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Brian Noe, Rich Ohrnberger, and Jared Smith talk about Rory McIlroy's big finish to the second round in The Masters, Ja Morant's new celebration, how recent QB news in the NFL alters the first 10 picks of the NFL Draft, Nico Iamaleava & Tennessee part ways, and more! Plus, Rapid Fire, Parlay Platter, and Prop It Up! 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
College hoops fans, Welcome to the best basketball coverage on
the radio due Fox Sports Radios. Countdown to tip Off
is on What quarter three? Pup it Down and it's
presented by bettamgam the King of sportsbooks, Stupid lay Up
and the buzzer is pure. This is Fox Sports Radios

(00:23):
Countdown to tip Off. Here's Brian No, former Penn State
All American, Rich Ornberger and FSR betting analyst Jared Smith.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Oh, good morning, welcome in here as we get you
all set for Day three of the Masters NBA Playoffs.
Right around the corner, we got ball on the brain,
of course, with the NFL Draft right around the corner.
And you know, I just I noticed a theme at
the beginning of the show. It's mature versus immature. You

(01:10):
can get examples on both sides of the aisle over here, Fellas,
would you say you're more of the mature variety or
immature variety at this stage of your life? What would
you say about yourselves here?

Speaker 3 (01:23):
I think I oscillate between the two.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
I would say that there are times where you know, look,
you know, you wear a lot of hats. The older
you get, it feels like and then maybe you take
some of them off as you get older from there.
But yeah, I'm a dad obviously, I'm a co host
with you guys. You know, I do a lot of
different things. I'm a morning radio show host with a

(01:47):
classic rock station.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
In part of my life, I'm a color analyst for
a football team. So you know, I would say that
depending on what direction I'm heading in. Next is the
hat I'm wearing. Yesterday, I was playing kickball with a
bunch of elementary school kids. This morning, we're gonna be
talking about the one of the most prestigious majors in golf,

(02:10):
the Masters.

Speaker 5 (02:12):
Well, I think the fact that Rich used the word
oscillate tells me that he's a very mature individual.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
And I would say that.

Speaker 5 (02:19):
The show, of all the examples you just gave, I
would say that the show with us might be might
be on the lower end of the maturity spectrum based
on some of the things that we discussed. You know,
I mean, we're gambling on sports here, We're not exactly
reinventing the wheel or you know, caring cancer. So I
think I'm I think I'm also kind of in the
middle because of my daily job.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Again, I wake up every day.

Speaker 5 (02:40):
And I bet on sports and I talk about it,
and then I bet on more sports.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
And I talk about it. So I'm again, I'm not
gonna act like I'm gonna win the Nobel Prize over here.
I like oscill late. You know, it makes sense right there.
We'll start off with a mature example. I would say
that's Rory McElroy because in Day two of the Masters
he went six under and that was a great, great

(03:05):
sign that this dude, he showed a lot of maturity
because at the end of day one he melted down.
He double bogied two of the final four holes, and
that was on day one, and so typically younger Rory
would melt freaking down day two with the Masters, like

(03:27):
he double bogied two of the final four holes in
the first round. Second round, he shoots six under like
when he was when he was younger, he probably would
have let that affect him and it would have messed
up the next day. But he played great, played great
yesterday and he's writing the thicket thing. So for Rory
to rebound from a horrible ending to day one, to

(03:50):
do what he did yesterday in day two and to
be writing the thicket things. I thought that showed a
lot of maturity from him.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
I agree, and Rory will see how the turn and
finishes for him. But this has been a problem, as
you've mentioned over the years with Rory. He gets off
to a great start, he's leading the field, you know,
he's hitting more fairways in regulation and greens in regulation
than the rest of the field, and then all of

(04:16):
a sudden, something happens, and it leads to another something,
and it leads to another something, and comes Sunday, he's
no longer in the discussion or and this has happened
in majors, this has happened in Augusta. He's in the
conversation or even one of the top five players in
the field come Sunday, and at some point he unravels.

(04:38):
Look golf, as we all know, as anybody who's ever
picked up a golf club knows, is the majority of
the sport is mental. And you could say that about
a lot of sports. There's a lot of skill involved
with a lot of sports, but there's no teammates out there.
It's you against the course. You don't even really have
to worry about your opponents. You just have to control

(04:58):
the controllables, and when you're when you feel out of control,
like we've seen Rory look at many times throughout his career,
it's really difficult to try to like put the thread
back on the spool, so to speak.

Speaker 5 (05:15):
Yeah, like the odds are saying that he's the favorite
right now with Bryson. You know, Scotty kind of had
a little mini meltdown yesterday on I think it was
either seventeen or eighteen, where he's just like hanging out
in the woods, sick, chilling, waiting, sitting down, waiting for
you know, to get a ruling on his ball, and
it ended up you know, he had to play.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
It from that spot and had to give give a
stroke back.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
But still, I think there's definitely a part of me
that feels like this is Rory's moment. I've heard a
lot of very smart golf people say that this is
this is the time. And then you had that really
cute on Wednesday in the Part three contest when his
daughter hit that crazy putt. Oh yeah yeah, and everyone
was like, oh yeah, this is this is a sign

(05:55):
from the universe, like Rory, this is Rory's real weak
and and you know, I think people look too much
into that has absolutely nothing to do with the outcome
of events. But I understand the excitement around, you know,
or the you know, the feel good moments that you know,
people like to see, and then hope Rory continues that
over the weekend. In terms of what actually matters, He's
a little bit off his chipping game and putting game

(06:17):
this week.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
The short game has not been as crisp, and I think.

Speaker 5 (06:21):
That's gonna be if that is what does him in
in the end, whereas Bryson has been much more consistent
in that regard. I mean, Justin Rose has been ridiculous.
I don't know if he can keep it up. Scheffler's in.
I think Scotty like if if you're telling me, Scott,
he's been the three shots of a lead of a
major going into the weekend, I feel pretty.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Good he's gonna win. But I don't know if this
is peak Scheffler.

Speaker 5 (06:43):
I think we're like at eighty five percent Scheffler, so
I think that's where maybe this is Rory's moment. But
my pick for the weekend is Bryson. I think he
looks the best. I think he looks the strongest, and
he's just his short game, his putting, everything is pretty
much locked in right now.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
So Rory would be a really feel good story.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
But I think Bryson's got a little bit more juiced
to him this weekend.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
Man.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
Some of the interviews yesterday in the clubhouse after the
second round were really good. We'll get to some Bryson sound.
I know you love you some Deshambo over there, Jared,
you know he's playing very well. He talked about his
putting being better. Justin Rose had a great quote about
not strangling the moment. But I also thought Rory gave
a great great quote. The question was really good from

(07:32):
Scott van Pelt and it's a portion of what Rory said.
But check out what Rory had to say about hopefully
this master is being different than the other ones he's
been involved in.

Speaker 6 (07:42):
Here you go, you've done this before, You've been in
similar positions before. We all know the next thirty six
holes is on your plate and no one else's What
do you do from here to hopefully get back here
Sunday night, understanding that you've done all this so often.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, again, I got to remind myself I'm playing well.
I've got the experience. I love that first part of this,
like what he said right here again, I gotta remind
myself I'm playing well. I gotta remind myself like, hey,
you're playing pretty. Remember the old SNL skit where you
look in the mirror and the same cash darn it,

(08:17):
people like people like, but it's so important. What was
the thing that you wrote, Jared, Remember like a gambling
thing where you wrote something on a folder or a
reminder that you're good enough at what you have.

Speaker 5 (08:30):
What was there on my computer that says you're doing
a great job. And I screenshot all of the positive
things on social media that people say about me, and
I drop it in the folder because most days people
say negative things and I have to remind me that's right,
but I'm doing a great job.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
There you go well, and especially in golf, you need
to do the same thing. And I love what Rory said.
I got to remind myself I'm playing well, like I'm
playing well enough to win this tournament. I'm good enough
to win this tournament, because that's the thing. You got
to have unshakable confidence as a golfer. I think it's
different than other sports where you need other people to

(09:06):
believe in you. Right, that helps a lot. That can
be a big shot in the arm. But in golf,
you have got to believe in yourself because if you're
shaky in the confidence department at all, even for a day,
you could just be a day where you're like, I
don't know where the ball is going. That day is done,
you know what I mean. Like, you have to have
zero doubt in your own mind because the sport gives

(09:29):
you reason after reason, example after example to doubt yourself
and not have confidence in yourself. So with Rory saying that,
I thought that was huge. What's the famous thing from
Bobby Jones where golf is mainly played on a five
inch course the space between your ears? Yeah, like just
that part of I've got to remind myself I'm playing well.
It seems like the most simple thing, but to have

(09:51):
that confidence it's huge. It's everything to have a chance
in these next two days to win the whole thing.

Speaker 4 (09:57):
Well, yeah, I'm so glad you focused on the front
end of that sentence, because that is the whole game
right there. It's about constantly reminding yourself of these little
things you can't forget, Like you know, I mean, it
could be something as simple of as like. You know,
I'm starting to sweat a little bit. This is when
I need to tighten my grip up.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
All right.

Speaker 4 (10:17):
You know it's a slight downhill, lie, I gotta make
sure that I back off the speed a little bit
on the club face. This way I don't sail the green,
all right. You gotta remember there's a downhill approach toward
this hole, but I gotta keep it right because if
it goes left of the hole, it's going into the
water hazard. There's all these things you can't forget, but

(10:39):
the most important thing you can't forget as a golfer
is that you belong there. Is that you're one of
the best in the world if you're Rory McElroy. And
it's difficult when again, you're not playing against anybody. The
only person you have as refuge, your safe house is
your caddie, who may or may not give you what
you need in the moment. You have to be so

(11:02):
unbelievably self reliant, and you have to. You're the only
person who can throw out the life preserver to save around.
And you said you could have one bad day, and
that's it, Brian. You could have one bad hole. It
could be one bad stroke and it can throw off
the rest of your match. So you really have to
lock in every single time you swing the club. And

(11:24):
sometimes for some of these golfers you just mentioned, he
turned it in a six under card, you're only swinging that.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
Golf club sixty eight times. Sixty six times. I mean,
think about that.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
Sixty six times is going to determine whether or not
it's a great day or it's a terrible day. I mean,
when you swing the club only sixty six times, it's
going to be a great day. But you get the point.
It's it's so there's so little margin for error. If
you're not locked in and focused in one hundred percent
mentally attached to the moment to the task, you could

(11:57):
screw things up in a major way.

Speaker 5 (11:59):
Yeah, there's a few sports like that, obviously, the individual ones,
the swimming, the golf, the tennis. I guess doubles and
tennis wouldn't be that, But you know, you kind of
get the point. There's definitely there was a great commercial
once I remember it was I think it was a
MasterCard commercial, and it was like trying to like kind
of show you all the things going through a golfer's

(12:20):
head before he swings the club, and then right before
he swung it.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
It just goes silent.

Speaker 5 (12:25):
It's just like, you know, quiet, and then he swing,
you know, and then you hear the crowd roar after
he swings it. It was a great commercial. I'll have to
look it up in the break but that's that's kind
of the idea. So fun fact I've been playing. Of
all the sports in my life, golf has been the
one that's been in my life the longest.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
I've played golf since I was ten.

Speaker 5 (12:43):
It's the first sport that I really remember getting falling
in love with, and it was you know, I'm thirty nine,
I was ten in nineteen ninety six, Tiger Woods was
sending to stardom and that I would say he is
the ninja of all golfers in terms of mindset. I think,
and maybe back in you know, I didn't watch Bobby

(13:04):
Jones or Walter Hagen those guys.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
Maybe those guys had that mindset too, but the.

