):
Cool?

Speaker 4 (08:44):
Something like But that's like the line in the John
Cougar Mell cap song, like the girls walk like the
girls dress for each other, like they don't dress for guys.
Like girls when they're going out there dressing for each other,
they just want they want to make sure everybody else
in the room looks. But like guys don't care about
the guys I know, would not care if the girl
in their life, the woman in their life was like, yeah,

(09:04):
I'm not gonna wear makeup ever again and be like Okay,
I don't really care.

Speaker 5 (09:08):
That's on you, Like you do what you want to do.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
Yeah, you know you're you're supposed spot on.

Speaker 6 (09:13):
How many guys are looking like damn, look at that eyeliner.

Speaker 7 (09:16):
I don't think anybody and guys ever said that before,
and at least very few you know that.

Speaker 4 (09:21):
Standing love is getting her haircut, because then you're like,
I got to figure out the difference here, Like is
that shorter?

Speaker 5 (09:26):
Is it color different?

Speaker 4 (09:28):
I don't know, But like a girl walks into her
girlfriends and she got anything done with her hair, and
they'll be like, oh, like girls get their lashes done
or their their eyebrows done, and they're like coming in,
I wouldn't. I wouldn't notice that if you begged me to.
But you know, like women notice that on each other.

Speaker 5 (09:41):
That so it's fine, it's fine.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Yeah. Yeah. Meanwhile, all we want to do is get
the football.

Speaker 6 (09:45):
That's it, yep, so important stuff.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, you know, it's so funny.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
And I had a weird week, like I was saying,
and I realized both how we are so seckedular, especially
with when it comes to football.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Right.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
So I was in Italy for four days this week.
I flew out Monday night. I arrived Tuesday to Rome
or at Florence, and then drove down to Siatta. I
was speaking at a conference i'd written at a written
film and the backdrop is a trip's about a family
that suffered great loss, and it's basically a father and

(10:28):
his son are left after much death and they have
to they go on a trip. They want a food,
a specialty store. So they're going on this trip to
olive oil producing countries. Right, So they're going to Spain, Morocco,

(10:49):
Greece and Italy. So I spoke at this conference and
I'm with all these international people. It was like this
world olive oil, right, but it was bizarre and I
didn't even know it was a part of a seat
of the UN and so we were at this it

(11:09):
was like a James Bond movie, right, Like we were
on the seventh floor of a museum in Siena on
Wednesday when I was I had to give a talk
in the afternoon. And so there's there's probably about one
hundred and fifty people in this room. There's other people
virtual there, everybody sitting around this long table, which I

(11:32):
imagine it's super long table, one hundred and fifty people
around it. There's there's people with headsets and.

Speaker 6 (11:42):
You were, you're you.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
There's channels for the interpreters, so whatever language is speaking.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
You, you'll have the interpreter for that language.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
So it's like all these international people and you know, afterwards,
they took us to this honestary from the fifteen hundreds
that was in the middle, like an hour from the
place on a bus, in the middle of Tuscany, like
nothing around the middle of the countryside, and during this

(12:12):
ancient monastery they put on this lavish dinner and it
was it was just bizarre, right, So we're at the table,
we're having dinner at this table and it's like magnificence outside.
It's so bizarre. So it was a surreal moment and
the good sports comes up. So the one American who

(12:36):
is with me, who got who invited me to come
and speak them, says to the crew, they the croup.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
That I'm in sports.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
And so they asked me about football, and they're like,
what's so good about American football? And obviously they're soccer
fans at some like basketball, but most people, most of
the people there were not sports people and they couldn't
understand like us.

Speaker 6 (13:07):
And you know, I.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Used it soccer analogy because like where we share.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
That fanaticism that soccer has, but they really mane it
was more of a sports nonsports thing because you know,
I listen, I'm a chameleon. I could talk to anybody
about anything. But it was odd because they just they

(13:31):
just didn't understand it. They were asking these questions like
why do we do the like like why like they.

Speaker 6 (13:40):
Just had no idea.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
It was bizarre. It was the most bizarre conversation. And
I had a tough time explaining, you know, our passion
for America and how much, because I'm like, oh, listen,
American football, do respect to soccer. American football is way better.
It's just it's got everything right. First of well, you
use your hand right like it's Soccer is a beautiful

(14:02):
game and I think nothing from it. But American football's
got everything, brute force, elegance, it's just this amazing sport,
and they just didn't get it.

Speaker 4 (14:13):
Yeah, I think it's funny as you say that. I'm
sure there are people globally that are just thinking they
want to annihilate you for thinking anything could be better
than soccer. But I'm with you, Like, it's also funny
to me culturally because we toured when I was with
the Man Perry, we toured Europe.

Speaker 5 (14:26):
Sometimes and it was funny to me.

Speaker 4 (14:29):
We were in London right after this was relatively new
because it was twenty thirteen ish fourteen ish around there
when we were over there, and the London series was
still somewhat new over there, and I was asking people
all the time if they were excited about it. And
what amazed me is that I talk to people that
had gone to the games every year that didn't realize
they were different teams. They just thought the same two

(14:49):
teams were coming over with different uniforms all the.

Speaker 5 (14:51):
Time, and it was like there was that.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
Wow, it was pretty crazy trying to find like cause
there are, certainly because of people's studying abroad, there are
bars that play NFL games in different countries, but you
really have to you have to hunt form and then
on an NFL Sunday, like you know, the time change
makes it wildly different too, So you know, it's interesting
how hard it is, you know, compared to here, where

(15:17):
I feel like everywhere you go you can find football
coverage over there, It's just it doesn't hit the same.
I think that's part of why they're doing this international series. Look,
when when they expand to eighteen games over twenty weeks,
I do believe there's going to be an international game
every week, And I think the reason they're doing that
is they want to put themselves in a situation where
globally the world starts to understand American football more.

Speaker 5 (15:39):
It makes everybody more money. Seems like it makes sense.

Speaker 4 (15:41):
But I don't think we understand sometimes how little understanding
there is of it.

Speaker 5 (15:46):
Until you go over there.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
Spot on you totally get it, like they were, and
when you step back, it makes sense, right, Like you know,
American football is complicated. Soccer is not that complicated, right,
Like you know, I mean you could be. You could
just you know, kind of first time watching the game,

(16:08):
you kind of get a general understanding of the object
of the game, right and how it would work.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
But American football, you know.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
We're pulling guards and plays and the whole concept of
it is you know, part of it. You think about it,
The average fan probably has uh, I'm talking about the
average flick. The real fan probably has an has a
seventy five percent understanding of the game.

Speaker 5 (16:36):
Would you say that, Yeah, it's aids fair.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
So imagine someone who's never seen it. It's completely That's
why it was funny. I I was always bullish, figure,
I can tell you I've always bullish about the manifest
Destiny has to joke around about the international series, but
I don't if it's hard to understand the thing, So

(17:03):
I don't know how it's.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
Going to work.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
If it's possible that it would ever spread globally, I.

Speaker 4 (17:10):
Think it would take a true long term commitment. It's
just going to be slow and low, because you're right,
Like I've had several people, especially like again, when I
was touring, a lot of people out there on the
road weren't football fans at all, some of the people
I was touring with, so just sitting there like they're
sitting there watching me go nuts, watching a Raiders game
every Sunday, and then trying to explain every time you

(17:30):
get through the five basic things and all of a sudden,
there are five more things you have. Well, no, that
doesn't come for this, and that's different than this, and
it really is complicated, especially if you're only watching it
once a year, you know, Like I mean, I think
that's the if you're only getting a little taste of
it every once in a while, trying to figure out
what it really means is different. Their hope's got to
be that it starts to engage people at the level

(17:51):
that they start to follow it globally year round, but
it's just it is such a commitment in America. Think
about the fact that just any transaction in the NFL,
any news in the NFL ota is possibly being moved
trumped everything on the sports news cycle for a day, right,
And that just shows you how important it is here.

Speaker 5 (18:10):
So it's never going to get to that spot in
Italy or in Japan.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
So how do you get it to grow there without
that level of day in, day out coverage. I don't
know the answer to that, but it's certainly it's certainly
part of what the league is trying to accomplish.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, it's so interesting, it really is. All Right, we're
going to take quick time out. We'll come back and
we'll discuss something in the world.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
Is in the world.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
It might be bigger, certainly bigger than our NFL around
the world is basketball. Because the world that people were
talking basketball, it was funny how much they love basketball.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
We'll get into it.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
The finals are here, We've got a lot of NFL
stuff to go over. We still have some wind doubles
from last week to do, lots to get to where
the fell is just getting started.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
On a Fox Sports.

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Speaker 3 (19:44):
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Speaker 2 (19:51):
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Speaker 6 (20:35):
All right, that's all a little hope because it's set.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
It's Dallas and Boston, and before we get I do
want to ask you about Minnesota and the whole thing.
But I think the Mavericks beat I like them. I
think they beat Boston.

Speaker 6 (20:54):
Oh dude, here's yeah, I do.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
I think that we are holding the past failures of
Boston against this team, and I just don't know if
I can apply that. Like I understand the reasoning behind well,
they're going to choke because that's what Boston does. But
I just don't know that that's what Boston does.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
I'm not saying it because the ball. It's a matchup.
It's more styles make fights than it is. I think
Boston's choke. I like this Boston team, so I'm not
coming from there. I like, I mean, how Day White, right,
you know, Brown, Tatum, obviously, Horford. I mean, you know

(21:36):
they fit now for Zig, it's being back is big,
so that'll be a big deal. I just think the
way Dallas's biggs are going to be a problem for Boston.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
Well, Dallas's Biggs did a great job, especially in the
last series, protecting the rent, right, we all saw that
that was incredible, But Boston shoots way better from outside, right,
So I do think the Boston is going to force
to do more. They're gonna have to cover more ground.
I think Boston wins this series. And I think, honestly,
this is, though, for all of that, a really good

(22:09):
spot for the league to be and like they got
a final here with two teams that are playing lights
out that also has a ton of established superstars, and
like this just feels like the sort of final that
is going to give everybody what they want out of
these things.

Speaker 5 (22:23):
As much as we wanted Minnesota to be.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
There because it was a great story for the pluckiness
of that roster, having Luca and Kyrie play the way
they are playing right now that backcourt, and knowing that
we're about to get a series of Luca and Kyrie
versus essentially Tatum and Brown, even though they're not really
going to regarding each other necessarily, Like I just the
storylines are abound for this. So yeah, I do think
that the ability for the MAVs to protect the rim

(22:48):
turned out to be the difference in Minnesota series. I
didn't think it would work out that way. I thought
Minnesota's big would be able to get a lot more
done and they couldn't. So I have nothing but respect
for Dallas's ability to do that. And we all know
the clutch shooting for Dallas is great. I just, man,
if Boston is even remotely hot shooting from outside, I
think they could just run away with this thing. I
think Boston wins in six, but I think they win

(23:10):
some games convincingly along the way.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
That's interesting, fake, what do you say.

Speaker 6 (23:15):
Yeah, that's the big thing with Boston.

Speaker 7 (23:17):
It's always an if because yes, they can go nuclear
from the outside, but they can go ice cold as well.
And one thing that helped Dallas and you mentioned it
fits was the fact that they won the size battle
against Minnesota last series, and they're gonna win that overwhelmingly.
I think even if Porzeningas is back, because if he's
back in the lineup, which would be expect him to be,
I mean, he hasn't played playoff basketball in a while.
I mean this, you just you're basically throwing the guy.

Speaker 3 (23:37):
Actually, especially grind it out.

Speaker 6 (23:39):
Yeah, right into the NBA Finals.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Grind out team.

Speaker 6 (23:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (23:43):
I mean the way that that that front court plays
between Lively, you know, and and Gaffer when he's in there.

Speaker 6 (23:48):
I mean that that's a real size.

Speaker 7 (23:50):
So if Boston is not hitting from the outside, I
think Dallas dominates him on the glass.

Speaker 6 (23:55):
And Dallas has been one of the best.

Speaker 7 (23:56):
I think they've been the best team in the NBA
since I want to say it was minute early April
or something like that. And Boston's been, you know, notoriously
one of the best defensive teams in the league, not
only this year but the last couple of years. But yeah,
from a styles makes fight standpoint, I get it. I
understand what you mean, Anthony, because even look at how
Dallas improved on the perimeter.

Speaker 5 (24:13):
PJ.

Speaker 6 (24:13):
Washington and Derrek Jones have been huge for them.

Speaker 2 (24:15):
See it's funny. I think PJ. Washington is the X
factor in the series, right think. I think he'll he's
going to stretch it and if he can knock down
those quarter threes like he didn't really he didn't play
that well. It gets minisoda, but I didn't really think
the matchup was there. It's going to be there against
Boston and he's gotta he's gotta knock down the shuts

(24:39):
he had. If you remember in the quarterfinals, he I
mean he was averaging thirty couple games like.

Speaker 7 (24:46):
Joyd okay, see yeah, yeah.

Speaker 6 (24:49):
So that's the big one for me. It's basically it's PJ.

Speaker 7 (24:51):
Washington and Derek White agree who's winning that not I
had to head match up, but who's making the bigger impact.
And I think that's really gonna be the key in
the series for this on this series and.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
The two of them, and I mean, uh, Luca and Kyrie, Yeah,
they have to play the same level of defense that
they they were.

Speaker 6 (25:10):
They they played.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
Terrific ball man. First of all, I.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Want to lord Kyrie because I've always said, like, I mean,
he's such a talented talent to play, but like you know,
i mean he's he's goofy, right, you never know what
he shows up and the whole thing.

Speaker 6 (25:28):
He has played marvelous basketball.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
He's said, like the fact when he wants to play,
I mean, there's very very, very few guys are better.

Speaker 3 (25:38):
I mean, she's gone.

Speaker 5 (25:41):
It's been also to some level.

Speaker 4 (25:44):
He's played so well it's actually changed the tone of
the conversation around Kyrie, which I thought was impossible. I
thought everybody had just made up their mind, you know,
And it's like, all of a sudden, there's been this shift.
And I've talked to a couple of guys on the
football side that I know pretty well. I think it's
rare to see somebody later at this spot that's already
so established as a personality sort of put that personality

(26:06):
aside and then just sort of quietly, just melt, just
do their job.

Speaker 5 (26:11):
Yeah, it's like it's just such a shift.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
In the way he's approaching, you know, the microphone, which
has been such a distraction for so long.

Speaker 5 (26:20):
It's a beautiful thing.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
Like I really do have to tip my cap to it,
because what you ask for players to step up in
the biggest moments, he's done it, and he's done it
at such a level that it has truly made us
stop having the same conversations we've been having about Kyrie
for the last five years.

Speaker 2 (26:36):
Well they were warranted, right, you know, mixing gage because
of birthday parties and you know at the goofy and
you know, remember the whole Jason Kid thing or wait,
was not Jason Kid what was the whole uh what
was this story?

Speaker 5 (26:54):
Who was uh?

Speaker 3 (26:55):
Who is the coach in Brooklyn?

Speaker 6 (26:57):
When it was.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
Durant and Harden Steve Nash Nash right, it was a
whole mass thing, like.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
You know, they didn't need a coach.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, like they're going to work together, like you know,
it was it was like all these you know, kind
of business buzzwords.

Speaker 6 (27:14):
And and then and then he became.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
Completely unreliable and then you realize like, oh my god,
this dude really is talented, right, Like when he plays
to that at this level, you just marvel.

Speaker 7 (27:29):
Well, I mean he realized it. I mean you realized
that back in twenty sixteen. And as phenomenal as Lebron
James was in the finals, I mean, Kyrie R they're
with him. I mean one, he had the one with
the big shot in Game seven, Like he knew how
talented of a player he was. And I would even
say when he applied himself defensively, he was a phenomenal
perimeter defensive player.

Speaker 5 (27:47):
He just was.

Speaker 7 (27:47):
He just never tried, he never never, never cared to
do it. But when he wants to and he's motivated
to do it. And I'll give Jason Kate credit for
it as well, you know, for forgetting something out of
he and Luka Nachik, who both guys have generally been turnstiles. Now,
I don't know if you want to credit it to
the moves they made at the deadline, where you brought
in a bunch of guys that have that grit and
it's one of those where you see somebody else putting
an effort next to you, you don't want to look bad,

(28:08):
even if you are a superstar.

Speaker 6 (28:09):
Maybe that's part of it.

Speaker 7 (28:11):
But I will give kudos to Jason Kidd and the
MAVs in that locker room getting those guys to turn
it around, realizing that yeah, you can score all the
points in the world, but if you can't stop anybody,
we're not going to win. And for both Luca and
Kyrie to turn it around the way that they have
is nothing short of remarkable considering how bad they've been
throughout their careers.

Speaker 4 (28:27):
Well you I mean you mentioned, you know, the credit
to the coach and the credit to Kidd. I'll go
back to something that you started. Colin Coward said on
one of his shows that he was talking about the
fact that the most important thing that an NBA coach
really has to do is manage personalities and hasn't then
be I mean, we can look back and say, you know,
Phil Jackson, part of it was the Triangle offense. Part

(28:49):
of it was just finding a way to get that
many big egos to be willing to play together. I
think that's an understated part Steve Kerr finding a way
to do that year in and year out.

Speaker 5 (28:57):
The stated parts a great kitch. That's what Kid is
doing right now.

Speaker 4 (29:01):
The fact that somebody has finally gotten through to Jason
Kidd or to h to Kyrie, I should say in
a way that it's changing some of those things. That's
that speaks to a coach having the pulse of the
individuals in his life room.

Speaker 7 (29:14):
I also think Kyrie is not He's obviously a sharp guy.
His you know, idiosyncrasies notwithstanding, I think at a certain
point he knows that the that you know, he's he's
not necessarily in the twilight of his career, but he's
getting up there now and legacy matters and perception matters,
and he just looks back at his career says, why
don't we want to be known as the guy that

(29:34):
all the flat Earth stuff, all the controversies, missing games
for birthday parties. Look at how things started in Cleveland
and how great of a run they had and winning it,
winning a championship, and then forcing himself to Boston, forcing
himself out of Boston and.

Speaker 6 (29:48):
Then to Brooklyn and then out of Brooklyn.

Speaker 7 (29:49):
Then I feel like I wonder if Kyrie Irving kind
of took a step back, or maybe he had a
mentor or someone that he had had one of those
come to Jesus moments where he's like, look, man, how
do you want to be perceived? This is how you
wanted your career to go when you were drafted number
one overall, all those years ago, I think it was
twenty eleven or twenty twelve. Did you think this is
where you'd be in twenty twenty two, a pending free

(30:11):
agent where a lot of teams don't even want you
despite the fact how talented you are, because you're, for
lack of a better term, a head case.

Speaker 6 (30:18):
Well, yeah, because you can't caddle on them. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
I remember talking about this with the with the uh,
you know, for the sixers, right, like you go over
and it's like, I don't touch I wouldn't touch Kyrie,
Yeah with a fifty foot pole because he's got fleas,
and you're like, there's no way in the world, like
you just can't trust it, can't cattle the guy like that.
And now he's thirty two years old, a to your point,
like he's really in the in the in the he's

(30:42):
really the pride like.

