Alex Curry and Carmen Vitali Discuss the QB Carousel and Celebrate the Return of Baseball

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

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Welcome to Fox Sports Saturday. I'm Alex Curry here with
Carmen Vitally. Thank you for spending your Saturday afternoon with
CARMEI and me. Happy March madness. Oh my god, we've
gotten it all. We're gonna dive into all of it
in just a moment. The upsets, the big games, you love,
bracket updates, who's in your final four?

Speaker 3 (00:21):
The women's tournament. Really we saw like the two biggest
names kick things off today.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
You come Paige Becker this morning, like you comes absolutely
dominating USC playing right now. Juju walkins like absolute superstar.
It's such a fun time of year because Major League
Baseball season like kind of like it kicked off in
Tokyo earlier this week, but like opening day is on Thursday.
Over in the final stretch of NBA NHL soccer is

(00:48):
just getting going.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
Like my favorite part of this is like seeing people
at the bar with their laptops open on fidays. Take
it so seriously, no, like no, no, they're working from home.
That because I've done this, so where you have your laptop,
you bring your laptop to the bar because you're working
from home. Quote the games and you want to be
watching the games at a bar like I literally saw

(01:09):
two girls at the bar yesterday during the day with
AfterAll sprints is. They had their laptops open. They're doing
their little Microsoft team stuff while all the games are on.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
I'm like this, I mean, that's living. That's living, right, That's.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
That's my favorite thing about the tournament is like everybody,
if you can work from home, you work from home
and then you just go to the bar with your laptop.
I've done it multiple times.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Work from home.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah, quote uncrooad.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
We just log in literally editing that you have to
be edited. Articles shown that you're in.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
Pap drunk from the It's fantastic. It's my favorite thing.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh, we are broadcasting live from the tire dot Com studios.
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Tirec dot com the way tire buying should.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
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Speaker 3 (02:05):
And guys, we've got a great show for you today.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
We're gonna have Dodgers' host, Broncos team reporter at Lisa
Hernandez joining us in about thirty minutes.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
She was in Tokyo with the Dodgers.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
What a time.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Then we have ESPN Steelers reporter Brooks Pryor an hour
two and we have so many questions with what's going
on right now.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
She probably has more questions for like, I know she
has more questions than answers too, because we.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
All like like six hour meeting with Rogers yesterday and.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
We're gonna get We're gonna get what she knows.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, yeah, which hopefully a little more than we know.
We've got executive producer Ryan with us today. Technical producer
Chris and Martin was at the news desk.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
He's gonna keep you updated on all.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
The March Madness scores as they go down the big plays.

Speaker 4 (02:47):
It's been pretty ideal scenario too, because we have four
TVs in front of us, like, all playing different games.
It's it's great.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
It's honestly like the perfect time to be doing a
show because we'll be able to keep watch literally watch
everything and can we just like we're gonna start with
March Mountains here, you guys, But it's one of the
best sports days of the year and the least productive
day at the office. As Karme and I were just
talking off the top, you try to work from home,
so you're not technically at home. Maybe you're at a

(03:15):
sports bar or somewhere that has like an array of
TV so you can see all the games going on
at a time.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
Yeah, Thursday when these games kick off, is one of
the best days of sports of the calendar. Would you
do I just I honestly just did it on my
couch because now you.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Have like the split TVs where you.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well, I was gonna say YouTube TV has the quad
box so you can just put four games on at
a time. It's fantastic. I mean, it's really great for
NFL Sunday. Yeah, it's very but like this is my
first March Mountain is having it. I think, good for you.
I know, it's great. It's it's like I you know,
I'm comfany on the couch yeah, and like Lady Gaga,
I skeated this out on Blue Sky because Lady Gaga

(03:56):
is new, Like she dropped a new album and her
one of her new songs is like the bump music
for March Mautins and so like every time like the
it goes to commercial break, I'm just like dancing my
little butt into the kitchen to get a little.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Snack I can give myself little snacky poo. I still
need to listen to her album start to finish the
new one because I've been hearing.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
Pheno big pop album.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
Well that's what it's like.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
It's it's like her most like critically acclaimed album yet.

Speaker 4 (04:23):
Which is crazy, but it's like pure pop.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
I'm so excited for that. I am so excited for that.
You guys, You guys. We got madness Day one in
the NC Double A Tournament, and like the biggest upset
I think everybody that like broke every bracket was number
twelve mcnise taken down number five Clemson. This was the
first ever NC DOUBLEA Tournament game that make Nie had won.

(04:47):
They lost to Purdue this morning, but this team is
a time. I just got to give a shout out
because I love when we get kind of introduced to
personalities at these at these different schools and their student manager.
I don't know if you've seen this man, but he
was social media. If you've been watching any of the tournament,

(05:10):
like you escaping, you have.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
To see him.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
He walks out with the team with a boom box
strapped around.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
His shoulders, the NIL sponsorship, the boomboxes.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
So before the tournament got inked because he went viral,
he signed three global NIL deals, which.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
Is one of them. Of yes, is the boombox that.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
He walked Yeah, the buff he had Buffalo wild Wings.
The tick pick is what he had on the boom box,
and then Insomnia Cookies. But like this morning before the game,
he was wearing an Aura matching yellow jumpsuit helping out
like during shoot around.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
He almost feels like the team mascot.

Speaker 4 (05:48):
That's his nickname is Aura.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah. So it was just like I
loved I love seeing moments like that so much.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
It's like, well, more than the whole NIL thing, like
this is paying for his college. Yes, that's that's the
cool part about this. That's that's the story about all
of it, is that it's not just throdent athletes now
that are getting their their college social maid. He now
can go to school, yeah, for free because of NIL
being part of like the the athletic program, the student manager,
all of that kind of stuff. So like that's the

(06:17):
feel good part of this is NIL is being weaponized
for good, which hasn't always been the case.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
No, I mean, but now we're a couple of years
into it. I think it's it's still the wild West.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
It's definitely wild West, but we're seeing a little, like
you said, a little more of these feel good stories
like the kid who made that ninety four foot putt
on the basketball court and Patrick Mahomes and their athletic
department paid for his entire year schooling and put him
in the NIL program. Like there's just there's really awesome
feel good stories, and especially during the March Madness tournament,

(06:51):
it shines such a huge spotlight on college athletes and
everyone involved with the program. As we were seeing with Aura,
like that was such a fun few days to.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
Get to know him and see him in the spotlight.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
But dude, after that upset, less than two percent of
brackets on the NCAA website were still perfect. And I
do need to give a shout out to our own
Steve Hartman, because he had a perfect bracket after the
first day and he said, first time in forty years
he's been filling out brackets that he got a perfect one,

(07:26):
which is insane.

Speaker 4 (07:26):
If you're gonna be strategic about it when you're feeling
out your bracket, like you have to pick some of
these upsets you have to, and not that you see
them coming, like yeah, not that you see them coming,
just know that infably gonna happen, because like I actually had,
I had Crighton over Louisville. That was But I don't
think I'm alone in that. I think a lot of
people ended up having Creighton over Louisville. But I had
that upset, okay, And so like my bracket survived quite

(07:47):
a bit, it did not survive McNeice over Clemson. I didn't.
I did. I mean, now that they've lost to Purdue,
like things have been righted. Yeah, uh And honestly, USC
won their first game, but they lost on Friday to
Old Miss after almost rallying Number one. Duke is the
only ACC team left in this tournament, which the ac

(08:09):
a SEC is known for basketball. Like that's supposed to
be their brother, and instead it's the Big Ten that
is nine and oh so far in this tournament, which
like the Big Ten especially, like when you compare it
to like the ACC or the Big twelve, even you're
not thinking basketball when you think Big Ten. No, you're

(08:29):
like comparatively to those other conferences. And so now like
we're kind of topsy turvy by conference already, because I
don't think there's really been like yes, McNee silver Clemson
was an upset, but like we've seen sixteens beat ones before. Yeah,
and like that's so it's not that insane. But the
insane part is that the ACC only has one team

(08:51):
left and we're just now getting into the sweet sixteen.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, in my contract, I going
all the way.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
So like the fact that dude in my final four, Yeah,
they're in my final four. My final four is still intact.
How's your final four doing three or four?

Speaker 4 (09:07):
Okay, but like I my my champion is still there,
so okay. But the contrast to these this ACC performance though,
three of the five ACC teams that made the tournament
last year made it the sweet sixteen, so this is
like this is really unprecedented.

Speaker 3 (09:23):
Interesting.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Interesting, Yeah, But I mean we also kind of saw that,
what like number seven Kansas losing to Arkansas, like coming
into the season, like preseason, like they were number one
in the AP Top twenty five.

Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean, Kansas is a basketball school, it's a basketball
quote unquote powerhouse.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
But I mean they staple they.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Lost to a ten seed, which isn't a crazy.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
Upside, No, no, no, I think it was more the fact that,
like it really shows you, like how much everything kind
of shaked up from last season. This is be coming
into the year as the number one overall pick and
its thirteen losses.

Speaker 4 (09:58):
It reminded me huge for a preseason number one, as
someone who admittedly doesn't say a whole lot of attention
to men's college basketball until it gets to the tournament. Yeah,
the Kansas or Arkansas upset in Kansas, Yeah, reminded me
that John Calpari is at Arkansas. I was like, oh, right,
that happened. Not about that, like I mean at the time,
I remember it now.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
But legendary, legendary coach.

Speaker 4 (10:21):
Him and Patino are now playing each other. Do we
have that on I don't know, I don't. No, it
hasn't ended yet it's a pat time Okay. Oh is
that the top right corner we got?

Speaker 5 (10:29):
Now?

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Okay, because I was listening to that on the drive in.

