All Episodes

March 29, 2025 80 mins

On a new Fox Sports Saturday, Alex Curry and Carmen Vitali open the show discussing the NFL's offseason quarterback carousel. With Russell Wilson headed to the Giants and Aaron Rodgers still undecided, how do they see the rest of the offseason playing out? Could the Vikings still be looking to add more? NFL Network's Cynthia Frelund joins the show to weigh in with her own thoughts and help look ahead to the draft! 

Later, the girls get into the start of the MLB season, hitting on all of the biggest storylines coming out of Opening Day! Cassie Carlson from FOX 32 Chicago joins to talk Windy City sports. Alex and Carmen also check in on the NCAA tournaments, LeBron's beef with Stephen A. Smith, and much more! Plus, more fun with a new edition of "Do's and Don'ts"!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

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
Carmie me. It is a buzzer beater kind of week.
You guys in the NBA in March madness and me
getting here today. We just rolled in and we rolled
on and Carme and I obviously you can't see us,
but we are rocking the same vibe today. It's giving

(00:24):
mob wife chic. And I said that to Karmi right
when we came in, And what did you say back
to me?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Well, first of all, I ask, my culture is not
your costume.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
But that's okay, it's nice, it's not I've I've been obsessed.
I remember you told me I went honorary Italian.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
I know, I know, I know I did.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
And animal print is my neutral. I like, I'm always
an animal.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
I always give people stuff there because I'm like, this
is this has been my life. This is like all
my aunts, like my entire life. I'm really glad.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
It's like my Jewish bubbies are like this is very
like big fur, animal print, all that.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Job well, because it's so trendy. My cousin who is
nice enough to be throwing one of my bridal showers
is uh, that's that's our theme, mom, because I realized
I one day. I was like texting her and I
was like, yeah, mob wife, mob wife, mob wife.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm a wife, a wife. So I love those realizations
in real time as you're just like.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
We're gonna try. We're gonna try to do this in
the summer. I don't know how it's gonna work with me.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
I love that that's like not a common like shower theme.
When you said it, I heard bachelorette in my ear. Okay,
love that.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Because I'm it's all my Italian side of the family
in Philadelphia, so like we all live this life anyway,
so we might as well.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
I love that, which, okay, that makes sense because my
mom's side, the Jewish side, is Philadelphia, and that's where
like all my bubbies in this whole like vibe and
look comes from.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
So yeah, just so you all know, I got a guy.
That's all I gotta say. Yeah, I got a guy.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
I got it, I do. I literally I literally got
a guy for everything we've done a bit on that. Okay,
you guys March Madness. Who I just need to brag
for a moment here. I'm happy to report I am
currently in first place in the Fox bort in the
Fox Sports Bracket Challenge. What sorry, Steve Hartman just.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Hot start.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
He was in first almost the whole time. My Elite
eight is all intact. These are all the matchups I selected.
We'll dive into the madness a little later in the show,
a little closer to all the games. Also, Happy MLB
Opening Week to all who celebrate. You heard Martin Wis
just say right now, the Yankees are absolutely destroyed. Yeah
Milwaukee right now? Twenty to seven? Is there an update?

(02:31):
I heard it had eight home runs nine nine. Yeah,
almost like a grand swammy, like absolutely insane. I mean
between that, the Dodgers picking up right where they left off,
Mookie Bets with the walk off and extras.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
Last Chicago teams. Yeah, a sweep of opening Day.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah they did on top of the Bulls with.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
That insane game, which we'll get to in a little bit. Yeah,
right and high right now, it's gonna last for I'm.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Soak it in. I soak it up and soak it in.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
I'm gonna I'm not gonna pretend like I pay that
much attention, especially at this point of the season, because.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
But like Chicago, will enjoy the moments that you do
pay attention.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Chicago, enjoy this while you can, because it's not gonna last.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
We love it all right, guys, We are broadcasting live
from the tire dot Com studios. Tyrec dot com will
help you get there an unmatched selection, fast free shipping,
free road hazard protection, and over ten thousand recommended installers.
Tirec dot com the way tire buying should be.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
And be sure to check out the Fox Sports Radio
YouTube channel. There's a ton of great videos from our
many Fox Sports Radio shows on there. Just search Fox
Sports Radio on YouTube. You'll see a whole bunch of
video highlights. Be sure to subscribes. You always have instant
access to our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Go search it, Go search it. Then you can see
that we're both rock in Leopard Today. We've got a
great show for you guys.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Though.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
We got NFL Networks at thea freelan joining us to
talk some football at the bottom of the hour. She
was just in Kenya, got bit by a camel.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
I saw that I'm very interested to see what happened there.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Oh yeah, she sent me the video this morning. You guys,
this thing is hilarious.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Then we have Fox at Chicago sports anchor Cassie Carlson
an hour two. We have executive producer ian technical producer
Chris Martin wise with us at the news desk. But
let's start in the NFL, because the quarterback dominoes have
all basically fallen. I mean, and then there was one
where we're all still on the Aaron Rodgers watch, but

(04:25):
the Giants and Russell Wilson reached an agreement a one
year ten point five million guaranteed up to twenty one
million in incentives, and Carmie, did you see it? He
already has his new tagline.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
I mean, at this point, you have to keep you
have to keep the bid up, you have to keep
the bit up, Big Blue. You have to keep the
big Blue.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
And Denver's like, let's rod did he have one in Pittsburgh.
He didn't.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
He adopted the Pittsburgh which is here we go. Okay,
so he didn't have that.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
He didn't come up with his own. Okay, go big Blue.
I just sorry I cried a little bit in laughter,
but Giants went out and got two guys. You know,
they said that they'll have the best guy, will Win
Russell Wilson, Jamis Jameis Winston. They still have Tommy DeVito
as their third string.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
I'm excited for this quarterback room, but like.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Right, so many different personalities, but they could still like
none of these guys feel like the future for the Giants.
They could still get someone in the draft. They have
the third overall pick.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Yeah, so what do you say?

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Good question? What do you what do you do? Because
both rus and Jamis are not long term?

Speaker 3 (05:31):
No, there are solutions. They're actually recreating what just happened
in Pittsburgh and we all saw how that played out.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
So I don't really know how change now. They don't
have anybody.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
I don't I don't understand what the Giants in a
year that Joe Shane and Brian Dabole. Their jobs are
on the line, Their jobs are on the line, Their
seats are the hottest they could possibly be. And granted
this was not the year to need a quarterback and
Giants at the third overall pick, it's too rich for
Shitar Sanders. You're not gonna get cam Ward because I
think especially after that pro day and as much as

(06:00):
the Titans.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
There probably could Tans and Browns.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Well, yeah, those are the only two that he took
because those are the only two that could possibly take
him at this point. And it would take some effort
from the Browns because I think that the Titans they're
going to go for him. Well that remains to be seen.
But either way, Yeah, the interest in him is real,
regardless from the Tennessee Titans. So like you as the
New York Giants, yeah, you don't have a whole lot

(06:25):
of options here.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Could you imagine though, adding should or Sanders to the
quarterback room.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
I mean you'd have to trade back for it, because third,
the third overall pick is way too rich for that.
That's reaching. And I know quarterbacks, you know they rise,
but I know at this point, because you added both
Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson, I don't expect them to
make any other moves as far as first round moves
for a quarterback to add to that room.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Which is crazy though, because you're you don't want to
expect to have this high of a draft pick again, right,
and you need a quarterback of the future if they have.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
This high well, if they have this high of a
draft pick, Honestly, Joe Shane would be doing the next
GM of favor because he's not going to be there anymore,
but he's going to be giving that and then you
can get your guys on the same This is this
is what happened with the Bears for so many years
and still is happening, where the timelines don't add up,
the guys that drafted the quarterback aren't there anymore, yadda,

(07:17):
YadA YadA. You're I don't know what the Giants are doing,
but I don't really know what their options were. And
I do think that the Giants defense, and again, this
was the whole model in Pittsburgh was Hey, we have
a defense that can win us games. We have a
defense that can get us to the postseason. We just
need a quarterback to keep us afloat. And it's still
I mean, and that's what happened with the Steelers. And
to be fair, a playoff birth period for the Giants

(07:41):
would be a vast improvement.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
It would be and you can do.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
That if you have Russell Wilson steering the ship a
little bit, but you know, you can get production out
of Jameis Winston. You just it comes with the whole
lot of risk.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
It does, and the consistency is kind of what you're
looking for there.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
But and there's not when you have two guys that
are potentially the starter, like I get one in competition
in camp, but hopefully like that's what the Steelers wanted,
but that didn't work out because Russ Gott injured and
then Justin Fields took over. And then it didn't really
work out with Justin because he couldn't give you much
to win new games. I but also like, and then
you had to bench Justin Fields for Russell Wilson. That

(08:19):
puts pressure on Russell Wilson. I've been through quarterback battles
and my Bruce arians said it to me best one
time when he was just like, if you have two quarterbacks,
you have none. And that's how I approach all of these.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
It's hard because we keep seeing the same kind of
trend over and over again with Russell Wilson with each
of the new teams he's gone to. Because Monc goes.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
He's a super Bowl winning quarterback. That's a pedigree that
you cannot ignore.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
But no one's really buying the stick anymore. No one's
really buying the act.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
And it says who he got another chance?

Speaker 2 (08:49):
He has another chance, and the other team he's went
after one year, but obviously besides the Seahawks because that
was like his home base, like and been like, Nope,
we don't want to deal with this anymore. Nope, we
don't want to keep them. Nope, we're not going to
try to do this. So it's Kennedy because he has
that super Bowl winning I'm saying attached to his name,
which is interesting. But again, like the Giants, can they

(09:09):
be successful with this quarterback? Plug and play like they
have Molik neighbors because Wandall Robinson. They need it, They
need a running back. It's impossible to fill the shoes
a Saquon Barkley, I mean Tyrone Tracy did his best
as a rookie last year. But they can Russ make
them immediately better?

Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yes he can, because this isn't a this isn't a
quarterback led teams, This isn't an offense live but.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
It's also a tough division. You got Eagles, Commander's Giants Cowboys, Like,
do you think he's better than dak to put them
in that fourth place? So they're still bottom of the
NFC East.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah, Well, if that's what you're measuring success on, Noah,
like they haven't improved. They can improve their record, they
can improve flirting with much that it's a low bar
to clear. But that's the thing is like, that's the
big question in he or that's the big question for
the Maras is what does success look like when right
now you are probably still the fourth best team in

(10:06):
your in your division, and you have a head coach
and a GM on the hot seat. What is the
threshold for them keeping.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Their jobs and grant quarterbacks in your That's the.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
Question about Russell Wilson is is can he do enough
to keep those guys jobs? And that's what they're banking on.
I don't. I think it was probably the best possible
option that they could have had.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
They're gonna be better than a three win team, That's
what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah, but that's how much better?

Speaker 2 (10:31):
The bar's here? And that's Liker.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
So maybe maybe in Joe Shane and Brian Dable saw
all the writings on the wall regardless, and they're just
trying to get through this season and this is this
was this was the best option available to them.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
It was because now that leaves one quarterback and one
team left. Aaron Rodgers. What we know he met with
the Steelers last Friday, six hour meeting. No deal was made,
nothing new to really repport. We yeah, I guess the
We had a Steelers beat reporterbrook prior on last weekend,

(11:05):
who was camped outside of the facility for the Yeah. Yeah,
but again nothing official, nothing to report. So the question
is like, now is we know his options are limited
team wise? So is he thinking of retirement? But then
there was like a very interesting the Vikings might be

(11:28):
keeping the door open. There was kind of this like
cryptic bite from Vikings GM on Wednesday. Let's listen to that.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
For me to sit here and say that, you know,
anything's one hundred percent forever, that's just not the job, right.
We're responding to scenarios in different information as it comes,
so you know, obviously things can change, but right now,
we're really happy with our room and we're going to
look to upgrade it in different ways. But from now
we're really excited.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
So it's they're still not saying that there's not a
possibility that they're.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Were never saying that there wasn't a possibility. They were saying,
we're not making a decision right now.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
And we're around camp, that you're still a possibility.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
That is a decision in and of itself to wait,
because then you think, all right, there's a potential that
he could go somewhere else if Aaron. The irony of
all of this is that Aaron Rodgers wants to do
things on his own terms. But him doing things on
his own terms inherently gets rid of options. Yes, because
he wants to take his time and he wants to
do and teams are no longer willing to let him

(12:30):
do that. Whereas when he was going to the Jets
from the packers and there was the will they won't
they like trade him, will they whatever? He was forcing
his way out to a situation he wanted to go to.
He was dictating things and the Jets were waiting in
the wings and they were playing ball with him and
all of that kind of stuff. Teams have now, like
the Jets said, we're not doing that, We're going to

(12:50):
release him. They released him at great cost, by the way,
in the dead money that they are now incurring, and
now he is taking his time. I'm in quote unquote
free agency. However, now all the rest of the teams
are like, we're not playing this game with you, Aerin.
We need to figure ourselves out right now. And so
now it's between essentially, it's between the Steelers and it's

(13:12):
between retirement, and that is the options that Aaron Rodgers
has left for himself. Yeah, I and even there's there's
people on the Steelers. There's players on the Steelers where
they're like, we're not gonna grobble and beg for you
to come here. Cam Hayward is on a podcast saying, yeah,
I'm not going in a darkness trade. If you either
want to come here or you don't. And if you do,
I'll be I'll be your teammate, I'll be happy that

(13:33):
you're here, but I'm not gonna play this game with you.
These teams are no longer willing to play the Aaron
Rodgers game, and good for them.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, they're not gonna roll out the red carpet. That's
that's not what he's getting anymore.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
He's in the player. He currently is forty one years old,
coming off an achilles injury, which is literally the worst
injury you can have as an NFL quarterback that does
not bode well. Like you, you don't know if he's
ever gonna be to be the same player again. Part
of Aaron Rodgers' game is how mobile he is and
the escape artist that he is and the way that

(14:06):
he sees the field and he can manipulate the field
with using his legs. He was one of the first
guys that showed us the capabilities of mobile quarterbacks and
not a running quarterback. There's a difference. Yeah, but now
you've lost that mobility because of your injury. Yeah, and
you haven't put anything like last year was an absolute
disaster for the Jets. His last year in Green Bay

(14:27):
that he played wasn't great.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
Great.

Speaker 3 (14:29):
He was working through injury there too, but that injuries
are just going to keep happening at forty one years.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Old age plus, Like, is your heart and mind still
as hungry in it as it was your last MVP season?
And I don't know, to be fair.

Speaker 3 (14:46):
The Steelers is probably the best possible situation to go
to with again the defense that they have, Yeah, you
conceivably have weapons. Yes, I think there's still some work
to be done and you need to see George Pickens
and yeah, and DK Metcalfs are going.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
To be it's going to be helped.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
That's a lot to handle for anybody. Yeah, so it
is a good situation as far as what's on paper,
the roster that's there, the capability that you have in
a head coach that is going to the Hall of
Fame when he's done coaching. I just don't know. You're
not going to get any better than this if you're

(15:26):
Aaron Rodgers. So the fact that you're still taking your time,
I wouldn't blame the Steelers to you know, for being
annoyed with it. But at the same time, they don't
have any other options. No, they are not going to
pick high enough to even have a shot at any
of the top two, either of the top two quarterbacks.
Now there are now no longer any free agent quarterback

(15:49):
like quarterbacks left, unless, like you're talking getting creative by
trading for Kirk Cousins. I don't think Atlanta would. I
don't know. There's there's a whole lot of going on
with Kirk Cousins right now too.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, I know, fun quarterback plot to a spotted in Cleveland,
but like and he responded with salad with double chicken.
Never fails me like.

Speaker 3 (16:09):
No, His agent Mike McCartney. His agent Mike McCartney tweeted
it out. It was tweeted out, was like, I didn't
know a visit to what Chipotle could cause so much
of a ruckus. Yeah or whatever it is.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
That my same order Kirk, so like im SAME's.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
That that whole thing, That whole situation is interesting to
me because I don't know at this stage of the game. Yeah,
what Atlanta has to gain by trading him away unless
they do get a premium draft pick for him. I
don't know that he's worth that. But if they can
get that, that's the only situation I can see parting
with Kirk Cousins is if it's for a two or three,

(16:48):
which I don't know that he's worth. Because Atlanta has
given him one hundred million dollars guaranteed insane, you now
have to eat that dead money. Yes, so you might
as well keep him on your roster in case things
don't go as well as you want them to. With
Michael Pennix Junior, you backed yourself into a corner if
you're Atlanta, because you should never take it. Had both
of those quarterbacks on the roster at the same time.

(17:08):
But Cleveland is getting pretty desperate too, because their quarterback
situation is far from.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
I mean their number two in the draft. They won't
have mister Badman to start the season. Say.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
Interesting part of what happened in Cleveland this offseason was
they signed Miles Garrett to this crazy deal briefly make
him the highest paid non quarterback in the league. Before
Jamar Chase it took over, but Miles Garrett and this
was tweeted out by the Cleveland Browns themselves. Yes, he
did an interview with Andrew Siliano and was like, and

(17:39):
Andrew Silliana was like, well, what made you change your
mind about wanting to stay? Did they tell you their
quarterback plans? And he goes, yeah, I know what they are,
and he was excited about it. Yeah, And I was like,
what are you excited about? Because if it's Kirk Cousins,
I guess you could be. I mean, it's it's an
upgrade over to Shaun Watson. It's an upgrade over like

(18:00):
any other like free agent options right now. Yeah, but
I don't know that that's something to be excited about
or to sign away a couple of years of our life.
Now the forty million dollars price tagens enough.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
It's the money money again. You choose do you want
the ring or do you want the money. But it
is no shame either way you go.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
It is very interesting to me to see how this
is all kind of the dominoes have fallen. Yeah, and
people are I like that, teams are no longer willing
to pay it play Aaron.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
And I I think it's smart too. Alex Curry, Carmon
Vitali here, We're going to take a quick break. When
we come back. Baseball is back. That's next on Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 5 (18:37):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
Welcome back to Fox Sports Saturday. I'm Alex Curry here
with Carmen Vitali. We are broadcasting live for the Tiro
dot com studios in Los Angeles. Thank you for spending
your Saturday afternoon with us Tractor Supply.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
I knows that our winning season takes practice, teamwork, and
a can do attitude. Thankfully, when you have a neighbor
like Tractor Supply, teamwork comes easy. Whether you're caring for
pet's chickens or a few acres. Our team members will
help you succeed season after season. Tractor Supply for 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 their
picks and who the top break listeners are. The listener

(19:20):
with the best bracket at Fox Sportsready dot com will
win a twenty five hundred dollars give four two Tractors
Supply do.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
It Okay, Happy Opening Week to all who celebrate you guys.
It's this season's already off to a bang. We're watching
the Yankees just wrapped up their game and absolutely dominating
performance twenty to nine wins. Insane by the raining over
the Birds. H Judge.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
I put it in my story before when it was
twenty to six. I like pe of my stories, like
I thoughtotball season was over. It's a football score. Twenty
to nine is a football score. It is a football score.
It's insane the defending champs to open their season like
with the bang. Obviously in Tokyo against the Cubs. We
talked about that while that was happening. That was such
a cool rot experience.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Then that had Opening Day at home this week, raised
their championship banner. On Thursday, ice Cube drove out the
World Series trophy on the field. They got their World
Series rings yesterday, and their Big three all have showed
up in these first two games. We got home runs
from Otani, from Freddie Freeman going off his former teammate

(20:28):
Jack Flaherty yesterday, and then Mookie Betts, like just a reminder,
this man was so sick the last few weeks. He
lost almost twenty five pounds. He had to come home
from Japan early, couldn't keep food down for weeks, but
did not miss a beat once he got back last night,
two home run game, including the walk off three run homer.