Speaker 6 (30:44):
His prime and say yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Yes, yes, and you go with all that ability. I
think you're right. I think I think you woke up
and said, you know what what am I doing here?

Speaker 5 (30:55):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (30:56):
And he's just he's playing smart, he's playing hard, you know,
and he's playing Here's why I give him a ton
of credit. He's allowed reallows Luca to beat a man,
and he just plays awful.

Speaker 4 (31:13):
I mean, there is some level of when you think
about Kyrie's struggles at every step of the way. Hasn't
part of it been just accepting what his role is
gonna be, right, Like just figuring out who Kyrie is
gonna be in each of these offenses. Who's he gonna be?
Is he the number one? Is he the number two?
Is he the number three?

Speaker 6 (31:32):
Like?

Speaker 5 (31:32):
Who is he? And and through.

Speaker 4 (31:34):
All of this also you got to look at it
and say, part of the reason that we didn't necessarily
as a general community, think that the two guys were
gonna work together was because what indication do we have
at that point that Kyrie had worked with anybody. So
now you've got somebody in Luca that's been you know,
taking down grown ass men since it feels like he
was twelve years old playing pro basketball, right Like, that's

(31:55):
gonna have to figure out how to share a little
bit here, while at the same time having somebody that
doesn't like to s and you're putting them both.

Speaker 5 (32:01):
In the same sandbox.

Speaker 4 (32:02):
The fact that they've been able to find that, the
fact that that Kyrie has been able to defer when
he needs to, the fact that there's no doubt and
no pressure at the end of there is no weird
end of the game, who's getting a shot moment? Like
all of the things that we usually associate with trying
to get egos to work together in basketball has not
really been a part of this MAVs story, especially through

(32:22):
the playoff run, And it's a big part of you know,
it sticks to me that Anthony Edwards said after the
series that Minnesota never jeled for a single game in
that series.

Speaker 5 (32:31):
Well, you know who did the MAVs. I mean time
in and time out.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
They won every one of those close games when it
came down to the wire because they were just on
the same page on what to do, when to.

Speaker 5 (32:41):
Do, and how to put a clutch, which has been
part of their identity all year. Their clutch scoring has
been through the roof because of that.

Speaker 7 (32:48):
By the way, talking about Minnesota inexperience, whatever you want
to call it, you can't get. You can't be down
thirty eight points at home in a closeout game in
the playoffs.

Speaker 6 (32:57):
That can't happen.

Speaker 2 (32:58):
I don't get, I got, I got, Well, I got
one word for you. And to me, it's what I
would It's what I would move Cat.

Speaker 7 (33:07):
Yeah, there's something missing there.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
The loser, but well no, you know, I mean just
to me, he just didn't show up, man even show
up in a lot of those games.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
I'd move on from him.

Speaker 6 (33:23):
Yeah, and the defense.

Speaker 4 (33:26):
We're in a spot now too where Anthony Edwards has
become such a superstar overnight that now it's like we's
got to have better number two. Like, so whatever grace
was ever going to be given to Cat to see
if he could grow into something with him that grace
is now gone because the applications have changed totally.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Their best game is when against Dallas is when cat
was didn't play the whole.

Speaker 6 (33:44):
Fourth when benched him for the Yeah, the entire quarter.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Yeah he gotta go. All right, we'll get into We're
gonna take a quick time out. Fellas hanging right here
Fox Sports Radio. Fella's from the tai Iraq dot com studios.

(34:13):
The one cool thing about the NBA. We're in an
NBA discussion right now. I think the one cool thingout
the NBA right now is I don't think there's one
formula to build the championship team used to be like, oh,
we got to follow the blueprint of the big three.
Are we need the blueprint of this.

Speaker 5 (34:32):
And you know big.

Speaker 6 (34:33):
Two or now we need a big three? I really
don't think there.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
I think Dallas is expelling the notion because of you know,
it's two, it's the two guards, and then you got
you know a lot of great role players that just
kind of come in and are interchangeable.

Speaker 3 (34:52):
I think, you know a lot of these teams.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
So I look at Minnesota, I think there's a there's
a way to build it and you and you have yeah,
I mean right there.

Speaker 4 (35:01):
You know, it's interesting to me too because both of
these teams, You're right, Dallas has a ton of role
players and Boston, I know they have two.

Speaker 5 (35:10):
Of the highest paid players in the league at this or.

Speaker 4 (35:12):
Will, but at this point Boston also has a ton
of depth. Like for all the conversation about you know,
the Big Three in the way teams were built and
look over like every time the Lakers this year are
gonna figure out what to do this summer. What's gonna
you know, we're gonna sign some big name and bring
them in. Is what everybody wants to do with that
that that's not working like that? What you're a thousand

(35:32):
percent right that we're seeing a change in the way
these things are built and what's working in the NBA,
and everybody should sort of take note. There's there is
some relevance here too, you know, building it differently and
you know, you get your one superstar obviously with Luca
with the with.

Speaker 5 (35:47):
The maps that's homegrown.

Speaker 4 (35:48):
But the rest of this as a matter of the
right signings and the right draftings and the right depth
and the right trade.

Speaker 5 (35:53):
Movement, like this was not sexy.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
Nobody thought the MAVs would be here mid season because
they were not sexy to that point.

Speaker 5 (35:59):
But it's actually that they're in the final.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yeah, I go back to it. I think I brought
up last week, but I remember Legs talk. We were
talking about the he was on the air for NBA
Trade Deadline and it shows about the end they did
the trade special and he's like, Hey, we're not going
to talk about the you know, the Gafford, the PJ
Washington going to Dallas, and they're like no, He's like, dude,

(36:25):
He's like, that was a big to me.

Speaker 3 (36:27):
It was one of the biggest pieces.

Speaker 2 (36:28):
And he was right, you know, like when they go
get PJ Washington, that sh that was the perfect fit
role player to fit for that team. It's amazing how
that worked in the same vey how good Barrett go
Bear works in Minnesota. Those two like the Gafford, PJ

(36:49):
Washington really and then Lively coming to his own that
was a great pick. But having those two as role
players just makes a complete.

Speaker 4 (36:58):
Difference, which is just a different sort of focus. And look,
Legs isn't wrong. Everybody knows that. You know, we want
to spend all the time talking about where the big
name's going, but it just is so much about trying
to get the right pieces at the right time in
the right places right And I think that's why, to
the point we made earlier, if you're in Minnesota and
you're right there, you're you're not necessarily looking at at

(37:20):
saying okay, what big name, huge superstar. Are you going
to look at this and say, okay, what's the best
thing to complement Anthony Edwards? You also got to strike
byle the Irons hot though, because I do want to
just remind everybody that when.

Speaker 5 (37:31):
The Bucks were on their incredible run.

Speaker 4 (37:33):
With the Honest to get the championship the first time,
the presumption was they would be back over and over
and over again.

Speaker 5 (37:38):
When we saw how.

Speaker 4 (37:39):
That's going, right like now, true, holiday is a huge
part of you know, this finals matchup. So it's just
amazing how some names we just sort of gloss over
and make a difference and you really, just like every
other sport, are you hot at the right time in
the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (37:52):
It's just such a huge part of this.

Speaker 3 (37:54):
I know, I know now that that's it.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
That really is a you know that getting hot thing
is is true, but you know, it's funny about the
star and the sexy name. So I've been imploring Darryl Moury.
In fact, I texted him this. I was like, dude,
start with Paul George. He's not going to work, go

(38:19):
trade for Lori Marketing. I'd rather have Lori Marketing and
trade away four or five number one picks to go
all in and then then signed Paul George for nothing.

Speaker 5 (38:31):
I mean, I don't blame you on that.

Speaker 4 (38:33):
Like, the hard part about this is that we're just
why are we obsessed with Paul George. Other than the
fact that it's the name, everybody just automatically thinking.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
He's not going to be there for you. He's not
showing up for you. There's no way.

Speaker 4 (38:48):
Yeah, I don't understand what the sales pitch is at
this point. When frankly, we were all sitting there at
the time when Kawhi and Paul George were coming together
for the Clippers, it was like, well, look at what
this is going to lead to, And you're right, it
doesn't lead to anything if you aren't healthy, and even
when you are healthy, then it's like, well, they haven't
played so much that they need that time to knock
the russ off, Like he's just never playoff.

Speaker 5 (39:11):
Yeah, I mean, they just never got right.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
And so yeah, I think the Paul George thing is
that's one of so many times where it's like the
name recognition is better than the actual play that you
get for it, And that doesn't make any sense for
me at this stage.

Speaker 7 (39:26):
Big Well, someone that's seen Paul George up close in
person in the last couple of years, he certainly has declined.

Speaker 6 (39:32):
He's had some injury issues.

Speaker 7 (39:33):
He's still a good player, and he's an excellent outside shooter,
but the burst that he had, the phenomenal athlete that
can get around players and make it to the basket,
that part of his game is sorely lacking. So he's
still a good player. I don't know if I'm willing
in the situation the Sixers are in to mortgage as
far as trade assets or a ginormous max contract to
sign him to bring him in, knowing his injury history

(39:55):
and knowing he's just not the same player that he
was even three years ago. He's not a bad player,
but I just don't know if he's a guy that
he's gonna put them over the top right now.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
And you know, and they're gonna go after Paul George,
and they're gonna go after Jimmy Butler, and I go,
you pig down this road with these guys. Jimmy Butler
is gonna do the same thing. He's not gonna be
available at this stage of his career.

Speaker 6 (40:20):
Why in the world would you go with Jimmy Butler.

Speaker 7 (40:22):
Seriously, you're just hoping, you're hoping that he's healthy for
the right time of year.

Speaker 6 (40:26):
But I don't know if I'm willing to gamble with that. No, No,
I mean.

Speaker 7 (40:30):
Exactly, because you know what he can do when he's
healthy in the playoffs, but it's not worth the risk
and then a financial commitment.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
It's then you're on the down slide where the fella
is right here.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
Well, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning,
good morning, good morning, good morning. Buddy Happy, Iaby, Abby Abby,
Fox Sports Saturday, first of June.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
That's right, June one.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
We have hit it flat that calendar Baby month close
Hit up football from the ti raq dot com studios.

Speaker 6 (41:16):
We come ti iraq dot Com.

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Speaker 3 (41:40):
A couple of things.

Speaker 2 (41:42):
One just to put the neat bow on the NBA,
because I think it's been just a lot of fun.
Dallas Boston is I think a great series like it
should this one everybody should watch. You guys are read
that this is this is one where it's a great matchup.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
Like you know, I don't know you didn't make a pick. Fig.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
I know fits he likes Boston. I like Dallas. Uh,
you know you're kind of like I think you're who
do you like?

Speaker 3 (42:14):
Fig?

Speaker 7 (42:15):
It's close enough that you know you asked me today.
I could be one thing that actually tomorrow will be another.
But I'm leaning towards Dallas. Yeah, to your point. From
a matchup standpoint, I think they have the upper hand.
But I know when Boston to fits his point, when
they can get on a heater and when they're playing
well and executing well, Uh, they're pretty difficult to beat
for anybody on any given night. So I certainly can

(42:35):
see and this is independent of whether if Porzingis is
there and gives them anything. I think that's actually a bonus.
I think I'm looking at Boston with Porzingi's not in
the mix. I know we'll be there, but what kind
of player he'll be, what kind of impact will make,
I don't know. But considering they've made this majority of
this run without him being there, I'm just gonna assume
he's not going to be a factor. And even with that,
I think it's going to be a really close series.

(42:57):
So you ask me today, I say Dallas in seven years,
and yes, that means Boston will lose another Game seven
at home in the postseason.

Speaker 4 (43:05):
But we need to keep track of this because at
the end of it all, like if I'm the loan
if I'm the loan fella that's on the Celtics, I
deserve some sort of a prize.

Speaker 5 (43:13):
That's all I'm saying. I'm just saying, like you.

Speaker 6 (43:15):
A yeah, pride for that everybody favor.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
It feels like everybody else is all over this, the
Dallas thing.

Speaker 7 (43:25):
I'm just saying, well, you know, if it's a full disclosure,
you know, if it's if it's this close, I'm going
to lean towards them. Picking against the Celtics because I
just can't. I can't support them winning. So I'll be
honest about it.

Speaker 4 (43:36):
I respect that admission like that is you know what,
That's what makes the Fellas the best show you can
have on the weekend is because.

Speaker 5 (43:42):
We're honest about our biases.

Speaker 4 (43:44):
Yes, bias, biases, bias were honest morality of biases or
is it even yeah?

Speaker 7 (43:52):
Whatever, we know what you mean. It all works. If
I clearly thought Boston was better, I picked them. But
if I as close as I see it, I'll just say,
you know what, I think Dallas is gonna win because
I'd rather Dallas win.

Speaker 6 (44:03):
There, how's that for your analysis?

Speaker 3 (44:05):
Here you go, oh rut for downs without a doubt.
Make no make no mistake.

Speaker 5 (44:11):
I've been rooting. I'm even rooting for Boston. How do
you like that? And I don't like Celtics. I got
no skin in the game.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
What.

Speaker 4 (44:18):
I'm just tired of this this wild narrative that it's
just like we've turned this into some carryover every year
that the Celtic.

Speaker 5 (44:26):
We're doing the same thing to.

Speaker 4 (44:27):
The Celtics right now that we did the Bills last year,
they're doing the Cowboys this year, like we just apply
you know the fact that it hasn't come together when
they needed to into suddenly this narrative, this certain guys
suck and I just want that to infer Tatum and
for Brown, like I'm just tired of the all they're
doers choke.

Speaker 5 (44:44):
Well, all they do.

Speaker 4 (44:44):
Is get to the Eastern Conference Finals, which is better
than most teams. So, you know, like just and every
year is not that. Every year is different. Every year
is its own beast. That's the hill I'm dying on.

Speaker 6 (44:55):
Yeah, I will agree with you on that.

Speaker 7 (44:56):
But there's a certain level of expectation that you said
when you make get that far every single year and
you continue to fall short. So you can use Boston,
you can use Buffalo, you can use the Dodgers. There's
many of examples of teams at some point like now.

Speaker 4 (45:12):
We look back at that Bills there and say, oh
my god, how did we not appreciate four straight Super Bowls?

Speaker 5 (45:16):
Even if they lost all four?

Speaker 4 (45:17):
Sure if Twitter had existed, then that entire group of
people would have to go on into hiding, right, Like,
so I just the fact that you know they've they've
been in the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 5 (45:27):
Finals six of the last eight years. I want to
see him pull it out. I just I want the.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
The Celtics hate to die down for a second. Let
him win one and then we can you know, resell.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
God, God, it makes my skin crawl.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
Let them win one here with that nonset. I freaking
hate them, freaking hate them.

Speaker 6 (45:49):
Yeah, I know, it's funny.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
I was on a plane yesterday or yeah, he was
yesterday last night. I got I'd get home till like,
uh one o'clock in the morning.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
Whoever, it was twelve thirty last night.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
I flew into Newark and I during the flight over,
I watched The Departed And you know, you guys watched
this all of de party, right, yeah, definitely, yeah. I
mean it's you know, it's it's Boston's anthem, you right, yes, right,
I mean it's just it's great.

Speaker 6 (46:22):
It's one of the great movies ever, and it's just
don't fight. It's just Boston.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
Like I respect Boston to the end degree, but man,
I hate them. If you're from Philadelphia, you have to
hate them, like it's just there's no because we're like cousins.
We're the bigger cousin, but we're cousins and it's like
we're rival cousins, so I freaking it can't stand them,

(46:48):
and you give me all this Boston love because you're
in the shadows in Connecticut.

Speaker 3 (46:54):
You know I can't take it.

Speaker 5 (46:56):
I think because I have no skin in the game,
Like this is well.

Speaker 4 (46:58):
I always say I love covering college football because I
genuinely don't care who wins or loses.

Speaker 5 (47:02):
I just want the best story.

Speaker 4 (47:03):
Yeah, Like I think the Celtics rising through the MAVs,
like I need the Celtics to go up to nothing,
then down three to two and then come back and
win the series. And seven where Luca misses what could
be the game winning shot in Game seven of.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
The Luca deserves some love.

Speaker 5 (47:20):
I mean, Luca's got plenty of love.

Speaker 7 (47:22):
I'll hold on Les lucas one of the biggest crimes.

Speaker 5 (47:30):
And he he was.

Speaker 4 (47:35):
Being destroyed a month and a half ago for being
a cry baby. And I've heard more like fat shaming
on Luca than like you could ever imagine. And then
and now all of a sudden, everybody's back on the
Luca train. Now that he's hitting all these clutch shots.
It's like, oh no, I was always on the Luca thing.
It's like really really, I don't know.

Speaker 6 (47:52):
Did you guys see he had a beer confiscated after
the game. Yes, that was pretty good.

Speaker 3 (47:56):
Yeah, it was funny like that, who's that?

Speaker 6 (48:00):
Who took it from him?

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Just a Michael Finley, Michael Michael Finley, Michael Finley took
it from That was the best.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
He was with his father and.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
He's drinking his beer and Michael Finley comes over just
snatches the beer fro.

Speaker 3 (48:13):
I lie loved it. It was great.

Speaker 6 (48:15):
I love Luca.

Speaker 5 (48:17):
Look.

Speaker 2 (48:17):
The best is when they slow it down the other
day and he goes, who's bleeping crying?

Speaker 6 (48:23):
Now?

Speaker 5 (48:23):
Mother?

Speaker 6 (48:25):
I love the trash talk. He's the best.

Speaker 5 (48:28):
I love him.

Speaker 7 (48:29):
Man, I love the trash talk. But he does playing
literally every single solitary play.

Speaker 4 (48:34):
Yeah, I was the way you said, mother, father, because
we're on radio, only makes me laugh because you know,
in high school, I like to play a lot of
basketball with my friends. And I was right right when
I first moved to Nashville. Actually, I was playing in
like a church league down here, and I was playing
in a game and I got frustrated with myself, so
I said, jimminy Christmas really loud, and that's all I

(48:55):
said Jimmy christ And because I say that all the
time so I don't offend anybody. And I was Jimmy
Christmas and the ref tied me up. The ref tied
me up Jimmy Christmas. So I went nuts on the
ref and got myself a technical foul and suspended for
three games, all because I said Jimmy Christmas to myself.

Speaker 5 (49:12):
So you know, I heard you say mother father, and
it just made me.

Speaker 6 (49:15):
It's great.

Speaker 4 (49:17):
I got tied up, suspended three games. That might have
been for the thing correctly.

Speaker 5 (49:21):
To the official afterwards.

Speaker 7 (49:23):
But still you want to say one of the magic
words they would have had you arrested, right, I mean,
she's Jimmy Christmas.

Speaker 6 (49:29):
Really, well, it's.

Speaker 4 (49:30):
The Bible belt down here, guys. There was a Bible
belt in the late nineties, no less. So like you know,
even even more Christmas.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
Get up suspended.