Speaker 4 (10:31):
Yeah, okay, Yeah, you've got another one. You've got another
Patino Calipari matchup, except it's between Saint John's and Arkansas,
not Louisville and Kentucky. What it's fun. It's so fun.
The rip Patino era is going very well for Saint John's.
I mean that was the first tournament win for the
Red Storm since two thousand, which is which is damn.

(10:52):
I mean, that's what you That's what you're supposed to
get when you sign a guy like That's why.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
You sign a guy like that. You know, that's insane, right,
all the baggage that come from I want to give us.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
A shout out real quick, because we're in the Fox
Sports Radio Bracket Challenge. CARMEI and I are top five.
You guys, we are tied for third place. I just
want to who Steve Hartman's in first?

Speaker 4 (11:12):
Is BQ? That's Brady Quinn? Okay?

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Is that Brady Quinn?

Speaker 4 (11:15):
Yeah? Brady?

Speaker 2 (11:16):
And then CARMEI and then me type for third, and
then Dug below us.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
So I feel pretty darn.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
Good about that.

Speaker 3 (11:23):
Look at us, look at us top four.

Speaker 4 (11:26):
No, we have twenty seven, right, and then I have
I have a little plus eighty.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Six, and I have a plus seventy eight.

Speaker 4 (11:32):
Yeah, I don't know what I like. I don't know
how that's I think that.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
Was like with the like when we picked the scores
of like a couple games.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
You know, we need to fill that out. What it's
the final score game going to be?

Speaker 4 (11:41):
No? Or is it like what we have left because
like the points that we have, Yeah, it's the points
that we have available to us that are left. Got it?
So like I because like I said, the teams that
I've gotten wrong so far, outside of I think it's
outside of Memphis, who was in my top my final four? Yeah,
outside of Memphis, all the rest of the teams that
I have wrong lose it or like are I have

(12:03):
them out of this round anyway? So like my sweet
sixteen could conceivably be fully intact.

Speaker 3 (12:11):
Okay, I see that makes sense? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I
see what you mean.

Speaker 4 (12:14):
And then but outside of Memphis, like that, other other
than that, it's like fully attacked. So I have eighty
six more points that I could still.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Get Yeah, Okay, I see what you mean, because my
Elite eight is all still intact. But I have a
couple in the sweet sixteen that obviously didn't go.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
Right.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
I've twenty six out of thirty three correct so far.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
Yeah, twenty seven.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, all right, we're going to say, we're going to see.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
Yeah, I have I have Michigan State beating Memphis to
get to the championship. And then I have I actually,
I have.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
I Can State beating Ole Miss.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
Well Miss is out.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
So yeah, so that was no, They're still in.

Speaker 4 (12:53):
They beat are they? Yeah? They right now. I was
rooting for them to go out. I think that was
wishful thinking of.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
I have Michigan State against Auburn. That's where I have
them going I and then I have him beating Auburn.

Speaker 4 (13:09):
I have my final My final four is, and this
was kind of a hometown pick. Okay, my final four
is I have wait for you.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
I have Michigan State Florida Duke Houston with Michigan State
and Duke in the final and Duke taking it all.

Speaker 4 (13:29):
So I have Duke versus Illinois, Michigan State versus Memphis.
So Memphis is out. But I do have but then
I have and then I have Michigan State Duke and
then Michigan State winning it all.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
Okay, we have the same way, the same final.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
We both have Michigan State Duke and you and I
have duke winning and you have Mischigan State.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Okay, I love this. I love this for us. That's
actually pretty good.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Another Okay, I'll actually save that for another segment here.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
But then let's let's talk about the women real quick.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Here, because we got two of the players putting on
shows today, Yukon's Paige Becker this morning.

Speaker 4 (14:04):
Just like.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
They absolutely just they just went off. That was That
was fun to watch. With the halftime score, they were
up like sixty sixty something, which was insane.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Wasn't even like the highest half time score they've had before.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
They've been up like I think I heard them talking
about the halftime show, like up ninety at one point.

Speaker 4 (14:26):
I mean South Care and then like you look at
like again.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
South Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee Tech.

Speaker 4 (14:35):
That was Yeah, that was absolutely I feel like in general,
you get some of these like with like the women's
powerhouses are such dominant forces. Yeah, that it's not even
it's not even like a question, Like, I feel like
the women's bracket is weirdly easier to fill out. It
is because the teams that are supposed to dominate they do,
they will, and they like dominate, dominate like a lot

(14:57):
of the guys. Like guys, teams will let their teams
hang around and you don't know the upsets. I feel
like the women's team, the ones that are supposed to
be dominant, are completely dominant. I'm trying to look to
see if there's been which, like, if there's been upsets.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
What are we at right now?

Speaker 4 (15:12):
So far?

Speaker 3 (15:14):
Score update?

Speaker 4 (15:15):
Here we go.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
Okay, yeah, SE's up thirty six over UNC Greensboro at eleven.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
There hasn't been There hasn't been an upset. Oh sorry,
Oregon upset Vanderbilt, but it was the organ was the
ten seed, Vanderbilt was the seventh seed.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
That's close.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
So yeah, that's not a huge upset. Not huge right
so far in the women's turn.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
This is going to be fun. This is just like
such a fun weekend. We're gonna take a quick break here,
but when we come back.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
We've also had a lot.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Of action in free agency, but there's still some big
names left and.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
A few teams that got a good bargain. That's next
on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (15:47):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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listen live.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
Welcome back to Fox It's Saturday. I'm Alex Curry you
with Carmen Vitality. We're broadcasting live from the Tart dot
com studios in Los Angeles. Thank you for spending your
March Madness Saturday afternoon with Carmeie and Me.

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Speaker 2 (16:51):
All right, guys, let's talk some free agency because it's
been packed with some big moves, big signings, but there's
still a couple big names left and teams that got
some good bargain. So let's start with wide receivers who
are left.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
That's like, of the guys that have like the biggest
annual average annual value, like our previous average annual value,
Like four of the top six are receivers, but outside
of Deontay Johnson, they're all over the age of thirty.
They are.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
So that's the thing too. It's like at one point
all these guys were this would be this would be
like one of the hottest tickets to get on the market.
But Stefan Diggs with the Texans last year tours ACL
midseason week eight, probably won't be ready for week one
because ACL's like nine to twelve months recovery and doesn't
leave a lot of ramp.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
Up time and shorter and shorter. But yeah, yeah, when
you're talking some of these skill positions where you're burst
your get off. All of that kind of stuff comes
into play, like that's that's a lot to ask, That's
a lot and a guy that's over thirty.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, So he just went with the Patriots, who definitely
need a number one wide receiver. Boys need some help,
they need wide wide receiver, Chargers need some help. Raiders
could use some help. Broncos could use some help. Cardinals
to pair someone with Marvin Harrison Junior. Like, there's a
lot of like options out there for Stefon Diggs.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
And then you also got a.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
Marii Cooper because he was traded to the Bills midseason.
There's been talks like, oh, could he reunite with the Cowboys?
But I feel like there could be some animosity there's.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
I don't think Amar has any interest in doing that. No,
and I mean he if you're talking market value, so
that what they're worth now, you would have to pay
a Marii Cooper the most out of any of these guys.
Okay you imagined the top. He is a nearly nineteen
million dollar a year market value according to Spotscraft.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
So who can pay that? Who wants to pay that?

Speaker 4 (18:48):
Yeah? And who chargers? I mean the Patriots can pay it.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Patriots can pay it.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
I mean, but Patriots are still like in that like
rebuild development, like they need a lot of pieces.

Speaker 4 (18:59):
They do. They but they've done a lot of work
already in free agency and they they have draft picks
and they have a lot of money to spend. Yeah,
they have a ton of cap space and they've gone it.
They've they've spent quite a bit of it. And like
it depends on Mike Rabel and what ye he how
he won And like Mike Rabel is a guy that's
going to pay more attention I feel like to the trenches,
to defense, Like he's more of that, like gritty, Yes,

(19:21):
he wears hats that say run the damn ball. So
like I don't know if a receiver is like as
much as the Patriots need it and as much as
I could use a veteran guy, like I don't know
that that's that's you guys are landing. I don't know.
I mean again, also teams, Like we talk about the
cap space and stuff and if the if teams wanted to,

(19:43):
they they could.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
If they want to, they will. Yeah, that goes with
anything in life. That goes with guys. Everything all the time, will.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
It just depends on ownership and how much money that
they are willing to front to restructure certain contracts, convert
contracts into bonuses. That means they have to pay all
of that upfront to kind of free up some cap
space if they want to restructure existing deals that are
already on the roster. But it's doable. Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, like, you have Tyler Lockett out there too,
who I still think has some juice. Like, there's a

(20:13):
lot of veteran receivers, and I think the most interesting part,
the most interesting part of this is like this kind
of tells you what teams think of them the draft class,
because there's not like a Marvin Harrison junior in this
draft class, but there are a lot of guys and
it's a pretty deep draft for wide receivers. There's guys
that are going to go in the first couple rounds
that will be starters, are capable of being role players

(20:37):
on your team. So I feel like when faced with
the decision of all right, these guys who are all
over thirty, they're gonna give you a certain level of production.
It might be a little bit higher than a rookie,
but it's only gonna decline theoretically, whereas with a rookie
you're gonna get kind of the same amount of production.
But now that's an ascending player who you have on

(20:58):
a rookie contract. You don't have to pay nineteen million
dollars a year like you would with a Mari Cooper.
And I feel like that's where teams are kind of
finding themselves of like do I want a veteran right now?
And like if you're ready to win, perhaps you do. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
I just think it's so important if you do have
a rookie to have a veteran there. I mean, we
saw with Pukinakua and Cooper Cup him talking about what
he meant to him and everything he did to help
him to become a number one wide receiver and have
the rookie and sophomore year that he did with the
Rams like it, like you you hear those.

Speaker 4 (21:31):
I think it has to be a but it can
be a veteran though quarterback, Like I think going to
the Chargers, like, you don't need a rookie. You don't
need a veteran wide receiver there, although it would help it, Like,
but you have justin Herbert and at this point, Justin
Herbert the better. Justin Herbert who better.