(20:49):
In extras, like it was just he talked about it.
He's like, yeah, I didn't lose strength, thankfully, but twenty
five pounds.

Speaker 6 (20:56):
For a little guys a lot of weight to lose,
that is, especially when you probably don't have a lot
of fat anyway, no your cookies, Like yeah, exactly, and
as a professional athlete, you don't have your body pat
percentage is not a lot, so like when you're losing
weight you're losing muscle.

Speaker 3 (21:10):
Uh so to not lose strength is a lot. But
between that and then the Yankees just you know, yeah,
doing what they did to the Brewers. You're telling me
the teams with the two highest payrolls are doing well,
that's weird.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Speaker 3 (21:24):
It's totally so. I'm on board with that.

Speaker 2 (21:26):
In baseball, I've gotten so much heat for that this week, like, oh,
who do you think like favorites. I'm like, it's gonna
be the same teams right now, Like they there's a
formula to win in baseball. Because I'm gonna be very
can I'm gonna be very because you can go out
and pay people.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
I'm gonna be very interested with what they did this offseason.
I'm gonna be very dog your seat now. I'm gonna
be very interested to see how the Boston Red Sox
challenge the Yankees. Okay, I think that there's going there's
that's my like. I think that they end up in
the World Series this year. Okay, I think that's very needs.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
That's another storied franchise that needs to be great again.
It's just these leagues are better when the storied franchises
are doing great, and that's another one that.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Baseball is trying everything they can to to like remain relevant.
I love, I mean the game has changed, I think
for the better with the pitch clock and all that
kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Game change though, that's way possible.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
MLB needs to do itself more favors by having MLB
TV work on opening.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
They just also need to make the games accessible. Like
that's something that I could not be hard or.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
As much as you are trying to get interest and
garner interest in this easy, it's not easy because there's
so many games that's so inflated. It's it's it's a sport.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
They don't buy era in a lot of ways.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
Uh, for you to not have your technology working so
that your fans can't actually watch the games. Although despite that,
the Brewers Yankees through the largest national opening Day audience
in seven years and they're on their opening day national wise.
And then I mentioned it before, but my Cubs and
my White Sox both won. I can't I can't claim both.
I'm I'm a White Sox fan, but like I'm all

(23:00):
so rush.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
My hot takes brushed my angels.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
My hot take is that I'm never going to be
bad at a team for bringing a championship to Chicago,
So I was happy when it comes one too.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 3 (23:10):
And then the Bulls had an insane game on that
same day.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, we're gonna We're gonna get to that a little
later in the show. But now let's let's check out
Martin Wise. What's trying to buddy.

Speaker 7 (23:22):
That Yankee scores was trying to a beach of Brewers
earlier twenty to nine.

Speaker 8 (23:26):
That's funny.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
The memes, the memes are taking over.

Speaker 7 (23:29):
They got nine runs, the Brewers did. Yankee scored nine
on home runs.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
Damn.

Speaker 8 (23:34):
I mean, yeah, it was Yankees had five hours.

Speaker 3 (23:37):
I didn't realize that. I didn't realize that Aaron Judge
went back to back to back, like on the first
pitch of every app bat. Yeah, like back to back
to back.

Speaker 7 (23:44):
That in the first day, former Yankee Mester quartet, and
it was all off.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
Their former teammate, which makes it even better.

Speaker 7 (23:51):
So you had to it was a little bit of
you tip something in practice, you know, Yeah, you know. Yeah,
Aaron Judge did have three home runs himself nine as
a team for New York. The Angels beat the White
Sox one to nothing. Games in progress right now.

Speaker 8 (24:07):
We got a few.

Speaker 7 (24:07):
Bottom of the eighth inning, the Cardinals lead the Twins
four to one. Bottom of the fifth, the Orioles doubling
up the Blue Jays eight to four. Bottom of the second,
scoreless between the Phillies and the Nationals. Bottom of the second,
same story, Rockies and Rays scoreless. There, Pirates lead the
Marlins one to nothing in the bottom of the first
and top of the second.

Speaker 8 (24:25):
Giants with the one nothing lead over the Reds.

Speaker 7 (24:27):
Scoreless in the al central between the Guardians and the Royals.
Top of the second inning. There and the women's March
Madness Tournament Sweet sixteen for one seed Texas and five
seed Tennessee Longhorns with a thirty four to thirty lead
over the Volunteers. Earlier today we saw TCU, the two seed,
advanced to the Elite eight, beating Notre Dames seventy one

(24:49):
to sixty two Hailey van Lyth with twenty six points
nine rebounds.

Speaker 8 (24:53):
See dad, Assis, what did you say?

Speaker 3 (24:54):
See her dad come down in the in the stands.
I don't know who who the player's dad was that
he went up to. He like slaps some guy and
he was like, let's go, and they like chest bumps.
It was all about like hailing, like a hitting the shot.

Speaker 7 (25:05):
I was like, this is I was wondering, where slaps
some guy?

Speaker 2 (25:09):
There's a south Park episode about this.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
No, he like slaps him on the arm and then
he turns around realizes the tailor vand lift out they
knew each other and then they like chess pumped and
they were like so pumped about it. It was so
cute and an.

Speaker 7 (25:20):
NFL news the bills and cornerback Christian Benford four year,
seventy six million dollar contract extension.

Speaker 3 (25:26):
Nice back to you guys.

Speaker 2 (25:27):
Thank you Martin. You're listening to Fox Sports Saturday. I'm
Alex Curry here with Carmen Vitali. We were broadcasting live
from the tyreq dot coms you News in Los Angeles
and it is time for our first guest. She is
the smartest sports mind on TVM, maybe a little biased.
NFL Networks analytics expert a Bessie of the show and
she just got bit by a camel and Kenya Cynthy

(25:48):
things enjoyed in the show. I'm still like crying laughing.
She sent me the video this morning of the actual
it got caught on film. You guys of a camel
biting Cynthia's arm. You're such a chance, such a champion.

Speaker 9 (26:01):
I mean, I'm never going to have you know, those
like stupid icebreakers he has to do when you like
get new jobs or like go to something like that.
It's like, find a fun fact. I've got it down now.
I never think of a fun fact again. You know,
it's great, so it serves two purposes.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
It's funny. I feel like you have a lot of
fun facts already, Cynthia, because of the way that you
cover the league in general. But now it's so good.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Okay, let's talk some quarterback free agency here, because last
week Rogers visited the Steelers but left without a deal.
He seems to be taking his time here on where
he's going to go or if he's going to play
next season. What is your gut feeling on Rogers. Does
it end up in Pittsburgh or do you think maybe

(26:41):
he retires he ends.

Speaker 9 (26:43):
Up playing now, do I think it's Pittsburgh. I think
there's maybe better chance than most. But Aaron Rodgers wasn't
particularly interested in any of the offseason activities when he
was signed with the team. I mean, who's in Egypt,
I believe last year during much of training camp. So
I don't I'm not taking him not signing a deal
yet as any sort of like retirement news. I think

(27:07):
he's probably weighing his options of dealers versus what happens
in the GIRAFT is not regarded as a very highly
you know, talented quarterback dirafte or a line class for
that matter, So I think he's kind of taking his
time because you know, he he will likely have a
different sort of demand. I mean, he does never need
to play again if he doesn't want to write like

(27:28):
money like he's he's been an MVP as as you
were boring, like you've got all the things that you
know a lot of people would be potentially looking for.
So I just think he doesn't want to do anything
off season related.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
If we're sticking to the quarterback situation, we were also
talking briefly about Kirk Cousins showing up in Cleveland at
its polet. But I'm kind of the milition say that
it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Atlanta
to move him unless it's for of a premium pick,
because you already have all of this money tied up
that's guaranteed to Kirk Cousins right now, you might as

(28:01):
well keep him on the roster. What do you think
would be the where like, what pick would you need
to make that decision to move him? When does it
make sense for the Atlanta Falcons or how does it
make sense for the Atlanta Falcons to do that? Or
does it I don't.

Speaker 9 (28:17):
Think it does. I'm kind of with you. I mean,
the reality is is I just don't know if there's
a I mean, Cleveland it too, I guess, but I
don't think they're gonna give I don't think they would
give Atlanta that. I don't think anyone believes Kirk Cousins
is solely healthy after the Achilles. I don't think anyone
thinks he's mobile in the way that you'd need to
justify a pick like that. But on the other hand,
maybe the Falcons are thinking about sunk costs and saying,

(28:41):
you know, we're not gonna we don't we want to
free up something on our fifty three. But I don't know.
I think a lot of it is that Kirk Cousins
one is very interesting because he is a good locker
room guy, and Cleveland does probably want to focus on
bringing in kind of good locker room guys to help
you with a to help with a rookie. But I
don't I don't know if it'd be worth you know

(29:01):
that it would have to be some some very I
just don't know if it'd be worth it for Atlanta
or how they're viewing them.

Speaker 2 (29:08):
Okay, let's move to the Vikings in their quarterback situation,
because a few weeks ago they reportedly moved on from
the possibility of signing Rogers, but then their GM seemed
to kind of keep the door open with like a
cryptic comment this week, do you think there's still a
chance at JJ isn't the starter and they bring in
someone else, a veteran presence, maybe even still of Rogers

(29:30):
to Minnesota.