Speaker 5 (13:07):
Guys that I've watched in my lifetime, Tiger Woods was
always the one who it didn't matter how big the
moment was, he was bigger and that's why he sees
the coat. But I think there's a certain level of
there's a certain level of intimacy you have to have
with yourself in order to quiet your mind. It's very
hard to quiet your mind that much when you're in

(13:28):
the moment, And to be perfectly honest, Rory hasn't done
a great job of that in his career. That that's
something that he's struggled with. I think there's been a
lot of these, especially in major tournaments. I mean, he
has all the talent in the world. He might be
more talented than any golfer on the course, but that
few inches between the ears that that's let him down

(13:48):
in years past when it comes to major championships.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
I'll tell you a quick story, because of course my
mind always goes to football, you know, So I'll go
to football for a second with golf here, But I
know you guys remember Steve Smith, the wide receiver, most
notably with the Panthers, right, five 'ot nine, undersize, fiery,
great competitor. A lot of it was people doubting him
that fueled him. He's like, Oh, you don't think I

(14:13):
can do this, I'm gonna show you I can do this.
But it always struck me. He was with the Ravens
for his final game and he wrote on his cleats
all the names of the people who supported him and
believed in him, and I was like holy. And he
was doing an interview on the field and was tearing up,
and I'm like wow, it just struck me where it's
like you really need to have people that not only

(14:34):
doubt you and that can fuel you, but you need
people that believe in you also so you can start
to believe in yourself more. And that as I would
apply that to what Rory just struck me, it was
like I got to remind myself, I'm playing well. The
world could believe in a golfer, but if you don't
believe in yourself in that moment, on that whole, in

(14:57):
that round, like it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that
people are like Scottie Scheffler's the man, he's the best golfer.
If he doubts himself on his approach shot on sixteen
or whatever, that's all that really matters. I find that
to be so fascinating, where typically when a lot of
people believe in you, you're good to go. But in golf,

(15:19):
it's all about how you believe in yourself to at
least like set the tone and to quiet your mind.
And what you just mentioned there, Jared, it is easier
said than done. Man, with that amount that's on the
line there, with all the prestige and the cash, and
this is the moment, right Like if you've had a

(15:40):
big putt at the local MUNI like he'll play that
by I don't know how much with what's going on
at the Masters. So the mental part of it is
just absolutely huge. Just I can't even state how big
the mental site is. But you get the picture. All right,
We're off and running. We've got Rich shorn Berger, Penn State,

(16:01):
All American, Jared Smith, FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No.
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(16:23):
to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if you
don't win your first bet. All right, coming up next, well,
we give you an example of maturity. This would be
an example of the opposite of that. We'll weigh in
on one of the bigger stories going on right now.
It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
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(17:16):
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Throughout the first round of the Draft live right here

(17:38):
at Fox Sports Radio. It's brought to you by ship Station. Okay,
so John Morant has a new grenade celebration.

Speaker 5 (17:45):
Oh yeah, yeah, that's where That's where we're at right at.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Can I be ye? Can I be completely honest with
you guys, please, because that's the only way I know
how to be. For a millisecond, I thought it was fun.
For a milli second, I'm like, oh, it's rebellious, you know, yeah,
it's jaw against the system. And then I came to
my senses and I'm like, what what are we doing
over here?

Speaker 3 (18:09):
You know?

Speaker 2 (18:09):
So they played the Nuggets last night. He did that
a couple of times during the game, and then on
Thursday night, so when it really like hit home for me.
So he did the grenade celebration. For a hot second,
I'm like, okay, all right, and then the game kept
going on and he nearly act nearly acted like he

(18:30):
had the double barrel gun again, Like he went right
up to the line and then was like psych not
going there, and I'm like, joh, what are you doing?
Then then he did the grenade. With five minutes left,
They're down by fifteen points. He's doing the grenade celebration
of like jod then he got teed up with two
and a half minutes to go, they're down by twelve,

(18:50):
and I'm just like, all right, this guy is a child.
It's just like, for a second, I was like, it's
kind of a that's not funny at all. It's just
I come back of this. Guys, is which superstar would
be involved in silliness like this? Which guy? Whether it's
now in years past, you think Michael Jordan would be

(19:11):
doing grenade celebrations, you know, or Lebron or staph or
Jokic or this is just unnecessary drama. There's no need
for it. There's no reason to go right up to
the line and like, am I okay, NBA, is this
gonna offend you to It's there's no gain, there's no win.
It's just silliness. But that's where we are right now what.

Speaker 4 (19:32):
It reads to me, And I guess this is because
my background is in the ultimate team sport of football.
But like when you're sitting in a meeting room and
you have one hundred other guys, depending on your maturity
or your ability or capabilities to understand your role on everything, man,

(19:53):
it hammers home to me how selfish? Jai is like, Okay, yeah,
you may have this feeling of then if the NBA
is hammering down on you and that's not fair, and
I'm gonna make sure that I get mine.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (20:10):
Great, you have another four guys on the court with
you who are relying on you.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
Jah.

Speaker 4 (20:15):
You know, you have a team and this silliness, which
is all it is. It's just immaturity and silliness is
going to cost your teammates something. I don't know what
it's gonna cost them. Maybe it's gonna cost them a championship.
Maybe it's gonna cost them an opportunity to tell their
grandkids that they were a part of a Memphis team

(20:36):
that because they had this really special player, they had
it all for even just a blink of an eye.
Maybe maybe it'll be a forgettable championship. But I'll tell
you who won't forget that championship is the grandchildren of players.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
Who Jah played with.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
It's it's selfish, and I don't want to make it,
you know, sound like, oh, you know, just because he's
throwing pretending to row a grenade, it's going to ruin
their season.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
It's not.

Speaker 4 (21:03):
But it's a symptom of a bigger illness because it's
all about Jacques and he's telling you that straight to
your face. And if you're a teammate of Viz or
if you're trying to coach this guy, that's all you
really need to know.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, that's that's very well said.

Speaker 5 (21:19):
Actually, I the good news I guess is I don't
think they're gonna win a chan. I don't think even
if Jah is in peak form. I just it's just
a tough They've got a they got a really uphill
battle in that playing round, and then you've got to
figure out if you're facing I mean, I guess it
would be probably be the thunder or the rockets in
that first round. Tough, tough, tough hill for Memphis to climb,

(21:42):
even if they get peak Jaw.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
I don't understand.

Speaker 5 (21:46):
I don't know what's going on with this guy. I
don't even know how to analyze it from like a
logical perspective, because at this point we've just gone completely
off the reservation.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
I mean, what's gonna happen next? Is gonna bring up Azuoka?
Like like like what like I think now he's doing it.
It's it's just it's.

Speaker 5 (22:03):
Like when your mom says, like when you have a
side of sibling growing up, younger sibling, and your mom's like,
don't touch her, and then you put your finger like
right up next to her and you're like, oh, I'm
not touching you. I'm not touching you. Like like that's
what it reminds me of. Like it's just so childish.
And I understand that he's still a young guy, but

(22:23):
he's not that young. It's not like he's eight years
old playing his first basketball game and he's running around
the court like an idiot. Like it's just I don't understand, Like,
and and now you have to question the advice that
he's getting because you know that he was in his
in his crib hanging out with his boys, and he's like, hey,
how do we do this? Like this was obviously planned

(22:47):
and premeditated. So I just I don't know.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
I really I've lost the words to really logically.

Speaker 5 (22:54):
Explain what's going on in his head because I can't
even fathom why he would go down this road.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
Well, he explained the grenade celebration, and take this for
what it's worth, he said, it's not what you think
it is I'm gonna take my words. I'm gonna throw
them out there, and then I'm going to block out
the noise. So that's it. He's throwing. It's not a grenade,
it's he's throwing his words, and then he's he's not listening.
It's like that.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
I'm sure he was hanging out with his boys, like,
how can we cook this up?

Speaker 3 (23:25):
Do what?

Speaker 2 (23:25):
It doesn't sound like I'm howl this poet, poet?

Speaker 4 (23:32):
What we honestly, you know what we need from you,
Billy Shakespeare is you need you to hit a couple
more jump shots.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
That's it about yourself. That's that. Brian.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
I'm so glad you brought that up because I was
going to go into his explanation for it as well.
It's just as ridiculous as the act itself. When I
was sitting in team meeting rooms with with the Patriots
when I was a rookie and Bill Belichick was telling
us exactly what the expectations.

Speaker 3 (24:01):
Were for all of us.

Speaker 4 (24:03):
The focus of a lot of those conversations in the
squad room, we're about the team. He used a lot
of we and us. It was about building this camaraderie.
It's us against the rest of the universe, the people
in here. You need to be able to rely on
them the most, because when the chips are down and
we've got our back against the wall, you're gonna have

(24:23):
to look side by side and you have to find
out the solutions to the problems together. And the problem
I have with a guy who's playing a team sport
who's giving an explanation like that is Okay, look, you're
the rest of your teammates in the in the eye,
and explain that to them when you foul out, because
you're getting you're getting teed up for something stupid and

(24:43):
you're costing him a game that could be important.

Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, you're right, Jared.

Speaker 4 (24:47):
It is a long road to get from a playing
round to a championship, but we saw the Lakers do
it recently, so it can happen. It's sometimes the dice
rolls in your favor, injuries on the side, you got
a couple players playing out of their mind, you never
know what can happen.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
Will they win a championship in my opinion, most.

Speaker 4 (25:07):
Likely not, But it has more to do with the
fact that their leadership at their best right position is
the problem.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yep, Well that's The thing is Josh said, that's my
celebration now until someone else has a problem with it,
and I'll find another one. And that's it's not just
what he's doing, it's the thought behind what he's doing.
Where it's not just job being rebellious, it's Josh saying
I'm the victim here. You know, watch how everybody hates

(25:36):
on Joh for no reason. I'm just going about my
business and watch someone have a problem with this too,
poor me. That that's a big part of why he's
doing what he's doing. And rich you're a father, you
could absolutely relate to this. This is what a kid does.
This is what Jared was just explaining is jo is
constantly testing where the line is and what he can

(25:57):
get away with. That's what a kid does. Is the
life here? No?

Speaker 3 (26:01):
Not quite?

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Is the line here? Yeah you went over the line? Okay,
but is it here? It's like, that's what a kid does,
and that's what Jah is. He's a kid. And you
could look and say, well, he's twenty five, he's very young.
He's acting like he's five. You gotta grow up. There's
just no reason for this. Last night I was watching
NBA TV. It's interesting because Isaiah Thomas, the Piston's great

(26:25):
he had a huge problem with Lebron warming up before
the game without a shirt on, and he was like,
what are we doing over here? This is this isn't
summer league, this isn't the why the NBA? What are
we doing? You don't have a shirt on? And what
are we doing? Like basically that's what he was saying.
But he was like the lack of professionalism in the

(26:47):
NBA today And that was an extreme example. But I
wonder what if you take that and apply it to
John doing the grenade celebration after he was warned and fined,
and it's like, what are you doing? There is no
mature explanation of guys, you're overreacting. There just isn't one.
That's just childish and unnecessary. That's just what it is.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
And by the way, you know, there's a lot of
people would be like, oh, you know, this is just
a bunch of guys taking sports too seriously. And the
result of this is, you know, Jah is just a
young guy in his mid twenties having fun, making a
ton of money, and if this is the way he
wants to do it, he's old enough to do what

(27:30):
he wants to do, So why does it bother you
so much? Look, here's the funny thing about sports. It's
a culture that we all share. Like, if you maxed
out in eighth grade, well, I mean, no shame, that's
where you tapped out. If you made it to high
school sports and you made the varsity, okay, you know
that's what.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
Okay, that was your ceiling, that was your limit.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
If you were lucky enough to play in college, if
you played professionally at some point, if you participated, even
just as a specter, even if it was just always
something you were interested in, you were taught the rules
of the game. You were taught the rules of engagement.
Everybody was taught the decorum of sport. And there's a
hygiene to it, and it checks itself. And when there's

(28:14):
a one player who can't seem to play by the rules,
it makes the game no fun. Everybody had the kid
who had the ball, and he came to the court and.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
He called foul on everything, and as soon.

Speaker 4 (28:26):
As he got too upset, he went home with his ball,
and then nobody could play. Because he was selfish, immature,
he didn't care about the decorum of the sport. Jah
right now is that tantruming child on the court trying
to play pick up with his friends, but can't get
out of his own way to see that he's having
a bigger effect than just himself. That's the problem with this.