Speaker 2 (21:48):
Is who still hasn't had the success that we've been
hyping at all about.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
Postseason postseason, But he's still a really good quarterback, and
you have a good offensive line, and you should have
a good run game to compliment it all. So like
legendary co having all of that in that ecosystem, it
should make things easy on Justin Herbert. And then therefore
any of the skill players that come to LA I
just I hope so I like, I think that a

(22:13):
lot of these guys, they're over thirty, and their their
price tag is still pretty rich.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
It is, it is.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Okay, We're gonna save the latter part of this for
the next hour. So right now, let's check in with
Martin Wise. How are the games going.

Speaker 7 (22:27):
On the women's UH In the women's March Madness Tournament,
Number one USC has a forty five to fifteen lead
over sixteenth UNC Greensboro.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
Juju Watkins has twenty points.

Speaker 7 (22:38):
She just like in the last minute and a half
left the game, limping went to the locker room.

Speaker 4 (22:44):
But again all of this in the last ninety seconds.
He is now back out.

Speaker 7 (22:49):
Yeah, so she lived off very quickly, but is now
back on the bench.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
Oh they're showing it.

Speaker 4 (22:54):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 7 (22:56):
She rolled the ankle there going up for a yep
the time as someone who.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
Rolled their angle a B.

Speaker 4 (23:03):
That was like my all, yeah, yeah, when you're up
forty five fifteen, I feel like you can probably sider yeah,
probably rested her up.

Speaker 7 (23:10):
They had a game coming up in a few days
that will be to what after tomorrow. Earlier today, we
saw Yukon beat Arkansas State one oh three to thirty
four in the first round tournament. NC State, Alabama, Iowa,
and West Virginia all advanced to the second round of
the women's March Madness Tournament. On the men's side of things,

(23:30):
just under sixteen minutes left in the second half between
Arkansas and Saint John's forty four and thirty six to
score with the ten seeded Razorbacks in the lead. John
Calipari's team has been really just shooting much better points
in the paints just about equal, but Saint John's has
been shooting abysmally from the floor from from deep. Couldn't

(23:50):
ass that's the word. Fifty per due b twelfth seed
McNee State. Earlier today, seventy six to sixty two. The
Boilermakers advanced to the Sweet sixteen and we'll played the
winner of the eighth seed Gonzaga and one seed Houston.
That game with tip off later on today.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
Back to you, guys, talk you're listening to Fox Sports
Saturday and Alex Curry Here at Carmen Vitali.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
We are broadcasting live from the TIA Talk Up Studios in.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Los Angeles, and it is time for our first guest.

Speaker 4 (24:14):
She is a.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
Broncos team reporter and a host for the Dodgers. She
just got back from Japan for the Tokyo Series. Please
mack up, Elise Hernandez.

Speaker 5 (24:24):
Hey guys, thee hasn't hit me because I'm ready to go.
I can't.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
There'll probably be a matter of time.

Speaker 5 (24:34):
As soon as the radio hits over.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
Yeah, you're just did you just get back today? Yesterday?

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Last night?

Speaker 5 (24:40):
Yeah, last last night?

Speaker 3 (24:41):
Oh okay.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
So let's talk about this like the Tokyo Series, Dodgers
Cubs this week before we get into the games. You
were there, We saw like the fandom, the fanatics, the lines,
the excitement all over social media and TV.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
But how rad was Japan? And describe what that environment
was like real life.

Speaker 5 (25:01):
Man. I honestly, it was an experience I'm definitely never
gonna forget. Tokyo Dome was just it was ready for
Major League Baseball, like the field, the pregame show, the anthem,
the like, the like the lights or being dim down.
Everyone had like these risk lights that were unison just
like playing all kind of lights. I think the most
impressive thing for me was the different experience that I was.

(25:22):
What I mean by that is, you know, when Schoe
Hay is up to bat, you know, everyone's cheering, and
the second he gets in his stance to actually that ach,
it's it was silent, like as if I'm watching golf, right,
And so it was funny because on the big streen,
they're like, let's get loud, and we're looking around like
we're like can we like yeah, Like it was very interesting,
uh to kind of see that dynamic and it's just

(25:43):
a matter of respect and like hearing the ball hits
the bat like that Chris sound was just was so
beautiful to hear. Obviously it's this side of dome, so
it's very echoed, and honestly it was it was such
a good experience. I mean, the dargist did what they
had to do. They took care of business on the field,
and you know, just every every second of it, every pitch,
every hit, you know, whether it's the Cubs of the Dodgers, like,
it was such an exciting environment and the fans were

(26:05):
just really intwoed. They were hungry for some baseline. It
was great that you know, the Dodgers of the Cubs
served it up.

Speaker 4 (26:10):
Yeah, that's it's funny.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
You mentioned, like they go quiet when there's a pitch
or they're at the back. So I remember watching the
World Baseball Classic and I thought like my TV volume
like broke or something was wrong with my TV because
it was like wild, like crazy cheering and then literally
dead silent.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
And I was like, what's what the hell?

Speaker 5 (26:25):
Yeah, and then you know you have you know, you
had those fans or were going to just randomly script
we need.

Speaker 4 (26:36):
I I appreciate it because nothing like grinds my gears
more than whatever sport it is. It was when these
like when when fans don't know when to shut up.
I'm like, if your team's on offense, if your teams whatever,
like let the dudes concentrate, like you don't want like
you don't want to create an opposite environment, like that's
the visiting fans. And speaking of that, Alisa, because you

(26:56):
were in the stands, yes, yeah, so was there are
like how many people would you say were local versus
how many people traveled over there to see this matchup.

Speaker 5 (27:07):
I mean I think the people that traveled definitely were
at like local bars and restaurants watching the game.

Speaker 8 (27:12):
Because it was funny.

Speaker 5 (27:13):
During the game, they actually did a sign, right, and
it was like tourists and it was like some cheers
and they said they put the fund set locals and
the entire arena erupted like it was. It was awesome,
like I got I got children now, just remembering the feeling.
And then they were just like baseball fans that everybody cheered, right,
and so it was really cool to see like a
high local cawn people coming out and having, you know,

(27:34):
show hail Tani merchandise. I mean, he he is. You
could not escape that man out there.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
Oh no, he's a face of Japan. He is a
face of Japan.

Speaker 5 (27:42):
He is he is. And obviously we have Rokie and
we had Yomoto and a couple of guys in the Cubs.
But you know something about being there and this is like,
this is their guy, you know, this is there, this
is there. I made a guy and now he's a
world champion. And for him to come back and play,
you know, in Japan after he does won the World Series,
I mean, you can't you can't even write the script
better than that. So it was really cool to kind

(28:04):
of see the locals come out, young kids out there,
you know, just this young you know, Japanese boys watching
baseball and just seeing themselves out there. I think there's
there's a lot of power in that, right, Like seeah,
someone that looks like you make it on the biggest level.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
And theations, Yeah matters that in like every possible level.

Speaker 4 (28:23):
Yeah, exactly. It's insane.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
I mean they set MLB records that there was like
twenty three to twenty five million average viewers and watching
these first two games across one platforms.

Speaker 5 (28:34):
One thousand percent. It was the most attended MLB fans
festival ever, was over four hundred and fifty thousand visitors.
By merchandise sales forty million international. Yeah, it was the
biggest merchandise of any MLB international event or All Star game,
and it was the most MLB, like the most watched
MLB exhibition game in Japan with eighteen million viewers, Like
those are just exhibition games, even the actual Game one

(28:56):
and Game two that actually counted, so they definitely broke
records there. I mean, it just shows how big this
game is growing, and how the International Series it's just
going to get bigger and bigger. And you know, that's
that's what you want to see, right, Like baseball and
such a beautiful sport, and once you really kind of
get into the nitty gritty of how many international players
are there, how many homegrown players are there, I mean,
it just makes baseball so much. But I think that's
going to add to the World Baseball Classic as well.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
Yeah, it's it's gonna be wild.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
I mean you mentioned Otani being everywhere, and then they
also have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Like these are three
of Japan's biggest stars all on the Dodgers. How did
you see the other Dodgers players really like follow suit
and really take in the culture, this Japanese culture from
those three Japanese superstars.

Speaker 5 (29:41):
Oh Man, First of all, the Dodgers social did a
great job because they did a whole series of those
guys teaching their teammates how to you know, certain words
in Japanese, right, and so you definitely you definitely saw
them really into the community. I was at one of
the local markets and like a lot of fans were
just like, oh, Chris Taylor was just here, and we're
like what, and they showed us like polaroids, like like

(30:04):
we saw him, and we're like, oh, like that's really cool,
like you know, kicking her Nana's out in the community,
just walking around, you know. And so obviously, like these
guys are famous, so it was kind of cool that
thirteen mates could go out and obviously they were recognized,
but maybe made it took him like two seconds, you know,
more than if you know, Phani's walking around. So it
was really cool to see the locals be like, oh, yeah,
like they just came to our shop, They just came

(30:25):
to our food and work like and so I think
adding that experience was really great. You know, a lot
of the guys really embraced it. A former Dodger, Justin Turner,
actually right into him at Disneyland, and so it's funny.
My one of my friends has a tattoo of turnaround
his on his wrist, and so when we saw him,
he was like like, Kenner, look and turn luck. He's like,

(30:45):
he's like, that's really cool, all right. I had to
take a picture with you, and he actually put in
his little Japan recap story and the fact that he
met my friend with a tattoo. So it was really
cool just seeing them really out in the community embracing it,
you know, we'ing, you know, eating drinking Davine food cuisine,
I'm wearing the kimonas, like just kind of being out there.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
They had a blasting to learn about Stumo wrestling exactly.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
A video went viral with they got Insani when he
was teaching of Spanish. So it's kind of nice to
see them reciprocate that the year later.