Speaker 9 (29:32):
I don't think that the Vikings roster is in any
way set. I don't think their quarterback room is in
any way set. I think some of the I don't
know if they you know, when when you're asking Kevin
O'Connell things during free agency, a lot of their goal
is to they don't owe us to tell us the truth,
right like they can say we're not interested in Rogers
but that doesn't mean really anything. So I would say

(29:56):
they're not interested. They can say like, as of you
know today, Mark twenty ninth or whatever, we're not interested
in Aaron Rodgers. Sure, but that's that's because you have
a meeting with him in two weeks, right, So you're
not lying, but you're not necessarily giving the disclosures that
fans would like to know. But I just think he
it's a must if he does go there, he has

(30:16):
to change his number to four and.

Speaker 3 (30:18):
Make football the bar circle. Yeah, circle of life complete. Yeah,
all right. I want to move on to a group
that's part that's near and dear to both of our hearts,
the offensive line, because you mentioned it already. I feel
like a lot of people are loop like lumping the
trenches in together in this draft, say, oh, it's a
good trench class. It's a really good defensive line class.

(30:39):
What I'm hearing around the league. And I just wrote
a story about this too, where it's not exactly the
best offensive line class. And I feel like that was
reflected in free agency when you saw the inflated kind
of value of interior offensive line in particular, where you
have teams giving up draft picks and then signing guys
to big time deals, or planning to sign guys to
big time deals, all that kind of stuff. So where

(31:00):
do you see this positional value going. Do you see
it kind of still on an upward trajectory for interior
offensive line or do you think it was more because
it was just indicative of this class. It's not as
good of a class as people think it is. Maybe
it'll kind of reset itself. Or do you kind of
expect these contracts to keep going up?

Speaker 9 (31:16):
I mean until we see I think the unfortunate you
got to go back to me one step further and say,
the unfortunate kind of unintended consequence of being allowed to
have the transfer portal function in the way that we do,
is that we have a lot of uncertainty around these
O lines. They look worse than ever. They are playing
with different quarterbacks often like each year, which not only

(31:37):
makes it hard. You know, there's some people like, oh,
we can see what the quarterbacks like in a bunch
of different systems now, and I'm kind of like, I
don't know how much of the playbook can you really
learn an eight or nine games?

Speaker 3 (31:46):
Yep?

Speaker 9 (31:46):
And the answer is is I just don't think you
can learn a lot. So I find a pulling guard.
Oh wait, you know, like there's just none right, So,
and it doesn't mean that they can't. It just means
that it's a much bigger estimation than it has been
in the past because these guys aren't getting kind of
circumstances to grow, like we need to be able to see. Like,
you know, there's a gout of LSU that's largely considered

(32:07):
the best tackle in this class, and his arms are
two inches shorter than any all pro in the past
like twenty years. So and I understand that, you know,
maybe some people are like oh arms were, but he'd
be better suited as a guard. And there's a there's
a couple of guys here that would be good interior
offensive line picks if you have the right tackles next
to them or the right center next to them. But

(32:29):
I don't but this class, and I've studied a lot
of old lines like that's I'm going to master's agree,
And I spend way too much time and money on this,
and I just don't. This is especially if you're really
in need of like a really tough tackle, You're you're
going to really have to. You're going to have to
have a good eye and a great trainer and someone
who can really be a great teacher of the game

(32:49):
to them because they're both classes. They're so raw. They're
just all clay, lumps of.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Clay, lumps of clay. Now, there's been a lot of
way I love that great.

Speaker 3 (32:59):
You are big.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
Giant.

Speaker 9 (33:02):
Marge loves the play none the left. There's a lot
of play.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
Okay, so day before we ate, you know, there's been
a lot of free agency moves. Which one do you
think will have the biggest impact next season?

Speaker 9 (33:14):
Oh, one hundred percent the quarterback in Las Vegas. I
think that. You know, it's so interesting to me. It
says so much about Gino and about what the state
of Pete Carroll creating. So I'm Pete Carroll. I take
over a place that has seen a turnstyle of coaches,
and what's the first move I make. I don't get

(33:35):
the guy that I won a Super Bowl with. I
get the guy we brought in later, I get the
guy who was You know that that says a whole
lot if you ask me, And I think that a
lot of the ways that they're kind of addressing issues
where I think it's very smart. Is a great strategy
to be able to double down on positional value. So
now they've given themselves the option to be able to

(33:57):
draft a quarterbacktion one fall and arrange they like not
first round, but you know later on, and then you
have like you know, you already have a great past
catching situation for a team that's picking this high, meaning
it's not necessarily a wide receivers. But rock Bowers was
really obviously breaking Mike Dikta's record being the rookie pass leader,

(34:17):
breaking Pukunukua's records, Like, you know, you have something really
special there. So that helps you can start building around
a position and a player like that. And also personality wise,
brock Powers, he's pretty quiet with the media, but he's
a great team player. I've heard zero things about him
that would be of any concern. So you've got Max
Crosby anchoring the defense, You've got Brock Powers anchoring the offense.
You're in a really good spot, especially with a veteran

(34:39):
like Gino who's dealt with an O line that's allowed
him to get you know, last year that's the Seattle
O line was not good.

Speaker 5 (34:44):
So that's that'll be that.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
Oh yeah, they do. But I love your enthusiasm and
your hopefulness for Vegas. Cynthia. We love you. Thank you
so much for coming on the show.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
Love you guys.

Speaker 9 (34:57):
Don't get it up by any camels on the way home.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
Thanks.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Then, all right, guys, then we come back the dues
and the don'ts in sports. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Welcome back to Fox Sports Saturday of Alex Curry here
the Carmen Battalion. We are broadcasting live from the tire
dot Com Studios in Los Angeles. Thank you for spending
your Saturday afternoon with us.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
But it is Saturday afternoon or what? Thanks to you
Saturday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Ch oh, got it? Got it now? We love Okay,
it's time for the dues and don'ts and sports Highlight.

Speaker 8 (35:33):
I love that.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
And putting a spotlight on the don't the subject brings
me no joy.

Speaker 3 (35:38):
That's insane.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
Next time for the dues and the dots in sports.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Okay, I got to do here and this one was like,
like you know, I wanted to give like a high
five chest bomb, like tell yeah, do support your peers
now heartbreaking news this week, Juju Walkins tore her ACI.
But after that happened, Yukon star Paige Becker's reached out
to Juju, let her know that she was there if

(36:06):
she needed anything. Page came back from two very serious
knee injuries stronger than ever, she said. We exchanged numbers now,
so we are locked in and whatever she needs mentally, physically,
needs to vent, needs to ask questions. It's a long
process and you learn a lot about yourself. But that's
a real leader right there. Like these are two of
the greatest names right now in women's college basketball page.

(36:30):
Obviously head to the w next year, but it's like
to have that kind of support, especially like acl like
Juju's probably missing all of next season. She'll probably come
back her senior year, but it's a mental game. It's
a mental comeback game, and to have that kind of
support from another grade who's been through something like that
in your sport is huge.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
Yeah, I'm just so sad because like if ankle injury happened,
and then that happened, you're like, those things are connected,
they're very connected, a right, it just happens.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
It's just hilarious, Okay.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
Don't stop linivating, no innovating, don't stop innovating the Yankees.
So we just saw the Yankees put a hurting on
the bruise. Right nine, I believe was the final score.
Home runs, dinger after dinger after dinger. Apparently. Yeah, the
Yankees created new bats by moving a lot of the
wood into the label. So the hardest part of the

(37:25):
bat strikes the ball. What Lucy Birge, who is hysterical
on social media, I love her. She quotes me and said,
this sounds like a George Costanza idea, except that it worked.
Oh and it does. It sounds like this is George
Stanza and the Yankees front office going like what if?

Speaker 1 (37:41):
What if?

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Here we are but it worked, dude, that's crazy, hilarious.
That a crazy.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
It's not technically illegal, I'm assuming, so no, I.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
Mean, don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness, like, just
kind of just do it and see how it works.

Speaker 3 (38:00):
It's out. All the other teams are gonna try.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
And I'll try to good or I'll be able to
try to testball.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
Man, Damn, don't stop in it. It's an old sport,
but hey, can't. It doesn't mean you can't teach a
new dog, ear old dog, new tricks.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
No love that also like we want to see dingers
like fingers all day.

Speaker 3 (38:18):
That's and we can't advocate for said anymore dangers.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
Please okay, do take time for your fans. One of
Steph Curry's biggest fans is an eighty six year old grandmother.
They just did a whole feature on it recently. She
plans her daily schedules around his games, like the cutest
little old lady like takes notes during his game, and
she said she ended up finding Steph Curk. She was

(38:44):
just browsing the TV one day and saw one of
his pressers where his two year old daughter was sitting
on his lack yeah, and was like, huh, who is that?
She'd never watched like basketball games before, said she felt
like an immediate addict, like after watching the first game, like, well,
he's also very fun to watch exactly god addicted, never
misses his game. She finally got to meet him in

(39:06):
real life, and she shared one of her notes from
her kids, like she's I think she's a grandmother of
like seven grand kids, but everyone says she has eight
because Steph Curry is one of them. And it said,
think if the kids told her thank you for teaching
us to love God each other and Steph Curry and
it's just it's the cutest.

Speaker 9 (39:25):
Thing that is. All right.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
I have another baseball related Uh do lean in because
the Bajor League Baseball for the debacle with MLB dot TV. Yes,
they themselves have put out some fire hype videos. So
one prior to opening day was set Kendrick's TV off. Yeah,
it was phenomenal. I watched it like five times, so good.
And their latest promo is the Japanese anime cartoon of

(39:47):
their biggest stars. Dude, and I'm like, yes, this is
exactly what you should be doing. Connect with your audience,
connect with the younger audience. Make baseball cool. They are.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
You're doing a really good job. I fortnite they had
like four players and monbody in that.

Speaker 3 (40:02):
Market at the league office.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Summer changed, smart body change, Keep it going, keep going,
keep it going. All right, We're gonna take a break
here when we come back. March madness is heating up.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
Elit eight.