(28:49):
He is sharing a culture with all of us, and
when somebody does something that's outside the culture, they become
an outlier. And Jah right now is an outlier and
it is completely self inflicted. Yeah, he can gaslight somebody else,
but I ain't falling for it because nobody told him
he had hold guns in social media posts.

Speaker 3 (29:07):
He did that.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
And guess what, It is expressly written in your contract
that if you do something detrimental to conduct wise to
the league, they can find you and suspend you.

Speaker 3 (29:19):
So they did. They even gave him a warning, and
he did it again.

Speaker 4 (29:23):
And then for him to continue down this road of
celebrating like he's shooting a firearm and then to throw
a grenade and then, like a poet, try to write
it off as oh these are my words exploding all
over the mass.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Shut off jaw. It's just dumb. It's immature.

Speaker 4 (29:40):
You're taking your ball and you're running home with it,
and you're crying to mom and dad, and you're saying, Yeah,
the NBA is too mean. It's all about them, and
they're not making it enough about me. Buddy, You've shared
the court with a lot of people, You've played by
a lot of different rules, You've had a lot of
different coaches.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
Maybe just show up and play hm hmm.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
Trying to think of what jaw would be like on
the golf.

Speaker 5 (30:03):
Course, trying to keep calm when things are going wrong.
That's where my head's at right now. No, I for
the record, I don't have a problem with Lebron shirtless.
Aren't the offensive lineman and all those crazy guys on
the NFL play you know, shirtless working out in like
the you know ten degree you know warm ups when
they're trying to show that they're not, you know.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
Phased by the cold.

Speaker 5 (30:23):
Like I don't hear an outcry about that, Like isn't
the arena closed during warm ups anyways?

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Like there's not even any fans in the building, Like
I don't know, I didn't. I don't know why.

Speaker 5 (30:33):
That's a weird hill to die out for Isah Thomas.
But yeah, I don't really have much to add to
the JAH thing. I think I think Rich really summed
it up well, I mean, we just have to move
on as a society from from this immaturity.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
And and I don't think he's he's at that level yet.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
It is Fox Sports Radio's Countdown, presented by Bett MGM.
Be sure to check out the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports Radio on YouTube and you'll see
a whole bunch of video highlights from our show. So
be sure to subscribe so you always have instant access
to our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. Well, sticking
with Lebron, you guys hear about this. This is more
of a goofy thing, but he is a Kenbassador. He

(31:15):
like that? What has that? Never heard of that? So
he is the first pro athlete to become a Ken
doll in the Barbie universe. The first one movie the
Barbie movie was Ambassador. Yeah. Yeah, Well you can get
this very if you're interested in this two days from now,
April fourteenth.

Speaker 3 (31:36):
Right.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
So, the Barbie signature Lebron James Kenbassador doll that's available
at certain stores the Target, Amazon, Walmart, and it starts
at seventy five bucks. What seventy what for a toy?

Speaker 4 (31:53):
Well, I'll tell you what, if you are a collector,
run out and get you one of these, because there
I I know a bunch of Actually, we have a
guy who works at Fox Sports Radio, Mike Harmon, who
you know, great hosts but also an avid baseball card collector.
He's got memorabilia that this feels like one of those

(32:14):
things that will probably end up being.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
A limited time only.

Speaker 4 (32:18):
So if you get your hands on one, leave it
in the box, do not damage the original packaging, put
it somewhere for twenty five years, and it might turn
you a profit on eBay at some point.

Speaker 3 (32:29):
But yeah, I actually don't hate this.

Speaker 4 (32:32):
I think among all the stories about how pros market
themselves in different ways, making yourself into a Ken Doll man,
that's pretty cool. As long as this Ken doll does
not warm up with his shirt off prior to.

Speaker 3 (32:44):
Games, that is right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll bang that.

Speaker 5 (32:49):
I mean, I guess seventy five bucks in today's society
is not as much as probably when I was playing
with Legos back.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
In the day.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
By the way, legos are pretty expensive too. Toys are
not cheap today.

Speaker 5 (33:02):
I'm sure you dealt with it. Like when I buy
toys for my for my nieces and nephews for their birthdays.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
I'm like, goodness, gracious. Yeah, Well, and the Barbie thing,
you know, to take it a step further, there have
been nine female athletes that are in the Barbie universe, right,
like the w NBA's Sue Bird, Venus Williams. They're they're
in the Barbie universe, right, They've had their their image

(33:33):
and likeness made into Barbie's. But this is the first
pro athlete that's in the Ken doll face and that's Lebron.
And how about this, I love my favorite nugget of
the whole thing. The James doll is one inch taller
than a traditional Ken doll. I would just love to
hear the conversation of what went into that, which we

(33:56):
need the Lebron doll to be an inch taller because
we'll not scale. So take that for what it's worth.
And yeah, I think it's fine, Like, hey, market yourself
in a different way. You're the first to do it.
I was the only problem with that, but price, I
have a problem with the price. But I don't have
a problem with the price. Price, but I don't have

(34:17):
a problem with that idea. Yeah, all right, We've got
Rich Roidberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst.
I'm Brian no Hey. Score bigger at bet mgm when
you win with boost tokens, odds, boost tokens and more.
Even if your bet doesn't hit, we've got you covered
with no sweat tokens. And that's not all. Sign up
with betmgm today and you'll have access to countless basketball

(34:39):
betting options, including new look same game parlays, teasers, live bets,
and so much more. All right, speaking of betting, the
parlay platter is right around the corner. We'll each have
one selection for you. We pull it together for a
greater payout. We'll tell you what we've been cooking up.
Coming up next, it's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by
bet MGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM.

(35:02):
On the last Sunday here in the NBA regular season,
BETMGM will be running the NBA Sunday Splash Jackpot. Users
will have the opportunity to win a share of fifty
thousand dollars in bonus bets if their player scores the
most three pointers on Sunday. All you have to do
is opt into the Sunday Splash Jackpot promotion and plays

(35:22):
a ten dollars plus NBA player three pointers bet up
to one time. If your player scores the most three
pointers on Sunday, you'll win a share of fifty thousand
dollars in bonus bets. All right, let's do this.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
Check this out, ar lay letter.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
Ah, yes, the platter is here. We each have one
selection for you. We pull it together for a greater payout.
It's Jared theme Smith. I don't know if you know
that Theme is his middle name, but he's got the
theme for us here today.

Speaker 5 (35:55):
I feel like I'm like the party guy, you know,
like I'm always planning.

Speaker 3 (35:59):
A good theme. Whatever.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
We're going toga here. It's a toga.

Speaker 5 (36:03):
Yeah, well, maybe we'll call it breakfast in base knocks.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
How about that base hits hit parade?

Speaker 3 (36:10):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
There's a bunch of different ones you can do.

Speaker 5 (36:12):
We're just gonna give you a major League baseball player
to get one hit today, just one. All we need
is one hit, and I'm gonna go with Jackson Cherio
of the Milwaukee Brewers. Why well, it's got a twelve
game hits streak or excuse me, thirteen lucky thirteen game
hit street to start the season, one of the longest
active streaks in baseball, nineteen base knocks fifty eight A

(36:32):
b's for Jackson this year, he faces Corbyn Burns today,
and I know you're like, wait a minute, Jackson Vigerio
plays for the Brewers.

Speaker 2 (36:39):
Didn't Corn Burns Pitchford Births. Yes, he used to.

Speaker 5 (36:41):
Now he pitches for the Diamondbacks actually, and he has
not had a good start in his first two outings
with Arizona, almost a six ERA, So a little bit
of a revenge matchup today. Nobody knows Corbyn Burns better
than the Milwaukee Brewers. And I think we're gonna see
Jackson Cheerio get a base hit against Milwaukee today.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
Choose me against Arizona today.

Speaker 3 (37:01):
Former Rocke like it.

Speaker 4 (37:03):
I'm going with Fernando Tatist, junior Padres player. He's off
to one of the hottest starts in baseball. Hitting over
he's tiring over a three seventy five average last fifteen games,
twelve hits last seven games, nine He's he's averaging more
than a hit a game right now, Padres facing the

(37:25):
Rockies at home. He's been better at home hitting the ball,
seeing the ball than he has been on the road.
So yeah, give me FTJ for the win.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
FTJ, ft W.

Speaker 4 (37:35):
He's gonna get a hit today against Colorado.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
I'm gonna go with Randy A. Rosarina, former cardinal, former cardinal.
They let him go for like a you know, a
box of baseballs. Yeah, but I'm gonna take him against
the Rangers today. Rocker off to a bit of an
if he start right for the Rangers. So I'll go

(38:00):
with the ros Orraina to get a hit. It's minus
a dollar fifty five, so you know, I think it's
a decent price for a parlay platter right where there's
a little bit of juice but involved in a platter
not horrible. So I think the odds are in his
favor to get a hit. I'll go with Randy A. Rosarina. So, Jared,
you have the payout here.

Speaker 5 (38:21):
We're at least at four to one range, right, like
we're no, no.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
Not quite there plus one eighty three. We're a little nay.

Speaker 5 (38:28):
I know, I know, Pat jis is like a three
is like a minus three hundred Jackson Cherio is like
a minus two to eighty and ranny. Actually, actually you
know you're the bargain basement guy here.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
You're minus one sixty on on a rose Arraine.

Speaker 5 (38:42):
So the thing with hit parlays is I do like
to space them out by time, because certain books also
offer unders on hit parlays, so like if you if
you wait, like this is just like a strategy, like
I we do this a lot with with parlays, Like
I'd like to space them out faced off of time
because if you get to the last leg, you could

(39:02):
just come back on an under and get yourself a little.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
Middle vibe there. But yeah, I don't. I don't have
a problem with a plus one eighty three and hip
hoar Ley.

Speaker 5 (39:09):
It's sometimes it's you don't realize how easy it is
to get a hit, like little dribbler down the line,
God beats it out, like like there's so many ways
to get a hit. I think the total bases prop
is the one that really turns me off because it's
just I would rather do hits or hits plus runs
plus RBIs the h R R. Those are the two

(39:31):
batter props I like the most. I don't like home
run props those have been juiced to high heaven and
the total bases are just a little clunky. So hits
or hr R those are the batter props in baseball.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
I like the target, dude. I'll tell you, yes, you
can easily get a hit. That's obvious. But you'll think
heading into a certain matchup with a certain player, you're like,
just a base knock, Yeah, it's in. I'man come on this,
see and then nine an hour fastball heater right down,
No problem, he'll have a sack fly and it's all

(40:02):
we're still chasing a hit. Then it gets pitched around
and you're like, okay, So the hr R because you
get credit for.

Speaker 5 (40:12):
The runs and the RBIs it's like your job as
a baseball player is to get on bays, driving runs
and score runs. The h r R prop on bet
MGM is a in my opinion, is like the the Filet.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
Mignon of batter prompts. I'll see I like that one, yeah,
because you don't get back door. And I had Jose
Who did I have last? I can't remember who I had,
but it was just disgusting where he got pitched around
twice and I'm like, he's got four at bats. What
are we doing over it?

Speaker 3 (40:40):
All? Right?