Speaker 4 (31:15):
That is cool. And then I just I do feel
like Japanese fans just take it like they they want
to be true to the spirit of baseball, to the
game itself, and like you mentioned, they're silent when a
guy's up to bat, they're silent when a guy is
trying to pitch. Did you see people like I mean,
one of the biggest things and one of my best
memories as a kid growing up in Chicago, was getting

(31:37):
to go to games and sit there with a scorecard
with my dad and like start scoring the game. I
always scored. Did you see did you see kind of
all of that kind of take hold? I feel like
they're trying, like people in Japan and a lot of
these places where these these guys are coming from, they'd
really try to stay true to what baseball has always been.

Speaker 6 (31:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (31:58):
No, I definitely saw a couple of that at where
it's like to keeping score and things like that. I
will say, if you learned how to keep from a
baseball game, it opens the game up in a whole
different way. It sure does. But you know what I did,
I saw a lot of people just being the moment,
which I loved, you know what I mean, Like, you know,
most time we're at the games, we're trying to film everything,
you know, trying to make sure we're post for social media. Like, yeah,

(32:19):
you had some of that, but there was some moments
where people were just watching the game, and I thought
that was really great because like there was something so
captivating about the Tokyo Dome and the fans being there
and like the drums and like all the theatric Pikachu
was on the field. I mean it was it was
it was a party. It's what I mean. I think,
like sometimes you just have to be in those moments, right,
Like the last thing you want to do is like,

(32:40):
oh yeah, I think I recorded it, Like no, you
want to say, no, I remember watching it, you know,
And so I think having that experience that you know,
you see these young kids and their parents and the locals,
and it's like sometimes it's the only baseball MLB baseball
they're ever going to go to for some of these people, right,
So I think soaking in that moment along with like
keeping the tradition of like the scorecar and make sure

(33:01):
that you guys are falling the game. Plus see, it
was a mixture of all those things. But it was
definitely a dope experience. So yo, don't like I was like,
I hope you guys host more games there because it
was definitely a watch event.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
Okay, before we let you go.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
I've heard multiple people who have gone to games at
the Tokyo Dome talk about the the keg, the cargreators
on the back back of like all like literally they're
like your beer is never empty. The moment that they
see an empty beer. There is a beer girl right
there with a keg wriger on her back filling up

(33:32):
your beer. Like immediately, is it as rad in real life?
That like is it really that like incredible?

Speaker 4 (33:39):
It is.

Speaker 3 (33:39):
They're literal and they're like athletes.

Speaker 5 (33:41):
Yeah, they're not little beer ghostbusters, you know, roll up
your cup like I mean, if they were on it,
they were on it. And they're so nice. They're not pushy,
they're not like yeah, but like they're just but the
second you're like, man, I should probably get it, Oh.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
Here you are, like beer out of nowhere is what
I heard you?

Speaker 8 (33:58):
Out of nowhere?

Speaker 5 (33:59):
You know, And it's like, you know they had coke
and Petsy.

Speaker 4 (34:05):
Wow, Okay, that's that's the craziest thing I've ever heard.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
And there it is.

Speaker 4 (34:10):
I'm like, I can I can get, I can get,
Like the pair stuff makes sense like to me, but
like wow, like.

Speaker 9 (34:17):
That anything on tap it's like and PEPSI like usually
ballparks have to choose one and like they're really territorial
about things and whatever, like that's wild.

Speaker 5 (34:30):
It was awesomes for sure, they would disappear and that
thank you.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
So much for joining us and for that inside.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
I'm so happy you got that experience, and let's go Dodgers.

Speaker 5 (34:44):
Yeah, Dodgers, Let's go baby.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
All right, have a great one, get some sleep. I'm
on my way, all right when we come back.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
You guys, the dudes and the Dunton Sports. You're listening
to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Welcome back to Fox Sports Saturday. I'm Alex Coury here
with Carmen Vitally. We are broadcasting live from the Tart
dot Com studios in Los Angeles.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
Thank you for spending your March man Is Saturday with us.

Speaker 4 (35:12):
You can stream this show, by the way, Alex and
all of our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty four
to seven in the new and improved iHeartRadio app. Just
search Fox Sports Radio in the app to stream us live.
And one of the newest features in the app is
that you can select Fox Sports Radio as one of
your presets, just like the presets on a radio dial.
So we start a preset Fox Sports Radio in the

(35:32):
iHeartRadio app and it will always pop up at the
top of your screen.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Love that all right, guys, it is time for the
dues and the don'ts in sports.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
This highlighting the dues.

Speaker 6 (35:41):
Oh, I love that, and putting us spotlight on the don't.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
The subject brings me no joy.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
Don't do that, that's insane.

Speaker 6 (35:48):
It's time for the dues and the don'ts in sports.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
Okay, do have fun with your postgame interviews? Have you
seen Okase's postgame interview tradition yet?

Speaker 3 (36:00):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (36:01):
So I guess it started with Chet wanting his teammates
to be with him in his postgame interviews, and now
it's grown into how many items of clothing, towels, cups,
basically anything that they have can they put on the
teammate that's getting interviewed, and their team reporter, Nick Gallo,
who's interviewing the players. And I don't know if it

(36:22):
was last night or the night before, but they literally
put an entire jacket on Nick Gallo, their team reporter,
and he like the straight face and the like the
concentration that he kept in this interview, and the player
too that he was interviewing, like not laughing. He started
by putting his jacket over Nick and they take his microphone,

(36:44):
but they still hold it so he can talk, so
he can put his arms in. They put a jersey over.

Speaker 3 (36:48):
His head, they put up on his head, they put
towels all over him last Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
And they do it for every winning game, like walk
off interview, and it was just beautiful. They're so young
and you can tell that the vibes are just immaculate,
and they're having so much fun.

Speaker 3 (37:08):
Which is such a big key to.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
Success that I've seen an All championship teams like the fun.

Speaker 4 (37:14):
Yeah, you've got to have fun. They have the MVP
on that roster. Yeah, if you believe, it'll happen, and
they have one of the they're gonna be a team
in the West that contend with they are I would
do and it's you established yourself.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (37:29):
We'll get into this topic, I think a little bit
more later on in the show. But JJ McCarthy, the
Vikings are rolling with him and he's taking that responsibility
on not just on the field, but in the community.
Him and the Vikings Foundation just hosted a meal distribution
with Viking's Table food truck for the Youth Link in Minnesota,
which is a local, non province put sports homeless youth.

(37:49):
So McCarthy was on site delivering the one hundredth thousandth
meal through the Vikings Table since its inception in twenty nineteen,
and he it would like they take the food truck around.
I think they do about three thousand meals a month. Yeah,
they distribute. And so J J. McCarthy like, if you
want the face of your franchise to be your quarterback
and you want him to be your quarterback, he's not

(38:10):
only taking that to heart on the field, but he's
doing that in the community, which I think is really great.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
That is really great.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
And we are going to dive into his in the
Viking situation at the top of the hour. So in
a little over ten minutes, Lato unpacked there. Okay, I
have another dude, do shout out your heroes. Tennis champ
Mira Andreva one in the Desert last weekend and in
her like one of her postgame interviews, she was at
the desk talking about where she drew her motivation from,

(38:37):
and she said she drew it from Lebron James and
a quote that he was talking about where even if
you don't feel like you're one hundred percent physically, I'm
going to choose to be one hundred percent mentally. And
that's some great life advice, you guys, because like even
if you don't feel like you can do it, if
you mentally come in to the best of your ability,

(38:59):
you could still bitch. You can still be the best
at you can in your job, in life, friend, family, Like,
it's just it's such a good it's such a good
quote motto to ros By.

Speaker 4 (39:08):
I love that. Yeah, I have another dude, but it's
doing on your own terms. Because this just happened. Actually, Okay,
before the Chicago Blackhawks took on the Saint Louis Blues
Pat Maroon, who is from Saint Louis. It was his
last game in Saint Louis because he is currently Chicago Blackhawk,
but he announced he will be retiring at the end
of this season. Knowing it was his last game in
Saint Louis and wanted to make sure people knew that

(39:29):
I know, so before the pregame interview, he announced that
he will be Pat Maroon. Patty Maroon. I got to
know him a little bit in Tampa. He is now retiring,
hanging it up after a really long career and has
had a lot of fun in it. So congratulations to
Pat Marion. I love that.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
I'm gonna do a quick do you always take your
shot and take time for fans. Luga Dancic was in
the tunnel signing jerseys for fans when he took a
behind the basket from the tunnel shot mid signing and
witshed it and made it and then went turned around
and then immediately went back and kept like signing for
the kids. It was just like, that's that's some legendary
iconic stuff right there.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
We're gonna take a quick break here when we come back.
Quarterback carousel almost complete.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (40:16):

Speaker 2 (40:19):
Welcome to our two of Fox Sports Saturday. I'm Alex
Curry here with Carmen Vitalite. Thank you for spending your
Saturday afternoon with CARMEI and me. Happy March Madness. We
have gotten it all. We just watched USC just absolutely
destroy on the court. But Juju walkins, this is kind
of the story of the game. Left the game after

(40:39):
rolling her ankle. She came back out on the bench
and we just watched them kind of give the handshakes
after the game, and she she looked like she was
in pain. She was limping.

Speaker 4 (40:50):
Yeah, more than even in pain. She was just she
looked really, really mad I hate ankles because like they
can lean.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
That's what I had in soccer. Like I ended up
after like tearing the ligaments to my ankle. I played
the rest of my college career with ankle braces. It's
just any anything can happen after that.