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

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Door listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
Welcome to hour two of Fox Sports Saturday. I'm Alex
Curry here with Carmen Vitally. Thank you for spending your
Saturday afternoon with us. Happy Opening Week, Happy March madness.
The Men's Elite eight are set. How's your How's your bracket?
We'll get to that in just a second. Women's Sweet
sixteen action underway. At We just talked about this heartbreaking

(40:45):
week for Juju, but we'll get into that also in
just a bit. We talked about all the quarterback free
agency moves. Last hour. We had Cynthia Friedland from NFL
Network on given all of her insights, so we missed
any of that. Who to catch it, Carmen, I'll tell
you in a second. We are broadcasting live from the
tar dot com studios Tirek dot com. We'll help you
get there an unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free road

(41:07):
houserd protection, and over ten thousand recommended installers tyrek dot com.
The way tied buying should.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
Be Yeah, And you can stream the show and all
our Fox Sports Radio shows live twenty four to seven
and the new and improved iHeartRadio app, which does work
unlike IMLBTV.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
Search dots today just search Fox Sports.

Speaker 3 (41:23):
Radio and I'm sorry, I'm so mad at that that's
so annoying.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
I'm like, we don't partnerships with them, right, We're not
gonna get any Okay, cool cool coo coo cool.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
I'll also get your weight up then. Sorry. Just search
Fox Sports Radio in the app and stream us live.
And one of the newest features in the app is
that you can actually select Fox Sports Radio as one
of your presets, just like the presets on an old
school radio dial. So be sure to preset Fox Sports
Radio and the iHeartRadio app and it will always pop
up at the top of your.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
Screen preset, And then you can listen to us. If
you missed that first hour all the stuff we talked about,
the corridorback Free Agency, you can listen to the podcast
as soon as the show's over. It will be up
wherever you get your podcasts. But let's get to the madness,
you guys, March madness. Last night we got some great games,

(42:06):
like Higher Seeds it's the theme last two days. Higher
Seeds one All one on Thursday, Duke Florida, Alabama, Texas
Tech Higher Seeds All One yesterday too, Michigan State, Tennessee,
Auburn and Houston Michigan State. That was a close battle
down to the final seconds. Michigan State think was down
as much as like ten, but then pulled away late

(42:28):
in the game. But I think the game of the
night that buzzer beater Perdue and Houston number one, Like
Houston almost blew a ten point lead and they would
have been the first one seed out of the tournament,
but they were tied with two point eight seconds left
in the game. Houston had the ball an incredible inbound

(42:51):
pass and bucket by using passed it Day and got
it right back for the easy layup to score. And
that was That was the game that kept my braw
get intact. How's how's your bracket doing?

Speaker 3 (43:05):
I actually can't see it right now. Why I don't know.
It's not letting me so I don't let me remember.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Let me see if I can.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
I although the biggest one for me, honestly was that
Auburn Michigan game a couple of nights ago, where Auburn
was like they were down I think almost twenty yeah
in the four, like in the in the late in
the second half, and like Michigan just kind of imploded
and Auburn comes roaring back, and that was that was Yeah,
that was good. I like that one too. I don't

(43:34):
mean I have Michigan State winning at all. So like
my I know that my final is still intact because
my final was Michigan State Duke Okay, so I know
that's still intact. I don't I can't see the rest
of it. I don't know why it's not showing up,
it's not popping up.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
I don't mean, I don't mean to brag, but my
Elite eight are completely intact, and that has me in
first place in the Fox Sports Bracket Challenge. I don't
think I've ever been first in any of these Bragget
challenges before. So I'm just, you know, I'm gonna let
it sink in for a moment and just just a
little humble brag, just feel good about it. I mean,

(44:09):
there's not there's not many girls like Carmie me uh, Moncey,
there's not There's not many of us in this Bragget Challenge.

Speaker 3 (44:16):
So just it's funny because like, for as much as
we were talking about how the women's tournament, there's not
a whole lot of mystery in the women's tournament. There's
not a whole lot of mystery here in the men's Tournament,
because every single one of the games that are being
played between today and tomorrow, h Houston, Tennessee that's a
one in a two seed, Florida, Texas Tech that's a
one and a three seed. You got Michigan State, Auburn

(44:36):
one in a two seed, Duke Alabama one in a
two seed. So like, yeah, the lowest seed you have
left right now is a three seed, and that's.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
Texas Tech, which is starting They starting in an hour.

Speaker 9 (44:46):
Here.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Let me let me open it up for you.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
Can Well, you can't see mine. That's the thing is,
you can't see it.

Speaker 2 (44:51):
You can yeah, So if you go to the leader board,
then you can click on.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
Oh all right, well that's not populating for me, right.

Speaker 2 (44:59):
If you go to the leader board, here we go, Carmen. Okay,
So your lead day you have Auburn, Michigan State, Duke Wisconsin,
and then you had Memphis, Texas Tech, and Houston, Illinois.

Speaker 3 (45:10):
I was saying, Memphis screwed me, Illinois screwed me, Yeah,
because I don't know. I have a soft spot for
Memphis because because I'm from Chicago and Derek Rose is
the best player we've had outside of Michael Jordan and
you know, all the nineties bulls. But I have such
a soft spot for Derek Rose. I actually got to
work the West Regional with Memphis in the tournament in college,

(45:33):
which was really freaking cool. I've worked two West Regionals
and so I got to see the Sweet sixteen, the
Elite eight great. It was so cool, and but I
just have this soft spot for Memphis because of Derek Rose,
and I put them in my final four. I was like, hey,
and then it didn't work out.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
But like, honestly, like when you're picking these brackets, like
you can do all the research, you can think you
know what's gonna happen, but like that's the madness of
the March. Madness is anything can happen. And I feel
like there are so many like connection picks. Y, oh
for sure.

Speaker 9 (46:02):
I have.

Speaker 2 (46:03):
I have a personal connection here. I have a personal
connection here. I want to root for this, so I'm
going to root for that.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
My fiancee actually does the opposite, which I love. No,
you know, he you know, he has a connection to
the team that like, and he picks against his own
team so that way, if his team loses to win, win,
it's a win win. If his team loses, he's like, great,
that's fine.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
That's a weird bit of torture.

Speaker 3 (46:24):
If his team wins, he's like great, I'm happy. And
I'm like, you know what, I don't know that I'm
that much of a mascist, but like we'll see.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Yeah, that's I'm The more you explain Dave to me,
the more you guys make sense. Oh sure, everything you
guys do. But today we got Texas Tech number three again,
number one Florida starting in about an hour. I need
Florida to win. Florida is seeking the first the program's
first Final four berth since twenty fourteen. But again, like

(46:54):
Texas Tech battled back from like a sixteen point deficit
to end up winning in overtime, so like there is fight.
There is fight in this team, like so that that's
gonna be a great one. That's the first one we
got coming up tonight. Next is number two Alabama against
number one Duke. That's at five point fifty pm PT today,
another matchup I had obviously meeting in the Elite eight.

(47:15):
Because I had all these teams meeting in the Elite eight,
I have Duke winning it all, so I need them
to advance. To the final four and Cooper Flag has
just been unbelievable. E scored thirty points and Duke's win
like it's it's great. But then again, Alabama set the
record for most three pointers in a March Madness game,
five Like that was insane, insane, absolutely insane.

Speaker 3 (47:39):
It's not it's usually it's not conceivable to see these
guys like these scores, No, like run up like they
did win that Bama game. I mean, I was just
what did that end up? The final score ended up
being one hundred and thirteen to eighty Yeah, wild, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
That's that's a lot for a college game. Tomorrow, we
got number two Tennessee Againstumber one Houston. I need Houston
to win here. But Tennessee dominated their third matchup with
Kentucky this season despite losing the two regular season games.
So that was a big that was a big come
up for them. And then Michigan State.

Speaker 3 (48:16):
Really does the team beach you three times?

Speaker 2 (48:18):
No, we saw that with USC and UCLA women's side
sc beat them both. I think it was like regular
season and then the final, the final Big Ten Championship game,
UCLA came through to get the number one overall seed
to come into the March Madness Tournament and then the
last game tomorrow Michigan State number two against number one Auburn.

(48:40):
I have Michigan State in the final. This was again,
this was a This was a connection pick. And I
want to be honest. One of our colleagues, Michael Bucklan
Buck is a huge Michigan State. I think he's a
family member that's on the coaching staff. Did okay, but
he still has someone connected on that team, and that's

(49:01):
just like his heart and soul.

Speaker 3 (49:03):
So for Buck, you know, my best friend in the
entire world went to Michigan State. I've been toton State
multiple times. It was one of the other colleges that
I frequented while I was in college. So that's my
connection to Michigan State. You had that, you have them
in the I'm winning at all.

Speaker 2 (49:18):
Yeah, Okay, I's gonna say we have the same final.
I just have Duke winning and you have Michigan.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
State, Michigan State winning at all.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
Okay, So there we go. Connection. Okay, But let's talk
about the women's side, who yesterday top seed UCLA taken
down Ole Miss to advance to the Elite eight for
the third time in school history, and it was a
good like turnaround for UCLA because they only led by

(49:43):
one at half, but like absolutely took off in the
third quarter. Kiki Rice went on an eight to ohero run.
Lauren Betts just absolutely dominated both bets, actually carrying LA
teams to victories yesterday. Love that and UCLA will now
face LSU Sunday tomorrow and noon that's going to be

(50:04):
a good one.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
Well that well, the men's side doesn't have a lot
of mystery, like the women's side still doesn't have a
lot of mystry. All four one seeds are still in it. Texas, UCLA,
USC and South Carolina. I can't wait for tomorrow because
UCLA g's number three lsue, what's going to be insane?
And then South Carolina gets number two Dukes. So we're
now faced with another situation where we were last year
or two years ago with Yukon where it's there. There's

(50:26):
still the potential that one school can win both the
men's and the women's tournaments because both the men and
women in Duke at Duke are in their are in
their respective tournaments. So Duke is in the women's tournament,
Duke is the number two seed and the men's tournament,
Duke is the number one seed. But yeah, so they
have the potential to sweep the NCAA tournament men's and women's.