Speaker 6 (49:38):
It's crazy, it's unreal.

Speaker 5 (49:40):
Well, you know that's what happens. It happens.

Speaker 3 (49:42):
Well, mother father.

Speaker 2 (49:44):
I've always said that that's around because the other way,
that's always been my favorite curse word. Like there was
a who was it? He did the Actors Studio. He's
the best.

Speaker 5 (49:57):
James White, He lived in.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
James James Lipton, and he would always ask what's your
favorite curse word? And I always loved mother father, Like
you just go mother father, Like the way it just
rolls is great, and like it's sports, especially basketball, like

(50:20):
it just goes right, like it's it's a way to
punch back.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
You put somebody in verbally their face with that.

Speaker 4 (50:28):
No, my So, my dad was never a big swear
growing up, but my mom always was like all my
mom at mouth of a sailor. And you know, my
mom was a prominent casino executive when I was a
little kid, and you know, famously threw an entire football
team out for whistling at a cocktail waitress. So like,
my mom was a tough woman and very very smart

(50:51):
and just drops f bombs like I swear all the
when the MIC's not on. I understand that I have
a very offensive leg like my like, which is terrible.

Speaker 5 (51:00):
I get that from my mom.

Speaker 4 (51:01):
But the funny thing is I remember somebody saying to
my mom at one point, getting in my mom's face.
I remember this as a kid and saying, you know
what if if that's all you can say, If all
you can say is the F wort then you obviously
don't have anything better to say. And my mom just
looked at the lady and said, look, when I can
find something else that's as powerful to say, is this
that doesn't involve it, I'll try it, but in the meantime,

(51:23):
F you and I'll.

Speaker 5 (51:24):
Never forget this. She got right in her face few and.

Speaker 4 (51:26):
I was like, oh god, that is that's just part
of who I am. Like, I drop f bombs all
the time. I know this, it's not it's not healthy,
it's not good. I try to be better with it.

Speaker 7 (51:34):
But it's Samuel is coming a multi millionaire by doing that,
So I mean it works, that's the way I look
at it.

Speaker 5 (51:41):
Yeah, yeah, yes, that is that is fair.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
I got I gotta get off this mother father plane.

Speaker 7 (51:50):
Every movie unless it was Star Wars or a Marvel film,
trust me, he's getting the over unders about six or seven,
and he's usually hitting the over yes.

Speaker 4 (51:57):
Yes as a constant in one now. Because you know,
when I'm trying to be clean, which is most of
the time with this one, I say son of a
biscuit all the time.

Speaker 5 (52:06):
Son of a biscuit.

Speaker 3 (52:08):
That's good, That is good.

Speaker 6 (52:10):
Son of a biscuit.

Speaker 3 (52:11):
Listen, you son of a biscuit, the.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
Way you say it, the way you have a lilt,
like you gotta have a lilt when you say it,
your son of a biscuit, Like, you know, you.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
Got to have that thing. There's a way.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
There's a cadence, and there's a cadence to cursing too,
especially it's sport. Like if you're playing you're playing a
game with someone and you're going at it, you gotta
have the cadence, right.

Speaker 7 (52:38):
Because seriously, if you you know, you can't figure it
together nicely, you know exactly.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
What I mean, trust me, Like you're a playground or whatever,
you're playing ball, you got to say it the right way, right,
you got.

Speaker 6 (52:54):
Because then you're just gonna get laughed at.

Speaker 3 (52:56):
Right?

Speaker 10 (52:57):
Really, this guy that's great on BBS. Oh my god,
that's great. Let's get back to it. So God's from

(53:17):
this role.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
All this little rift was Fitzy professing love for the
Celtics and Mike. I guess my question is Tadum and
Brown do Tatum and Brown deserve your love and poor
pity one or the other that you're offering them.

Speaker 5 (53:40):
I mean why not?

Speaker 3 (53:43):
Why?

Speaker 2 (53:44):
I mean I mean yes, like like yannest to me,
I wanted Yannis to win.

Speaker 6 (53:51):
I didn't deserve to win.

Speaker 2 (53:54):
Y Yada's buses ants right, yas hate him, he's half
a loser. Like tell like I got no pity out
of Tatum? Why you show up in the fourth fluoriter
all the time? Like it said, you disappeared all the time.
What's he what's he done that?

Speaker 6 (54:14):
You are?

Speaker 3 (54:15):
Poor Jason Tatum, he's hell out that he's.

Speaker 4 (54:19):
A remarkable player that we're constantly like, oh do it
in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 5 (54:22):
And it's not like he's been remarkable play.

Speaker 6 (54:26):
But again, don't we judge sports and greatness?

Speaker 2 (54:31):
We yes, we just don't you gotta be don't you
gotta come in clutch, coming big time? Like what they said,
bleep you fit see that's what Lucas said. And what's
Tatum done? He never does that.

Speaker 5 (54:46):
We can't look at all of it in a vacuum.
That's all like, So.

Speaker 4 (54:49):
Look, I use hardened hardens, the the Evil Empire version
of all this because as Sarah Spain, like, he just
there are times where like it's not even that he
doesn't come up clutch, it's that like he just.

Speaker 5 (55:04):
Right and and I you.

Speaker 4 (55:06):
Know, I've talked to a couple of former NBA players
and asked it, like, is that reelers that perceived And
a couple of former guys that played in the league
were like, nope, we all know it. Like all you
got to do is just get in his head a
little bit and he's done. I think that's different than
Tatum's had some opportunities. Maybe hasn't been able to see him,
but he's also had to do heavy lifting at times.
He's It's not like I just haven't seen the same level.

(55:27):
I haven't seen hard and like failure from Tatum, and
I feel like he's treated.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
I don't think he's hard, and I mean hard is
his special kind of loser. It's like hard and quits
like he's a front runner. He's the worst kind. Molly
points to you, is I like TAM's are right? Like
I have not just take this green off of him,
take that that green jersey off of him.

Speaker 6 (55:50):
I got no real issue with him, But he doesn't
deserve my pity.

Speaker 2 (55:56):
It's like you're giving it a pity and I go,
what's he what's he done to go to deserve that?

Speaker 3 (56:02):
He played?

Speaker 5 (56:04):
Really?

Speaker 4 (56:05):
Yeah, he's played well enough to deserve benefit of the
doubt line. If he comes through in this series, if
they win, will that stop all of this chatter about like, oh,
he's not he doesn't have a clutch, team doesn't have.

Speaker 3 (56:17):
I'll tell you one thing, I trust Brown more I
trust Tatum.

Speaker 6 (56:20):
Yep. I think I said this to you guys a
couple of weeks ago. I love Brown. Tatum.

Speaker 7 (56:24):
I like he's a good player, He's a better individual
basketball player, But I feel like Jayleen Brown more of
that whatever that factor is.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
Yes, Tatum, you're right, Tatum is better, is terrific, spectacular,
tut the ballplayer he's but who's got stones?

Speaker 6 (56:44):
Yeah, the dog in him? That's Jaylen Brown more than Tatum.

Speaker 4 (56:49):
And I just feel like, but the expectation on how
much dog has had to be carried has been so
different for the two of them, Like Brown, Brown doesn't
walk in with this heaping Oh my god, you better
do that, Like it doesn't feel the same to me,
Like maybe maybe I'm just maybe my head's in the
sand on it, but it just it feels like we're
sitting here saying these things about Brown, but the same

(57:11):
expectation hasn't been heaped on Brown.

Speaker 5 (57:12):
That has been heaped on table to who much is given?

Speaker 6 (57:15):
Much as required?

Speaker 7 (57:16):
We said, We just said Tatum is a better player
than Brown, so he has to be able to show
it when it matters most. You got to be the
best player and the toughest player. You gotta give me
the Kobe.

Speaker 5 (57:26):
Yeah, I'm not. I don't disagree with any of that.

Speaker 4 (57:29):
I don't think a few times of coming up short
in the game is the reason for that time.

Speaker 7 (57:35):
A few times, a few times, sixth time you say
six in the last eight years in the.

Speaker 4 (57:42):
Conference, last morning, every conference final on him for not
being able to win it.

Speaker 6 (57:51):
Like is that flyer you got? Yes, everyone says player, yes,
fools your shoulder.

Speaker 7 (57:58):
Unless he shot sixty five percent from the field and
score forty five, then then yeah.

Speaker 6 (58:02):
Unfortunately, that's how it goes again.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
Yis took Yadis took a lot of heat before we
won it, and he and he carried them, carry them
and Bouls has got a better team too.

Speaker 6 (58:16):
By the way, definitely, I.

Speaker 4 (58:20):
Agree with you that Giannis took some heat. I think
Tatum is taking. It feels to me like Tatum takes
more heat.

Speaker 5 (58:25):
I feel like the.

Speaker 6 (58:26):
Overdome light's bigger because of where he's playing to Yad
has won it. Here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
If ya has never won, you know, the Yanish Heat,
but he won and he shut everybody up.

Speaker 4 (58:41):
So if Tatum wins this year, then that that changes everything.
This is I think the hard part about this, all
of this for me, is that every one of these
runs to the Eastern Conference Final has been different, and
every one of the teams that they've had has been different,
and every one of their opponents.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
That's every year Nuance, right, that's nuanced man, step what Tatum, what.

Speaker 7 (59:04):
They do as this point they do all end up
getting lumped together.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
Of course they do.

Speaker 6 (59:08):
You know, puts in years from now. That's what it's
gonna be looked at.

Speaker 2 (59:11):
Of course, best the way it is, but sooner or later,
you gotta show up in a big spot. I'm sorry.
If you want to be some great listen, he's a
terrific bull player. He's amazingly talented. But if you want
to be on that level, I don't want to hear
it like he has to and to me, after all
this time, he does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

(59:34):
You just got done. So we just got done talking
about cat. I mean, you know, step up, you guys.
This is it, like you know, that's it? No more
so let's see what he's a favorite the Celtics Harmonies
two ten. Yeah, I'll go the other way with you
and go if they don't win, he's he's born. He's

(59:56):
not hardened, because nobody will be hardened, but he is.
He's you know, he's just never going to win.

Speaker 4 (01:00:05):
I just look according to stat mus, and I haven't
looked this up all the way, but according to stat Mus,
in his career, Jason Tatum has averaged twenty four point
four points.

Speaker 3 (01:00:13):
I don't care about that.

Speaker 5 (01:00:15):
Hold on.

Speaker 4 (01:00:17):
Just just in the Eastern Conference finals alone, he's averaged
twenty four point four eight point three and five. I
know that there have been moments he hasn't come up big,
But we talk about him like he's trash.

Speaker 5 (01:00:27):
You haveagel.

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
No, you're wrong, stop with that. Talk about him like
god sense, that's non sense. We just got thumb telling
you that he's a tremendous player, trumendous player, that he's
the best player on the team, that he's way better
than Brown.

Speaker 6 (01:00:42):
We got them telling you that.

Speaker 5 (01:00:44):
So you're wrong. I'm saying, yeah, but yeah, but yeah,
but it's only yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
Because you know why, because he hasn't won, because you.

Speaker 5 (01:00:52):
Have even been in that she went out twenty five.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
He's been up with failure every time a big games.

Speaker 4 (01:00:59):
Even had been in that situation without his twenty five eight.

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
Irrelevant counselor irrelevant. If you're a great player and you
want flowers, then you got to show up.

Speaker 5 (01:01:11):
I'm twenty five eight and five.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
Okay, Well, it's all great to do stats when they
blow somebody out one twenty eight to eighty eight and
he's got thirty seven fifteen six. Because when you watch
that team, that's what they are to a front running team.
They go out and they blow teams out, and they
pick up stats, and you can take that stat muse

(01:01:34):
and stick it up your gigee, Fellas hag Itt Fuck
Sports Radio. All right, Welcome back, Fellas, Jason fitz Kevin
Figures from the tay Iraq dot com seriside.

Speaker 3 (01:01:56):
By the way, don't forget the shortly show.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
Our podcast goes up, so if you missed any part
of today's show, be sure to check out the podcast
to search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts,
and be sure to follow rate and review the podcast again.
Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts,
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off the air.

Speaker 3 (01:02:22):
The Tatum debate is interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
It's like what we expect from supreme athletes. Right, So
let's take it to a love of sport. Let's take
it to football, and I'll throw let's go Josh Allen. Now,
I look at Josh Allen and I go, Wow, you

(01:02:48):
don't put enough around Josh Allen. Now is that our
our Tatum and Josh Allen similar? Because I think I
think they they don't put it enough around Josh Allen.

Speaker 4 (01:03:02):
I think the tide's gonna turn on Josh Allen if
results don't change quickly. Like there's this interesting Josh Allen.
I think we could do a whole psychological study on
this because, frankly, so many people were just absolutely wrong
about Josh Allen when he was drafted, and then there
were years of you can't fix the accuracy, he can't
fix the accuracy. Buffalo shut out all the noise. To

(01:03:24):
their credit, they developed the quarterback and then all of
a sudden it was, oh my god, he's great, and
I think he changed. He made so many people look
foolish that now everybody's very careful about looking foolish again.

Speaker 5 (01:03:35):
Josh is a great.

Speaker 4 (01:03:36):
Player, but at some point, if we hold the same
standard most of the time with quarterbacks, at some point
it's like the seesaw of the teeter totter, depending on
where you grew up, it eventually moves and goes to
the other direction. Right now, he's beloved and everybody does
look at it, and I think you're right. There isn't
enough around him this year. They're gonna make him lift
even more. But if the Bills take a step backwards

(01:03:57):
and all of a sudden they're an eight win team
this year, you can't tell me they're not going to be.
People saying, well, when you page ash, he needs to
be able to elevate the talent that's around him, Like
there will come a point where the Mahomes effect will
be much like the Brady effect was. But we forget
sometimes that Peyton Manning at one point had that whole
can't win the big one, you know, like can't find

(01:04:19):
his way to get through it. Like that was a
real conversation about Peyton after college and then coming into
the pros. He had to find a way to get
that monkey off his back. I think that does happen
to Josh Allen in the next year or two if
he doesn't find a way to get through Mahomes. I'm
not even saying it's a super Bowl He's got a
great through Mahomes.

Speaker 3 (01:04:37):
Well, it's like de Manning and Brady.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
I mean watching you know, I'm from that standpoint fake,
I say, Josh Allen, you say.

Speaker 7 (01:04:48):
I don't want to say the word underachiever because there's
also an element of, Yeah, there's the Brady effect because
you're going up against you know, Pastorck Mahomes could be
end up becoming the greatest player, or at least the
greatest quarterp back in the history of the sport.

Speaker 6 (01:05:01):
And so you knock on that door constantly. And how
many times would you say his teams were better?

Speaker 7 (01:05:07):
Maybe once once you know that that thirteen second game
a couple of years ago that they lost that they
probably should have won when they've gone head to head
at least in the postseason.

Speaker 6 (01:05:17):
So was his fault?

Speaker 7 (01:05:19):
No, And so there's also an element of and I
guess it's a little bit different in football too than
it is in basketball, because there's there's more players, there's
more variables that fall into you know, at five on five,
you know, if you're the best player on the floor,
a lot of times, it could trump whatever else is
going on. Rams took a lot of untalented teams, specifically

(01:05:39):
his first team in Cleveland to an NBA final that
but they had no business being there.

Speaker 6 (01:05:42):
So there's a little bit of a difference.

Speaker 7 (01:05:44):
But I do understand the argument with Josh Allen until
your point fits, yes, whether it whether it's fair or not,
his fault or not. If he does not win in
these next couple of seasons, the shine is going to
come off. And I think to a certain degree it
already has to for a lot of people, Josh Allen
being one of the top. Remember a couple of years ago,
some people had Josh Allen rated higher than Patrick Mahomes,

(01:06:05):
even though padd had already won. They said, well, yeah, Mahomes,
says Andy Reid, And it's a better infrastructure and players
are better around him. He as Tyreek Hill and all that.
Josh Allen's a better player. Now you don't hear that
chatter anymore, and Josh Allen is going further and further
down the wrong, the more and more he doesn't win.

Speaker 4 (01:06:20):
Well, And isn't it like, Look, I don't want to
be I like to be Polly positive early in the morning,
and I don't want to be Debbie Downer.

Speaker 5 (01:06:27):
But let's be real. Here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (01:06:29):
If you want to beat the Chiefs right now, you
have to beat the best coach in the best quarterback
combo in the entire NFL. I keep saying that, So like,
even if Josh Allen is great, if his tag team partner.

Speaker 5 (01:06:40):
Sean McDermott, the head coach, is not every bit on
the level of Andy Reid, then you are.

Speaker 4 (01:06:46):
You gotta make up ground. And I think that's part
of what we've forgetting all of this, Like the Chiefs.
Same with Brady Belichick. I hate to burst everybody's bubble
when they want to have this conversation about was it
Brady or was it Belichick? Guys, what if it was
both and it was both of them together that was
the magical combination that made them the power duo that
they were that led them to Super Bowls. What if

(01:07:07):
we're seeing that again right now with Mahomes and Andy Reid.

Speaker 5 (01:07:10):
And by the way, if.

Speaker 4 (01:07:10):
That's the case, what if Andy Reid decides to coach
for another eight years because he's winning Super Bowls a
year after year after year, we might never see an
era of dominance like this again, Like that's the moment.
That's what we're going to be saying when it comes
to Mahomes and Andy Reid. So what makes it really
difficult is how do we view failure? What is success
or failure in a team sport when what's being asked

(01:07:32):
of you is not just to be the best at
your position, but.

Speaker 5 (01:07:35):
To have the best team, the best coach, the best player.

Speaker 6 (01:07:38):
Everything you're spot on.

Speaker 2 (01:07:40):
I mean, I guess, you know, I don't think that
maybe I have to divorce myself because I know Sean
very well. I'm very fine the Shawn no aighties through
different coaches, because Andy is comes from the offensive side.
Ais the master. Sean worked for Andy, and you know,
and he plucks Seawan, you know, basically from as through

(01:08:04):
an intern. You know, he put them along and Searltz
defensive guy. So you know, I mean, it's it's hard
to talk about those two Josh Allen and Sean McDermott
in that sense the way you would do breed and Mahomes.
But to your point, I just don't think there's and
they've had enough around them. I don't think player wise,

(01:08:29):
personnel wise, they've been good enough. They've lacked They've always
either lacked a running game and then they got one
with Cook right, but before that they left their running game.
They've always lacked receiver depth and did sad and that
never had enough on defense playmakers. I mean watching the
Bengals watching right.

Speaker 5 (01:08:52):
Go ahead, go ahead, No, no.

Speaker 4 (01:08:54):
And that just speaks to the fact that now I'm
saying best coach, best quarterback, and one of the best gms.
Like I'm putting all of that together one like, because
you're you're right, Like I don't think McDermott is a
I think Sean McDermott's a very very good coach. I
just happen to think Andy Reid is a Hall of Famer.
That's the best of the best right now. So like,
it's not that you're not great, it's just a ain't

(01:09:16):
as great as he is. Like you got that, yes,
and you're right, Like there hasn't been there have been
holes in the roster every time, but there have been
holes in the roster for Kansas City too. The difference
is like you got Mahomes, who's a cheat code for it?
With Andy Reid, who's the cheat code for it?

Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
Yeah, well you also have spags who I mean, they
won because the defense. Like one of the things is
amazing is they win this year because of their defense
and Mahomes, Right, it's only Mahomes and and their defense
was spectacular, So you know, I guess.

Speaker 3 (01:09:52):
It's the whole.

Speaker 2 (01:09:52):
It really is the kind of Patriot way versus Kansas
City culture, right, And Buffalo's used to shorty late dollars
short right, Like that's that's kind of out feels.

Speaker 7 (01:10:05):
But the funky thing is, and this is football and
professional sports to a certain degree, that game a couple
of years ago in the postseason. You know, if they
manage the clock better and that kickoff situation and it's
not thirteen seconds and they get the short return and
Kansas City ties it and wins in overtime, and Buffalo
wins a super Bowl, we're not talking about any of this.

Speaker 6 (01:10:22):
Like that's how small the margin is? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:10:26):
Is that small?

Speaker 6 (01:10:26):
Like I say, Buffalo's not good enough?

Speaker 11 (01:10:28):
Not?

Speaker 6 (01:10:28):
I mean, that was spectacular. That was a back and
forth fourth quarter.

Speaker 7 (01:10:31):
They had the lead with thirteen seconds left and just
could not close it out because of a special team's play.
And I don't know if that Sean mcdermot's fault. I
don't think that that that's just bad luck. I don't
know what you want to chalk it up to, but
it's all like the gap was so wide between the
two teams, they just didn't get the bounce, unfortunately.

Speaker 4 (01:10:49):
And that's why it just feels like right now, it
feels like whether we're talking about Joe Burrow or Josh Allen,
either one you have a much better chance to either
of those quarterbacks end up being Dan Marino the oh
my god, I can't believe he never won a Super
Bowl quarterback, then you do. Having either of those quarterbacks
host the Lombardi regularly over the course of the next
several years, and I'd like both quarterbacks a lot. I

(01:11:12):
wish my favorite team had either of those guys, and
I think both of those teams can be Super Bowl contenders.
You're in and you're out because the quarterbacks are so good.
It's just that's just not gonna be good enough. You're
gonna have to You're going to have.

Speaker 5 (01:11:23):
To catch Kansas City on a day where everything's gone wrong.

Speaker 3 (01:11:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I would agree with that. You know
what's funny.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
I love this comparison with NBA players and quarterbacks.

Speaker 6 (01:11:40):
So so let's get back.

Speaker 2 (01:11:43):
So let's get back real quick. If Tatum is a quarterback,
who is he?

Speaker 4 (01:11:51):
Okay, So if he's a quarterback, he's a really really
good quarterback that just hasn't won it yet, right.

Speaker 3 (01:11:59):
Or where has got a lot of bloated stats?

Speaker 5 (01:12:03):
Oh man, a lot? He's great? Just is it?

Speaker 4 (01:12:10):
Justin Herbert like like, hasn't won enough but puts up
a bunch of numbers and everybody else.

Speaker 7 (01:12:15):
I would have gone, you were warm on Herbert. I'm
going on with a guy who's a career already ended.
But like if Tatum's career, you know, ended five, six,
seven years from now without a title, but all the stats,
I'd say.

Speaker 6 (01:12:25):
Philip Rivers, well it's pretty good, all.

Speaker 7 (01:12:28):
The stats, made it to the playoffs every year, Yeah,
and just couldn't get it done for whatever reason.

Speaker 3 (01:12:33):
Yeah, that's pretty good. That's pretty good.

Speaker 6 (01:12:35):
That's he was kind of the first person I thought of.

Speaker 3 (01:12:37):
Your first guy thought off was.

Speaker 7 (01:12:40):
Da Oh see, Tadum was a better NBA player than
dak is a quarterback though. Sorry, yeah, I don't know
if Ion.

Speaker 2 (01:12:49):
It's funny, you're right then no, I don't know what's
because those two teams just kind of blend together.

Speaker 7 (01:12:55):
I'm sure it is, right and to a certain degree,
I understand the comparison. Yeah, but right right, like there's just.

Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
A little like if you don't like you look at
this team that he had to have. Now, the Celtics
are good, like and I'm teasing you, FITZI about you know,
they're the favorite.

Speaker 6 (01:13:13):
All they're good, dude, like you're rocking true.

Speaker 2 (01:13:19):
Holiday right, like you forget about Derek White, forget about
Datum and Brown. The role players on this team are good.
They have a terrific team.

Speaker 6 (01:13:30):
Like if they don't win, they lump.

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
They they they lump, especially by the way, right like
they're lumpers if they don't win, like they have to win.

Speaker 4 (01:13:46):
Or or or they lose in the finals and they
running back next year.

Speaker 5 (01:13:50):
Because he's still gonna be bad.

Speaker 2 (01:13:53):
Yes, yes, they're the cowboys, you know, all right, we're
gonna take quick to I like, I love the all right,
so who's Luca think about it?

Speaker 6 (01:14:08):
All right?

Speaker 2 (01:14:09):
Tell me on the other side, where the Fellas hanging
right here Fox Sports Radio Fellas from the tai Iraq
dot com studios.

Speaker 6 (01:14:24):
We're playing the game, so that's where we are.

Speaker 2 (01:14:27):
The NBA player as the NFL quarterback, so the superstar
as the quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:14:36):
So who is Luca?

Speaker 4 (01:14:42):
So I thought, I thought about this one for a
minute and it was pretty easy. You need somebody that
can make an incredible play when you need it in
the clutch. You need somebody that's just got ice in
their veins, and you need somebody that will talk his
talk throughout the course of the entire game. Right, that
sounds but as at one the chip yet right doesn't
have the chip. That's got to be Burrow, Lucas Joe Burrow.

(01:15:04):
That that's there's like a like a cool arrogance to him.
There's a swagginess to him. But there's also I know
he can save me from any situation because he's that
damn goodness to him.

Speaker 5 (01:15:16):
That's that. Yeah, I'm going Joe Burrow with Luka Dancic.

Speaker 3 (01:15:20):
That's pretty good. That's not on.

Speaker 6 (01:15:21):
Yeah, that's what I think. That's now.

Speaker 2 (01:15:23):
I think it's really good, excellent. I was trying to
figure about who who and you're right. The attributes, you know,
can look just fantastic, has been crushed by what's around them,
you know, just be some injuries.

Speaker 6 (01:15:40):
Yeah, excellent, excellent. Who's who's in beeed?

Speaker 5 (01:15:47):
Mmmm? That's so what do we what do we like? Okay,
tremendous talent? H huh? Keep going?

Speaker 2 (01:15:56):
Who is state by injury? Because it was funny because
Barrow reminded me a little bit of him b because
of the injury.

Speaker 3 (01:16:03):
But I think you're right. I think Lucas more the FED.

Speaker 2 (01:16:08):
But he's always been like he gets killed by injury,
killed by supporting cast.

Speaker 3 (01:16:15):
And and for.

Speaker 7 (01:16:16):
Talking just share ability and just taking any off field stuff,
for any of that conversation out of it. I can
see a Deshaun Watson comparison with him as far as
someone who was ultra productive early in his career. Injuries
happened all fields again, off, he.

Speaker 2 (01:16:33):
Had his two best years like he's he had two
great years last actually three. Yeah, he was a little
bagged up this year, but he I mean, was he
MVP last year?

Speaker 5 (01:16:46):
Right?

Speaker 6 (01:16:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:16:46):
And I'm saying like we I mean, look before then,
look his injuries. When Watson's injury, I don't know I
can even throw a four pass at this point with
a shoulder situation.

Speaker 6 (01:16:53):
But I mean when he.

Speaker 7 (01:16:54):
Could, when he could, I mean, this guy got MVP
vaults when he was in Houston. It's all like that
level of talent and ability, but he hasn't realized it
or hasn't taken it to the next step because he
just hasn't been able to stay healthy.

Speaker 5 (01:17:09):
Well, hear me out, can't sit right now and I'm
only talking about right now.

Speaker 4 (01:17:12):
Can't stay healthy at times, hasn't had the best around him.
But when he does, you know he can still beat
you from absolutely anywhere, and you know that he's an
MVB caliber player.

Speaker 5 (01:17:21):
He's Aaron Rodgers. Like he's not old.

Speaker 4 (01:17:23):
He doesn't have the Super Bowl, but like you're describing,
Aaron Rodgers right now, can't stay healthy on the field,
has had some issues with some of the players that
were around him, But my god, you know that if
you give him what he needs, he can take you
all the way to a championship.

Speaker 5 (01:17:36):
And you know that he's one of the best.

Speaker 6 (01:17:39):
How about Lamar for embeid Oh the injury concerns, He's
got an MVP under his belt.

Speaker 5 (01:17:46):
I's pretty good too. Yeah, I like that a lot.

Speaker 7 (01:17:49):
You can also and might not want to hear this,
but has had his share of struggles in big games
in the playoffs. I think that's fair for Lamar and
in certain times Embeid as well.

Speaker 6 (01:18:00):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you're not wrong.

Speaker 2 (01:18:02):
I've all I've always thought of beating the big games.
Now listen, Yeah, that's fair. I mean there were times
the problem has been who's next to them? Right, Like,
because when you're big, you need you need, you know,
a face to basket guy next to you creating stuff

(01:18:22):
for you. But now you're right something to that. Yeah,
I think what mars great. I think that's a great
one and I think that's spot on. That's very good.
All right, let's go all timers. This is fun. Actually,
this is this been a good thing. This wig a

(01:18:45):
good thing for social media. Uh Brady is.

Speaker 5 (01:18:53):
I mean, so Brad Ray Jorda.

Speaker 3 (01:18:56):
Is braid Brady Bird.

Speaker 6 (01:19:00):
See. I feel like I'll go on fits Forkby he
could be Kobe.

Speaker 4 (01:19:07):
Yeah, because here's the thing, he's not Jordan to me,
because I mean, he's just not I just can't make
that cop.

Speaker 5 (01:19:13):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 (01:19:14):
I can't look at the picture of Brady when he
was trapped I never make the cop to Jordan, but
you're right. All the chips have to matter to it.
He's won a lot of different ways, right and for sure,
and he's been able.

Speaker 5 (01:19:26):
To will his team about Coch. Good.

Speaker 4 (01:19:29):
Wait, but he's got some championship he's got some Super
Bowl losses too.

Speaker 5 (01:19:33):
Why not Lebron?

Speaker 3 (01:19:36):
That's good?

Speaker 5 (01:19:38):
I mean Lebron.

Speaker 2 (01:19:41):
I guess personality wise, they remind me of each other
more than Lebron. His body work is his body work
is akin to a Lebron, But Brady and Kobe's personality
I think are more similar.

Speaker 3 (01:19:57):
Fake what do you say?

Speaker 7 (01:19:59):
You guys will probably think I'll be under selling him
by comparing him to Bill Russell, A guy who won
a lot, great coach, great organization at times, yes, because
of his own individual prowess, but at times because the
infrastructure around him was great too. Doesn't diminish him as
an individual player. But I don't know if he was

(01:20:19):
a thousand percent the catalyst as to why they always
won a lot of a lot of the d Russell.

Speaker 3 (01:20:25):
No, I can't.

Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
I don't know the answer to this right right, Well,
we've got to continue to talking about now.

Speaker 3 (01:20:30):
We have to do this on the other side.

Speaker 2 (01:20:32):
All right, we're tagging out here Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:20:38):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:20:41):
Oh, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning,
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Speaker 6 (01:20:49):
Buddy, happy, happy, happy June. The month of June. Oh,
it was a great month.

Speaker 3 (01:21:01):
Starts to summer in earnest.

Speaker 2 (01:21:05):
As we kick it all off, and then uh, next thing,
you know, it's football season as we're talking about the
finals and we're discussing the NBA star who is the quarterback?
So we're joining the parallels, which is a fun exercise.

(01:21:25):
Jason fits Kevin figures. I'm Anthony Gargano. As we come
to you live from the tire rack dot Com studios,
tirack dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:21:33):
We're gonna be get there.

Speaker 2 (01:21:34):
Fan free chipping all right on matt selection free road
hazard protection, over ten thousand recommended installers ti raq dot com.
The way tire buying should be. Uh, you know what
stuts When I say June first, something automatically comes to
my mind.

Speaker 3 (01:21:52):
It's not the same, but it's from the past.

Speaker 6 (01:21:56):
What is it? June first cuts?

Speaker 5 (01:22:00):
Right?

Speaker 6 (01:22:01):
Do you remember how it was always so pronounced? Right?
I always remember that.

Speaker 7 (01:22:08):
They'll see it's still a thing. But the problem is
you can do it like you can make a June
yes cut in April.

Speaker 6 (01:22:14):
Yes, yes, you can. You can do that back in
the day, back in.

Speaker 2 (01:22:17):
The day you won, like June one was a big
day in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (01:22:21):
Calend right, God, you're so right.

Speaker 4 (01:22:24):
Like the ability to designate those moving forward has changed
that whole extra level of all right, well, who's out
on the open market?

Speaker 5 (01:22:32):
Second wave of free agency post draft?

Speaker 2 (01:22:34):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so funny that I think at
June first. That's the first thing I think of when
I hear that date, June one. It's bizarre how that
league is just in our just it's indelible in our
subconscious and in our minds.

Speaker 3 (01:22:54):
It's amazing, truly amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:22:57):
All Right, So let's play this little game here, the
NBA star as the quarterback. We do modern day and
we could do the whole you know, and do and
do all timers. So when we said Brady, I say Kobe,
You said, Bill Russell.

Speaker 7 (01:23:20):
Being me, yes, yes, I said, I stick with Lebron,
said Lebron.

Speaker 6 (01:23:27):
Very interesting, And I could.

Speaker 5 (01:23:28):
See one of the greatest of all time, doesn't he.

Speaker 6 (01:23:30):
Right, He's got elements.

Speaker 3 (01:23:32):
No, the great. I think you're right about you know, Lebron.

Speaker 2 (01:23:38):
I could see that the loss has got finals losses
on his resume. He's got, you know, incredible longevity and
unmatched success, you know in cleaning, incredible stuff. I just
think personality wise, he matches up with Brady. I mean,
he matches up with Cobb.

Speaker 5 (01:23:59):
I've got I got for you that you got.

Speaker 4 (01:24:02):
So you have me thinking Brady, which made me think,
all right, this is only this is based solely on
one year. Okay, so I'm basing this on one year,
but follow me on this one. I got Victor Webman
Yama rookie year. Huge expectations started off slow. By the
end of the year, you were certain he was going
to be an absolute superstar, could take over the league.
That reminds me of the rookie year of Peyton Manning.

(01:24:23):
So I'm going Victor Weman Yama to Peyton Manning. Turn
off rookie year number one overall.

Speaker 6 (01:24:30):
Pick.

Speaker 7 (01:24:30):
Yeah, his first like seven or eight games were terrible,
but he's towards the end of his rookie year.

Speaker 5 (01:24:35):
You're right, take a second click.

Speaker 2 (01:24:36):
Yeah, it's a phenomena in person. It's great for one year,
it's genius. I had one. I had one for Manning too,
Julius Irving.

Speaker 11 (01:24:48):
Oh okay, oh like a great like just you know,
great player, ambassadord whole thing, but didn't win as an
enough that he should have.

Speaker 6 (01:25:01):
Yeah, definitely a lot of missing rings there.

Speaker 4 (01:25:06):
Yeah, that that's interesting because you associate him as one
of the best of all time. You can't tell the
story of the sport without him. You everybody that plays
it is influenced by him. But it wasn't as many
championships as you think, Like, so, yeah, I actually liked
that comp a lot.

Speaker 3 (01:25:25):
How about Marino and Barkley.

Speaker 4 (01:25:28):
Well, that had no no champs, no chips.

Speaker 3 (01:25:33):
Greatness too, right or no?

Speaker 7 (01:25:35):
Or yeah, you know I was thinking Marino and Barkley
or Marino and Malone potentially. Yeah, and that gets into
a debate who do you think was better between Chuck
and Karl Malone?

Speaker 6 (01:25:45):
And you can probably debate that to the cows coo moment.

Speaker 5 (01:25:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:25:49):
Yeah, just from a longevity standpoint too. Now, I think
Dan only played eleven and twelve years. I say, only
that's that's a healthy career. So he played nineteen years either.
Malone played until his legs fell off.

Speaker 3 (01:26:01):
And to steal, Yeah, steal chips.

Speaker 6 (01:26:05):
Yeah, he was ring chasing towards the end.

Speaker 2 (01:26:08):
You have both of you, guys, Malona Barkley, Barkley's but.

Speaker 6 (01:26:16):
It's probably not fair.

Speaker 7 (01:26:18):
But because he was so much shorter but did just
as much damage, I probably give the edge to Barkley.

Speaker 6 (01:26:25):
But Malone wast spectacular.

Speaker 7 (01:26:26):
He was because because Charles Barkley was just so short
and still so dominant, I think I give him the edge.

Speaker 2 (01:26:34):
And he was more of a stretch right, like he
he could handle the ball a little bit, like he
would go coach to coach.

Speaker 3 (01:26:43):
And he would shoot threes.

Speaker 6 (01:26:45):
Well he shot a lot of threes. He didn't make
a lot, but.

Speaker 7 (01:26:49):
Yeah, but yeah, he was definitely more more skilled from
that standpoint.

Speaker 4 (01:26:53):
Yes, yes, Patrick, Who's that's a big way, big guys,
a sort of an antiquated way to play the game.
Didn't get the championship, but we all know the dominance
household name absolutely associated with an entire era of the sport,
meant to a popular franchise like who is the who

(01:27:17):
is the Patrick Ewing of the other?

Speaker 3 (01:27:21):
Oh that's awesome, that's fabulous.

Speaker 4 (01:27:28):
Well you contemplate. I'll give you another weird comp. All right,
this is not a quarterback comp. All right, but I've
given you a weird comp. Okay, when I think super
Bowls that like, I'm surprised every time they're not a quarterback.
But like when you think of a random player and
not random, he's a Hall of famer that has.

Speaker 5 (01:27:44):
Way more super Bowls than any of us think.

Speaker 4 (01:27:45):
That's Charles Haley, who is an important part of five
different super Bowl wins. So that's a Robert Dorry like
it just you know, on different teams winning all over
the place.

Speaker 5 (01:27:54):
Yeah, an important.

Speaker 4 (01:27:55):
Part of those big championship moments. Like, couldn't have done
it without him some times. Forget how many rings he has.
I got Charles Haley his big chop up.

Speaker 6 (01:28:03):
I'd throw Bill Romanowski in that mix too.

Speaker 5 (01:28:06):
Oh okay, I like that.

Speaker 6 (01:28:07):
A lot of rings, different teams, yeah, dog and all
those teams.