Speaker 4 (41:08):
But yeah, but ooh ooh, Saint John's is now within
two of Arkansas and the men's. It's like everybody's bracket.
I feel it's like rides on. Yeah, Saint John's advancing here,
so we'll see.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
It's gonna be big.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
We do have other stuff to talk about, we do,
and we dove into all the march madas in the
first hour. If you miss that, you can listen to
the podcast wherever you get your podcast. We are broadcasting
live from tar dot com studios tarret dot com. We'll
help you get there, and I'm match Selection fast free shipping,
Free Road has their protection and over ten thousand recommended installers.

Speaker 4 (41:39):
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and a can do attitude. Thankfully, when you have a
neighbor like Tractor Supply, teamwork comes easy, whether you're caring
for Pett's chickens or a few acres. Our team members
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life out here, and be sure to check out the
Tractor Supply Fox Sports Radio Bracket Challenge at Fox sports
Radio dot com. See how our hosts are doing with

(42:00):
their pigs and who the top ranked listeners are. The
listener with the best bracket at Fox sports radio dot
com will when a twenty five hundred dollars gift card.
Detractors ply, too bad, we don't.

Speaker 3 (42:10):
Get that, Yeah, you're saying, we have right now.

Speaker 2 (42:12):
Steve Hartman, who's in the house right now coming on
after us, is still strongly in first. We got Brady
Quinn right behind him, CARMEI and me tied for third.
Carmen's right above me. I'm in fourth.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
We're doing good. We got we got four. We got
three of the top four leaders. I have eighty in
the house right now, I have.

Speaker 4 (42:30):
I have eighty six points still left on the table
for myself, So that could gode well, Yeah, we'll see.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
Yeah, that's more than Hartman's got eighty one.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
Yeah, I think eighty five.

Speaker 2 (42:42):
Yeah, I got seventy eight. You definitely, I'll see. That's exciting.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
Could it could all go off the rails really quick.
That's the beauty of March, that's the fun of it all.

Speaker 3 (42:50):
But it's like, go us like I like what we do.

Speaker 4 (42:55):
I would say, like, I like, I'm not going to
present this as anything other than luck. Like I do know.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
It's okay, it's it's fine, it's great, but it's fun.
It is a brag.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
Brag while you're there, bag while you're I'm just just
do it. Okay, let's let's get to NFL free agency.
We kind of talked about last hour some of the
the wide receivers that are still on the market, but
we're gonna figure story is the quarterbacks. We're maybe the
little quarterback carousel is almost complete. But let's start with

(43:25):
Aaron Rodgers. All Right, he just went and had a
six hour meeting with the Steelers yesterday, which are one
of the two big franchises that were reportedly going hard
after him. But he's still I don't know if he's
still deciding if he's going to play next season or

(43:45):
if he wants to play with the Steelers.

Speaker 4 (43:48):
I'm so confused at this whole thing.

Speaker 3 (43:51):
Yeah, there's not that many options.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
Yeah, we did this two years ago when he joined
the Jets. Yeah, he dragged it out, Yeah for maximum
whatever liked Did any of us actually think this was
gonna come to like a tidy and neat and official asolutely, like, oh,
what's he waiting? All of them?

Speaker 3 (44:11):
He does.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
He likes the drama, he likes the spotlight. He's going
to announce at the perfect time when he can take
over the media headlines. It just it feels a little
selfish at this point, like there's not that many.

Speaker 3 (44:24):
Like it was different. I guess maybe.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
Two years ago that time around, different Aaron Rodgers not
coming off Achilles injury and then going five and twelve
with the Jets last season. He's just not the same guy.
He's not that same MVP caliber Blair. He's still, i
would say, in the middle of the pack, top middle
of the packs quarterbacks in the right now.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
Being at the NFL combine was very interesting because you're
talking to people about this about him specifically, and I've
never seen people be so it be such a polarizing
topic because there were some people I talked to in
like league offices that were like, yeah, dude, I'm sure
he still has juice. He needs to be in a
better situation he'll be a one more year removed from
that Achilles injury, like he still has it, and then

(45:09):
other guys are like, I wouldn't touch him with a
ten foot pole, and I'm like it was so it
was either one of the other two. Interesting, but there
was there was a significant contingent of people that still
believe and I see where they're coming from in that
you don't just drop off and when you have an
injury like that, it really does take multiple years to
get back from it, no matter what Aaron Rodgers says,

(45:31):
and especially if you are forty one going on forty
one years old. The biggest thing that came out this
week though, is not only that he had those meetings
with the Steelers, but that the Vikings are taking themselves out,
and that it's not even that they're taking themselves out,
because according to Diana Orsini, it's just that they're deciding
not to make a decision right now. Yeah, and they understand,
they understand that Aaron Rodgers could end up signing elsewhere,

(45:52):
And it's not that they're not necessarily interested, is what
the reporting said. It's just that they're okay with not
making the decision out and if that means that he
goes somewhere else.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
So be it okay.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
Interesting, So it's not off the table, but they're just
not going to be aggressive.

Speaker 4 (46:05):
Yeah, they're they're not making the decision right now. So
like if he's still there in like a month or two,
maybe they'll think about it.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Interesting because JJ had he had another surgery.

Speaker 4 (46:14):
He had so he had he had the mcl injury,
which happened in his first preseason game, Yes, and then
later on in the season he had to have another
surgery to reduce the swelling that had happened in the knee.
So it was technically it was a setback. And you
do wonder if Minnesota is included in these reports, like
how do they actually feel about JJ, because they like

(46:35):
they haven't ultimately deviated from the plan that they set
up when they signed Sam Donold to a bridge contract
and drafted JJ McCarthy, Like this is not this is
still the same plan, and I still ultimately think that
they will follow through on it. Yeah, but where there's smoke,
their their spire. And I heard my friend Nate Tice
talking about on his fooball three oh one podcast on Yahoo,
where when you hear a team included in this. Yeah,

(46:58):
there's something to that, And that's just really interesting to
me because no part of that makes sense for the
Minnesota vikings to me, to attign a guy like Aaron
Rodgers who clearly thinks that he should still be a starter. Yeah,
and then you're going to kind of like he's not
a notorious mentor. Although I will say that Jordan Love
has said a lot of good things about who he was,

(47:19):
but at the same.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
Time of his jets like tenure, he said, I'm ready
to be that guy.

Speaker 4 (47:24):
I don't care what he says. I don't care what.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
He's not going to.

Speaker 4 (47:29):
Be a backup.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
He's not going to be a backup. He's not going
to be on the bench. That's not who Rogers is.

Speaker 4 (47:33):
And do you like it? Just I really think that
maybe Minnesota kind of muld this sober because they aren't
sure exactly where where JJ's injury is going to land
when the season starts, and he's missed all this time
that he could have been developing with rehab. That's the
issue here. But now with Rogers facing this decision between
the Steelers the Giants.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
Yeah, I mean John even kind of did a contingency
plan signed Jameis Wins into two years an eight million
dollars right.

Speaker 4 (47:59):
Which I feel like was kind of their own like, well,
we're not gonna wait around for you.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
Yes, exactly, which they needed to do something.

Speaker 4 (48:04):
They have something, especially in a year where I mean,
Joe Shane and Brian Dables job are on the line
rides this next year, which is such a tough position
to be in if you're the Giants because you have
so many needs. Still too, that offensive line in New York, Yeah,
is not good. Your best player, Andrew Thomas isn't always

(48:25):
healthy either. You can't even rely on that. So wanting
to or like wooing a free agent quarterback who's forty
or close to it, if you're talking Rogers or Russell Wilson,
how are you gonna do that when you're gonna be like, ah,
we don't really have the best guys in front of you.
And like, Russell Wilson is more mobile than Aaron Rodgers is,
but he's still not you know, the Russell Wilson of

(48:45):
five years ago. No, as far as mobility goes.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
It's interesting too, like where obviously Steelers reportedly made a
low ball offer to Justin Fields over.

Speaker 4 (48:59):
Over Russ. So they were willing to go because Field
gives you more upside. Yeah, which, because we talked about
this last week. The first round pedigree just does not
leave you. It was two weeks ago, but the first
round pedigree does not leave you to the point where
everybody will always be chasing your potential. Yeah, And Jesne.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
Field was saying, oh, he was a first round pick.
It's like, you don't want that to be what sticks
with you. You want to be like, this was a
great this is a great player.

Speaker 4 (49:23):
And if you say former first round pick, it usually
means they didn't have any sort of thing that that
really helped. They didn't do much in the in the
league itself. But I mean, Justin Fields is a jet now.
Yes he's going to be He's a New York for
all we know, he's going to be the starter. Yes,
So and again we went over I went over it.
If you want to look on my Instagram, it's on
there about why I believe that that was. It made

(49:46):
a lot of sense for Aaron Glenn taking Justin Fields.
But this whole situation with Rogers too, if he does,
and I'm so interested to get Brooks take on this
Brook prior he she's going to be joining us at
two thirty Pacific, five thirty Eastern. She's the Steelers beat
reporter for ESPNU. I'm so interested to get her take
on all Right. Hypothetically, if this goes through, you now

(50:10):
have DK Metcalf, so many George Pickens, and you're gonna
throw Aaron Rodgers, like Mike Tomlin is already a Hall
of fam coach for what he's done.

Speaker 3 (50:20):
You can handle it. It's Mike Tomlin.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
It's literally why I could handle that, the.

Speaker 4 (50:25):
Wild stuff that comes out of Pittsburgh once these guys
leave the es and you're like, how did Mike Tomlin
keep a lid on that for so long? Like he
deserves Hall of Fame right out the gate just for
dealing with the personalities in the day. I know. But
it also it's like it's kind of a problem of
your own making Steelers, because if you're gonna put yourself
in this position and you're gonna take these guys and

(50:46):
you're not going to value whether or not they have
like they have character concerns, then can you kind of
rape what's so?

Speaker 2 (50:52):
Yeah, it's it's it's feeling that that's going to be
the best bet for Aaron Rodgers where he could have
the most success, kind of have the best situation.

Speaker 3 (51:02):
He's gonna have the weapons, you have one of the
best coaches.