(50:47):
That would be cool. But number one Texas and tennis
in number five Tennessee is happening right now. They're tied
fifty in the fourth quarter. Eight thirty left in the
fourth quarter. They're tied at fifty. So that'll be interesting.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
That is going to be interesting. But the heartbreaking news
of the week, you guys, in the women's tournament was
Juju Walkins tearing her ACL in her right knee. I mean,
it is not just a heartbreaking injury, but a loss
for USC and women's basketball because she is just such
a polarizing, captivating player. She's most likely missing all of

(51:22):
next season. Would come back her senior year to play
at USC, and she was the most impactful player for
I think for a team like US is not the
same without Juju. But I had a feeling like after
she got injured in Game one, she rolled her left
ankle badge, she heard her left wrist too, and she
went down and she didn't return to that game, and

(51:42):
she was limping because by a lot handshakes after looked
painful for her walking and then when she was talking
about it, like no, not a big deal, not going
to miss a game. That's when you get worried for
a player really injuring themselves because when you're already dealing
with one injury, you're body tries to overcompensate, favor aside

(52:03):
favor different parts of your body so you don't rehurt
that ankle, and she ends up tearing her right acl
and it's just worst case scenario, heart like heartbreaking, like
the sports world like mourning that whole situation.

Speaker 3 (52:21):
Like it's just yeah, I mean inside pagebackers. She She
texted her Don Staley, texting, yeah, are like I don't
think Juji Watkins is a polarizing findeers figure. She's like
well liked by everyone. I don't think there's anyone that
like has anything bad to say about Juju beloved. This
is one of the most beloved stars right now.

Speaker 2 (52:40):
I don't mean it in the like bad pull like
I guess, polarizing. I see it in two different ways.
There can be like the negative side it's just like
oh my god. And then it's just like someone that
you can't take your eyes off of. And you love
watching because you know whenever they have the ball, they're
going to do something great.

Speaker 3 (52:52):
Well, don Staley said, She's like Juju is loved by
all of us and like all across it's it's such
a huge loss and it is going to impact you.

Speaker 2 (52:59):
I've seen, yes it is.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
That's the biggest thing here too. Where now this actually
does add a little bit of mystery to the women's
tournament because USC is still in it, there's still a
top seed, there's still an incredible team outside of Juju.
But in basketball, that's the biggest thing where one person
can make the difference. Yes they can, it's not as
much of, you know, a whole collective effort when you
have someone that is as capable of taking over a

(53:22):
game like Juji Watkins's. Yeah, so I'm heartbroken for her.
I'm very interested to see how this kind of affects,
like the trajectory of her career, whether she does decide
to come back or I mean, like no one doubts
Juju's talent, so she could come out even as an
injured player and it would be fine. So like that's
the other thing too.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
Where I'm still need to play four years in college
so she's a sophomore junior year. I don't see her
really coming back maybe towards the end of the season,
because it's almost acals are tough. It can be up
to a year recovery, So she would come back fully healthy,
probably her senior year. What's you like, what's usc gonna do?

(54:01):
She is the face of that team and the star,
so I yeah, and like I also.

Speaker 3 (54:08):
Have to think that, like this is something like the
draw just isn't going to be there for these for
for that game as it would have been if she's playing. No,
I tuned into that game because of her.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Everyone. Yeah, it's the Caitlyn Clark effect, like the Paige
Becker's effect, the like it's when there's stars on that team,
that's what's drawing you to the TV to see what's
going on.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
And just in general, it just it sucks because she's
she was clearly playing through pain and that's that's the
risky run is your body does overcompensate for stuff like
that as it just it's the worst injury too, And
it was like it was just so heartbreaking to see
it happen.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
It was so oh, oh my gosh, Okay, alex carry
carbon fatalite here, We're gonna take a quick break when
we come back. Lebron bring in the heat and catching
the heat this week both on and off the court.
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back to Fox
Sports Saturday. I'm Alex Curry here with Carmen Vitale, coming

(55:05):
to you live for entire dot Com Studios. Thank you
for spending your Saturday afternoon with Carme and Me for the.

Speaker 3 (55:10):
Best pregame show every weekend. Be sure to tune 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. There is no better place
to prime you for the tournament games than right here.
So tune into Countdown presented by bet MGM, every Saturday
and Sunday morning right here on Fox Sports Radio and

(55:30):
the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (55:32):
So Lebron is back with the Lakers, but things have
been getting heated both on and off the court this
week now. He did a long interview with Pat McAfee
this week where there was a couple different points that
have kind of gone viral. The first one was sharing

(55:53):
that him and Michael Jordan don't talk because he's quote
still playing. Let's let's take a moment here, because let's
let's be honest. Jordan doesn't talk to Lebron because he's
still his big as competition. Like we saw the last Dance.

(56:15):
Jordan holds every grudge imaginable. It's part of his greatness.
Like also like they're not under any obligation to talk. No,
Like I don't understand why daily basis like who's the ghost?

Speaker 3 (56:30):
Why do you why do you want to? Like like
and Lebron said, like they don't have a bad relationship. No,
He's like, they just don't talk all the time. And
he's like when I'm done playing, like I would hope,
I would think and I would hope that like we
we do talk all the time that I know he.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
Does, But I don't know if Jordan was Jordan's like
King Patty as.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
Soon as Jordan knows where Lebron stands as far as
like all of his records.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
And everything like that, and it's done at the end
of the day, Like I don't.

Speaker 3 (56:56):
Really know that there is anything Lebron can do at
this stage that drastically changes the conversation between these two
either your team or either you're a Jordan person or
you're a Lebron person. I don't think there's much that
he can do at this point that's going to like
sway that either way, because like the biggest thing with
Jordan is he started winning and kept winning. He didn't
stop winning for like a six year stretch, a seven

(57:20):
because of the lag. But like the Bulls did not
won three pet but two three peats, So Jordan won
that many titles and then and with the same team
and all that kind of stuff, So there's not there's
like Lebron is not going to win three titles back
to back to back before he exits the league and

(57:43):
he has records over Jordan. I just I think this
is such a like I don't know why people are
getting upset about this, Like, no, yeah, Jordan is really
really competitive. He's an absolute psychopath.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
He's just like a psycho as it gets. It's why
he was who he was and he he is he
still is, and he's so happy that social media was
when he was a player.

Speaker 3 (58:04):
I think everybody should be happy. But like, also, like
my man's out on a golf course. All right, he
doesn't want to be bothered. He's fine. He's making his billions,
like literally just sitting back making his billions, making his billions. Yes,
he's fine.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
It's absolutely insane.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
I think it's I think it's a silly.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
It's just like, no, it's not because we're still like
it's because I'm still playing. It's like, no, because you
were still his biggest competition right now, you were compared
to him on a daily base.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
Because he's still playing. So like I get it. So
like when he stops and when he stops playing, I
have to imagine that these guys are going to be
great friends.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
It'll be interesting.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
Yeah. And also like Jordan, he keeps to himself in general,
Like Jordan's not like you know, he's not going on
he's not doing appearances, he's not in the media, he's
not whatever. Like Jordan hasn Jordan beat the game because
he had all his success in a time where he
didn't have to be in the limelight outside of how
he wanted to be. And then he moved into the
business sector where he is now a billionaire because of

(58:55):
the Jordan brand, and did all of these things really
well and now he's just faded back in. He's like,
y'all can talk about me, I don't care, and then
like he comes out he does the Last Dance documentary,
which was some huge because that's the only time he's
ever gotten in front of a camera basically since he retired.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
The timing was like, so I with COVID, everyone waiting,
it's all we were watching.

Speaker 3 (59:15):
And it was also Jordan's chance to write write his
own narrative about it too, and he had complete and
total autonomy over that show. So like I'm I'm the
biggest Jordan's stand. I have twenty three tattooed on me.
Now you do I tell you this when at the
Super Bowl I went to the Jordan house. I got
invited to the Jordan house. They were doing free tattoos.
I now have twenty three tattooed on my ribcage four

(59:35):
Jordan's I was a kid of the nineties in Chicago.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
Fact, fun fact. Okay, then then I need your thoughts
on the other hot topic that's been just so overplayed now,
the stephen A beef. We talked about this actually a
whole thing about this, Okay.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
I it's not that I'm a huge wrestling person but
it reeks of wrestling, like manufacturing narratives and turn heel
on each other and all this other stuff like that
is what this sounds like, because otherwise, how in the
world would you have Lebron getting on ESPN's second biggest

(01:00:16):
show with ESPN's second biggest personality and talking mess about
the first biggest personality. Yes, this is all It reeks
of calculation to me. Yeah, reeks, it has to.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
It has to. It's just like, why are we still
talking about it? Oh, it's getting weird. It's it's getting weird.

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
Like I think it's just being manufactured. But like it's
also like it's really funny too because Lebron has been
very high profile in on the court too, which is
what makes this all even more relevant because that went
against the Pacers. Lebron has the tip in.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
From the Lucas shot right the buzzer beater that they won,
and then the next day.

Speaker 3 (01:00:50):
And then the next day there is the best photo
ever of Josh Giddy with his arm up after hitting
the half court shot to win like Hail Mary with Lebron,
with Lebron in the background going you're kidding and like
it's just his face. It was like, you're kidding. My
One of my best friends in the entire world is Adam.
I mean who was on that call. It was him
and Stacy King. That call is now the call, that's Ryan.

(01:01:14):
It's call the season already.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
I have chills, like it's the call of the season
already saying that whole sequence.

Speaker 3 (01:01:19):
The whole the twelve second sequence, three threes, yeah, in
twelve seconds to beat the Lakers. If you haven't seen
any of the videos, I don't know how. You're clearly
not online.