Speaker 3 (01:28:11):
Yeah, that's that's very good.

Speaker 6 (01:28:16):
How about Drew Bledsoe for uh for Patrick Ewing?

Speaker 2 (01:28:19):
I keep when you said that, Oh my god, I
full bloodso too.

Speaker 7 (01:28:23):
Really good player, put up some really good stats. Now
he won a championship as a backup. But you know,
so I don't know if you can but Yeah, I
think that's kind of my comp for Patrick Ewing.

Speaker 3 (01:28:33):
That's funny, you said, Blodsoe. I felt the same thing.

Speaker 2 (01:28:38):
The two names that came to my mind right away
were Bloodsoe and Sims.

Speaker 3 (01:28:42):
Phil Simms.

Speaker 5 (01:28:44):
Oh, phil Simms, that's good.

Speaker 6 (01:28:46):
Now, Well, for Sims has going for him?

Speaker 7 (01:28:47):
Is that he you know, now Grant he wasn't a
starter for the full season, but started that Super Bowl
and still has one of the best stat lines in
Super Bowl history.

Speaker 6 (01:28:54):
Yeah, and Ewing never got there.

Speaker 7 (01:28:56):
If anything, the Ewing theory was born out of the
fact that the Knicks made it to the NBA Finals
in a year that he got hurt.

Speaker 6 (01:29:02):
Yeah, he wasn't even playing, you know.

Speaker 4 (01:29:05):
But the crazy thing is, like this comes back to
where part of this all originated from. Like I could
see Josh Allen end up being Patrick Ewing just an
absolutely incredible player for a franchise, gave everything he had
and the franchise will always love him, remember him treasure
and never even gets to the Super Bowl like pinnacle

(01:29:25):
that he wants simply because he is in.

Speaker 5 (01:29:28):
The wrong conference at the wrong time.

Speaker 7 (01:29:29):
Now, one thing I'll say, in Anthony, you covered the
Knicks for years so you have a you know, a
closer eye on this than I did, but the perception
of you and yes, he always came up small when
it mattered most and big games you couldn't count with. Yeah,
I don't know if necessarily, and there's still a ways
to go for Josh Allen, I don't know if that
narrative necessarily exists for you.

Speaker 2 (01:29:46):
Yeah, that's true. It's interesting. I got one for you
iverson Michael Vick.

Speaker 5 (01:30:00):
Chef's kiss. Yeah, I mean, well done.

Speaker 4 (01:30:04):
That that is such a perfect camp in the fact
that it was all about flash and athleticism right like,
and also it was about a city that identified with
the player in a way that was so true and
connective and authentic, magical. It still exists that it will
always exist like that. Yeah, that's a that's a great

(01:30:27):
comp by you spot.

Speaker 2 (01:30:28):
On It fascinating that they're from the same region, They're
from the same Virginia beach.

Speaker 6 (01:30:36):
Crazy. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:30:37):
So so for all this conversation, does that mean Michael Jordan,
there's really Joe Montana never lost the Super Bowl?

Speaker 3 (01:30:44):
Yeah, I kind of would have been my thought.

Speaker 7 (01:30:46):
You're right, because for all the top people talk greatest
of all time and there's Mahomes and there's and obviously
they're in the conversation. I still think Joe Montana has
you know, holds a stake in there somewhere.

Speaker 6 (01:30:55):
Who's Mahomes. Who's Mahomes? Man?

Speaker 2 (01:31:05):
That's because you're right, You're you're right. Probably my tad
is your But who.

Speaker 5 (01:31:11):
Mahomes is Kobe to me?

Speaker 4 (01:31:12):
Like Mahomes is Kobe to me, Like you can love
him when he's off the court and he can sell
you anything, and when he's on the court, he's got
killer instinct. Everybody has some fine line of respect or
fear to him. No matter who is around him, he
can still absolutely annihilate you at any point. And what
you don't want to do is get anywhere near the
fourth quarter of a close game. If you do against him,

(01:31:33):
you will lose. Like so to me, there's there's you know,
elements to Malmes.

Speaker 7 (01:31:37):
To me, Mahomes is more Steph because Steph is kind
of like the aw shucks affable on you know, whatever,
you know, corny off the court.

Speaker 6 (01:31:46):
But he won't kill you, especially when it matters.

Speaker 7 (01:31:49):
Most just absolute daggers between the lines.

Speaker 6 (01:31:53):
So I think I think Mahomes and Curius gets kind
of the comp for me.

Speaker 3 (01:31:57):
That's good.

Speaker 2 (01:31:58):
It's good because you what's funny about about Curry, You know,
like we at least eye gloss of like I always
in my head it's Jordan Lebron Kobe, right, and then
it's the great like magic magic Bird those dudes. Then,

(01:32:21):
but you forget about Steph because Steph needs to be
in that same conversation with those guys.

Speaker 7 (01:32:26):
I mean, he's revolutionized the way the NBA's playing. Yeah,
he really has.

Speaker 2 (01:32:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:32:31):
I like that.

Speaker 4 (01:32:31):
That's a good job by you. Figure I wouldn't have
thought of it, Like who's the kd Then, like if
we think of a mercenary that has just been like
I'm gonna go here win a super Bowl, and then
I'm gonna go here win a super Bowl. But it's
also one of the best of all time. I mean
that that's wow. That's tough. I mean when you talk
about some of the aspects have played for several teams

(01:32:53):
and you talk about some of the aspects of absolute.

Speaker 5 (01:32:56):
Dominance, it makes me think of Randy Moss.

Speaker 7 (01:32:57):
But I think oh Dion Dion went to San Francisco
for one year, won a championship, said he was going
to do it and then left they went to Dallas
in one Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:33:09):
Yeah, that's good.

Speaker 4 (01:33:10):
And and also like just an athletic freak that did
things that nobody could could even figure out the way
to handle.

Speaker 6 (01:33:15):
To just roll out of bed and just and dominate you.

Speaker 5 (01:33:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:33:21):
I like from the vagabond standpoint of the comparison of
the two, I would say, Katie and Dion, all.

Speaker 6 (01:33:28):
Right, who is.

Speaker 3 (01:33:31):
Brett Farv?

Speaker 5 (01:33:36):
Brett Farv? So we're talking about breaking down here.

Speaker 4 (01:33:39):
We're talking about somebody that you know, sort of marches
the beat of his own drummer in the way.

Speaker 2 (01:33:45):
He right for about this too great, forget all the
nonsense off the field.

Speaker 6 (01:33:52):
As a player, We're talking about the player.

Speaker 2 (01:33:54):
As a player. I always thought he was icarous. Yeah,
like he he was so great, but he never he
would always fly too.

Speaker 3 (01:34:07):
Close to the sun.

Speaker 7 (01:34:08):
Well see, And I had an up close and personal
look at Kobe, and at times I felt that about him.

Speaker 6 (01:34:14):
Oh wow, I felt there are.

Speaker 7 (01:34:15):
Times, as phenomenal of an athlete as he was, and
as great of a player as he was, sometimes he
couldn't get out of his own way. And as great
as he was, and he won five championships, I feel
like there were some there I left on the table
because especially in those years right after Shaq left, he
was just doing way too much and trying to do
too much and trying to prove too much. He's like,
I have the physical ability. I can make this fade
away with four guys in my face. But should I

(01:34:38):
really shoot that Britain Farmers. I can squeeze his ball
between three defensive backs, but I probably shouldn't, but I'm
gonna try it anyway.

Speaker 4 (01:34:44):
Is there is there not a little bit of Reggie
Miller aspect to that too, though, Like just see, I
won't put this all on my back. I'm gonna figure
out a way to win this game. Like you know,
it's it's there is with the.

Speaker 5 (01:34:55):
Swag and the talk and all of those things. You know, there's.

Speaker 6 (01:35:02):
I like that Reggie.

Speaker 4 (01:35:04):
My buddy Jay timed in and said, by the way,
text me, he said, love, this discussion is Ewing. Jim
Kelly is Patrick Ewing Jim Kelly, I mean Jim Kelly,
but like Patrick Ewing Jim Kelly, like you know, dominant.

Speaker 3 (01:35:20):
I mean that's really good.

Speaker 5 (01:35:23):
Super close.

Speaker 4 (01:35:25):
We we almost forget that there wasn't a championship in
there because of the way we talk about those that era.
I mean ewing to Jim Kelly, that's that's a pretty.

Speaker 11 (01:35:34):
Good comp How about Eli and Wade?

Speaker 6 (01:35:41):
Wow? The mark the issue there is like Eli was
such an average rate. Yeah, Wade is Wade?

Speaker 7 (01:35:50):
I think, I think, I don't think it's hyperbably to
say he's one of the great shooting guards in the
history of the sport. And the latter part of his
prime gets covered up because he played with Lebron, but
he was still an amazing, spectacular player at that point
in time. I think Dwayn Wade's actually underrated and he's
still a great player in a Hall of Famer.

Speaker 6 (01:36:06):
So I don't. I don't. I think I think ELI
will be under selling Dwayne Wade.

Speaker 5 (01:36:10):
I agree with that.

Speaker 6 (01:36:12):
I also do Wait he is is he Roethlisberger?

Speaker 4 (01:36:18):
Hm?

Speaker 5 (01:36:19):
Maybe? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (01:36:20):
Because you know what as as.

Speaker 2 (01:36:23):
I mean, forget Ben off the field or whatever you
feel about him.

Speaker 7 (01:36:27):
He one, he's pretty accomplished and has really great stats,
but people just he just kind of gets lost a lot.

Speaker 6 (01:36:33):
Of times, and like d Wade gets lost right.

Speaker 4 (01:36:35):
And he's synonymous with the team he played for, just
like d Wade. An NBA era like, yeah, yeah, you
will never not think of Ben and the Steelers together.
You will never not think of Dwayne Wade and the
Heat together, right, Like that's just I I like that
a lot.

Speaker 5 (01:36:50):
There was like a there's a bond between player and
franchise there. I like that. I like that.

Speaker 6 (01:36:55):
Like he hasn't won a championship yet.

Speaker 7 (01:36:57):
Mark By like a better ELI comp and I still
think and he's a better basketball player than Eli quarterback overall,
I think, but I would say, like Jimmy Butler, we
were just talking earlier in the show about playoff Jimmy,
and if he's healthy at the right time, you know
what he can do. Eli Manning just you know, for
whatever reason, in the postseason at times will just turn
it on. But in the regular season you're like, you

(01:37:19):
made that throw there?

Speaker 3 (01:37:21):
Really, yeah that's good, you know, yeah, that's good.

Speaker 6 (01:37:24):
I like that.

Speaker 7 (01:37:25):
He was a perplexing player for the majority of his career,
but in those two playoff runs, he was immaculate.

Speaker 5 (01:37:32):
Isn't that sort of kawhi ish?

Speaker 4 (01:37:33):
Also, like, yeah, you know miracle playoff run that you
sit there and say, how the hell did that happen?

Speaker 6 (01:37:38):
Playing on one knee? Basically the entire run too remarkable.

Speaker 4 (01:37:42):
And then and the chef's kiss of the like the
shot that never should have gone in kind of like
the helmet catch, you know, like.

Speaker 6 (01:37:48):
Look at that, I like it.

Speaker 5 (01:37:50):
I like that.

Speaker 6 (01:37:50):
Very good.

Speaker 2 (01:37:51):
That's very good. That's good stuff. We got to quick
time out. We'll come back.

Speaker 5 (01:37:57):
We've stumbled on. This is quite interesting.

Speaker 6 (01:37:59):
Well, it was funny because.

Speaker 2 (01:38:03):
The whole thing started because I wanted to somehow Ben
Tatum into dak right, hang it out right here Fox
Sports Radio Fellas from the tai Iraq dot com studios. Hey,

(01:38:28):
don't forget thoroughbred Racing as a new independent regulator HISA.
That is uh, we've been in comprehensive reforms and the
sport is combining hands on't care with cut against technology
to help keep its athletes safe. To learn more of
visit Safety Runs First dot com. That Safety Runs First

(01:38:50):
dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:38:52):
Boys.

Speaker 2 (01:38:53):
We've been having some fun with winds totals. What do
you sit? We picked that conversation back up because when
last we left, we got stuck on we're going to
alphabetic order, and we got stuck.

Speaker 6 (01:39:10):
On D's and particularly Dallas.

Speaker 2 (01:39:13):
If you remember last week we were doing the wind
total and we just we did wound up doing twenty
five minutes on the Cowboys.

Speaker 4 (01:39:21):
Yeah, Mommy and Daddy fought when we got to Dallas.
There's no doubt about that. It wasn't pleasant. The rest
of the car ride was quiet. We just we did
not agree with it. Nobody was looking at each other,
the radio wasn't all and everybody just sat in the
backseat wondering when the fight would end. That's what happened.
So it's a good though. It's fine, you know, even
the fellas fight sometimes.

Speaker 3 (01:39:41):
Oh that's great.

Speaker 2 (01:39:43):
That's a great analogy. The parents fighting, right, Like, you
just know we've all experienced that.

Speaker 6 (01:39:53):
And you're like, oh that was the worst.

Speaker 4 (01:39:57):
Take Its like, I'd rather my like my parents when
I was a kid, would have just gotten it out
of their system, just go at each other for a minute,
get it done, rather than have that awkward thirty or forty.

Speaker 5 (01:40:07):
Five it silence, Yeah, silences.

Speaker 4 (01:40:10):
Oh yeah, and kids today don't even know, like because
back then, like my parents smoked, back then, a lot
of people did, right, Like, so then you got a
car full of smoke and it's quiet, and like nobody's
rolling the window down. Everybody's just sitting in a smoke
box getting angry at each other.

Speaker 5 (01:40:26):
Come on, like, I just just get it out of
your system. Guys.

Speaker 2 (01:40:29):
I know how nice is that they used to smoke
in the car as I was thinking right away, just
get done talking about like I was on a plane
land thing and they would have it smoking section in
the point Now is that the dumbest thing on the
planet is that you're aiding me closed tube and you

(01:40:50):
have one section be a smoking section, Like what does
it so if the smoking section is the last five rows?
What if I mean it's sixth throw right, and I'm
like I don't want smoke, but yet behind me is
all the smoke. I mean, how insane did that feel?

Speaker 5 (01:41:12):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:41:12):
I got well, And at some point I still believe
someday Vegas will wake up and casinos will be non
smoking and in ten years everybody will look back and say, wait,
you just let everybody sit here at the tables for
hours like puffing cigarettes in each other's faces, Like, yes,
it is absolutely insane to me.

Speaker 2 (01:41:30):
It's nuts, Like did your mom? Did your mom smoke
at all? My mom did never once? You know, wasn't
ner thing?

Speaker 3 (01:41:38):
Yeah? Which nuts?

Speaker 2 (01:41:39):
I used to so one of my first jobs was
at Midway Airlines and I was a ramp guy. I
would I would unload the h the aircraft, the baggage
right and worked, yeah, right, and then and order and
then we'd have to go in and clean the plane
and I they hate it because they had stash trash

(01:42:05):
and you'd got the empty clean the ash trays. Oh,
it was horrible, between and cigarettes.

Speaker 3 (01:42:13):
It was like the worst.

Speaker 7 (01:42:16):
I'm sure you earned your You're in one nickel per
hour for doing that job too.

Speaker 4 (01:42:21):
Yeah, so yeah, was that an H joke that figured
you put it?

Speaker 5 (01:42:25):
Was that a little H joke? No?

Speaker 6 (01:42:26):
I mean yes and no.

Speaker 7 (01:42:28):
Just the amount of work that goes into doing that
sort of thing and people think it's a pretty menial job,
but you get paid nothing and it's pretty disgusting.

Speaker 3 (01:42:37):
Yeah, yeah, it's disgusting.

Speaker 6 (01:42:39):
So yes and no, Yes, I was in Uh, I
was in college. That was my it was my job.

Speaker 5 (01:42:48):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:42:49):
All right, let's go to the winds totals. You ready,
we went through the Cowboys. Now let's go Denver. Denver's
winds five and a half. I like I clearly I
like the over, but I'm curious where you guys stand.

Speaker 4 (01:43:09):
I think five and a half feels just about right
for the Broncos, who I think feel like a five
or six win team if you just asked me how
to said five or six win team. So the question
is where do they get those five wins this year? Because,
as we did last time, I've got their schedule in
front of me. I'm gonna presume, even though they haven't
beaten the Raiders in eighty seven thousand years, I'm presumed

(01:43:30):
that they can get a split this year with the Raiders.
I'm gonna presume that they can beat the Panthers. Outside
of that, there's not a lot on their schedule that
feels like a given win. I could honestly see the
Broncos finishing I'll take the under on it.

Speaker 5 (01:43:44):
I'll take the under. I could see them going four,
four and thirteen.

Speaker 7 (01:43:47):
Yeah, just kind of based on how the schedule shakes out.
And I know it's not gonna end up this way.
It never does, but just I mean, that's a pretty
pretty tough stretch for them, pretty tough schedule. So I'm
gonna take the under. At best they get five wins
based on what I'm looking at now, just.

Speaker 5 (01:44:00):
Want a reference.

Speaker 4 (01:44:00):
They have the Seahawks, the Steelers, the Buccaneers, the Jets,
the Chargers, the Ravens, the Chiefs, the Falcons, the Browns,
the Colts, the Bengals.

Speaker 5 (01:44:10):
Like they've got a juggernaut of a schedule.

Speaker 2 (01:44:13):
Humm, I don't know. Maybe it's the Peyton thing. Like
I'm like, is he gonna is he gonna go five in?
And you know twelve?

Speaker 5 (01:44:25):
God, that feels weird. That just feels weird.

Speaker 6 (01:44:28):
You're right, he usually makes something add of nothing.

Speaker 7 (01:44:33):
And he does have a quarterback who I do think
fits what he wants to do than Russell Wilson did.

Speaker 2 (01:44:38):
But like he is and like I'm with you, and
then like the schedule, you guys are right on. If
there's something about him though that I just I would
go over. Uh, I go over on this one too.
I think this one's light. Lions ten and a half.

Speaker 5 (01:44:57):
Oh, that feels way light to me.

Speaker 4 (01:44:59):
I'm surpris given the popularity of the team, I am
surprised that that's not higher.

Speaker 5 (01:45:05):
I hammered it.

Speaker 4 (01:45:06):
I don't even need to look at the schedule for
that one and hammer the over on it. Yeah, I mean,
that's this is a this is great football team this
year I don't care about the past to the Lions.
This is a great franchise, time, right time for this franchise,
right now. This is a great team. I think that
they have a real shot at being the number one
overall seed in the NFC. Yeah, I take the over
all day on that.

Speaker 7 (01:45:27):
And their schedule is not very difficult just taking a
look at it. You know, their division I think is
going to be very solid. I think Chicago's going to
be improved and Green Bay's not going anywhere. They're going
to improve on what they did last year too as
a playoff team. But yeah, I take the over. I
feel confident in saying that that the Lions get eleven
twelve wins this year.