Speaker 4 (51:05):
More than that, you have you have a defense that
you can rely on to you So especially like when
you're getting used to the system and all that kind
of stuff, like you absolutely have a defense that's gonna
win you games. Because that's how the Steelers haven't had
a losing season under Mike Tomlins. It hasn't been because
of offense. They haven't been able to address the offense
or the quarterback position since Ben Roethlisberger. Yes, this has

(51:26):
been an ongoing issue for the Steelers, and yet everybody
just kind of shrugs it off.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
Because the last three years has been like a quarterback
carousel for the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (51:35):
No, it has.

Speaker 4 (51:35):
But I'm saying people don't really like press the panic
button with the Steelers because they've had good defenses that
have gotten into the playoffs and they've gotten they've had
winning records, but they don't go beyond that. So it's
it's they're like stuck in this cycle of mediocrity, where
with any other offense with any sort of stability there

(51:58):
that defense paired with that would mean a perennial playoff
team that gets wins and has runs and really is
a super Bowl contender.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
So who needs two more Steelers? Need Aaron Rodgers or
Rogers need the Steelers?

Speaker 4 (52:11):
Has it? Didn't say anybody needs the problems that Aaron
Rodgers springs don't?

Speaker 3 (52:17):
Where do you think he's good?

Speaker 4 (52:18):
We are? But you've shut the door basically on Russell Wilson. Yes,
and who else is out there at this point?

Speaker 2 (52:23):
I mean, okay, so what if they didn't? And then no,
it's hard because you've already kind of said do you
want to move on? Do you really want to be like, oh,
let's let's try it again and bring it back, even
though we made an offer to the other.

Speaker 3 (52:35):
Quarterback we had here last year?

Speaker 4 (52:36):
I mean, and like, who would you roll the dice
with the Trey Lance? Trey Lance is still out there
as far as quarterbacks go.

Speaker 3 (52:42):
What is Lance? Though nobody knows?

Speaker 4 (52:46):
Two teams now have given up on him.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
So like, you can't anything that's going to so well,
apparently Falcons are calling everyone to try to trade Kirk
Cousins and that's just such a tough situation, because I
think his best bead is going to be if a
quarterback gets hurt in camp early or beginning of the season,
where a team still feels like they can be a
contender and they need someone. It's just that that's a

(53:10):
really hard I.

Speaker 4 (53:11):
Mean, but the thing is, Atlanta, the tough part is
like you still have to pay him this year regardless,
Like you're gonna have dead a lot of dead cap
if you part ways with Cousins. So it's like you
almost might as well keep him on the roster unless
you're getting unless you're getting a really pre like if
you're actually getting a third for Kirk Cousins, yeah, sure,
go out and do that. I don't know that you are. Yeah,

(53:31):
And so it in in in that context, I feel
like it makes a lot more sense to keep Kirk Cousins,
even like doing that guaranteeing him one hundred million dollars
and then turning around and drafting Michael PENNOCKX junior with.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
The Also, the writing was on the on the wall.
That was an insane that was an insane behavior, and.

Speaker 4 (53:52):
Like nothing that happened lastly, I get that Kirk Cousins
did not look good and Michael PENNOCKX Junior like looked
like he could be the guy.

Speaker 3 (53:58):
But again he's also coming off of an achilles.

Speaker 4 (54:00):
But that doesn't justify what Atlanta did. Like, I feel
like so many people absolved and Lana like, see it
was a good thing that they ended up drafting Michael Penix. No,
it wasn't. No, because you're still attached to Kirk Cousins
contract that even if you trade him, you have dead
money to contend with this year, and so you might
as well keep him. But then are you keeping I'm
so interested to see I didn't get to it the
Jews and don'ts. The new quarterback season cast was announced. Yeah,

(54:23):
and Kirk Cousins is on it again again. But I
think it's good that he's on it again because now
we get to see how this all unfolded and what
he really thought about Atlanta drafting Michael Penix and how.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
It was last year. I forgot about that. I'm like, oh,
it's gonna be this year. It's gonna be weird, no
coming out. So this was this was all everything that happened.

Speaker 3 (54:46):
Last year's toy.

Speaker 4 (54:48):
So you have that, and then you have Jared God,
you have Jared God which I feel like people are
going to uh all in love with the lines all
over again. And then you have Joe Burrow, who was
so mysterious as is, like he doesn't do much on
social media. You don't really hear him talk that much.
That's actually great, and you're especially after last season where
the offense and individually he had an incredible season and

(55:11):
he's trying to fight for Jamar and teeth contract the
whole the whole time. I got it, and I mean
got it done. But like all last season, he was
campaigning for those guys, not only like off the field,
but like on the field too.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
Which is crazy.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
He was trying.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
An office kept saying, we can't pay them all. We
can't keep everybody, but it's.

Speaker 4 (55:29):
Going to cost you your quarterback, you Dan Well Camp.
And then they did and they and they did, and
they can still pay money. Like again, it's just a
matter of how much it want to.

Speaker 3 (55:37):
They will, this is what we were saying.

Speaker 4 (55:39):
Just a matter of how much owners are willing to put,
like upfront.

Speaker 3 (55:43):
Life lesson if they want to, they will, they will.

Speaker 4 (55:47):
I think it's going to be so interesting to see
those three guys. But I'm very interested to see Kirk
Cousins because uh, it's gonna be I cannot wait to
get what like what do you do? Like, it's I
cannot wait to see how that actually went down and
how Kirk Cousins actually felt.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
Yeah, that's gonna be brutal, but he's so kind.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
Like I fell in love with Kirk Cousins on on.

Speaker 4 (56:09):
The last quarterback.

Speaker 3 (56:10):
Yeah, like he's just.

Speaker 4 (56:12):
He's so kind.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
He's a dad and he's so reasonable.

Speaker 4 (56:15):
He's a dad, but he means really well, he's.

Speaker 3 (56:18):
Gonna be so hurt. I'm gonna like, is he gonna
make me cry?

Speaker 4 (56:23):
Like see him go down? So Okay.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
The three names that are like really out there are
like older quarterbacks Rogers, Russ like.

Speaker 4 (56:32):
You got, but like outside of Rogers the rest. I
think this is where it gets even more bleak because
you talk about Trey Lance, Yes, Drew Low and then
you have another old quarterback, Joe Flacco, who at times
has still looked like he hasn't but he's he's just
gonna kind of be your game manager. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
Two years ago he won Comeback Player of the Year
Off the Couch, right, because it was literally.

Speaker 4 (56:51):
Off the couch, off the couch. It's not as if
he propelled his team to the end of the AFC
title game or anything like that. So it was like
he's gonna kind of keep your ship afloat, okay, which
could be enough. Honestly, when you're talking like game manager,
if you're talking about who the Steelers stuff in the tank,
if you're talking about who the Steelers could sign and

(57:13):
it's not Aaron Rodgers, Like, what better situation for a
guy like Joe Flacco where you don't have to do much.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
Yeah, it'd be great for Joe. I just I don't
think that would be like to get them over the hump.

Speaker 4 (57:25):
No, but they're none of these guys. Let's be let's
be crystal clear about this. Even if they signed Aaron Rodgers. Yeah,
I don't know if it's a hot take this, it's
not gonna get the Steelers over the hump.

Speaker 3 (57:35):
No. No, But like you can't.

Speaker 4 (57:39):
Year that's gonna get you over the hump. This is
a bad year to need a quarterback and it's not
the Steelers year yet again. Brutal, brutal.

Speaker 2 (57:48):
We're gonna take a quick break here. When we come back,
you guys, baseball is back. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (57:54):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports
It's Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search
FSR to listen live.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
Welcome back to Fox Sports Saturday.

Speaker 2 (58:08):
I'm Alex Curry here with Carmen Vitali, coming to you
live from the tart dot com studios. Thank you for
spending your March Madness Saturday afternoon with Carme and Me for.

Speaker 4 (58:16):
The best pregame show every weekend, be sure to's tuned
into Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by bet MGM, every
Saturday and Sunday morning from nine am to noon Eastern
six to nine am Pacific. We will count you down
to all of the biggest games here on the best
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by bet MGM every Saturday and Sunday morning, right here
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (58:36):
Woo woo you guys, Baseball is back.

Speaker 2 (58:39):
Dodgers and Cubs kick things off in Tokyo last week,
and oh I just got to say show hey O
Tani is still that dude like he talked about being nervous,
but like, what does that mean for show host time?
Like a couple of hits in the first game, home
run in the second game, he had the most incredible,

(59:00):
heartwarming home welcome, and it was just like the numbers
speak for themselves.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
Like on top of.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
What if you watched any of it on TV or
saw the social media, Like the fan response was absolutely
insane and incredible. I mean, the Tokyo Dome was packed
during their practices and then Game one average twenty five
million viewers, Game two average twenty three million viewers. Like
Fanatics sold forty million dollars worth of merch for the
Tokyo series. Like Shoyotani is I think already the greatest

(59:34):
baseball player. Careful, we're getting close of our time. Definitely,
he is getting close to all time if he continues
on this trajectory, Like he's already a three time MVP
as a two way player when he was pitching and
hitting first ever DH to win the award. He is

(59:56):
must watch TV. He rises to every single occasion. If
he is playing, you want to watch because you know
he's going to do something special. He's always smiling, he's
having fun, He's on a stat team, like the Dodgers
are the World Series champs. We haven't had back to
back since the Yankees in two thousand and then. One
of their weaknesses last year was their pitching staff.

Speaker 4 (01:00:17):
And what did they do.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
They went out and they basically got every big pitcher available.

Speaker 4 (01:00:24):
On the market. It's have and have not.

Speaker 3 (01:00:27):
It's insane.

Speaker 4 (01:00:28):
It's a luxury tax. And yeah, teams want to spend,
they will. I have a question. Should show Hey go
back to pitching?