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
It's insane.

Speaker 3 (01:01:30):
Go online. There is a duo of guys. It's like
the Shep Brothers. Yeah that they recreate calls.

Speaker 2 (01:01:38):
Oh, they just did the hockey one too.

Speaker 3 (01:01:39):
They just did the hockey one with all the fights,
the Battle of Alberta, but they just did They did
Adam and Stacy King's call, and it was it was
like one of those sentury moments for Adam sent that
to me. It was fantastic. I love. I mean, I'm
a Bulls fan. I know there are around them too, like.

Speaker 2 (01:01:59):
I okay, we talked about this last week and you're like,
why can't they just be like woud you you said
something where You're like, I just want them to be
I don't know if it was like relevant or good
again or something. Now, then look what you talked into
You're right, You're right, talked into the universe, talked it
into the Unica.

Speaker 3 (01:02:15):
It's because of me, Kobe White. Kobe White has been
on fire all season. Josh Gitty has gotten on fire
over the last month.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
Yeah, that was insane. Everyone knows his name now, that's
all I'm gonna say. A shot like that, in a
moment like that over a superstar team like Luca and
Lebron and the Lakers, that's how you thrust yourself into
the spotlight.

Speaker 3 (01:02:35):
In March, Kobe White twenty nine point five points per game,
thirty seven point three or three points percentage, two time
Player of the Week. He's the only other person other
than Michael Jordan to do that back to back for
the Bulls. For the Bulls, Josh Gitty twenty two point
five points per game, ten rebounds per game, a nine
point five assists per game, forty one point two percent

(01:02:56):
three percent three point percentage.

Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
I like, yeah, he's living the dream right now.

Speaker 3 (01:03:02):
In March, the Bulls have come alive and I'm just
like all right, thank you, Thank you guys, Yeah, thank you.
I did. I spoke that into existenly.

Speaker 2 (01:03:11):
You did that. That was your that was your conversation
last time.

Speaker 3 (01:03:14):
I really hope that the Bulls retain both Josh and Kobe.

Speaker 2 (01:03:17):
They can do it, yep.

Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
And I don't even think it'll cost anything past the
luxury tax I think that they can do it underneath
the cat. But we'll see.

Speaker 2 (01:03:26):
They they're ninth, okay, they need they both in the
East right now. Lakers are currently fourth, well tied same
record with the Grizzlies, but they hold the tiebreaker, so
they're right above and Lakers are facing the Grizzlies tonight,
a new look Grizzlies who just fired their head coach
this week, which makes no sense when you're in a
playoff position because they're sore. There has to be way

(01:03:49):
more to this story behind the scenes that we don't know,
but once more of that comes out, we'll dive deeper.
Let's now check in with Martin Why see what's trending.

Speaker 7 (01:04:01):
Getting down to the wire in Birmingham and the Sweet
sixteen for the women one she Texas with a sixty
three to fifty nine lead over five seed Tennessee just
under two minutes left in the fourth quarter of the
winner obviously advances to the Elite Eight. They'll be met
there by TCU, and they'd beat Notre Dame earlier today
seventy one to sixty two. Haley Van Lyth had twenty

(01:04:21):
six points, nine rebounds, four assists. It's also her fifth
time going to the Elite Eight as a college basketball
player in Major League Baseball.

Speaker 3 (01:04:29):
I mean that's you know, hey, fun fact. Don't hate
them game or don't hate the player, hate the game.
I mean that's all we did.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
You say eighth okay, fit, Okay, it was like fifth time.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
But she's been transferring the last three years. She's transferred.

Speaker 8 (01:04:44):
She last maybe I think she's been tc the last
two years. But she was at LSU with the tcut
from somewhere.

Speaker 3 (01:04:54):
Else, somewhere else.

Speaker 8 (01:04:57):
I don't know. I don't know, I don't know, but
I know she's been in college making.

Speaker 2 (01:05:01):
Yeah, she's a march madness fet what's that called Van Wilder?
Was that the crazy seven eight years of college?

Speaker 8 (01:05:11):
That COVID year.

Speaker 2 (01:05:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:05:15):
The Yankees beat the Brewers twenty to nine. The Yankees
hit nine home runs as a team, nine Aaron Judge
had three by himself, and Angels beat the White Sox
one the nothing, and the Cardinals beat the Twins five
to one.

Speaker 8 (01:05:29):
Got a bunch of games in progress right now. Orioles
with a.

Speaker 7 (01:05:32):
Nine to five lead over the Blue Jays, and the
bottom of the eighth, top of the six all tied
up between the Phillies Internationals to apiece.

Speaker 8 (01:05:38):
The Rockies have a one nothing lead over the Rays.
Bottom of the fifth inning.

Speaker 7 (01:05:42):
Also bottom of the fifth inning squared away between Pittsburgh
and Miami tide one apiece.

Speaker 8 (01:05:47):
Two to two, the score between San Francisco and.

Speaker 7 (01:05:49):
Cincinnati the start of the sixth inning, and at the
also top of the sixth inning, the Guardians three Royals one.

Speaker 8 (01:05:57):
In NFL news, the Bills and cornerback Christian and Ben Fete.

Speaker 7 (01:06:00):
Greets Way four year, seventy six million dollar extension and
the Texans designed form of culture.

Speaker 8 (01:06:05):
Linebacker EJ Speed to a one year deal work up
to five million.

Speaker 2 (01:06:09):
Back to you guys, Thank you Martin. You're listening to
Fox Sports Saturday. I'm Alex Curry here with Carmen Vitali.
We're broadcasting live from the tire dot Com Studios in
Los Angeles and it's time for our next guest. She's
a sports anchor, Bears reporter at Fox thirty two Chicago.
Cassie Carlson, thanks for joining the show.

Speaker 9 (01:06:25):
Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
Excited to talk to you ladies, and I know Congratulations.

Speaker 3 (01:06:30):
She is now the play by play voice of the
Chicago Red Stars, Chicago Stars, Chicago Stars past the Red Stars.

Speaker 10 (01:06:37):
We love this branding this here. It's a little confusing,
but I'm super excited. You know, Fox Chicago partnered up
with the Chicago Stars to broadcast some of their games locally,
So we have seven games on Fox Chicago starting tomorrow,
and it's going to be a super fun time. As
someone who grew up like idolizing Mia Ham, Shannon Box,
all those US Woes national team players, I'm like, wow,

(01:06:59):
this is a kind of ah me a moment right now.
So it's super exciting and I'm very glad to be
part of it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:04):
Congratulations, what did dream Come true? Congratulations? That's so awesome.
Let's talk some Bears because they have already done a
lot this offseason to support Caleb Williams in his second year.
What are your CARMEI and I talk a lot about
this about tempering expectations, but what are your expectations for
him in twenty twenty five?

Speaker 10 (01:07:24):
Oh, In Caleb Williams, I think you have to frame
it like he's, you know, starting over. This is essentially
I feel like you have to treat it like this
is his rookie season, because he went through so many
changes with coaches during his actual rookie season, and you
can argue that he really wasn't placed in a good
position to succeed, although we thought he was going to

(01:07:45):
be heading into the season after he was drafted. I
think it was really glaring that Ryan Poles just worked
from the outside in instead of working from the inside out.
And we've seen all these teams that are having success
with Detroit with the Eagles, they all have very strong
lines and Caleb Williams don't have that. He was tactically
eighty times. I think it's starting over, and luckily, you know,

(01:08:09):
I think he's very happy obviously with them hiring the
number one candidate and Ben Johnson, someone who said is
going to rip this thing down to the studs. They're
going to build it around Caleb Williams and his personnel
strength and then also be able to sit in a
room with Caleb Williams starting next week when they have
that extra ota because of the new coaching staff, and
get to see, you know, how Caleb looks at the game,

(01:08:32):
but also he wants Caleb to be able to see
the game through how Ben Johnson sees the game. And
I think that's going to be the most important thing
is that relationship right there, And hopefully Caleb feels confident
given the fact that they've overhauled the interior of their
offensive line. Run game, I would expect to take a
huge step forward because we know Ben Jonson loves to
run the ball. We'll see if they add anything else

(01:08:53):
in the draft. But I think it's like you got
to frame it like Caleb Williams is kind of starting over,
but I think those expectations that he had of you know,
being the franchise quarterback and setting a new standard water
quarterback can be in Chicago are still there.

Speaker 3 (01:09:07):
Yeah, And that's kind of been my whole thing too,
where I'm like, I don't know that Chicago fans are
going to give him the patients or the grace if
I know anything about you and I both know growing
up there. But my biggest thing and what I'm so
curious to see is because again Bears are three time
off season champs and they've added all these wonderful things.

Speaker 2 (01:09:31):
They are it makes sense. It's a good it's a
good take.

Speaker 3 (01:09:34):
My biggest concern right now, Cass is the intangibles, because
they've done everything right on paper, and I've seen it
like they've done things that I've wanted them to do
for years and so like, for the first time, I
find myself actually getting optimistic about this team. But Ben
Johnson has ever been a head coach before. Ben Johnson
hasn't actually coached Caleb Williams yet. Caleb Williams has come

(01:09:54):
out and said he's not the like, not everybody can
coach him. How do you see this going, knowing being
in front of Ben Johnson, being in front of Kalla
Williams for as long as you have now cast, how
do you see those personalities meshing so that they can
have a really good working relationship.