Speaker 2 (01:45:44):
All right, we all agree there, let's stay in that
division and go Packers, the Green Bay Packers nine and
a half.

Speaker 6 (01:45:56):
I go over.

Speaker 2 (01:45:58):
I Mean, I know Walts has got to come somewhere
in the division, but I love that division and.

Speaker 6 (01:46:04):
I think the Packers are a ten win team. I mean,
what the.

Speaker 2 (01:46:08):
Weapons I buy Jordan Love, I mean, I'd love over.

Speaker 5 (01:46:13):
So I'm gonna take the under on this.

Speaker 6 (01:46:15):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (01:46:15):
But and look, I'm not taking the under confidently. But
here's the one thing that has really been on my
mind about Jordan Love for the last month, which is
amazing that I've been sitting here thinking about Jordan Love.
That shows you how football starved we are. We've taken
essentially half of a season of really good football, and
just let that answer every question on Jordan Love. I
can't get out of my head how bad he was

(01:46:36):
in some of those games early on, particularly the Raiders
Monday Night game.

Speaker 5 (01:46:40):
He was awful, right like, this was just the worst.

Speaker 4 (01:46:42):
Of Jordan Love. And I know it all seemed to
click for him. But now you've had defensive coordinators in
that division, they've had.

Speaker 5 (01:46:48):
All summer to just sit there all day.

Speaker 4 (01:46:51):
Every day and think, think about how to stop what
he does, take a look at that tape, figure out
how to get ahead of it. I think that there
still needs to be some sort of counter response from
jord and Love. So I'm wondering if he doesn't take
a little step back in this year, and if he does,
then that gets me to the under on that.

Speaker 6 (01:47:07):
Yeah, and there could be a bit of a regression.

Speaker 7 (01:47:09):
But I also think that they his skill level, his
skill position guys, namely a guy like Josh Jacobs, So
we know, well can really add some punch to their
run game, They're going to be better defensively. So I
just think as a team, even if Jordan Love individually
takes a half.

Speaker 6 (01:47:23):
Step back, I think they're good enough. So I think
I'll take the over.

Speaker 3 (01:47:27):
So let's go.

Speaker 2 (01:47:29):
Let's go back to let's go to the Love conversation
a little bit. What do you think he regressed? Like,
what's your your kind of a sessment of his regression.

Speaker 4 (01:47:41):
I think what happened is he started to get really
hot and they started to make every throw that you
ever want him to make. But earlier in the season,
when he was still knocking off the US, he just
made bad decisions.

Speaker 5 (01:47:53):
Now, part of this is, okay, he just figured it out.

Speaker 4 (01:47:57):
I want to give him credit for that, But I
also think there's a part of it to me that's like,
did he get it figured out or did.

Speaker 5 (01:48:02):
He just go on a hot streak?

Speaker 4 (01:48:04):
And that's what I just don't I don't feel confident
with that answer yet. And as good as things were
for him last year, and they absolutely were, it was
a killer year for him on touchdown to interception ratio.

Speaker 5 (01:48:16):
It was a killer year for him.

Speaker 4 (01:48:17):
By the end of the year, it's still like when
he played a great San Francisco defense twenty one to
thirty four, I pulled it back cup one hundred and
ninety four yards like it was okay, that's okay, you know,
like there is some element to me of I feel
like we've blown it all up a little bit too much.
So if he comes back a little bit, if there's
a few more picks, if the completion percentage goes back down,

(01:48:38):
because you know, I'm looking back at the year, and
if you look in the last gosh, the last after
the Pittsburgh game, so after mid November, he had a
sixty seven percent or higher completion percentage for the rest
of the season. But before then, in the first one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
ten games, eight of those it was under fifty five percent.

(01:48:59):
So like, to me, the accuracy issue is still there.
So I need to see that that's solved for a
full season before I could jump on board.

Speaker 2 (01:49:07):
Yeah, could I say that the receivers you also young, right,
and they all came into their own right, so you know,
I think you hit the ground running like they do.
Have a stable of targets, tight ends included.

Speaker 7 (01:49:22):
You know, and say he didn't turn a corner and act,
you know, figure it out now. I know he struggled
against you know, the forty nine ers, but I mean,
that's that's one of the best. You have said it yourself,
one of the best defenses in the entire league in
a playoff game, playoff atmosphere. You know that that that
could be rough slating for anybody. And who's to say
he doesn't learn from that and grow from that and
become better.

Speaker 6 (01:49:40):
There's the element of adjusting to the adjusters.

Speaker 4 (01:49:42):
You know, in the last few weeks of the season
he took on. Chicago had a very good defense at
the end of the year last year. But then before
that it was Minnesota who was okay defensively, Carolina who
was terrible, Tampa Bay who was fine defensively, the Giants
who are terrible. You know, like that, that little streak
for him, I think the measure of at least looking

(01:50:04):
the opponents.

Speaker 5 (01:50:04):
And by the way, they lost.

Speaker 4 (01:50:06):
Two of those games, they lost to the Giants, they
lost to Tampa Bay. So he threw ten of his
eleven interceptions were thrown before we got to mid November.
He only threw one after mid November. So I just
feel like, you look at all of that together, it's like, man,
how much of that is a hot streak? How much
of that is actually replicable, replicatable either way?

Speaker 2 (01:50:25):
All right, how about this question all of that going
into the year you're the Eagles, would you rather have
Love or Hurts?

Speaker 4 (01:50:38):
Going into the year, I'd rather have Hurts. Wouldn't you
rather have Jalen Hurts right now than Jordan Love. Look,
I think there's more proof of concept. Doesn't that matter?

Speaker 3 (01:50:51):
He also he also Jalen also regrests last year.

Speaker 5 (01:50:54):
Yeah, he did. He did. So this is like, if I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:50:57):
Crazy, it's a great conversation. Fake, You're not the biggest
Hurts guy.

Speaker 6 (01:51:02):
Uh No, I like Jalen Hurts.

Speaker 7 (01:51:04):
I'm generally not a fan of someone you have to,
you know, cater a special sort of offense to their
individual skills.

Speaker 6 (01:51:10):
I just you don't have a lot of margin there.

Speaker 5 (01:51:12):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (01:51:13):
From that standpoint, I will take Love because I just
trust him more in a classic drop back game. But
when Jalen is healthy and when he's on, he's spectacular
and fits what they do. But I think he's a
good example of like the Love situation of what fits
is talking about the fact that he burst onto the
scene a couple of years ago got them to the
Super Bowl. Then last season there was a regression there
didn't it didn't have the same performance. Uh, and that

(01:51:34):
certainly could happen with Jordan Love. UH. I would probably
take Jordan Love just because I feel like I can
do more. I think the play more of a playbook
is open with him than it is with Jalen Hurts,
who has this very specific skill set that you need
to cater to for the team to be able to succeed.
So for that standpoint, I will take Jordan Love. But
it doesn't mean I don't think Jalen Hurts is a
good player, and then I wouldn't take him as my quarterback.

Speaker 4 (01:51:58):
I just feel like, look, if I could build the
utopian football society, and I know this will never happen.
I wish we would judge quarterbacks in three year increments.
So my mind year one is the quarterback is trying
to figure it out, and then the league's trying to
figure the quarterback out, so you'll have some ups and.

Speaker 5 (01:52:14):
Downs year two. I do believe that most quarterbacks.

Speaker 4 (01:52:18):
Are either going to take a little leap or they're
going to take a big step back. And in my
mind it makes sense because again, these coordinators are spent
all offseason now getting ready for.

Speaker 5 (01:52:26):
What they do.

Speaker 4 (01:52:27):
So year three really becomes the prove it year of
Here's who I am, Here's how I can run an offense.
I've now adjusted to your adjustments. That's the chess match.
I love in quarterback plays. So I don't think even
if Jordan Love takes a step back, to be clear,
I don't think that means that he sucks.

Speaker 5 (01:52:42):
I don't think that that means he can't have a future.

Speaker 4 (01:52:44):
I just think that there is this ebb and flow,
the roller coaster ride involves a step back in year two.
I think Jalen Hurts is going to take a little
step forward this year. I think it'll be better this year.

Speaker 2 (01:52:54):
Well, listen, he needs to be a Brown Devonte Smith
and say Kwon Barkley and Dallas Got.

Speaker 6 (01:53:00):
I mean, you know, let's go, bro, There's no excuses
for him not to.

Speaker 7 (01:53:04):
Yeah, well, I mean you did lose one of the
greatest sinners in the history of the sports, so that
doesn't help.

Speaker 2 (01:53:07):
But right, but he's got, he's and their their all
line still good, so you know, I feel that way too.

Speaker 3 (01:53:15):
Fits.

Speaker 2 (01:53:15):
I think he'll be I think he'll be good. But
I think the love things is a very interesting conversation.

Speaker 7 (01:53:21):
Yeah, I love love. Actually, future standpoint even happen step
back this year. I think I think they found something
I love.

Speaker 6 (01:53:26):
Yeah, I like to. I'm a buyer.

Speaker 3 (01:53:28):
I buy love stops all day long.

Speaker 6 (01:53:31):
Fellas, I am.

Speaker 4 (01:53:31):
I'm risk averse sitting on the sidelines waiting for all
of this to play out, and then I will have
missed my opportunity to make money on it.

Speaker 2 (01:53:38):
Well, you know, but if we know, we could be
fool hardy go in and lose our shirt while you
have a shirt.

Speaker 7 (01:53:45):
Yeah, that's wrong with a little more conservative portfolio. I'm
all right, I'm okay with that. Yeah, it works sometimes.
Slow and steady, that's it, man, that wins the race.
Fellas hanging Fox Sports Radio. All right, welcome back, Fellas
from the Tairaq dot Com.

Speaker 6 (01:54:02):
Studios NFL win totals. Going through it was really excuse to.

Speaker 2 (01:54:07):
Talk about every team we.

Speaker 3 (01:54:09):
Have now reached the h's.

Speaker 2 (01:54:14):
There's only one of them and not for the life
of me, guys, I don't get this at all. The Euston,
Texas Wind total is nine and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:54:26):
How is that not a stone over?

Speaker 4 (01:54:31):
Is there some lack of belief that it can be replicated,
because I just I don't see it. I mean, even
looking they open the season at the Colts, then they
have the Bears, the Vikings, the Jags, the Bills, the Patriots,
the Packers. Like, there's a lot of wins on this schedule.
I number yet, oh that numberley, they certainly have.

Speaker 5 (01:54:53):
I mean, there's gonna be some difficulties.

Speaker 4 (01:54:55):
They have to play the Lions, they have to play
in Dallas, they have to play the Dolphins, the Chiefs,
so the Ravens. They have some tough games. But you
said that number was nine and a half. Yeah, I
think it's a disaster if they don't get to ten
wins this year.

Speaker 7 (01:55:10):
So yeah, why Yeah, Although there's a part of me
that feels, we were talking to regression last segment that
they came on so fast, so great last season with
zero expectations. Do you wonder if there's a little bit
of a come down. They're not sneaking up on anybody
this year. They expect to be the class of the
AFC South. So it doesn't mean they won't win nine
games or I won't be a postseason to make the postseason,

(01:55:32):
but they won't come out and win eleven games or
twelve games like some people might expect that progression might.

Speaker 6 (01:55:37):
Not be linear.

Speaker 7 (01:55:38):
They might be good, but then they might not be
as good as they were last year because they're not
sneaking up on people.

Speaker 5 (01:55:45):
Yeah, I could see part of that.

Speaker 4 (01:55:46):
I also think, because you're right, I don't want to
talk about both sides in my mouth, and I definitely
just said regression. I just think what we saw last
year was so good that it's hard for me to
find a path that doesn't have them. It would feel
like such a disappointment if they weren't equally as dominant this.

Speaker 2 (01:56:04):
Year, especially when they they tweaked the roster. I mean, yeah,
he digs like, I mean, geez, they're good. I mean,
I don't know, I'm you know, we talked about quarterbacks
and regression at all, but we all believe, you know,
we all believe in this one.

Speaker 3 (01:56:23):
Like that's it. He was sensatial.

Speaker 2 (01:56:27):
Now you know, give him some you know, give him
some tad of regression and he's still very good.

Speaker 5 (01:56:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:56:35):
Extremely, if you're if you're the Texans right now, you
believe you have a top five quarterback in the AFC
for the next fifteen years. So I think regression is
something when you've been up and down, that you expect.
I think this CJ Stroud, what he showed us last
year we talked about Peyton's early struggles. What he showed
us by the end of the year was Peyton Manning esque, right,

(01:56:56):
So I don't I think he continues on his trajectory.
I'm I'm exact emptying him from the very struggles I
just said, your quarterbacks, app I'm a hypocrite.

Speaker 2 (01:57:05):
A hypocrite, No, it's you see you might reserve. It's
all right, yeah, you're supposed to. I always hate that
word hypocrite because if you if you see something and
you learn something, then you know or you want to
apply it.

Speaker 6 (01:57:18):
So it's everything situation. The same rules don't apply to everyone.

Speaker 7 (01:57:21):
There's there's exactly nuance and circumstances that you know change
your outlook. I'm taking the under, by the way, under,
I'm taking the regression.

Speaker 6 (01:57:30):
Wow, man, all right, all.

Speaker 2 (01:57:32):
Right, get him down. Put figure down for the under.
Oh man, I just don't see it. Colts eight and
a half, it's a number, right, there.

Speaker 5 (01:57:46):
His thing.

Speaker 4 (01:57:47):
I don't know that there are many teams that I
have more of a who the hell knows than I do.

Speaker 5 (01:57:51):
With the Colts.

Speaker 4 (01:57:52):
Like Anthony Richardson was was he won a lot of
games when he was healthy for those few games he
was healthy. But like as I've said before, the whole
whole thing on Ar coming out of the draft was
that he needed reps. He got none of those last year,
So like, who is he in this offense?

Speaker 5 (01:58:07):
We still don't even know any of that.

Speaker 4 (01:58:08):
So I would love to put it all together and
make the Colts a really good team.

Speaker 5 (01:58:13):
I just man, I have no idea.

Speaker 4 (01:58:14):
If I was putting my actual cash on it, I
wouldn't even be comfortable giving them five.

Speaker 5 (01:58:18):
Dollars because they're gonna just take it from me. I
have no idea.

Speaker 4 (01:58:21):
If I have to make a choice right now, I'm
gonna take the under because the rest of the AFC
is so good, some of these teams have to lose games.
But I mean, but I could also see myself feeling
like an ass when Anthony Richardson is just crushing it
and I'm sitting here and they've won thirteen games. I
have no idea shane'son your spot's good work. Yeah, you're
spot on. I can't. I can't tell you what's going

(01:58:42):
to happen there. I can fake. Do you have any
kind of read on this?

Speaker 5 (01:58:47):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:58:47):
Do I have a read?

Speaker 4 (01:58:48):
No?

Speaker 7 (01:58:49):
But a part of the Houston regression is I think
Indianapolis takes a slight step forward. So I'm actually taking
the over for Indy.

Speaker 3 (01:58:56):
Okay, how do you read Richardson?

Speaker 6 (01:59:00):
I liked what I saw in the small sample size
last season.

Speaker 7 (01:59:03):
No, he didn't have all the physical reps, but he
definitely took some mental reps last year, and I do
think he fits the offense. Obviously, you saw the success
the Eagles had, so it's not like as if it
can't work. I love a lot too, the defensive end
that they took in the first round. I think if
they added to their defense. So I don't think the team.
I don't think the roster is bad at all, so

(01:59:23):
they hung in. It's a lot of games last year.
I think they take a minor step forward, and a
minor step forward is them.

Speaker 6 (01:59:29):
You know, eight and a half. I can see him
winning nine games. I can see it all.

Speaker 2 (01:59:33):
Right, let's go Jacksonville eight and a half man.

Speaker 6 (01:59:41):
This is a tough one.

Speaker 4 (01:59:43):
Jacksonville is supposed to be better than that. They're just
supposed to be better than that. And I am dumbfounded
that Trevor Lawrence is not broken out. But then I
look at their schedule. They start at Miami, then they
have Cleveland, then they go at Buffalo than they have
at the xcents like the jackson could start oh to

(02:00:03):
four easily. I'll take the under on it.

Speaker 6 (02:00:05):
I don't same under.

Speaker 7 (02:00:09):
I'm underwhelmed with Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence. Yeah, I don't
know if it gets a lot better.

Speaker 3 (02:00:16):
Yeah, I listen.

Speaker 6 (02:00:16):
I feel you.

Speaker 3 (02:00:18):
I do.

Speaker 2 (02:00:18):
I feel you on that. I wonder about the same thing.
And I think this is it for Doug Peterson.

Speaker 6 (02:00:25):
It's either Doug or Trevor or both.

Speaker 3 (02:00:27):
He's a number.

Speaker 2 (02:00:29):
Fellas big albur coming up next. Don't go anywhere Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (02:00:35):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (02:00:39):
Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning,
good morning, good morning.

Speaker 6 (02:00:46):
Buddy, Well happy happy June.

Speaker 2 (02:00:50):
First summer, Baby Summer is here, Fellas, Jason fitz Kevin Figures.

Speaker 6 (02:00:59):
I'm Anthony Guargain as we hang.

Speaker 2 (02:01:01):
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(02:01:22):
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Speaker 6 (02:01:40):
Right after we get off the air. We've been all
over the place this morning.

Speaker 2 (02:01:44):
A lot of NBA Finals stuff going over Dallas Boston,
which actually is I think great for the NBA because
it's such a great matchup. This one should get a
lot of buzz, should do well ratings wise. What is it, Fellas,
I'll throw this out to you that what is it

(02:02:05):
that the finals, like the Super Bowl, gets a ton
of you know, ratings, right, everybody watched Super Bowl, everybody
watch the NFL playoffs, but the finals, the ratings.

Speaker 3 (02:02:20):
Dip when it comes to the finals.

Speaker 6 (02:02:23):
What is that?

Speaker 5 (02:02:26):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (02:02:26):
I mean, I think frankly, even the lead up. I
was thinking about this this morning as we were getting
ready to start the show. Think about how the week
leading up to the super Bowl is so chaotic with
just super Bowl, super Bowl, super Bowl, super Bowl conversation,
the week leading like the week leading up to the
NBA Finals they start on Thursday. For anyone that doesn't know,

(02:02:46):
nobody's really thinking about it till we get closer to
Thursday on the whole like it is. It is pretty
amazing to me that, for whatever reason, the Finals right
now don't captivate America the way that I think they should.
Like this is a great matchup. I would think this
would be a bigger part of the conversation. And I'm
genuinely I'm truly interested to see the Celtics obviously have
brand recognition for days. The question is can the Maps

(02:03:10):
bring their portion to the fight too. I I think
it's gonna be interesting.

Speaker 6 (02:03:15):
Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 2 (02:03:16):
I mean, I love the matchup, but it doesn't feel
like and maybe it's because you know, it's Lebron kobea
fact or whatever they or Staph like, you don't have
those those teams involved. But I don't know, I'm like, Wow,
this is a great finals, and it just feels again
like it's sleepy to me.