Speaker 3 (01:00:35):
Yes, he wants to. If he wants to, he should.

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
He's not going to be back though, on the mound
until mid season, like maybe end of May.

Speaker 4 (01:00:44):
Jus like, so it's all right, let me let me,
let me go, let me go this season. Yes, should
he go back to pitching this season? Yes, he should
push it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
It's not pushing for him because I was there watching
like his first season with the Angels when everyone was questioning,
like are you I can't believe you're gonna let him
do both. He should not be a two way player.
It's gonna take away from one or the other. When
you watch Sho Heeyo Tani's daily workout routines, this man
is so disciplined and so well trained and if he
wants to do it, he dictates his schedule, like he

(01:01:16):
literally goes up to the managers like, this is what
I'm gonna do today. I know my body can handle this.
I know my body can handle that. So again, like
he's not gonna be it's not gonna be a but
it's not gonna be like hurt, I'm wrong. This is though, No,
this is sucond Tommy John Well non Tommy John, non
Tommy John, Tommy John. It's the same as a ucl TEIR,

(01:01:37):
but it was like in a little different area, so
they're not like labeling it Tommy John, but it's basically
a Tommy John. The good thing for the Dodgers is
they don't need him right away. They signed Blake Snell,
who's a cy Young winner, Roki Sasaki Japanese superstar. They
get Tyler glassn now back Otani if he wants to
come back. They also have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, Bobby Miller,

(01:01:57):
Tony Glassan Clinton Kershaw, Gavin Stone. Like they are so
stacked it's insane. Like the one like Knock last year
is like they don't have pitching. It's like, oh, what
about now insane. I'm absolutely insane.

Speaker 4 (01:02:12):
Again, if they wanted to, they would, Yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
They did, and they did, and you It was funny
because there was a lot of player reactions. If you're
not a Dodgers fan, it was like, wtf is happening
right now?

Speaker 4 (01:02:23):
Like again because it's it's the house and the have nots,
But like, at the same time, you are you really
gonna fault owners for spending up anch of money? Like
it's not a coincidence that the two teams with the
highest payrolls made the World Series last year. That's just
what happens. And if you're if you're you just get
mad at your owners. Then guys, you're not spending enough
money because they can in baseball, it's not a hard gap. No,

(01:02:43):
you can't do it. You can. You can spend money.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
All right, let's check it with Martin Wise. Check on
these games. See what's trending.

Speaker 7 (01:02:52):
You got getting ready for Michigan and Texas and then
the tip off to five in the four sheet, we
just saw Arkansas advance to the Sweet sixteen. They beat
Saint John's seventy five to sixty six.

Speaker 4 (01:03:05):
Cars busted.

Speaker 3 (01:03:09):
Did that mess you up?

Speaker 7 (01:03:10):
I had no I had John Calipari and Arkansas going sixteen.
I did, I did Saint John's can't shoot, but also too,
I watched forty five minutes of college basketball before filling
this out, so.

Speaker 4 (01:03:25):
I know that's why I said, like, this is all
how buff did? Can it be fun?

Speaker 7 (01:03:31):
Fifth seed perdue be twelve seed McNee State seventy six
and sixty two. The boiler Makers advanced to the Sweet
sixteen and we'll play in the winner of eight seed
Gonzaga and one seed Houston has produced six Sweet sixteen
appearance in the last eight tournaments, and the women's first
round two sed ucon beats fifteenth seed Arkansas State by
sixty nine points one O three to thirty four. Chuessey

(01:03:51):
USC beat you C Greensboro seventy one to fifty to
twenty five. Rather Juju Watkins roller w ankle did not
finish the game, but injury is not believed to be serious. Oklahoma,
North Carolina State, Alabama, IOWA in West Virginia all join
Yukon and USC in the second round of the women's tournament,
and per Syracuse dot com, Colorado Football Shyracuse Football have

(01:04:12):
sought permission to hold joint practices next month, which eventually
culminating in a scrimmage to take place some of the
spring games that have been canceled across campuses.

Speaker 4 (01:04:22):
Bank to you, guys, Ranks, Thanks Martin.

Speaker 3 (01:04:24):
You're listening to Fox Sports Saturday.

Speaker 5 (01:04:25):
Am.

Speaker 3 (01:04:25):
Alex curryhe Carmen Vitali.

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
We are broadcasting live from the tarat dot Com Studios
in Los Angeles. It is time for our next guest,
and I am so excited for her right now, we
have so many questions. She is the Steelers beat reporter
for ESPN. Please welcome Brook Pryor.

Speaker 8 (01:04:39):
Hey, guys, it is shockingly I am not still camped
outside the Steelers' facility Aaron Rodgers's sn So I'm allowed
to be back in my house for a little bit.

Speaker 4 (01:04:50):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
We have to start with that, though, because all eyes
are on the Steelers right now and what they're gonna
do at quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 3 (01:04:57):
There for what like six hours?

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
You, I mean, if you're camped out, tell us everything
that you saw and that you're hearing from that Aaron
Rodgers Steelers meeting yesterday.

Speaker 8 (01:05:06):
So this is incredibly ironic and was unintentional. But I
lived near the Steelers facility. I was out for a
walk yesterday morning, trying to get some fresh air before
I sat on my couch for hours on end watching basketball.
And I was, no joke, maybe two blocks away when
I got news that Aaron Rodgers was at the Steelers facility,

(01:05:28):
and I thought, Oh, my gosh, you're kidding me. Usually
news finds me in the most inconvenient place, So I
turned around and went right back to the facility to art.
I had already walked past it twice yesterday, so I
went back. Didn't see Aaron Rodgers. There was a lot
of activity, though, once news started to spread that Aaron
Rodgers was there, there were a lot of newsvans that

(01:05:49):
drove by, photographers starting to camp out. Eventually, though, my
editors told me to go home because if something did happen,
if they did come to an agreement, I was than
no position to write or do TV. I was in
my workout clothes, so I left, as did Aaron Rodgers. Eventually,
he was at the facility for about six hours and

(01:06:10):
met with coaches. I would love to know what his
impressions were, because what I did notice is that the
Steelers were in the process of re sotting their practice
fields out behind the practice facility. So maybe not the
best time. It's like having somebody to your house when
it's being renovated, like, look, it's gonna look better, I promise,

(01:06:31):
exactly exactly. So, yeah, he was there, left without a
deal and we are all still on Rogers watch now
going into week three.

Speaker 4 (01:06:39):
Yeah, like did we really expect anything else? Like did
we learn nothing from the whole drawn out process before
he signed with the New York Jets. The biggest thing
for me is, all right, hypothetically, Brooke, this happens because
the options outside of Aaron Rodgers aren't great either for
the Steelers at this point. If they've effectively shut the

(01:06:59):
door off Rus, how did they officially shut the door
on Russ? And if this happens, what does that do
to the dynamic of this team? I mean when you
have like Cam Hayward going on podcasts saying like, well
I'm not gonna go on a darkness street. Either you're
here you're not listen.

Speaker 8 (01:07:13):
I mean, like Sabrina Carpenter said, it is slim Pickens
out there.

Speaker 4 (01:07:16):
Fack.

Speaker 8 (01:07:18):
So it's it's really turning into Rogers or you draft
somebody took care with Mason Rudolph. I mean, I don't
think that they have officially shut the door on Russell Wilson.
But the thing that I think about is both Art
Rooney and Omark Hahn said right when the off season
was starting that it was their preference to re sign

(01:07:40):
either Russ or Justin Fields. They obviously went after Justin
Fields that didn't come together. He goes to New York,
Russ is still out there. If he was truly their
preference all along, I think they would have had something
done at this point. But it does kind of seem
like Russ is still interested in coming back to the Steelers.
But I don't get this that that is necessarily reciprocated.

(01:08:03):
But as far as how Aaron Rodgers is perceived in
the building, if it does come together, if he does
come to Pittsburgh and actually stays longer than six hours,
I think that. You know, Kim Heyward has kind of
done some appearances since he said on his podcast that
he wasn't going to go into a darkness retreat and said, look,
I wasn't saying that I don't want him here. It

(01:08:24):
was only like I wasn't going to go to a
darkness retreat. I wasn't going to go above and beyond
to get this guy. But if he comes to Pittsburgh
and he wants to win, I want to win. That's
all we need. And so I think that if Aaron
Rodgers can come into Pittsburgh and kind of leave Aaron Rodgers,
the larger than life persona at the door, and kind
of check his ego and really be there to win,

(01:08:49):
it works. But I haven't seen him be able to
do that. But you know, maybe people change. I don't know.
It's it is going to be fascinating to see how
it unfolds. But realistically, the other thing is Russell Wilson
is actually better for their offense than Aaron Rodgers in
their current forms as far as throwing the tight end

(01:09:11):
stretching the ball down the field. The thing that Aaron
Rodgers wants to do is get the ball out of
his hands quickly, get it to the hands of his playmakers.
The Steelers have guys that can do that, with Roman Wilson,
Calvin Austin, Jalen Warren, some of those guys. But you
just traded for Deaky Metcalf. You've still got George Pickens,
do you not want a quarterback that wants to throw
the moonball, that wants to stretch the ball down the field.

(01:09:32):
It's not really Aaron Rodgers game right now. So that
gives me some pause.

Speaker 2 (01:09:36):
So let's talk about those three guys, because if Aaron
Rodgers does come on this team, he's not checking as
he go at the door.

Speaker 3 (01:09:41):
He is going to be Aaron Rodgers, the MVP.

Speaker 2 (01:09:44):
He's gonna come in and he's deserved, like he's earned that, right,
That's just you.

Speaker 3 (01:09:48):
Get what you get if you get Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 2 (01:09:50):
But you have a lot of other big personalities on
that team, as you just mentioned. How do you see
all three of those guys meshing together?