Speaker 10 (01:10:09):
Yeah, I think that's going to be an interesting part.
And I remember we had this conversation Carmen at the
Combine that Ben Johnson is intense right every time he speaks,
you know, he kind of is like a He doesn't
really look like he's an intense guy, but every time
he speaks, I think he is a very pointed message.
And I think back to, you know, when Shane Waldron
was the offensive coordinator. He was kind of a laissez

(01:10:31):
faire kind of guy, and that's how he appeared towards us,
and from everything I heard, he treated Caleb Williams like
very like gentlely, like that was the guy. We don't
touch him, we don't critique him all that. Then you
have Thomas Brown, who had I think the exact opposite approach,
telling Caleb Williams that you're going to be treated like
every single other player on this team. And I felt

(01:10:52):
like you kind of saw them butt heads a tad
bit because of the different kind of approaches. Now, I
think Ben Johnson coming in and having a full off
seat in to really learn his quarterback, he's going to
build a relationship with him, and I think that will
be part of how he learns how to work with him.
I think he had that with Jared Goff obviously, and he,
to his credit, you know, credits Jared Goff with doing

(01:11:14):
everything and having all the sex. The success was because
of what he put in so I'm kind of curious
in that. But I think just the way we've seen
Caleb Williams, you know, publicly answer all the questions, he
said he wants to be coached, So if you're asking
to be coached, you can't complain. And then you also
got the guy that you wanted, and he also got

(01:11:35):
the offensive line that you wanted. Pair that with you know, Romadunze,
who they drafted alongside of him last year. So I
think it will be an interesting thing to see. I
think it's going to be interesting again, you know, as
you said, temper expectations. What if they you know, have
a losing.

Speaker 3 (01:11:50):
Record come right then what happens right then?

Speaker 10 (01:11:53):
What happens? So I think that's all going to be interesting.
But I think Ben Jonson's resume as a coordinator, given
the fact that you know, the Lions had a top
three scoring offense the last three years, I think that
does hold some weight. And I don't think the previous
coaching staff had any sort of reputation or you know,

(01:12:15):
ground to stand on with what they had accomplished, because
they hadn't acomplished anything. So I think there's kind of
respector already. But yeah, I think I think he's going
to be pushed hard, and I don't know if he
knows how hard yet. I think that's gonna be an
interesting development as time goes on.

Speaker 2 (01:12:29):
Okay, So staying on this theme of tempering expectations because
as you said earlier, like kind of think of this
as Caleb Williams like first real seasons. There's so many changes,
and then this is Ben Johnson's first time being a
head coach. So what does Ben Johnson have to do
in his first season as a head coach to have
it be considered successful.

Speaker 10 (01:12:50):
Well, I think it all surrounds Caleb Williams because that's
that's the nucleus right there. Yeah, he's the most important
person in that building. And so if Ben Jonson and
can make Caleb Williams take the next step and look better,
put up more points, I think it's going to be
a huge thing. More explosive plays that we didn't see

(01:13:10):
last year. I think that's going to be the bulk
of it. And I think like if we see the
run game really take a step forward, I think we're
going to be happy with how the Bears look. I
don't everyone saying, like, you know, they made all these
moves in free agency to make the playoffs. You know,
they're still in a really good division. They were really
really tough road schedule ahead of them too this year,
which I think is going to play a huge part
of it as well. So I don't know if you

(01:13:31):
want to say, oh, they're going to make the playoffs,
but I mean, there should be no ten game losing streak,
that's for sure, because that to me shows that again,
then the head coach doesn't have the respect of the
locker room. If I want to see them be able
to win close games and just be situationally smart, you know,
we haven't really had that in the past three years,
so I think all those would be steps forward, but

(01:13:52):
just being competent. The Bears have not been competent lately,
so I think if Ben Jonson can show that and
show that he has kind of a handle on the
locker room, people are going to give them a year
at least better.

Speaker 2 (01:14:05):
Okay, good lord, No, that's ever. No, that's being realistic.
We have to let you go. But real quick, where
do you see them finishing in the NFC norths.

Speaker 3 (01:14:16):
I hate that question too, Cass really tough.

Speaker 10 (01:14:18):
You know, because I really liked obviously with the Bears
hid but the Vikings came run for their money and
what they did in free agency, so I mean they
I don't know if the Packers finished fourth though, either. Yeah,
it does ever seem to be that way. I think that.
I mean, the Bears are kind of like, you gotta
you gotta show it, so I think they're probably still
at the bottom of the division. I can see them

(01:14:38):
finishing over the Packers and third.

Speaker 3 (01:14:40):
Though it's probably going to take fourteenth fifteen games to
win again.

Speaker 2 (01:14:44):
Yeah, yeah, it's approven year. Cassie. Congratulations once again on
all your success the new show. Thank you so much
for coming on.

Speaker 10 (01:14:52):
Thanks for having me. Happy Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:14:54):
Thanks, Happy Saturday. All Right, we're and take one more
break here when we come back our feel good stories
of the week. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome
back to Fox Sports Saturday. I'm Alex Curry here with
Carmen Vitally. We are broadcasting live from the Tire dot
Com studios in Los Angeles, and I was just cracking up.
Carmen was talking about this.

Speaker 3 (01:15:14):
I think I just might make it my feel good story. Actually,
so I'll go first thing, Yeah, I was gonna mention it,
so you just do that. So we mentioned it a
little bit when we were talking about how the Laker
with everything with the Lakers and how the Bulls just
beat them a home and away series. By the way,
the Bulls beat them here in LA and they beat
them in Chicago in dramatic fashion where the Bulls hit
three flee three three, three threes last twelve seconds. There

(01:15:37):
we go. If I could talk the call though, Yeah,
and there's I mean, when you when you think back
on big moments in sports, yeah, there's a soundtrack to it.
There is. And the soundtrack is the play by play
and the color analysts that are calling the game, and
that's what you remember. You remember the moment, but you
remember the moment with a soundtrack. And it is two

(01:15:59):
of the best in the entire business. It is Adam
I mean play by play for the Bulls and Stacy King,
who played for the Bulls. They are the best little pairing.
Adam and I grew up one town away from each other.
Adam is also a NFL play by play on Fox
with MLB play by play on Fox. You will not
find a better play by play guy than Adam Aman

(01:16:20):
and we've had him on the show. He was a
great friend of mine. Full disclosure, I'm bragging in my
friend a little bit right now. But that call of
that game and then it's and now in this wage
of social media, Shipmates is the account that I want
to shout out because these two guys the re create
a bunch of these like landmark classic all time calls,

(01:16:42):
and they did it for Adam and Stacey, and it
made Adam like that was one of the pinch me
moments where it's so funny for as someone as accomplished
as he is, Yeah, to have that and have like
the viral moment from an account that you find really entertaining,
recognize how great you were. It was like he was
so cute how Adam was so incredibly excited about it,

(01:17:03):
because I'm like, the fun part is the call that
you made. Adams just like, no, the fun part is
that chetmates like just move on it. So I just
I want to shout them out because it's such a
cool experience that and it's a regular season game too.
We had the call of the season you did already.

Speaker 5 (01:17:20):
And like that.

Speaker 2 (01:17:22):
I just had chills. That was like I was like
finishing listening to it right before we came on live.

Speaker 3 (01:17:26):
I mean, and I had Stacey King with Sandford and
Son references like it's just hysterical. They are such a
good tandem team. But if you haven't seen it, yeah,
no go, I mean so good.

Speaker 2 (01:17:38):
They did another one this week that also went viral,
and that was like the Battle for Alberta. The sports
are so soft and the call of literally the entire team.

Speaker 3 (01:17:48):
Yeah it was. There was a goalie, there was a
goalie fight.

Speaker 1 (01:17:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:17:51):
In the NHL. Yeah, oilers, oilers, oilers, flames.

Speaker 2 (01:17:54):
Yeah, the entire team gets in a fight. Like even
the goalies get in a fight. It's it's so beautful.

Speaker 3 (01:18:00):
If you watch hockey, man, there's nothing better than a
goal there.

Speaker 2 (01:18:03):
There's nothing.

Speaker 3 (01:18:04):
It doesn't happen very often.

Speaker 2 (01:18:06):
That's that's when you know, it's like getting good and.

Speaker 3 (01:18:08):
Then again I feel bad. I don't know, I don't
know the play by playing the color analysts that were
on that call, but it was. I mean, that's that's when, like,
you know, it's just it's the fun. Yes, yeah, like
never forget that. There is a soundtrack to your favorite
moments in sports.

Speaker 2 (01:18:26):
Freddie Freeman, the walk Off Grand Sam Grand Slam with
Joe Davis. Yes, Freddy Meat, Freddy meet Gibby, and then
they had that for Opening Day this on Thursday, they
had Gibby throw the first pitch to Freddy like they
did the Freddy Meat Gibby and that that call was
just iconic and it's still attached to that moment. That's

(01:18:48):
what you listen to every sandem you see that play,
which is so cool. Okay, so my feel good. Something
I love watching is when minor leaguers get told that
they're going to the big leagues and Yankees catcher I
don't want to. J c Escara was in the Yankees
farm system. He worked part time as a substitute teacher
and Uber driver. Throughout his minor league career, was living

(01:19:10):
paycheck to paycheck, trying to support his dream like they
all do, to make it to the big leagues. And
on Sunday he got news that he made the major
league roster and the twenty nine year old twenty nine
years old, like that is you put in a lot
of time to like hopefully make it to the big
leagues if you're still in it. Immediately calls his mom crying, says,

(01:19:31):
we did it. We're going to New York. She's screaming,
he's crying. Another like, never give up on your dreams story,
which is just I love these no matter what part
of your career you're in. Like, like you said, Adam,
getting this moment call in the game, this twenty nine
year old like minor leaguer finally getting a shot at

(01:19:54):
the big leagues and the Yankees and getting that you've
made it moment is just.

Speaker 3 (01:19:58):
Base It makes it the farm system and everything in
baseball is so hard because there's just as many politics
as it is like whether or not you have talent.

Speaker 2 (01:20:07):
Oh yeah, all right, thank you guys so much for
spending your Saturday afternoon with us. We'll see you next week,
same time, same place,

Fox Sports Radio News

Advertise With Us

Host

Jonas Knox

Jonas Knox

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.