Speaker 5 (02:03:37):
But what fixes that?

Speaker 4 (02:03:38):
Like, that's that's what's interesting to me, because what would
have not been sleepy? Like you know what I mean
by that, It's because this feels to me like they
got the best case scenario. Look, if you're the NBA,
dever's not in it and the world's already proven they
don't give a damn about the Nuggets. I'm sorry, Nuggets fan. Uh,
there's there's just no there is no great flock of

(02:04:00):
people trying to see more Nuggets basketball. I wish there was,
but there isn't. So all of a sudden from this year,
Like well, on the East you get one of the
biggest brands in all of sports with the Celtics, and
on the West you still get household name superstars that
everybody loves.

Speaker 5 (02:04:13):
And it's that I think, you.

Speaker 4 (02:04:15):
Know, not for nothing, because a Shark tank has brand
recognition with even yoursuals, right, So sure I would think
that there'd be a ton of buzz for this, but
it doesn't feel like that's necessarily the way everything else happens.
And I don't know what fixes that, you know, because
certainly it's I think it's good for the NBA to have.

Speaker 5 (02:04:32):
A team like the Maps in this and not always
with the outcome.

Speaker 7 (02:04:36):
We think Fike, Yeah, I don't know if it can
be fixed, just based on how the sports are built,
like the NFL. As comparison, you say that you know
there's a big deal with the Super Bowl outside of
the fact that you know, the football's played once a week.
Football is always built on and yes they're superstar players
left and right, but it's always about the sport. It's
always about the league, and in the NBA, it's about
the player. It's about the superstar. Now we know lu

(02:04:59):
lukad It has been one of the best players in
the league for the last three, maybe even four years
at this point in time, but he doesn't transcend the sport.
And if you want to get those sorts of eyeballs,
like honestly fits coming out of the Western Conference, there
was one team that would have gotten you know, decent
amount of ratings for the NBA Finals, and that's the
Lakers because they have Lebron And that's because he's pretty
much the most recognizable name or one of the more

(02:05:21):
recognizable names still left in the league of the older guard,
you know, so that'd be like the one team. Or
if Golden State would have gone on a crazy run
and Steph had gotten back in, maybe they would have.
But the NBA is a star driven league, and if
there aren't any really big time transcended, superstar type players,
people really just don't have that level of interest. And
as good as great as Luca is, look, people that

(02:05:42):
watch the NBA and know the NBA know how great
he is. People that watch know the NBA know how
Grede Jason Tatum is, you know, playoff performances at times
with notwithstanding, they just don't transcend the sport. And for
the NBA to get big numbers, they need players who
transcend the sport to guards to get the casual fans
to be able to watch not only a game, which
the Super Bowl is one game, but an entire series.

Speaker 2 (02:06:04):
All right, So let me ask you guys your question,
so we know where throw football out of the equation.
Let's go back to when baseball ruled the earth. All right,
it's not quite far back as dinosaurs.

Speaker 6 (02:06:17):
Now, I was gonna say when the Willie Mamith was
walking around, right.

Speaker 2 (02:06:20):
So if you go, we would be fair to say baseball,
like the World Series, was a communal view for the
country up until what nineteen ninety.

Speaker 3 (02:06:35):
Ninety five?

Speaker 5 (02:06:37):
All right, say someone there, Yeah, would.

Speaker 3 (02:06:39):
You guys agree?

Speaker 7 (02:06:40):
I mean the line of demarcation for a lot of people,
that's the strike year in ninety four ninety five. So yes, okay, Right,
So that's kind of when the things I guess started
quote unquote going downhill or what baseball, right, and then
the NFL.

Speaker 6 (02:06:53):
Just lapped it, right, just completely lapped. So let's go
back to is the NBA at the.

Speaker 2 (02:07:00):
Level of what Major League Baseball was in nineteen ninety
I mean, I think so, right, like it doesn't have
is it captivating to the country. I listen, I'm an
NBA fan, So I don't know, you know, all I
know is I got people arguing with me, Like, you know,

(02:07:23):
I have a I work with a guy and he's like,
and he's hit me with the WNBA, the NWNBA and
the and you know again, I mean, I'm sure it's
a fine product. I don't watch it. I mean, I'm
gonna be honest with you. I just it's not my thing.
I just haven't I don't have enough time, right. I
like the NBA, so I watched That's my basketball fix.

(02:07:45):
But he was telling me, well, you know that that's
eating into the thing, and you know, there there is
what it is, and you're you're.

Speaker 3 (02:07:54):
You know, the NBA has lost its luster and everything else.

Speaker 6 (02:07:57):
And I don't know.

Speaker 3 (02:07:58):
I mean, I'm just giving you.

Speaker 2 (02:07:59):
I mean, my I've always loved the NBA, so I mean,
this is a love affair of ad for decades.

Speaker 3 (02:08:05):
So I'll ask you, guys.

Speaker 4 (02:08:06):
You know, I don't feel like the NBA has lost
its luster, but it is in a transition period. I
don't think it's unfair to say that there are certain
times in every sport where you have to figure out,
oh God, what's gonna happen next? And look, we were
talking about Peyton and Eli Peyton and Eli Peyton and
Brady earlier, you know, without necessarily acknowledging that there was

(02:08:27):
a period when they were near their end where you
got to look at it and say, man, who's the
next man up? Now it turns out that they got that.
They got that in space, right. But like if you're
the NBA right now, for an entire generation, it's been
lebron kd Steph Right, the same characters are in this
choose your Own adventure every single year. So as some

(02:08:47):
of those guys are starting to age out and all
of a sudden, Lebron is really more of a celebrity
than a meaningful playoff basketball player, you need other guys
to come in and step in, and so then what
you got to hope is that you're not golf right.
You need guys to step in and have some sort
of immediate connection, some level of winning. You need to
have some credibility added to all of it. You need championships,

(02:09:08):
you need you need a moment to sort of grow
the next step of stars. But certainly I think they're
in that transition period. But I also think it's it's
really disingenuous to make it sound like the NBA is
struggling while the w is thriving, when in fact, I
think they're all sort of collectively trying to find their
home and their rating spot in this moment.

Speaker 3 (02:09:30):
If that makes sense, Yeah, I mean fake ahead, what
do you say?

Speaker 7 (02:09:37):
No, you're right, I think the big issue, you know
what the NBA and because the transition period happens, you
know every fifteen to twenty years and so what was
going to happen after Jordan left, What was going to
happen after you know, shaking Kobe, What was gonna happen
after Lebron. I think the big issue is, and we
discussed this before on the show, is just not having
domestic stars to be able to grow, Like the best

(02:09:58):
players in the league are not you know, homegrown players.
And I do think that that matters when you're talking
especially appealing to the non sports fan or to the
non traditional fan who wants to have a player they
can root for, a look up with it where they
can actually know how to pronounce and spell his name,
like it might seem very small and trivial, but that
that do think that's really important. Like whether or not

(02:10:18):
Anthony Edwards continues as a scent, I'll tell you, I
think the NBA is opening for that because outside of him,
who's another American real basketball player that that you're looking
forward to, say, this guy can be the.

Speaker 3 (02:10:29):
Face next, the next great player is Wemby?

Speaker 7 (02:10:32):
Correct, Yeah, it's it's Wenby, It's Luca, it's Joker, it's
jan Is, it's it's all foreign players. Shay is a
Canadian like it's there just aren't a lot of foreign,
foreign or excuse me, homegrown great players on the ascent.

Speaker 6 (02:10:47):
And so I do think that that's a big issue
for the league.

Speaker 4 (02:10:50):
And and look, I mean college football has become such
a farm system for the NFL. We start to learn
these names, and then we go into the NFL Draft.
It's been so well marketed. That's not the case for
the NBA, if we're being honest, I mean college basketball,
even in the one and done era, a lot of
people don't even fall in love with these guys. Sometimes
you barely even know what their name is. And then

(02:11:10):
you watch the draft, which I find is one of
the most confusing sports broadcasts of all time. Every single
year is the NBA Draft, where guys are wearing a hat,
but we already know on the broadcast they've been traded
or the rights are gone, or this is happening, Like, sure,
the Lakers picked this person, but did they really pick
this person? It just makes it so hard to fall
in love with the guys that walk in. Like one

(02:11:31):
thing that the NFL has figured out that's to college
football is how to make sure that when you're drafted
in the first round by the time. Either you've watched
them in college, you've read enough mock drafts, there's enough
coverage of it. You've fallen in love with a bunch
of these people before they've even been selected, right that
that just isn't the case to the same level in
the NBA, Like this year's draft. In the NBA, most
people will be confused. Most people have never seen a

(02:11:54):
lot of these kids play basketball, and a lot of
these guys won't even make meaningful contributions to a roster
for years. So it's just it's sort of a broken system,
even in feeding interest.

Speaker 6 (02:12:04):
It's so interesting, it's a great way to put it.

Speaker 2 (02:12:06):
It's interesting because of the way that we viewed baseball.

Speaker 3 (02:12:12):
Was we viewed it.

Speaker 2 (02:12:13):
If you go back to nineteen ninety, nineteen ninety, which
we were talking about, we viewed baseball it didn't matter
who your team was, right, Like didn't matter, I mean
didn't matter.

Speaker 3 (02:12:24):
It was in the World Series. It was the World Series.

Speaker 2 (02:12:27):
Just the name of itself, the name itself cannoted something big.
You know, let's face it, the NBA Finals want waht, right,
the Super Ball the World Series, Like that's incredible, right,
Like the World Series can pig and it didn't matter
if your team was in it or not.

Speaker 6 (02:12:48):
You watched because it was the World Series.

Speaker 2 (02:12:52):
But now nobody really watches the World Series unless yours
team's in it, and it's more regional. And I feel
like that's kind of what the NBA is. It's a
little more national than Major League Baseball, but not much
more fair.

Speaker 4 (02:13:10):
I mean, are we reaching a spot where basically take
football out of this equation for a second. Are we
reaching a spot where everybody else is just sort of
fighting for scraps? Like I would argue the Stanley Cup
playoff run right now, Like you've got two series that
have been really exciting. There's a lot on the line
for a hockey guy that absolutely loves the sport, but

(02:13:31):
nobody's man like. The ratings have been high for the
NHL Stanley Cup for the for the conference final series, the.

Speaker 5 (02:13:38):
Ratings have been higher than most people expected. But there's
still a fraction, a fraction of what like a maction.

Speaker 4 (02:13:47):
On a Thursday night's getting better ratings in most of
these Stanley Cup night games.

Speaker 5 (02:13:51):
So like, it all just feels like it's.

Speaker 6 (02:13:54):
Product.

Speaker 2 (02:13:55):
NHL playoffs are ridiculous, Like if you just sit down
and watch one of these games. You watch Edmonton, right,
or you watch the Rangers in Florida. My god, too
many games are ridiculous. They're so good, right, you know, I.

Speaker 5 (02:14:13):
Mean, and Edmonton's weird.

Speaker 4 (02:14:15):
With one of the best players we'll see, I mean,
like a superstar player, right, Like, so Edmonton's got superstars
and they're on the cusp of the Stanley Cup Final
for the first time in what twenty years I think
it is, So you think about where they are, and
then on the other side, you've got the Rangers, who
we all know how powerful that brand is, right and
taking on a Panthers team that has absolutely been incredible

(02:14:36):
to watch. You would think that that would be dynamic
things that people are flocking to. It is interesting because
part of it probably comes back to the way we
cover sports too, though. Like I heard somebody talk the
other day about the Spelling Bee, and it made me
laugh because it wasn't that long ago that the Spelling
Bee would have been on every ESPN channel. Everybody would
have been flocking to watch it because there was nothing

(02:14:57):
else on, so you just sat there and took it.
But now we've just sort of reached the spot where
we find so much off season football talk that it's
just there's very little want for interest in or explanation
of die hard stuff around the Stanley Cup playoffs or
the NBA playoffs. It just leaves everybody sort of sitting
there saying, give me the soap opera.

Speaker 5 (02:15:17):
Don't give it to me at all.

Speaker 6 (02:15:19):
Yeah, they love the soap opera.

Speaker 5 (02:15:21):
Man, gotta have stars in your movie here, nobody's gonna go.

Speaker 6 (02:15:25):
Viewers are also very are spread really thin.

Speaker 7 (02:15:27):
There are so many streaming products and so many things
that you can watch, or time is limited. You mentioned that,
like you don't have time to watch WNBA games with
too much other stuff going on, so you have to
really be economical about what you choose to spend your
time watching. And football gets kind of set to a schedule.
I mean, well up until now, there's games every day
of the week. I mean coming up this upcoming season,
but generally speaking, you know, Sunday, I'll speak from a

(02:15:49):
Pacific times on Sunday at ten am, one pm, and
five pm like clockwork Monday night. And if it's a
special occasion at Thursday here and there or I guess Thursday.
Starting in week two, you know when there's going to
be football everything baseball. Your team may be on tonight,
may not be basketball. There's a game on, but is
it a game I want to watch?

Speaker 6 (02:16:07):
I don't know.

Speaker 7 (02:16:08):
It's one of those. You know, it's almost like the
system is automated for you. From a football standpoint, You
just automatically know there are going to be a group
of games on at this time, and there's probably going
to be the best game on at this time, and
another solid game hopefully on Monday, and if not, by
week six, they'll flex it out for a better one
and doesn't count.

Speaker 6 (02:16:29):
And that doesn't even count college, correct, right?

Speaker 7 (02:16:32):
Which College is so much different because you have the
personal connections that people have on top of just regular fandom,
the alumni and all that students.

Speaker 6 (02:16:42):
It's college football number two in sports.

Speaker 7 (02:16:46):
Oh easily at North American Sports ten thousand percent.

Speaker 6 (02:16:50):
Yeah, not too close.

Speaker 2 (02:16:51):
Yeah, I know, I think the same thing. I love it,
like I like if I'm just thinking of imagining, uh,
you know, any kind of.

Speaker 6 (02:17:02):
If there's especially a big college game. The big college
game's riveting, you know, it's just it feels so big.

Speaker 2 (02:17:09):
That's maybe why. And like FITZI I don't have a team.
I mean I went to Temple right when they were horrible,
well out than a blip when that was Matt Ruhle
was there, it was it was it. I mean, we
had nothing, so I really just root for the story.
And I love it. I don't know, I mean I
can't get enough of it.

Speaker 5 (02:17:29):
Yeah, I love the story.

Speaker 4 (02:17:30):
I love the pageantry of it too, Like I love
all of that together, Like it's just sort of college
football hits me hard for that very reason, like it
just feels there's an element to it that feels special.
And yeah, it's by far it's become number two. And
think about just the way we are all going to
just freak out because we are only a couple of
months away from what I keep saying is going to

(02:17:51):
be one of the most unprecedented seasons we'll ever see
in college football, right, And so even when we hit
I looked it up there August twenty four is the
first day of college football this year, and I realized,
not everybody right now, like in the middle of December,
you might not be excited for that Florida State at
Georgia Tech game, for that Montana State at New Mexico game,

(02:18:12):
but that Saturday, August twenty fourth. You bet you, but
everybody's gonna be watching it. Everybody's gonna have that thing on.

Speaker 3 (02:18:19):
That's not bad. Florida State, Georgia Tech.

Speaker 5 (02:18:22):
No, it's not bad. It's not bad. I'm just saying that,
like to your.

Speaker 2 (02:18:25):
Point, O, you're right, like when you're starved and they're
gonna feed you. Florida State, Georgia Czech Like, that's I mean,
in August, that's a state dinner, right, like you're right.
In November it's you know, it's a bag of chips.
But in August it's a state dinner. Because you just

(02:18:47):
that's gonna be the first real football game we'll see.

Speaker 4 (02:18:50):
God, Saturday August twenty fourth, then it's just all lingus.
It's yeah, they're exe to say. And then the next weekend,
my god, like there's just a I can't wait.

Speaker 5 (02:19:04):
I can't wait.

Speaker 3 (02:19:06):
I know, dude, this is awesome.

Speaker 6 (02:19:09):
Now you got me looking at the schedule.

Speaker 4 (02:19:13):
Here's a real question. You you're getting inmed for preseason football.
I'm not gonna lie to you, cousin. I watch preseason football.

Speaker 5 (02:19:18):
I love it.

Speaker 6 (02:19:19):
Yeah, I got I'm with you. I watch it all.

Speaker 2 (02:19:23):
I'm like, I like, I look forward to it, me too, Yeah,
I got I got no hate.

Speaker 3 (02:19:30):
How about you?

Speaker 7 (02:19:30):
Fig Well, I look forward to her for about the
first five minutes. Then I realized it's preseason again, and
I was like, all right, when does the regular season start?

Speaker 5 (02:19:37):
I hear you?

Speaker 6 (02:19:38):
So it's like, when when can we get to this
eighteen game schedule? I'm just talking about. Yeah, that's fair.
You know that's fair.

Speaker 7 (02:19:45):
So I get excited for the Hall of Fame game
for about the first three series. Yeah, then I'm like,
all right, what else is on? All the backups are in?
If the start is ever if any of the start
has ever played to begin with, which you know that
happens less and less frequently now. But yes, the element
of its football. I'll watch any sort of football, yeah,
I'll check it out. But that has that meaning. So

(02:20:07):
I'll be more apt to watch Montana State versus where
they playing, whoever it is, versus you know, an NFL
preseason game, because at least that game has meaning, even
if it's you know a couple of schools that won't
really factor into the playoff fixture or anything else.

Speaker 6 (02:20:21):
Down the stretch.

Speaker 4 (02:20:22):
Montana State at New Mexico on FS one at three
pm Saturday, August twenty fourth.

Speaker 5 (02:20:28):
Be sure to check it out.

Speaker 6 (02:20:28):
I'm on it.

Speaker 3 (02:20:30):
Oh that's beautiful man.

Speaker 4 (02:20:32):
Love Thursday, August twenty ninth, North Carolina at Minnesota.

Speaker 5 (02:20:35):
God, why am I already excited for this? Why?

Speaker 2 (02:20:38):
I don't know, dude about Friday? That Friday, My chap
Olloal's in Norman.

Speaker 6 (02:20:45):
Oh against what some sideline passes for that one, cauz.
I would love to go to Norman.

Speaker 3 (02:20:54):
That will be a cool.

Speaker 2 (02:20:57):
Oh god, it was forever ago, lifetime.

Speaker 6 (02:21:02):
Chris playing, want to hook you up?

Speaker 3 (02:21:04):
Oh yeah, I would like to go to Norman.

Speaker 2 (02:21:09):
The well, that's why these towns are awesome, like these
Story Lincoln, right with these Athens, Georgia, like they're just difficult,
these little town these.

Speaker 7 (02:21:22):
College That's why I like with the playoff expansion, that
we'll have the opportunity home playoff games so these places
can actually witness that. Yes, yes, I mean these Bowl
games get so sterile and then it's great and the product,
the players are great and all that, but I mean
being able to watch a playoff game home, Oh my god,

(02:21:44):
bur in Death Valley, Yes, where.