Speaker 8 (01:10:01):
I mean, I really wish that, and I'm sure Hard
Knocks feels the same way that they were running it
back with another in season Hard Knock series this year,
because he will be fascinating and you know, in some ways,
I think it could help to have someone like Aaron
Rodgers at quarterback. Who if because he's been there and

(01:10:22):
he's done it, and he only has one super Bowl,
but he has these MVPs. He's played at a high
level for a long time, and he demands a level
of excellence that might be something that a receiver like
George Pickens needs to hear. He needs to have someone
holding him accountable. If Aaron Rodgers can't get through to him,
then I don't know who can. I think that one

(01:10:43):
thing that would be fascinating to see how it works
is that Aaron Rodgers is someone that really appreciates technical
route running and he wants to see these crisp browse.
He wants you to be where you are supposed to be.
And George Pickens is not a technical route runner, and
I can really see them butting head heads in that way.
Maybe this is something that makes him a better route

(01:11:04):
runner because he has a quarterback that is demanding it.
I think that dk Metcalf for as explosive of a
player as he can be, as volatile player as he
can be on the field, I think that he ultimately
is going to be a good presence for George Pickens
because I just don't think that there has been anyone
that Pickens will listen to in that room or on

(01:11:26):
that offense that is trying to or that they want
him to be better, to be more consistent, and so
far that message hasn't gotten through. Maybe Aaron Rodgers and
DK Metcalf are the two that can really make that
sink in and help him reach his full potential.

Speaker 4 (01:11:40):
That's certainly it's an ideal.

Speaker 7 (01:11:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:11:46):
But here's my thing with Pittsburgh too, and why we
know that Rogers is just taking us time to take
us time because of the options that perhaps Aaron Rodgers
has With the defense that the Steelers have, this is
by far and away the best and most ready roster
that Aaron can possibly go to.

Speaker 8 (01:12:08):
Absolutely, it's and I think the Steelers know that too.
I think the Steelers feel like they probably have the
edge over the Giants in that regard. I don't know
what the financial offers are from either team, but I
get the sense that money is not a factor here.
I think the Steelers do have the best roster. They
have the roster that is most ready to compete, especially

(01:12:32):
since that DK Metcalf trade adding Darius Sleigh is huge.
There's still some issues on the defensive side that I
think they need to take care of. They've got to
draft defensive tackles, they need to shore up the middle
of that defense, maybe add another corner, another safety. They
need some help in the secondary still, But even though
a lot of free agency for the Steelers will boil

(01:12:54):
down to what Aaron Rodgers decides to do. I still
think that they've made some good under the radar signings
that makes this team ready to contend, depending on Aaron Rodgers,
depending on the quarterback situation. And I think the other
sneaky position to watch is the running back because they
let Awgie Hears go in free agency. Jalen Warren has

(01:13:16):
been good when he's had opportunities. They add Kenneth Gain well,
but I still think that that run game is missing something,
whether that's drafting a running back in the first round.
People around here might riot if that happened, maybe heading
somebody in the second round, but I think that they
need another running back, and they also need to see
this offensive line come together and play better than it

(01:13:37):
did down the stretch.

Speaker 2 (01:13:40):
How complete do you think this team is minus the
quarterback situation right now? With what you have right now,
and obviously you have a lot of options coming up
in the draft making some big moves. Where do you
think this team sits right now? How far away are
they from a playoff run?

Speaker 8 (01:13:57):
You know, I think that they were a more complete
team this time A year ago. It felt like at
that point they were just a wide receiver away from contending. Obviously,
that didn't happen. They were pursuing Brandon Nayuk and that
didn't come through, and the quarterback situation looked like it
was gonna pan out for a while, and then the
wheels just came off at the end. I think that

(01:14:20):
this team is not as complete as they were this
time a year ago, even though they have decame MECAP,
just because of some of those question marks in the
run game, because this team does still want to be
a run first team despite their pursuit of Aaron Rodgers,
and I think that they have the potential to be

(01:14:40):
more complete, but they have some question marks on the
offensive line, particularly at tackle, because they let Dan Moore go.
It looks like they're gonna move Broderick Jones to left,
have Troy fiutanho it right, Troy Fotan who only played
a couple of games before he was lost for the season,
and Broderick Jones really underperformed at right tackle. He's a
he's a natural tackle, so maybe things pick up once

(01:15:02):
he gets over there. But Mason McCormick two at guard
has a lot of promise, but I don't think it
is full potential as a rookie, and so I kind
of want to see how he develops before feeling like, yeah,
this team is capable of contending, depending on the quarterback situation.

Speaker 4 (01:15:19):
Brook.

Speaker 2 (01:15:19):
Thank you so much for coming up and coming on
and giving us that inside and the best of luck
for you and Rogers watch.

Speaker 4 (01:15:26):
I hope if there's Rogers news to be had, I
hope it comes at another a convenient time.

Speaker 8 (01:15:34):
Thank you so much. I send Celsius and nerds gummies.

Speaker 4 (01:15:38):
That's that's what I asked.

Speaker 3 (01:15:40):
What is what the nerd gummy?

Speaker 4 (01:15:42):
I don't know why you're not on, Alex. I've been
on this ran. Thank you so much. Brook. We'll talk
to you later.

Speaker 2 (01:15:48):
All Right, We're gonna take one more break here when
we come back our feel good story of the week.

Speaker 3 (01:15:52):

Speaker 1 (01:15:54):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:15:57):
Welcome back to Fox Sports Saturday and Alex Career with
Carmen Vitali. We were broadcasting live from the Tart dot
Com studios in Los Angeles. Thank you for spending your
March Madness Saturday with Carme and me.

Speaker 4 (01:16:07):
Yeah, and if you missed any of today's show and
you want to go back and listen to it, just
thanks for our wonderful producers. The podcast will be up
right after world here, So go search Fox Sports Radio
wherever you get your podcast, like rate, subscribe, do all
of the things else, uh and yeah, and if you
want to check it out.

Speaker 3 (01:16:23):
Later, we'll post it. Go to our socials all right.
Time for our feel good stories.

Speaker 4 (01:16:28):
Of the week.

Speaker 2 (01:16:28):
KRMEI and I each have one or two here, and
mine is around March Madness, because it's more than a game,
you guys. Mount Saint Mary's head coach Donnie was crying
and his postgame presser, I think it was yesterday or
the day before, sharing how hard this game is when
you're a dad and you're away from your family. And

(01:16:50):
one of the big storylines around his team and the
success has been his nine year old son's involvement with
the team. He took his son and his kids out
of school and they've been along for this entire ride
right now, and his son has been on the court
with him during warm ups and his son was also
in that presser with him and he cried, when you
like move the mic over, He's like, I'll let my

(01:17:11):
son answer what this experience has been like for him,
and he said.

Speaker 3 (01:17:14):
It's been the best weeks of my life. That's sweet,
and it's just like, oh.

Speaker 4 (01:17:20):
I mean there's hard. There's so much that comes with
being not that I'm not one, but I have a
lot of friends who are coaches kids. Yeah, and it's
incredibly difficult and you have to be incredibly adaptable, not
only because you don't see your mom or your dad,
but because you're often moving at like the drop of
a hat, and you're spending your entire childhood in different
places and it makes you like every coach's kid I know, though,

(01:17:42):
is like one of the kindest, like wonderful people that
make friends so easily have to. You have to, and
they spent they spent their whole lives doing it so
to have. But like the payoff then is moments like that, Yeah,
which is really really cool, so cool, I have another
feel good story, yeah, because this was like I so
my fiance is very very into international soccer, whether that's

(01:18:05):
Premier League, whether that's like the Kopa, whether that's you know,
World Cup is is you know his jam, but the
cocka Calf Cup was here in Englewood. At so far,
the semi final was played between Panama and the US,
and the US lost, which is a tremendous upset because
this tournament has only been going on since twenty nineteen

(01:18:27):
and the US has won, so this is the first
time that the Cup will not stay in the United States. However,
I instantly felt better about it because Cecilia Waterman, who
scored the game winning goal for Panama extra immediately, yes,
in extra time, it was it was a historic goal
like that in of itself is just a career making

(01:18:48):
like what you look back on, that's incredible. But then
he goes and he hurdles the advertising wall and then
he jumps onto the broadcast set and he wraps his
armors around Terry on Ree, who was calling the game
as part of CBS's coverage, and the entire team then

(01:19:09):
comes rallying around, and he's just shouting at Terry on Ray,
you're my idol, You're my idol, You're my idol, You're
my idol. And obviously Tyran Ray Arsenal great, yes, all time,
one of the all time great footballers in the world.
And you kind of lose sight of that because now
he's on this broadcast team with Michael Richardson and with
Kate Atto now.

Speaker 3 (01:19:26):
And you're so great to get there, so great together.

Speaker 4 (01:19:30):
It's like, I again, I'm not a huge soccer person.
I love watching their studio show.

Speaker 2 (01:19:36):
It feels like it's like probably to the NBA with.

Speaker 4 (01:19:40):
Like, yeah, no, that's that's absolutely event.

Speaker 3 (01:19:43):
It's equivalent to that for soccer.

Speaker 4 (01:19:45):
And I just I can't even imagine this happening in
any of our North American sports, Like where you get
this player who is just so unabashedly worshiping like one
of the greats, and get to go over and like
hug him and celebrate with him. Terry's face was absolutely
priceless because if you if you've ever watched Harry on
Ree in his broadcast career, he's very dry, yes, and

(01:20:06):
he's hysterical, and the whole thing is just so hard.
It meant so much to ce Celia Waterman, and I
just I really loved that for him, and I loved
that whole exchange, and I thought it was really great,
And I'm like, you know what, I don't think we
have any equivalent of this in our That's why.

Speaker 3 (01:20:20):
The most popular I love it so much.

Speaker 2 (01:20:24):
Thank you for spending your March Madness Saturday afternoon with
CARMEI and Me. We'll see you next week, same time,
same place,

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