Speaker 2 (40:40):
Coming up back, it's another installment of unintended consequences. We
shall explain. Coming up. Ah, welcome in Happy Saturday to you.
We get to the land of unintended consequences here momentarily.
Be sure to check out the Fox Sports Radio YouTube channel.
Just search Fox Sports It's Radio on YouTube and you'll

(41:01):
see a whole bunch of video highlights from our shows.
Be sure to subscribe to you always have instant access
to our Fox Sports Radio videos on YouTube. Okay, So
Nico IAmA Lava, that is right, the former Tennessee quarterback.
So this escalated quickly. Yeah, So we got news yesterday

(41:21):
that he didn't show up to practice and he was
holding out for a better nil deal, right, he wanted
more money, So we skipped Tennessee's practice. And then today
we have word that Tennessee head coach Josh Hipel he
informed the team that Nico is out. We're moving on
life without Nico IAmA Layava and so it's like, okay, wow,

(41:44):
all right, So first things first, I would put it
this way. People are gonna freak out and be like,
this is college football and we've got holdouts. Now you're
holding out for more cash that people are gonna have
a huge problem with it. I'm pro player on this
where if a player has leverage and decides to utilize

(42:06):
that leverage to get more cash, don't be shocked if
that happens. I mean, it's just like, shrug your shoulders.
It's happening again. In the NFL. That's the way it goes.
Sometimes you have to play hardball to get paid, So
don't be surprised when college players do that. And Nico
thought that he had the leverage. Turns out he didn't,

(42:26):
it turns out. But just the concept of if you
have the leverage and you're gonna utilize it, I really
don't have a problem with that. It's an unintended consequence
of Nil gonna overreact like I think a lot of
people will.

Speaker 3 (42:41):
Now.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
The problem with Nico is he just didn't have the
leverage he thought he had and now he's out of
his gig. He threw nineteen touchdown passes last season, you
know what I mean. And Tennessee is like he's looking
for four mil. No no, no time to turn the page.
So there's a lot going on with this. But I
just Initially, I wouldn't overreact to a holdout what a

(43:03):
lot of people will because it's foreign in college football.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
Yeah yeah, I think that nil has opened a door
of possibilities for players, and it's opened up a whole
Pandora's box for athletic departments and coaches alike. Nobody loves
the fluidity of players, except for the players having options,

(43:29):
having an ability to chase a higher paycheck elsewhere. Those
are things that well, I mean, very similar to free
agency in professional sports. College football players and basketball players
have been able to enjoy and exploit. And it's something,
quite frankly that every time I hear a coach really

(43:49):
complain about this, especially when it's a coach who has
in the past jumped ship on a team or teams
to chase more money, more prestigious opportunities. It falls on
deaf years because they would do it for their family.
So why is it any different for a player doing
it for his future or his current family. Some of

(44:12):
these guys do have kids, some of these guys do
get married in college, and so I don't see any different.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
This is a.

Speaker 4 (44:19):
Player who is of legal age to go and fight
in a war. You know what, I mean, for the
most part, we're talking about eighteen to twenty two year
old players. I mean there's obviously some outliers, some younger
most of the time they're not, but some older for sure,
because like we know with the NCAA, there are a
lot of different reasons why players get their eligibility extended.

(44:42):
I see no problem with somebody who's legal age to
vote and go fight for this country to earn a
living playing football, and if that's at the collegiate level,
so be it.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
Coaches jump ship on teams all the time.

Speaker 4 (44:55):
The fact that Eya Malava is leaving Tennessee, it's his
right to do so, and it's a part of the
culture right now, and the best coaches are going to
find a way to coach with these obstacles in the way.

Speaker 5 (45:10):
I am A leaving his name should be I am
A leaving. I mean sorry, I'm sorry. That's my corny
dad joke of the day. So I'll bring you some
numbers and then you could tell me if the juice
is worth to squeeze. So this is actually a tweet
that our Fox Sports call it Chris Filica the Bear,
sent out yesterday when the news first broke that he

(45:30):
didn't attend practice. So last year Nico through nineteen touchdown passes.
Eleven came against Chattanooga, UTEP and Vanderbilt. Four of the
nine in conference play came against Bandy. So he's asking
for Filet Mignon prices and he's given you Chuck Steak output.

(45:51):
I mean, he's asking for QB one money in the SEC.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
The problem is, I have sellers from South Carolina. I've
got Lagway from Florida.

Speaker 5 (45:59):
I even got Smyer of LSU ahead of Nico and
my SEC quarterback rating.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
So he's asking for QB one money in the SEC
and he's QB four. He didn't have leverage.

Speaker 5 (46:10):
Brian, you laid it out perfectly, like like that's what
it's the art of the deal negotiations.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
I want this, You're worth this. Can we meet in
the middle.

Speaker 3 (46:18):
No? Bye?

Speaker 5 (46:20):
And I credit Tennessee and Josh Hipel for not caving.
And I do think this is not the last time
we're gonna.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Hear of a story like this.

Speaker 5 (46:31):
I think this is the first domino to fall. This
isn't the first holdout in.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
College football history.

Speaker 5 (46:37):
There's been a couple of lower level ones for smaller,
you know, guys that are not on Nico's not a
quarterback and he's starting quarterback in the SEC. There's been
a couple guys at Georgia I saw that did this.
There's been a there was another one I think it
was in the Big Ten last year, but not high
level guys, not guys that are gonna you know, breaking news,

(46:58):
you know, Leed Sports.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
Center type of stuff. This won't be the last. That's
my prediction. It's a pretty easy.

Speaker 5 (47:05):
It's like the odds of that are like minus a
thousand that this won't be the last one. I don't
even think it's gonna be the last one this year because.

Speaker 2 (47:10):
The spring portal window opens.

Speaker 5 (47:11):
In four days and Nico has now set the bar
to where it's open season on renegotiating transfer portal contracts.
This is where we are in college sports because the
regulations around NIL and the portal have not yet been crystallized.
We are still figuring out the best system for how
these kids are going to move schools. The coaches have

(47:33):
been doing this for years. This is nothing new, but
now we're in the vibe of the players doing it,
and it's obviously a completely new Pandora's box that we're opening.
But to be fair, like the box has been opened
for the last few years, this is just a new
wrinkle that the box has given us because the holdout
situation is, for the most part, has been a professional

(47:56):
sports vibe. Happens all the time in pro sports, but
now it's being at the collegiate level.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Yeah, this happened last year. Remember UNLV quarterback mess right
Luca correct, Yeah, he he left. He red shirted after
three games, and his representatives told the ESPN he only
received three thousand dollars of what was verbally promised to
be one hundred thousand dollars. So after three games he's like,
I'm red shirting. I'm freaking out of here. And it's like, whoa,

(48:23):
what is happening right now? So there are unintended consequences
with this. People get all REVVD up about nil and
see here we go again. We're paying players and this
is what happens. And I look at it like this.
I've always used this comparison because it just makes sense
to me. Maybe it will to everybody listening there, or
at least like, you know, like five people of the

(48:43):
people listening. You know, I don't know. I think of
it in terms of let's say you're in a very
successful band, you know what I mean. So you go
and you sell out an arena. It generates all this money,
and the band doesn't get a They don't make any money,
but they can sell some T shirts, they can sell

(49:05):
some CDs, they can sell some memorabilia that you can
make a buck off of your name, image and likeness.
Like that's the least that should be done over here.
So Nico essentially was like, hey, we got to up
the price of these T shirts in CDs. You know,
I need to make more over here. And it turned
out where that was not in his best interest, but

(49:27):
just the concept of trying to get more money, people
will freak out, like he wants four million dollars. That's
still a drop in the bucket compared to the money
that is generated and the players don't get a cut
of it. In college football. Think of the money that's
generated in the SEC at Tennessee. It is huge money.

(49:50):
So I know you'll hear he wants four million dollars. Whoa,
It's like your hairline is just receiving immediately, Like, whoa,
it's not that much at all in comparison in the
grand scheme of things, It's just he didn't have the
leverage to command that price tag. Yep. But the other
interesting layer here is I get that Tennessee's pushing back,

(50:11):
but now all of a sudden, they look in some eyes,
if you're a recruit, they look a little cheap. They're
the team that pushes back and doesn't want to pay. Like,
do you want to be known for that too? That's
something else you have to consider.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
Yeah, yeah, it is true.

Speaker 4 (50:25):
Because remember when you are a professional football team in
the NFL, or you're a professional basketball team in the NBA,
and your ownership or your front office does something that
is a little dubious in terms of, you know, how
they handle a player and his free agency, or franchise

(50:47):
tagging a player in the NFL, or you know, treatment
of players overall, you are rated also, you are like, look,
there are certain NFL franchises where players know, hey, I'm
dealing with the chief franchise, like, there are going to
be certain players who get paid here, but they are
going to be shortcuts taken. And then there are certain

(51:10):
NFL franchises who you know they're willing to even overpay
for their talent, and it's just a matter of ownership
in the front office and the philosophy that they follow. Well,
same is going to happen at the collegiate level. You're
gonna have a lot of players or prospects who are
going to do their own investigative work on these teams
and how they handle these types of situation. And also

(51:32):
it could it could have an impact on you short
term or long term.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
So if you're the coach.

Speaker 4 (51:36):
Of a team or you know now college football teams
are hiring general managers. If you're a general manager of
a college football team and you you know, quote unquote
screw over player X in you know, the month of
April or May, well maybe when you know recruit or
portal opportunity B comes up. Well, maybe players be says well,

(52:01):
I don't like what you did to player X, so
I'm not even gonna consider your school as a potential
landing spot. So that is another wrinkle in this situation, Brian,
And I'm glad you brought it up that it's not
just the players who are going to be criticized for
how they handle these situations. It's the teams and they
better get it right.

Speaker 5 (52:21):
I've actually got Nico's QB five in the SEC. I
got our commanding in front of him too. So you're
asking for QB one money pal in your QB five.
I mean, like, it's this is basic, This is negotiation,
one on one, Like what are you worth? He had
the thirty eighth ranke QBR last year in the country.
You're asking for money that no other quarterback is asking

(52:42):
for in the country. Like it's just like Carson Beck
made two and a half million last year, Georgia, You're
you're a million, million and a half better than Carson Beck.
And I know Carson Beck. Dion have a great year.
He was banged up, the receivers were dropping everything. Defense
wasn't as good. But let's be honest, he's still one
of the top quarterback prospects.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
Like I just the juice isn't worth to squeeze.

Speaker 5 (53:01):
And I credit Josh Heipel for saying no, maas right,
like and I agree with you, Brian, Like Tennessee doesn't
want to come off as cheap, but they also don't
want to come off as frivolous spending money on things
that they're not like what it's not worth? Right, Like
when you know you go to the go back to
the discussion we just add about Lebron and the Ken doll.

(53:22):
That Ken doll ain't worth seventy five bucks. To be fair,
people will pay seventy five bucks for it, but it's
not worth that. Nico is not worth what he's asking for,
and he wasn't willing to meet in the middle because maybe,
just maybe, And here's the next phase of this story.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
There's another offer on the table. Mmm, where could it be?

Speaker 3 (53:46):
Hmm?

Speaker 5 (53:47):
How about Nico's hometown there? And is he from southern California?

Speaker 2 (53:51):
He's a so Cal guy?

Speaker 5 (53:52):
Right?

Speaker 3 (53:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (53:53):
Yeah? How about those Trojans down there in so Cal?

Speaker 3 (53:57):
What do you think you think?

Speaker 5 (53:58):
There was maybe a h another offer on the table
from a big time school, and Nico's like, take it
or leave it.

Speaker 2 (54:06):
This is where I'm at. There are a couple of
schools like USC UCLA. Yeah I've heard Notre Dame mentioned.

Speaker 3 (54:14):
Whoo yeah yeah.

Speaker 5 (54:17):
To me, Like that makes sense to me because I
was always told you do not leave a job until
you have another job to go to. So Nico pushed
all his chips into the middle. This is where I
want to be. Can you match me?