Speaker 6 (02:21:47):
It'd be awesome.

Speaker 9 (02:21:48):
Man.

Speaker 2 (02:21:48):
You imagine to shoot Yeah, and snow it out. Oh
my god, fabulous, It's be great. All right, we gotta
take quick time out. Fellas hagging out right here. Fox
Sports Radio Jason Kevin figures on Anthony Garganta. I know
he's tapping going on now.

Speaker 5 (02:22:08):
Oh yeah, oh yeah. This is a little mood music
right here.

Speaker 4 (02:22:14):
Yes, Like if you're if you're if you're up late
on the West Coast, you're welcome for this. If you're
up early, time to get some morning sunshine, and you're
welcome for this. Like this just feels like it's creating
the mood. Like if this doesn't make you want to
like explore the hibitidibity, I don't know what does.

Speaker 3 (02:22:33):
That's great? Well e wf for you. Let me.

Speaker 2 (02:22:39):
I was just talking to one of our great listeners
and buddy of mine, Nikki, and uh, he loves fels.
So we were talking and about the college football. He's
like one of the reasons why college football is incredible
is that he usually get like there's always like amazing games, right,

(02:23:01):
Like it's one day, so you could devote a singular
day and it's just chock full games, right, you have
at one o'clock, dude, kickoff, right, and then you got
three thirty, and then you got your seven staggered eight
eight thirty, and then you're gonna Lake game or whatever.
But those games, I'm going to East Coast US. But

(02:23:23):
those games, it's a full day of just incredible stuff.
If you're college football and they do it with mac shit,
they do it with some other lesser Thursday night games
and uh, Friday night games.

Speaker 6 (02:23:38):
Would you can pick.

Speaker 2 (02:23:42):
And create games during the week, especially that you could
do that with the playoffs because one loss isn't a
big deal and have a big Friday, right, call it.
You call it big Friday Night. And because the NFL
is on Thursday, you do you know, you know big Wednesday,

(02:24:03):
and you know whatever for Tuesday, and then college football
has game big, like interesting big games Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday,
and the NFL was Yeah, the.

Speaker 4 (02:24:18):
Only problem with that in my mind because I hear
what you're saying, but part of what the college football
landscape on Saturday does is it masks some things, right,
Because let's be real, I just pulled a random week
Week four of this year's college football schedule.

Speaker 5 (02:24:34):
There are games there that matter.

Speaker 4 (02:24:36):
Tennessee at Oklahoma, for example, Week four that is going
to be a delight. But there's also U wel Monroe
at Texas, Kent State at Penn State. That's not going
to be any good, right, Like, some of these games
are just going to stink. Duke get MTSU like Middle Tennessee.
I don't think a lot of people are flocking to
see games Madison at North Carolina. So I think where
college football wins on Saturday is the bulk, right, So

(02:24:58):
if you get an unexp acted crazy result, then people
are gonna flock to that and you get that energy.
But you still need those big name moments to happen
during the day because all of a sudden, you know,
Kansas at West Virginia is going to be an interesting
game this year, right, So that's the reason people are there.
And then Ball State Central Michigan is the reason that
somebody might flip over and just see how something ends

(02:25:19):
that day, you know. So I think they need if
they while you're right there a handful of teams that
they can put the different nights and they could win
those nights.

Speaker 2 (02:25:27):
I believe five because of the power five, right like,
and schedule making will change too, because now all of
a sudden you can take big games and not be
afraid of you know, I'm not making the playoffs right,
like if you're you know, and the cupcakes can go
down a little bit.

Speaker 5 (02:25:48):
I hope.

Speaker 4 (02:25:48):
I mean, yeah, I hear that. I think though, you know,
and I can see in the future. I saw the
report that you know, ESPN is trying to get more
SEC games, and you know, it's all about money and everything.
And I mean the coverage that Fox is gonna give
to the Big ten and the coverage that ESPN is
gonna give to the SEC this year, I think you're
gonna see two networks really pumping up certain certain teams

(02:26:11):
and certain conferences. Obviously that's gonna leave a real opportunity.
I do believe they could put a game here or
there on a different night. But I don't know, man,
I just think there's there is something magical about what
Saturday is, Like you watch all day, Yeah, like yes,
I just I don't know there's that.

Speaker 2 (02:26:28):
Yeah, And I'm with you. I've just seen your so
many games that you could afford to go fuck, you know,
one or two a week.

Speaker 4 (02:26:37):
Yeah, because I mean to your point, and look, this
first world problem. But I love that I get to
cover college football pretty extensively for Yahoo, right, And so
last year I was doing reaction videos to big games
throughout the course of the day. The number of times
I found that I have four TVs set up in
a square essentially for college football Saturdays. The number of

(02:26:58):
times I found out that I needed more than that.
And that's not an exaggeration, that's a I got to watch.

Speaker 5 (02:27:03):
I'm trying to watch as.

Speaker 4 (02:27:04):
Many of these things go on, and if you split
screen it like they do on YouTube really nicely, for me,
you better have huge TVs, right, So it just gets
really difficult to see some of that stuff. So I
found myself needing, and then YouTube didn't let me pick
the games. So there are times that I'm sitting there
and I'm like, man, there were times last year that
I had four games up, plus my laptops all open

(02:27:24):
just to try and to track this. So you're right,
there's more inventory than any one person can consume. And
I've had to really teach myself how to watch that
many games at once, Like it's not easy to actually
follow flow of a game and try and figure out
what to prioritize when. So yeah, selfishly, if they spread
some of it out it would make it would make
the conversation last longer about it too.

Speaker 6 (02:27:46):
Fig I think it makes it a little bit too
convoluted for me.

Speaker 7 (02:27:50):
You also know, more of a traditionalist, I also agree
with fits and talking about you know, there are so
many games on Saturdays. You know, it's it's a tradition
to a certain degree, and early in the season there
are so many blow up and I know you believe
Anthony that now at the playoff, I think it makes
logical sense that teams will be able to schedule more
boldly in the non conference.

Speaker 6 (02:28:07):
I don't know if a lot of teams are going
to do that.

Speaker 7 (02:28:10):
There is talk this week that usc my back off
of I don't think they'll do it, but like they
might not schedule Notre Dame because the Big Ten schedule
is so tough, Oh need non conference.

Speaker 6 (02:28:21):
Hurt them.

Speaker 7 (02:28:22):
I don't think it's going to happen, but the fact
that it's being discussed tells you that there are teams
that felt that they had to schedule boldly before now
all of a sudden are not going to do that,
or at least are not going to feel the incentive
to have to do that because similar to the SEC
who annually schedules their two or three cupcakes a year.
Your conference schedule is going to be so difficult. Why
you even take the risk of potentially losing to a

(02:28:43):
Power conference opponent.

Speaker 4 (02:28:45):
And I hear that Faggi, and I think the committee
is really going to help this year set the tone
for what they expect. One thing though, that is interesting
to me about the idea of spreading them out Larry
Scott when he was the PAC twelve commissioner. I said
it part of a panel that he talked to. I
know it's painful for Pact twelve people, but he was
talking about kickoff times. But he made a really smart

(02:29:07):
point that I've never forgotten when he was talking about
the lack of you know, late night football doesn't for
college football doesn't have the legs.

Speaker 5 (02:29:15):
And I'll never forget this. He said, Look, if we
have a.

Speaker 4 (02:29:18):
Great touchdown in a late night pack twelve after dark game,
if we have a late night touchdown, that's going to
be seen by the fans watching the game, But by
the next morning when everybody gets up to turn on
the TV and see what happened, everybody's already on Sunday
morning in NFL preview mode, Fantasy Poowl, NFL, they're in
preview mode. He said, if you have a noon kickoff
on a game and there's a big touchdown, it gets

(02:29:39):
replayed all day. So it's it's better publicity for the schools,
it's better for the players. It's part of the reason
he always felt like West Coast team's got an unfair shake,
and people say East Coast spice. I don't think it's
that simple. I think part of that was kickoff times.
So if they were able to, in this modern environment,
give us more kickoffs throughout the week, that would give

(02:30:00):
more eyeballs to certain moments where you could stretch the
conversation a little bit about some of these great games,
because it is inevitable a nine pm Saturday night football game,
even if it's two of the best teams in the country.
If it's a nine pm Eastern Saturday night game that
gets over at midnight, it'll be on one Sports Center
type highlight the next morning, and then everybody's onto all

(02:30:21):
of our NFL shows and responsibilities and it's forgotten.

Speaker 6 (02:30:23):
Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, the problem is you
got to put something in that time window.

Speaker 2 (02:30:28):
I thought it was college football I would go I
would go diving the Friday, and they got it a
little bit right, Like I would put a Friday night doubleheader.

Speaker 3 (02:30:41):
Every week and make it interesting.

Speaker 4 (02:30:45):
You're willing to take on your just willing to obliterate
the concept of like high school football though for people
in that.

Speaker 6 (02:30:51):
Way, right, because that's the reason why they do it
or why they don't do it.

Speaker 2 (02:30:54):
Yeah, no, you know, it's it's fine. It'll football will.

Speaker 3 (02:31:00):
Have its place in the town. Then that'll be fine.

Speaker 7 (02:31:03):
Well tell that when you got to scheduled Texas Tech
versus Texas on a Friday night, I'm sure that'll go
over very well.

Speaker 2 (02:31:10):
Well, I mean, listen, yeah, so be it. I'm gonna,
like the NFL says, I want Christmas if I'm college
football to me the real estate that's out there's Friday night.

Speaker 4 (02:31:23):
Yeah, I mean, but then you're losing. I mean, maybe
this is two in the weeds out. You know, I'll
tell you this. I'm gonna be in Jacksonville at the
end of June. Four Arrivals is doing a camp for
their five star recruits from high school. So I'm going
down there to do some work with Rivals. That's part
of Yahoo I'm going to ask the high school kids, like,
because my genuine first question is, if you're playing high

(02:31:45):
school games on Friday night, how are you watching those
games to fall in love with those teams? Like two
teams want to play on Friday night when their prospective
players aren't necessarily watching.

Speaker 3 (02:31:54):
If not every high school places Friday night.

Speaker 5 (02:31:57):
Now that's true, that's true, I think.

Speaker 2 (02:31:58):
I mean, they play Jordan, and it's of vane. You
don't play Friday afternoon. Some some play Saturday mornings. It
all depends.

Speaker 5 (02:32:06):
I mean, I'm I'm used to Friday, but that that maybe.

Speaker 7 (02:32:09):
I say more than not play Friday evening, Friday afternoon,
Friday evening, and in certain circumstances, yes they'll play on Saturdays,
but generally speaking, it's i'll speak for southern California, they
play Friday night.

Speaker 6 (02:32:23):
Still, yeah, yeah, it's Friday night. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:32:29):
You end up with the NFL on Sunday and in
the NFL on Monday. We know that Tuesday is sort
of a dead day on a lot of these and
then you start to get the action in the.

Speaker 5 (02:32:39):
Middle of the week.

Speaker 4 (02:32:39):
For college football, Friday is a dead day and then
you're back to Saturday, right, so is there logic to
filling some of that earlier in the season, probably Thursdays
that they're going to want to keep captive for the
the the playoff rankings once that, once you get to
that point, because that matters a lot to college football.
I think one thing that even some of the people

(02:33:00):
around the committee have mentioned before that I don't think
a lot of people think about when they say they
don't want the committee is that before there was a
committee that put out a vote on Thursdays of how
everybody stood. The college football conversation just didn't go through
the full week on most national media outlets, right, But
by having the raging debate of who are the top
twelve going to be Thursday and reaction to a Friday,

(02:33:22):
it gets more college football conversation, so they're aware of it.

Speaker 5 (02:33:25):
If games could help do it, why not?

Speaker 3 (02:33:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:33:29):
And again I look at it like, listen, you know,
I know it's high school. You know we're talking two games,
Like the world goes beyond high school football, right like
for now I started right, so, like Mike Anthey's going
to be a freshman in September, so we're already gearing
up and the whole thing but you know howadays, like

(02:33:49):
there's you know, there's a big world out there, and
they would want to watch and consume big time college
football on a Friday night.

Speaker 4 (02:33:58):
Yeah, I mean that's and there is something too if
you're I used Kansas as an example earlier. If you're Kansas,
would you rather have a standalone game where the country seizure?
Would you rather just be part of the hodgepodge, part
of the castle role of Thanksgiving football?

Speaker 3 (02:34:14):
That's exactly right.

Speaker 7 (02:34:16):
You're right, But yeah, if you're in Kansas, you absolutely would.
But you know, if you're a certain team, like I
mentioned Texas earlier, I think you'd rather play on Saturday.

Speaker 6 (02:34:23):
I did.

Speaker 2 (02:34:23):
Yeah, but we're not gonna play Friday Friday night every week.

Speaker 3 (02:34:26):
I'm just saying.

Speaker 6 (02:34:27):
And of course you wouldn't.

Speaker 4 (02:34:29):
If you could convince the SEC that they were going
to get the biggest game, second biggest game of the
week every week was going to be a special Tuesday game.

Speaker 5 (02:34:38):
Man, I don't know, Like, if we all knew the
SEC game of the week was Tuesday nights, we'd start watching.

Speaker 3 (02:34:43):
It, damn straight.

Speaker 2 (02:34:45):
The wit point, like you had these other nights that
are freely you could own the NFL. I don't know
why Coyle Football schedule Thursday night games stupid Well, they
would have been for years before the NFL jumped in.

Speaker 6 (02:34:58):
Football had dead done it for a long time, I know.
But but then but then once the NFL owns, it just
back off.

Speaker 5 (02:35:03):
Yeah, move to Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (02:35:05):
Yeah, like NFL owns Thursday, Sunday, Monday and specific holidays. Right,
And if I'm college, I go, all right, I got Saturday,
can be Tuesday and Friday.

Speaker 3 (02:35:19):
I mean kidding me, It's perfect.

Speaker 2 (02:35:23):
And if I'm in the other sports, I'm crying because
I'm getting I'm getting no coverage and the poor World
Series gonna get coverage at all.

Speaker 5 (02:35:32):
Okay, Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 2 (02:35:34):
Who the Fellas hang it out June first, Oh it
means football, It's right right here, Fox Sports Radio Fellas
Jason fitz Kevin Figures. I'm Anthony Garganto from the tire
Raq dot Com studios. Man boys, this show just flew by,

(02:35:59):
bizarre always does.

Speaker 6 (02:36:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:36:03):
Yeah, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick quick, All right, show
a couple of things here.

Speaker 3 (02:36:11):
Let's let's discuss you know what's interesting, the big.

Speaker 2 (02:36:18):
Will either of you guys watched the Champion League Champions
League Final, Real Madrid against Dortmund.

Speaker 4 (02:36:24):
I might have it on in the background, you know.
It's it's something I'm genuinely like. I say this not
condescendingly to anybody or anything, like I'm genuinely trying to
get into soccer.

Speaker 5 (02:36:36):
I really am. It just doesn't connect with my soul yet,
you know.

Speaker 4 (02:36:40):
So Like I feel like I just got to keep
hammering it and like there's gotta be some way. Like
I enjoy going to MLS games live. I think they're
a blast, like, and I've watched some you know, some
of the pre Premier League stuff. But yeah, obviously that's
a huge match today, and I mean it should be
David versus Claves should be an absolute slaughter. Like I
just I want to get into it. I want to

(02:37:02):
love it. I just don't yet.

Speaker 5 (02:37:04):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (02:37:04):
The answer is no, it's not that I don't have,
you know, interest in soccer.

Speaker 5 (02:37:09):
It's it's fine.

Speaker 6 (02:37:09):
I like it. I'll watch if there's nothing else on.

Speaker 7 (02:37:12):
Yes, And I know that's blasphemy for a lot of
people who are like live and die with it. It's
just not a sport that I do. Uh, Like, I
do enjoy international soccer. I like watching I love watching
the even they play in the Olympics. I love the
World Cup, but going out of my way to see
to watch an EPO match or Champions League match is
just not my It's just.

Speaker 6 (02:37:31):
Not my thing.

Speaker 2 (02:37:34):
So the see It's Final, Oh, I agree. I was wondering, like,
are you in on the fun because I go, you
know what I have? Uh you baseball today? Right, So
we've got travel baseball. So I'm I got two games
and I don't know I'm gonna be the field all afternoon.

Speaker 6 (02:37:54):
So you know, but if I was home and I
can see what time of games on, but.

Speaker 2 (02:38:00):
I would watch it because it's you know, timsy Files
a big.

Speaker 6 (02:38:04):
Deal, right, Yeah, it is.

Speaker 5 (02:38:08):
Just not for me.

Speaker 6 (02:38:18):
I guess what.

Speaker 7 (02:38:19):
I appreciate that, like you know what, like it's I
would I would watch the Tigers play the Reds before.
I probably watched that in the final, let's put it
that way. And has no disrespect, that's just how what are.

Speaker 2 (02:38:32):
You watching, FITZI are you if I Tigers Reds or
the Real Madrid.

Speaker 5 (02:38:38):
Dortmund Real Madrid Dortmund.

Speaker 4 (02:38:41):
Yeah, I mean one hundred percent unless I have like
but again, either of those things live, I would I
would prioritize but if it's just a TV moment, Yeah, no,
I'm not turning on Tiger's reds. There's no chance this
weekend to preemptively answer your question. I mean, there's nothing
better than tonight. You got Rangers at Florida, Game six

(02:39:02):
in this Stanley Cup, the conference final. But I really
really need New York to win so that they can
go back to Game seven at the Garden and lose,
so that the Nixon Rangers can both have had their
ripped their hearts ripped out in Game seven in the Garden,
so we can finally just end all of the conversation
we always have.

Speaker 5 (02:39:21):
About one and Game seven in the Garden's gonna be magic,
cool nose. Not You're gonna get your ass kick go
back to the Garden and lose there. That's why. And
I have a Madison Square Garden tattooed on my arm.

Speaker 4 (02:39:32):
So miss me with everybody that's coming in now and
saying like I got something against Arena, I just think
that we may be over hype certain things in sports,
including the home field or home court home ice advantage
of Madison Square guard.

Speaker 7 (02:39:44):
Well, if you ever walk back and within those walls
and James dolanos you're there. He's gonna have you thrown
out just like he did Charles Oakley, or at least
try to.

Speaker 3 (02:39:51):
Oh that was the bad he tried to get old.

Speaker 6 (02:39:54):
I mean, what do I mean?

Speaker 7 (02:39:55):
That was unbelievable or for that reason, that's the reason
why I want the Rangers to lose.

Speaker 6 (02:39:59):
I don't want James Dolan winning anything.

Speaker 5 (02:40:01):
How about that I used to lose it home though
it home?

Speaker 6 (02:40:04):
Oh yeah, I have his sting a little bit fits.
I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (02:40:07):
Well, yeah, I think we all agree there. Don't go
the rate Jets. Yeah, fellas, listen, thanks for hagging everybody.
We love you guys. Have a great week and see
you next week.