Speaker 2 (54:31):
No, all right. Well, and that's the other thing too.
You got to start thinking about stuff you've never thought
about before, because we'll talk about these contracts in the NFL,
like this sets the market. This this new quarterback deal
that that's the baseline of you know, a huge extension,
YadA YadA, that type of thing. Like there's a whole

(54:54):
market now with nil and this does it does hurt
the market when the next quarterback is looking for the
next big nil deal. Okay, yeah, like it impacts the market.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
You know.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
So Carson Beck, he's believed to make about four million
now that he's at Miami Darien Menso are you like who?
He's believed to make around four million? Also, he left Tulane,
he's now at Duke. So I think Iyama Layava and
his inner circle right his team, they're like, dude, if
that guy's making four million, you're worth four MILLI in

(55:29):
the SEC kidding me. And it turned out that is
not the case. But we'll see where he lands and
if we get any details of what he's making there.
But yeah, there's a whole market now of who makes what,
and the next quarterback can say, hey, that guy's making
that I should make this so it's a whole thing. Now.
I don't have an issue with it. I know that
a lot of people do. But the bare minimum you

(55:52):
should be able to make a buck off your name,
image and likeness. When you're generating that much money and
not seeing a penny of it like that, that's just
you're gonna have to deal with some stuff over here.
That's one of the things. All right. We've got Rich Orenberger,
Penn State All American, Jared Smith, FSR, betting analyst. I'm
bribly in no use code countdown at BETMGM and receive
up to fifteen hundred dollars back in bonus bets if

(56:14):
you don't win your first bet. When you're registered with BETMGM,
you'll get instant access to a variety of parlay selection features,
live betting options, signature bets and the best daily promotions
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you don't win your first bet. Coming up next, our
main man, Seamus McGee, team lead of Sports Trading at BETMGM,

(56:37):
cans all set for the Masters and beyond. I have
no idea what sport the shame you will be We'll
find out.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
Coming up.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It is
Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. Call them the
chaos with the shipping software that delivers. Use code Sports
for a free trial at shipstation dot com. That ships
Station dot com Code Sports and be sure to tune
in to the Draft Night Live. That's on Thursday, April

(57:07):
twenty fourth, at eight pm Eastern throughout the first round
of the draft. Insider Jay Glazer, former Jets general manager
Joe Douglas, college Football Hall of Famer LeVar Arrington, and
Fox Sports Lead college football reporter Jenny Taft. They'll have pick,
pick by pick, predictions and reactions to every first round selection.

(57:27):
That's Thursday, April twenty fourth, at eight pm Eastern throughout
the first round of the Draft, live right here on
Fox Sports Radio. It's brought to you by ship Station. Okay,
so good bad news. Bad news is we don't have
Shamus today. He's busy. But good news. I'm gonna guess
the Seamous special here. I'm thinking he was gonna take
Arsenal and Layford to time. That's what I think he

(57:49):
is cheated, cheated, cheating. It's my guess. I don't know
if that's true, and I might not have taken that
at all. That's my best.

Speaker 5 (57:57):
I could have given you a million chances, you never
would have guessed that it might be right.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
Right, How about this though, we've got some NFL news
Joe Flacco to the Browns. Why now you might be like,
oh gosh, why is this? But the layers to it
are pretty interesting, right, So Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins was
rumored to maybe be in play for Cleveland, but his
camp wanted to wait until at least after the first

(58:25):
round because he didn't want what happened last year to
happen again, right, Like, if he goes to Cleveland and
then they draft a guy and he's like, oh great,
so I get to hold the clipboard again. He didn't
want that. And so the Browns are basically like, cool,
we'll sign Flacco. We'll just roll with Flacco and Kenny Pickett.
And now it's like, where's Kirk gonna go? Maybe the

(58:46):
Saints if they don't go with the quarterback in the
draft that there aren't too many landing spots for Kirk
Cousins now, who was tied for the league lead and
interceptions last season. But you might not care about Kirk.
It also shows you a little bit about Aaron Rodgers
right where if Aaron Rodgers pulls a Kirk Cousins and
waits a little bit too long, don't be surprised if

(59:07):
there isn't a landing spot if he does that. So
the clock is ticking, The draft is right around the corner.
We'll see between now and April twenty fourth if Rogers
is signed, because if he isn't, he is absolutely gambling
with Hey, the music stopped and we don't have any
chairs for you to sit on here. That could absolutely
happen if he doesn't sign in the next week and

(59:28):
a half.

Speaker 4 (59:29):
And it's very difficult to get inside of a player's mind,
especially when they're not with a team, they're not affiliated
with a football program, because with the program, with the
franchise comes whatever level of you know, predictability or I mean,
I guess this makes it sound really bad, but brainwashing

(59:50):
that comes with it. When you're with the franchise, you
kind of drink the kool aid and you become a
little bit more predictable. When you're not, when you are
a player who's choosing his free agency destination, you're on
your own and you may close the circle. So it's
just a few people who are in on the decision

(01:00:11):
making process.

Speaker 3 (01:00:12):
And I imagine that's the case with Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 4 (01:00:15):
I will say, though it's my guess, but I'll guess
that Aaron Rodgers is just fine being unsigned right now.
You know, this is a guy who, whether you want
to believe, he's still recovering from an injury because of
how quick it looked like the trajectory he was on,
you know, two years ago when he initially ruptured his achilles.

(01:00:38):
I promise you he's still recovering from that injury. You know,
surgeries take a while to heal completely. And I think
that he battled through some of what was left over
from the recovery process last year playing that season.

Speaker 3 (01:00:52):
So I think that's part of it. His age is
a part of it.

Speaker 4 (01:00:55):
He's not going to move off of his couch for
an opportunity that you know, for example, Joe Flacco just
signed too. I don't think he wants to be a
bridge quarterback. I think he wants to be the guy.
And so he's gonna have to wait for a team
that has an actual shot, has an actual pulse or
a heartbeat to make some noise in the NFL playoff

(01:01:17):
or at very least on the on the preseason. On
the outset, looking at the preseason, you say, oh, they
got a shot.

Speaker 3 (01:01:23):
You know that's a potential playoff team.

Speaker 4 (01:01:25):
I think he's gonna wait for one of those opportunities
to arise and then he's gonna sign. Otherwise, he may
go unsigned all the way through the draft, all the
way through training camp. Who knows, maybe we'll start the
season and he still won't have a seat in the
musical chairs you were talking about. Be no.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
So here are my predictions.

Speaker 5 (01:01:44):
You guys want to record this in the back bow,
we can play it back in a few weeks. Aaron
Rodgers will not sign with anyone before the draft. Why
because he doesn't want a situation with Kirk Cousins to
happen to him. And Pittsburgh is very hot and heavy
on sh door right now. Pittsburgh's hot and heavy on
a quarterback Milroe Jackson Dart. Why would Aaron like if

(01:02:06):
I'm not I can't get inside of Aaron rodgers head
no one can. But if I was Aaron and I
had just taken this whole tour of the Steelers facility,
and then I got to peek at their draft plans,
and I'm like, wait a minute, I'm gonna sign with
you now, and then you're gonna draft a quarterback in
two weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:02:22):
Yeah, I'm not cool with that.

Speaker 5 (01:02:24):
So I don't think Aaron will sign before the draft.
I think he will sign before OTA's that makes sense
to me. But I think he wants to let the
landscape settle and see which team really needs a quarterback,
which team didn't get the first round quarterback that they coveted,
and then make his decision from there. The Derek Carr

(01:02:48):
injury yesterday flipped all of this on its head. So
I was actually on the air yesterday when that news broke,
and I sprinted to the bet MGM app to wager
on the Saints first drafted player to be a quarterback
at plus two ten. I blinked and it was minus
one twenty. That's how quickly the draft markets move in

(01:03:08):
the betting world. I'm hearing a lot of love for
Shador at nine to New Orleans. There's a lot of
Kellen Moore connections right, used to coach in Dallas, a
lot of Cowboys and Sanders connections. I know Chador's from Texas.
They know like and Kellen Moore and the Cowboys or
the Saint staff didn't go to Shador's pro day. They

(01:03:31):
went to Jackson Darts pro day. But there was plenty
of opportunities for the Saints and Kellen Moore to visit
with Shador, and I'm sure there's a lot of back
channeling going on there. And again, when you've got a
quarterback that's had that much experience and you have that
kind of personal connection with him, you don't really need
to go to his pro day to see if he's
good or not. So I think Chador to New Orleans

(01:03:52):
at nine makes a lot of sense. And then that
leaves Pittsburgh open to Jalen Nolro Jackson Dart and then
you get the Aaron Rodgers decision, and then you get
the Kirk Cousins situation finalized. So Cleveland's holding all the
cards here. They're gonna take Travis Hunter at two, I'm
pretty sure of that, and then they're gonna figure out
a way to get maybe back into the late first round.

(01:04:14):
To get another quarterback because they do want to have
the tiered system with quarterbacks. Right, You've got Joe Flacco,
the experience veteran. Everything I've heard, they love Kenny Pickett,
he's the more inexperienced veteran. And then you get the
rookie and all three of those guys compete for the
job in camp. Like that makes a lot of sense
to me. So all of these pieces aren't kind of
falling into place. But we're just waiting for the draft

(01:04:35):
to play out because I don't think Aaron Rodgers wants
to sign until he knows what Pittsburgh's gonna do.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
Hey, you could be right. The funny thing though, too,
is look at Minnesota, Right, there's no guarantee that if
Rogers went there, like he would be QB one. But
there's no guarantee he would be QB one all season long,
you know, Like JJ McCarthy is a top ten pick.
So let's say they get off to a rocky start,

(01:05:01):
or they lose a couple of games. Rogers isn't playing great.
Is it at least possible that they would make a change. Yeah,
it is. It's at least possible. So it's funny like,
I'm not disagreeing with you, Jared, I hear what you're
saying about. Maybe he waits till after at least the
first round or after the draft, and then he looks
to sign. That could play out that way, but it

(01:05:22):
seems like right now he would absolutely jump at the
shot to be the quarterback of the Vikings. It seems
like maybe he's waiting for that. Agreed, that's his first choice,
one hundred percent agree, right, But even that, there's no
one hundred percent lock guarantee your QB one all season law.
It's not like they have right, like just some random
due that's like, that's clearly not your starting quarterback. Like

(01:05:45):
JJ McCarthy was a top ten pick and if things
aren't going swimmingly to team with high expectations they won
what fourteen games last season, if it's a little bit rocky, Yeah,
there's no guarantee. They wouldn't make a change there either,
So like I wouldn't look at Minnesota is like that's
the fortress and I'm QB one for sure. It's like
there's no guarantee at this point with any of the

(01:06:06):
teams that are left that would employ him.

Speaker 4 (01:06:11):
The funny thing about Rogers is right now, he looks
like a little bit of a headache, a little bit
of a problem, a little bit of a quarterback on
the decline. Where you look around the NFL and you
see some of the contracts that were renegotiated, you know,
brock Purty still waiting. There's a couple of things to

(01:06:31):
be sorted out, hammered out before the draft. And then
also the prospects coming out of college football, which, like
we know, many times it's hard to tell which guys
are going to sync and which guys are gonna soar.
But when you look at Aaron Rodgers right now, with
all these options in front of these teams, yeah, maybe
he looks like chopped liver now.

Speaker 3 (01:06:50):
But let's get to training camp. Yep. Let's see one
of these.

Speaker 4 (01:06:53):
Teams who has a legitimate shot to make a playoff
run lose their starting quarterback. You know, let's get to
the pre Let's see one of these guys get an
early season concussion and they play in a competitive division,
which happens. Look, player quarterbacks get hurt too, It happens.

Speaker 3 (01:07:09):
All the time.

Speaker 4 (01:07:10):
Let's see one of these star quarterbacks, you know, throw
a football and break a finger on the back of
somebody's helmet because they got pushed into the pocket. Like
these things happen, These freak things happens, where all of
a sudden, you need a band aid for about eight
weeks of the NFL season. And maybe it doesn't happen
during the preseason or training camp. Maybe it takes week one,
week two, week three, week four, All of a sudden,

(01:07:32):
Aaron Rodgers goes from looking like chopped liver, like an
afterthought here in April, but come week two of the
NFL season, with a team that has a legitimate shot
to either win their division or win a wildcard spot
at some point as the season continues to unravel, all
of a sudden, he's looking like the best available option.

(01:07:53):
And so I think Aaron Rodgers is playing his cards perfectly.
And also, like we know, Aaron Rodgers likes to have
his name in the press. That has been one thing
that's been majorly consistent. So I agree with Jared. I
don't think he signs unless the sweetheart situation opens up
before the draft. Otherwise he's going to We're going to

(01:08:16):
have some sort of little, you know, news item to
chew on the weekend of the draft, just like he's
done many times. He's become the story of the NFL draft,
like two or three times in recent memory, and I
could see that happening again this upcoming NFL Draft.

Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
Yeah, no doubt he loves the spotlight.

Speaker 5 (01:08:33):
I think I think the Vikings are not as hot
on a as Aaron is hot.

Speaker 2 (01:08:38):
On the Vikings.

Speaker 3 (01:08:39):
Right.

Speaker 5 (01:08:39):
It's like a relationship situation. Usually there's one person that
likes the spouse more than the other, right, And I
think that's the vibe with with Aaron and Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (01:08:49):
I think Minnesota really likes.

Speaker 5 (01:08:50):
JJ McCarthy, and I think they want to give him
every chance to win that job. And the veteran that
they do bring in, I think they want, like I've
heard Ryan Tannehill's name loaded like that makes more sense
to me for Minnesota because that's a guy that is
probably willing to be a tutor, right, like a mentor.
I don't think Aaron is that guy. And that's why

(01:09:13):
I don't think Minnesota is as hot on Rogers as
Rogers is as hot on the Vikings, because the Vikings
is the ideal spot.

Speaker 2 (01:09:22):
I mean, look what Sam Darnold did last year, played
like an.

Speaker 5 (01:09:25):
MVP, for like fifteen sixteen weeks. So I do think
there's a certain level of complacency with Minnesota because they
know that they have a good roster and if they
were right about McCarthy, they don't need Aaron Rodgers. Rogers
needs the Vikings more than the Vikings need Rodgers, unless
McCarthy's not as healthy as he needs to be in
order to get up to speed for week one. I

(01:09:47):
think May ish, end of April early May is the
is the Rogers sweet spot. After the draft settles before
OTA's I think that's when Aaron will make his decision.
I think it will be Pittsburgh, unless Pittsburgh takes a
quarterback in the first round that might turn Aaron off.

Speaker 2 (01:10:04):
Maybe it's New Orleans.

Speaker 5 (01:10:06):
I thought Kirk Cousins to New Orleans made sense, but
I don't know if Atlanta would trade in the division. Like,
there's a lot of moving pieces here that you've got
to kind of digest. But the Derek Carr injury yesterday
really pushed the ball forward because now New Orleans, in
my opinion, is taking a quarterback at nine. And I
think these quarterbacks just like last year, right, no one
had Michael Pennox in the top ten. No one had

(01:10:27):
bo Nicks go going to Denver in the top fifteen.
The quarterbacks tend to get taken before you think they're
going to get taken, and that makes Pittsburgh I think
they're at twenty somewhere in that range. That makes Pittsburgh
a little iffy to get a really good quarterback in
that spot, and that that's when Aaron Rodgers will say, Okay,
I'm a stealer now. So the draft is going to

(01:10:48):
be the pivot point. And I think after the draft
is when we hear the Aaron Rodgers news.

Speaker 2 (01:10:52):
Well, it'd be funny if Rogers is taking his time
and it's one hundred percent just muled by football reasons,
you know what I mean, we're taking it like Rogers
loves the spotlight. He loves the drag this thing out
and he's like, no, really, it's just football over.

Speaker 5 (01:11:10):
You're like, it would be funny if that that's gonna
have the spotlight no matter what, right, Like it's just
because it's Aaron Rodgers, right, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
But I think that's the other part is he's gambling
either way. Yep. If he signed today, it's a gamble
because you don't know for sure what that team's gonna
do in the draft. You might have a rookie who's
a first round pick on the same roster, like what
happened with Kirk Cousins last year. But if he waits
till after the draft, there might be very limited options.

(01:11:36):
And then you're dragging it out and waiting for an injury,
like who knows how long that's gonna happen. Who knows
what situation that might be. And it might not even
be better than Pittsburgh, right, Like you might not have
one of the contenders suffer an injury, and then you
have limited ramp up time before the season. Like that's
a big gamble that way too.

Speaker 3 (01:11:54):
Yeah, yeah it is.

Speaker 4 (01:11:56):
I mean, look, you can overplay your hand in poker,
you know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (01:12:00):
You could. You could, uh, you could flop what looks like, uh.

Speaker 4 (01:12:05):
A solid straight look, and you're thinking yourself, like, I
need one card, I need one card on the turn
of the river, and I'm gonna beat this table because
I don't believe you know, so and so has got this.
I don't believe so and So's got that. And so
you stick around and all of a sudden you realize
all right, I'm pot committed, but I know I've got
a loser in my hand. It's hard to face the

(01:12:29):
reality of overplaying your hand. You gotta know when to
fold them sometimes. And that's what you're talking about, Brian.
You're talking about coming to the poker table, getting flop
the hand and saying, eh, you know what, I'm not
gonna see this pair all the way to the end.
I'm gonna go ahead, I'm gonna slide these cards back
to the middle of the table because you know, it's
a pair that doesn't have any any any any faces

(01:12:52):
on them, you know. And I'm going to play for
the Pittsburgh Steelers. But in my opinion, if you're an
Rogers and you still want to play football, but you
want to play for a winner, why sign up for
a situation when you could even take the whole year off,
like Aaron Rodgers, if he still really wants to play football.

(01:13:14):
I mean, the truth of the matter is, I mean,
Aaron Rodgers is one of the best football players who's
ever played. If Tom Brady was available to sign not
every team would be interested in signing him, but somebody
would be.

Speaker 3 (01:13:28):
You know what I'm saying. If all of a sudden
he made it known.

Speaker 4 (01:13:30):
I'm coming out of the broadcast booth sometime after the draft.
I'm available. Somebody would sign him. I'm sure somebody would
sign Aaron Rodgers right now, but he is at a
point in his career where he can be a little choosy,
So it's up to him.

Speaker 3 (01:13:44):
Does he want to wait? Is he too impatient?

Speaker 4 (01:13:47):
Does he want to be with the team heading into
the regular season or into the preseason. We don't know
the answer to those questions, but I'm saying if if
he doesn't care about being with the team in the preseason,
I don't necessarily think he's overplaying his hand because there's
usually a specific need at the quarterback position that comes
up at some point during the season, and teams that

(01:14:08):
are able to bring in a Wilie veteran, a la
the Browns with Joe Flacco two years ago. It could
benefit you in a great way, and it can benefit
the player in a great way.

Speaker 5 (01:14:21):
Man, if you thought the Nico news was big, Tom
Brady comes out of retirement was shut down social media?

Speaker 2 (01:14:30):
Yeah like this.

Speaker 5 (01:14:31):
See It's it's kind of funny because I think the
conversation started with with Joe Flacco and we've made it
all the way to Tom Brady.

Speaker 2 (01:14:37):
Like that's that's where the NFL rabbit all those I
love it.

Speaker 5 (01:14:40):
Yeah, it like it. It feels like the top of
the draft. I'm feeling good about the top of the
draft now. Like honestly, I started really really digging into
the mocks over the last few days. Like I think
Ward Hunter Carter one, two, three, like I feel really
good about that. I think O line at New England
makes sense. At five, I think jack Simville goes either
Warren or Genty, and then probably genty. If Jacksonville goes

(01:15:04):
Tyler Warren at five, I think Genty goes six, and
then the Jets unsure about what the Jets do, and
I penciled in.

Speaker 2 (01:15:11):
I don't know, maybe it'll take like some.

Speaker 5 (01:15:12):
Water boy from some you know, South Dakota state somewhere,
no d line.

Speaker 2 (01:15:16):
O line makes sense with the culture there.

Speaker 5 (01:15:18):
And then I think Tyler Warren to Carolina makes sense
if that slips. And then Shador at nine, I think
that'll be the next quarterback off the board with the
ninth pick. I think New Orleans will take Shador and
then that sets the wheels in motion for Pittsburgh at
twenty one? Do they want to move up? Do they
think they can get a quarterback at twenty one that
they like? Do they like Chador more then Jaln Milroir

(01:15:41):
Jackson Dart? Do they like Jackson Dart more than? Like
the Dart mill Row vibe is now the next piece
of the quarterback puzzle because I feel confident that Shador
at nine is going to be a thing. And then
that's then the next stage of it is Cousins Rogers,
and then we see where the chips fall. So the quarterback,
like the carousel has been spinning. It kind of slowed

(01:16:03):
down for the last week or so, and now it's
spinning again. Like the Derek Carr injury yesterday really pushed
this thing forward because now teams are like, oh wow,
New Orleans is definitely going quarterback at nine. It's gonna
change the dynamic of that top half of the first round.

Speaker 2 (01:16:18):
Well that's the thing though the draft. Who the hell knows?

Speaker 1 (01:16:21):
Man?

Speaker 2 (01:16:22):
Because last year, who was saying, yeah, I know the
Falcons just signed Kirk Cousins to one hundred million dollar deal.
I think they're going Pennocks June Wild. No one thought that,
No one did it happened? So you never know? All right,
We've got rich John Berger, Penn State All American, Jared
Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm probably in no score bigger
at bet mgm. When you win with boost tokens, odds,

(01:16:44):
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coming up nextop it up the prop betting market. We
compare extensive notes Right around the corner. It's Fox Sports

(01:17:06):
Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios
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All right, let's do this.

Speaker 1 (01:17:47):
Prop it up player plays.

Speaker 2 (01:17:51):
Yes, the lovely prop bet waters. Let it just cleanse
you over here, right, chare we start.

Speaker 5 (01:18:01):
With you with something you like the beautiful waters of
Lake Minnetonka. I'm gonna go to the I'm gonna go
to the golf where there was a.

Speaker 2 (01:18:09):
Chappelle Show reference to anyone got it there. I'm gonna
go to the golf world.

Speaker 5 (01:18:13):
There's some really good masters props over on bet MGM.

Speaker 2 (01:18:18):
There's specials on the top golfers. There's matchup, there's all
kinds of fun stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:18:23):
And usually after round two, right before round three, Moving
day is what they call it. On Saturday, that's when
I like to get involved with outrights and props in
the golf world. I usually make some pre flop wagers
four tournament starts and I'll revisit on Friday night Saturday morning.
So Rory McElroy to shoot seventy or lower, essentially under
seventy and a half for his round three score minus

(01:18:45):
one ten over at bet MGM very fair os. Basically
a coin flip for him to shoot seventy or better.
I think he's gonna carry over that momentum from yesterday,
and I think Rory gives me two under or better
on his scorecard today.

Speaker 2 (01:18:57):
Seventy or better minus one ten over at bet.

Speaker 4 (01:19:00):
Yeah, Okay, wow, I'm going for kind of a long
shot here, but I love this pick. Paying attention to
this Padres Colorado Rocky series. It continues at Peco Park,
which is surprisingly favorable to right handed power hitters, and
the Rockies have a catcher, Hunter Goodman, off to a
really good start.

Speaker 3 (01:19:20):
He's been seeing the ball well.

Speaker 4 (01:19:21):
Goodman's gonna face Kyle Hart, pitcher for the Padres, who
came from the KDO.

Speaker 3 (01:19:26):
He's off to a rough MLB debut.

Speaker 4 (01:19:29):
He's getting hit hard, high or I should say really
big fly ball rate. So this this sets up Goodman,
who stands out as a solid home run candidate in
this matchup. Hunter Goodman plus four eighty to hit a
home run today, But I like it.

Speaker 3 (01:19:46):
I like Clink for the fence.

Speaker 2 (01:19:47):
How Holy cow Rich getting crazy? I love it. I'm
gonna go with Scotti Scheffler here. You just got to
get a birdie on a par three. Oh okay, that's
what you're going to those round three specials on MGM too. Huh,
that's right, that's right. We got four cracks at it right,
four par three holes. He's had two birdies each of

(01:20:11):
the first two rounds on par threes, so we just
need one today. What yesterday was compleet luck like it
should have been beyond the shrubs in the woods. Somehow
bounced out, he chipped it in. It was crazy. But uh,
maybe he's got luck on his side. He hasn't been
playing great yet and he's still birdying par three, so
I think that's a good look. It's minus a dollar

(01:20:32):
thirty five today. I'll go with that, all right. Coming
up next the ripple effect of some huge news in
this league. Oh what is going on? Happy Sunday to you. Oh,
we get to an interesting ripple effect here momentarily. You
can stream the show in all of our Fox Sports
Radio shows live twenty four to seven in the new

(01:20:53):
and improved iHeartRadio app. Just search Fox Sports Radio in
the app to stream us live and one of the
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Fox Sports Radio in the iHeartRadio app and it'll always
pop up at the top of your screen. Okay, so

(01:21:15):
we talked about it a little bit last hour, but
there's more meat on that bone. That would be the
Derek car potential shoulder surgery needed here his availability for
the upcoming season is in jeopardy. And what do you know,
we got this thing called the NFL Draft in a

(01:21:36):
week and a half. Oh wow, it's crazy. So yeah,
that's a big deal right there. Saints obviously picking ninth overall,
so they could be players in the Shador Sanders market.
That's what's really interesting to me is these teams. I
was saying this off air to our trusted producer Bo Benson,
our technical producer Chris Burffett. I swear we should have

(01:21:57):
a podcast based on our conversations off the air totally.
We do a show off the year during the show.

Speaker 3 (01:22:02):
But yeah, yeah, that's right.

Speaker 2 (01:22:05):
Right, Like you look at the Giants third overall, the Saints'
ninth overall, who knows, maybe even the Steelers twenty first overall.
These teams that could take Shaduur, but then are are
tempted to, like, hey, maybe we're in a better situation
come next year's draft. Maybe there's a better scenario. Maybe

(01:22:26):
maybe we're in range to pick Arch Manning or a
quarterback that we have rated higher. Whatever, Like how you
weigh those two things. Are you sold on Shaduur or
are you tempted by the next year's draft where maybe
you're in a better spot. But that's what you're gonna
see play out, And that might be a decision that
the Saints are faced with if Shaduur is still on

(01:22:47):
the board at ninth overall.

Speaker 4 (01:22:50):
The Saints haven't selected a quarterback in the first round
of the traditional NFL draft in fifty three years.

Speaker 3 (01:22:58):
Think about that, Think about.

Speaker 4 (01:22:59):
How many teams have had to now the Saints obviously,
when they signed Drew Brees, they got themselves a guy
who was at the time having some shoulder issues who
turned out to be a Super Bowl champion for them.
And you know, look, there's been mediocrity at quarterbacks since
and that includes Derek Carr. I'm not saying Derek Carr

(01:23:21):
is a mediocre quarterback, but given the circumstances, the injuries
that he's had since he's been a New Orleans Saint,
in and out of the lineup as a healthy candidate,
the performances and the amount of time he's spent on
the field has led to mediocre results. He is and
has been through most of his career a second tier quarterback.

(01:23:45):
He dabbles flirts with being a top ten quarterback at times,
but he's getting older. This is a thirty four year
old man. It is really difficult to pull on the
cleats and to live that life and to be that guy.
The older you get, motivation can wane, It can ebb
and flow depending on the year and the season and

(01:24:06):
the injury that you're dealing with, or the things happening
in your personal life, whatever it may be. And also
look after a while, you start looking around the room
and you say, man, you know, all these defenders are
getting faster, all these defenses are getting more creative. They
really have a lot of film on me. The tunnel,

(01:24:28):
the aperture that I'm looking through is tighter and tighter
and tighter. To get the ball where it's supposed to go,
and I don't have the trademark arm strength or accuracy
or the zip on the short pass that I used to.

Speaker 3 (01:24:39):
So you have to.

Speaker 4 (01:24:40):
Either evolve or you're gonna get left behind. And unfortunately
for Derek Carr, I felt like that's where we were
heading anyways.

Speaker 3 (01:24:48):
And then on top of it, we have this situation.

Speaker 4 (01:24:51):
So the question of what's next for the Saints, I
guess I'll spin it back to you guys. Is it
smart for them to take a first round draft choice
this year? Or should they punt on the situation and
try to find a way to bridge the gap and
then look at a year down the road somewhere to

(01:25:13):
fix the problem at quarterback.

Speaker 5 (01:25:15):
I think the Sanders to New Orleans Steam Israel. We
even saw Dion tweet it yesterday. It was kind of
go back and look at Dion's Twitter account when the
when the car news broke and he did the eye.
I mean, and you know, that's it's worth what it's worth.
It's social media, it's public. But I think it just
it makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot

(01:25:37):
of sense by the way that I was looking at
that stat yesterday because I was trying to figure out
when the last time the Saints took a quarterback in
the first round.

Speaker 2 (01:25:43):
It was Archie Manning. It was Archie freaking manage night.
Archie managed seventy one unbelievable.

Speaker 5 (01:25:53):
Yeah, my, I think that streak's gonna get broken this year,
at least the market thinks so again. Yesterday, I was
on the air live when the news broke of Derek Carr,
and immediately I grabbed my phone and sprinted. You know,
got my fingers as loose as nimble as possible to
get to the bedm jen have to figure out if
there was a Saints to draft the quarterback in the

(01:26:13):
first round prop available. There was, it was a very
juicy price at plus two ten.

Speaker 2 (01:26:18):
I bet it. I put my phone down. We did
a segment about the news. I picked my phone back.

Speaker 5 (01:26:22):
Up in commercial break and it was minus one twenty.
Like that's how quickly these markets move off of news.
I always say that the draft and the awards markets
are the two markets. I think us as journalists have
a bit of an edge in over you know, the
average gambler, because it's all driven by information. The media

(01:26:43):
votes on the awards were media the media has the
information on where these guys are going. They talk to
the owners, talk to the scouts, talk to the GMS,
talk to the players, and that's it's all an information
based market. But go back to your original point on
Derek Carr, I'm willing to say he's a mediocre quarterback.
I'm I'm willing to go down that road. I think
we've seen enough sample size for there not to be

(01:27:07):
much meat left.

Speaker 2 (01:27:09):
On that bone.

Speaker 5 (01:27:09):
I think for New Orleans and the con here's the problem.
The contract situation is a disaster. I think I saw
his dead cap next year is seventy million. Seventy million
of dead cap, so it's insane, and they just did
a restructure. So then you've got to spin it forward
to the only way that the Saints can actually get
a quarterback worth anything and keep the contract salary cap

(01:27:34):
intact is to get one on a rookie deal. You
can't pay Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr. You can't pay
Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr.

Speaker 2 (01:27:43):
It's just not possible.

Speaker 5 (01:27:45):
So that's another notch in the belt of New Orleans
is completely hamstrung here. They have to take a quarterback
in this draft. Maybe it's not the first round. Maybe
they don't like Schador. Maybe they've got the eighth pick
in the second round. Maybe that's when they take Jackson Dart,
Jalen Mirro, whoever's left. But if there is a connection

(01:28:06):
with Shador and Kellen Moore, which there is, there's that
Cowboys connection, that Texas connection, I don't understand if Shauldore's
there at nine and Derek Carr's on the shelf, like
it may it's just like the the stars align, so
the market thinks, So I think, so I think Shoudor's
going nine to New Orleans.

Speaker 2 (01:28:24):
You know, it's funny to me. Is the market that
you're talking about here, Jared? So I did a fill
in radio show for an Indianapolis station this week and
I said, Hey, if somehow, some way, should dour Sanders falls,
like we didn't have the Saints news, then right as
so as possible, if the Giants don't take him and
he falls, look at the Colts at fourteen. So the

(01:28:45):
market for where should dor Sanders is drafted? The Dolphins
are at forty to one. What do you think the
chances are that the Dolphins with Tua to to they
draft should do Sanders like slim to none. So they're
forty one, the Colts are fifty to one. The Colts
are longer shots to draft Shaduur. They're not gonna do it,

(01:29:08):
but I think they should if they were faced with
that decision, I wouldn't let Anthony Richardson be the guy
that prevents you from going on and trying to find
your quarterback of the now in the future. His numbers
are neck and neck with Tim Tebow. That's not an
exaggeration like NFL no there, it's literally almost a dead heat.
If you look at their passing numbers, it's ridiculous. And

(01:29:31):
so I like if the Colts, like I don't think
there are many legitimate reasons not to take Shador, one
of the only ones is I'm just not convinced he's
gonna be a franchise quarterback. It's like, okay, maybe you're right,
but other than that, where it's like, well, you know
we've got Anthony Richardson, No, Well we signed Daniel Jones, Nope.
Well you know the drama with the nope.

Speaker 3 (01:29:52):
No.

Speaker 2 (01:29:52):
There are so many illegitimate reasons for the Colts if
Shador is there to pass on the guy I'm just
thinking of we see these mock drafts and we get
conditioned to thinking, well, it can't go any other way.
It does all the time, you know what I mean,
Like all the time, so all the time. Yeah, So
I'm looking for these off the wall landing spots, and

(01:30:16):
that's where I think the Colts should do it if
they were faced with that decision. They're probably not going
to be faced with that decision, and even if they were,
they wouldn't do it because they're gonna play it safe
to a fault. But I think they should absolutely go
for it if they had the option to.

Speaker 4 (01:30:30):
Look, this is, by all accounts a weak NFL draft
class for quarterbacks. I mean, cam Ward is probably the
highest rated quarterback at this point, and there are certain
draft analysts who are wrong, I'm not going to deny that,
who are wrong at times many times, who have cam

(01:30:50):
Ward as being the highest eligible prospect and he's just
cresting the top fifty, all right. I mean, so if
you think about how much better you can make your
football team and other aspects by just looking past the
quarterback position for a second, especially when there's some great
depth coming out of this draft on the defense, on
the receiver side of things. There are a couple of

(01:31:13):
offensive linemen available that team should take a look at.
I'll rewind the clock back to twenty eleven. The Titans, Jaguars,
and Vikings selected Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbard, and Christian Ponder
with picks eight, ten and eleven. Okay, respect they passed
up JJ Watt twelfth, Tyron Smith, Robert Quinn, Mike Pouncy,

(01:31:37):
Ryan Kerrigan. I mean, there are going to be teams
that pull the trigger on a quarterback because it feels
like that's what the fan base wants, or the ownership
is getting frustrated and impatient, or the front office falls
in love with the prospect and says, we've got the

(01:31:58):
coaching to fix this guy or to make this guy
great at the NFL level. And if you do that,
you can miss some unbelievable opportunities to really improve your
football team. And then, yeah, you may have to coast
for a year or even struggle through a season where
you're waiting for the puzzle piece to complete the team,

(01:32:21):
the quarterback that you sign as a free agent or
you trade for or you draft for in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (01:32:27):
But if you have patience. Sometimes it pays off.

Speaker 4 (01:32:30):
The best teams in the NFL typically build their team
from the inside out, the guys closest to the football,
the offensive and defensive lineman, and then they add the
ancillary pieces and then finish it off with a quarterback
in the end. If you do it the right way,
you can have long sustained success, like some of those franchises.
I'm pointing to the San Francisco forty nine ers who

(01:32:50):
had success for years even though they've always played bridesmaid
to the Chiefs, the Detroit Lions, that's the way they've
been built up. There's great examples around the league. When
you look at it, the teams that typically try to throw,
you know, the dynamite into the lake and kill the fish,
you know, by drafting the flashy quarterback, like the Anthony

(01:33:10):
Richardson's of the world, they don't solve their bigger problems
and then they come back to haunt them.

Speaker 2 (01:33:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:33:17):
I mean, if you just look at the Saints roster,
like the offensive line's got three first rounders up front.
Fiaga's they took in the first round I think two
years ago, oh no, last year out of Oregon State,
and then you've got Penning, who they took in the
first round that was in twenty two. And you've got
Ramcheck who was the first round pick from a few
years ago. And then you've also got a second round Yeah,

(01:33:39):
and then you got a second rounder, Eric McCoy in
the middle. Like, you've got a really good offensive line.
Cesar Ruiz was their first round pick in twenty twenty.
He's a right guard. So like you've got a pretty
talented offensive line. You have a Kellen Moore offense, which
I think is gonna be interesting. I'm not over the
moon about him, but I mean it'll be interesting. And
then you've got defense. How about the new defensive coordinator

(01:34:05):
for the New Orleans Saints, our buddy Brandon Staley.

Speaker 2 (01:34:08):
How about that for a little curveball in there. So
like you've got some interesting piece. Now it's gonna be
the first year.

Speaker 5 (01:34:15):
From new OC, new DC, new head coach, and you've
got Mickey Loomish has been the GM since pretty.

Speaker 2 (01:34:20):
Much the turn of the century.

Speaker 5 (01:34:22):
But now the most important position on your roster, Spencer Ratler,
j Can or Ben Denucci is your quarterback room.

Speaker 2 (01:34:29):
I mean, something's got to give there. So you've got
to make.

Speaker 5 (01:34:35):
Let's just assume and operate in a vacuum and say
Derek Carr is done. It seems like surgery is the
likely option here, and he will not be playing this year,
maybe next year, but we'll see. Now you've got a
big hole on your roster at QB one, well you're
gonna have an opportunity to take one at nine.

Speaker 2 (01:34:54):
I do not think.

Speaker 5 (01:34:55):
Schador is gonna go before the ninth pick. But to
be fair, we didn't think Michael Pics or Bonnicks We're
going to be off the board by the thirteenth pick
last year, and that's what happened. So the quarterbacks tend
to go earlier than expected. That is why if Shador
is there at nine, I don't see why New Orleans

(01:35:15):
wouldn't make that deal, wouldn't make that pick.

Speaker 2 (01:35:19):
That's true.

Speaker 5 (01:35:20):
I mean, I don't think there's anything that's going to
change my opinion on that between now and two thursdays
from now. And I think that's just it just makes
too much sense, too much sense.

Speaker 2 (01:35:31):
Well, and that's the thing is, look to Rich's point,
the twenty eleven draft, you might be swinging for a
quarterback that, who knows, maybe should do or doesn't pan out,
it's possible, and you you miss on a non quarterback
that turns out to be a stud. I get all that,
but you gotta find a quarterback. I'm in favor of

(01:35:51):
taking swings to find your quarterback instead of not taking
swings to find your quarterback. You know what I'm saying, Like,
you gotta find your cube. If you don't have a QB,
you're going nowhere. Okay, you might hit on a stud whatever,
defensive end, quarterback, any position, non quarterback, and it can
be a big difference maker if you have a quarterback

(01:36:13):
on your roster. If you don't have a quarterback in
your roster, you're going nowhere. So I am absolutely in
favor of swinging. Look at the Patriots. Look at their roster.
It sucked last year, and they went with Drake May
number three overall, and he looks like he could be
a player for quite some time for them, And all
of a sudden, one offseason, he got all this cash
to spend, we got this free agent and that free agent,

(01:36:35):
we got this guy. All of a sudden, the roster
looks a whole lot better when it looks like you
also have a quarterback. There are some good rosters and
they don't have a QB, and it's like, what's the use, right, Like,
so you got to take swings.

Speaker 3 (01:36:49):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:36:49):
I'm absolutely in favor of if you can swing for
a top prospect. Hey, there's a chance he doesn't pan out,
but I guarantee you your team will not pan out
if you don't have a quarterback. That's the way the
game is these days.

Speaker 4 (01:37:02):
Yeah, yeah, you know, listen, I can be convinced of
the opposite. Just because I'm casting a little shade on
this year's draft class doesn't mean that two or all
three of these, you know, the quarterback names that we've
been hearing the most could end.

Speaker 3 (01:37:18):
Up being all pro. Yeah, they could end up being
the guys who we.

Speaker 4 (01:37:22):
Say, Wow, what an underrated, historically underrated quarterback draft class.

Speaker 3 (01:37:28):
They are ushering in a new era in the NFL.

Speaker 4 (01:37:31):
Most likely not, And that's okay. If you want to
roll the dice, if you think you've got the chops
to develop the talent at the next level, then go
ahead and do exactly what you said, Brian. But if
there's any question, if you're an owner or a guy
in the front office about whether or not your coaching
staff really has the chops to develop talent at that quarterback.

(01:37:53):
Either you got to take a good hard look in
the mirror and.

Speaker 3 (01:37:55):
Say, do we have the right coach?

Speaker 4 (01:37:57):
And then also you got to take a good hard
look in your mirror and are we ready right now
for that type of project or should we continue to
build and then insert you know, name the quarterback a
year from now who can really take us over the top.
There are a lot of different ways to peel this onion.
We've outlined two of them. There are millions of different

(01:38:20):
ways to turn over this problem and solve it. So
I'm very curious to see who does reach if there
are going to be draft day trades, if we all
of a sudden see a team kind of out of nowhere,
belly up to the bar and say, you know what,
we like this guy enough that we are going to,
you know, forego some of our future to take the
gamble right now. I can't wait, because sometimes when you

(01:38:42):
have lower expectations for a draft, that's when the kind
of the craziness ensues.

Speaker 3 (01:38:50):
So we may be in for some surprises later this month.

Speaker 5 (01:38:53):
Yeah, I think that's the key, And there's a lot
of maybe people out there that want to bet on
the draft and they want to try to make some money.
My advice to you is, don't bet on what you
think is going to happen. Bet on or I'll rephrase that,
don't bet on what you would do if you were
in that spot. Bet On what the general managers have

(01:39:14):
a history of doing. Bet On where the fit is,
where the need is. Because there's a lot of people
with bet drafts like, oh, I really want my team
to take this guy. I'm gonna bet on that. Well,
are you the GM?

Speaker 3 (01:39:25):
Like?

Speaker 5 (01:39:25):
No, Like, you're not handicapping your perspective of the situation.

Speaker 2 (01:39:30):
You're handicapping.

Speaker 5 (01:39:31):
You're trying to kick your brain, suck it out of
your head and PLoP it into the GM of that team.
What would that team do? What does that team need?
And the quarterback position is no matter what you think
of defensive lineman A or running back B, the quarterback
position has to carry significant.

Speaker 2 (01:39:50):
Weight in your decision making process.

Speaker 5 (01:39:53):
You should be making a list of teams and I
already have it. I've already started my mock draft list.
I have highlights on the teams that need a quarterback.
New Orleans went from green to like red immediately, like
it was green. Derek Carr, Now it's red. Nothing like
Now that's like red flag quarterback.

Speaker 2 (01:40:13):
Same thing with Denver last year.

Speaker 5 (01:40:14):
Right, nobody thought. Everyone thought bon Nicks in the first
round was a reach. I think his draft position was
thirty two. There's thirty two teams in the league. I
think the over was the juicy part of that. But
Denver needed a quarterback and they like bon Nicks, so
they took bon Nicks.

Speaker 2 (01:40:34):
Like that's where you have to remove.

Speaker 5 (01:40:36):
Your bias from the process. New Orleans needs a quarterback desperately.
I just told you the three names that are healthy
on their roster sounds like a law firm.

Speaker 2 (01:40:47):
It's not something It's not something I'd want to put
in my quarterback room.

Speaker 5 (01:40:51):
So I just I don't really know where else they go,
like unless they really like someone else in free agency,
but the car contract is going to prevent them from
signing someone significant like a Cousins or a Rodgers.

Speaker 2 (01:41:05):
Their their only option is to draft a quarterback on
a rookie deal.

Speaker 5 (01:41:10):
That is the only way you get a warm body
at the price you need to play the most important position.
Like they're handcuffed, like they have to take a quarterback.
Maybe not in the first round, but they have to
draft a quarterback.

Speaker 2 (01:41:23):
All right, We've got rich Ronberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Use Code
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(01:41:44):
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All right, coming up next. There isn't one report or
one opinion that causes me to say, oh this makes
sense now. It's Fox Sports Radio's Countdown presented by betmg
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(01:42:07):
Use code Sports for a free trial at shipstation dot com.
That's shipstation dot com codes Sports. I be sure to
tune in to Draft Night Live on Thursday, April twenty fourth.
That's at eight pm Eastern time throughout the first round
of the draft. Insider Jay Glazer, former Jets GM Joe Douglas,
college Football Hall of Famer LeVar Arrington, and Fox Sports

(01:42:30):
lead college football reporter Jenny Taft will have pick by
pick predictions and reactions to every first round pick. That's Thursday,
April twenty fourth, at eight pm Eastern throughout the first
round of the draft, live right here on Fox Sports Radio.
It's brought to you by Ship Station. Okay, so we
got one game left for every NBA team before the

(01:42:54):
playoffs start, and the Nuggets will have a head coach
that has three games of head coaching experience when the playoffs. Yeah. Yeah,
the Nuggets fired Michael Malone and it has just been,
for me a comedy show ever since then. You know
how it's gonna go. They're gonna be reports. The latest

(01:43:16):
report is the players were miserable. Actually, actually the headline
was the players were freaking miserable. It sounds like me
writing headlines. Oh the poor babies, they were freaking miserable
over there. Of course, you fire a guy with three
games left in the regular season, what are they doing here?

(01:43:37):
It makes no sense to me, any opinion, any report
where oh there was friction between the head coach and
GM okay, Oh they lost four games in a row,
all right, the players were freaking miserable. So like, are
they better off without Michael Malone heading into the playoffs?
Absolutely not, So I don't get why they did it.

(01:44:00):
If you're gonna move on from him, move on from
him in the offseason. But I do not see Denver's
chances being better to get to the finals, to win
a championship. Their chances are not better without a head
coach that actually has experienced.

Speaker 3 (01:44:16):
So I would agree with.

Speaker 4 (01:44:18):
You except for the fact that it's basketball, and it's
not just basketball, because in college hoops, you need a
good coach, you need a good leader at the front
of the class. In the NBA, it is such a
different animal than it is in other sports college football,
college hoops, pro football. I mean, in the lexicon of

(01:44:41):
level of importance, NBA coach is kind of right up
there next to like a horse and buggy whip, Like
they're kind of antiquated, they're vestigial, they're no longer needed.

Speaker 3 (01:44:56):
I really, honestly don't think that.

Speaker 4 (01:44:58):
An NBA coach is more than and just a director
of personalities. In fact, they could probably rename the position
and pay these guys less. The best ones they are
value adds, you know, And we can go through the
names of the best NBA coaches, you know who they are.
The worst ones, Well, they're toxic to a culture and
they need to be removed, like digging out a warp

(01:45:21):
from your palm or something like that, because they can
be a nuisance, they can get in the way of
problem solving, and they can add more turmoil to a
situation where you got a bunch of young alpha males
who are trying to get along for long enough to
win a championship or at very least do something special.

(01:45:43):
So I don't think it's all that bad of a
move in the NBA to just move on from a
coach that isn't working, because I don't necessarily think it
matters all that much in terms of how you progress
during your regular season or your postseason. I just don't
think NBA coaches do very much. And and I think

(01:46:05):
there's a lot of people who would agree with that.

Speaker 2 (01:46:08):
Yeah, what is the the NFL stands for? Not for long?
What does the NBA stand for no boomers allowed. How
old is Michael Malone. I don't know if he's a
boomer or not.

Speaker 5 (01:46:21):
I apologize to to Michael Malone if he's not a boomer,
but I mean, I'm just trying to think of like,
like I remember when this story dropped.

Speaker 2 (01:46:29):
I'm like, wait a minute, the dude just won the
title two years ago.

Speaker 5 (01:46:32):
They're a top four seed in the West, Like like what,
like what's the problem here?

Speaker 2 (01:46:36):
And it just it goes back to Riches's point. I agree.

Speaker 5 (01:46:39):
The head coach in the NBA is like the is
like the Queen of England figure you know, figurehead. I
don't really have that much power, Like you know, the
monarchy is is just kind of you know, the crown
and then the Parliament makes all the rules. Like in
this case, I think the parliament is the players.

Speaker 2 (01:46:56):
I don't know, Like I don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:46:59):
If this is like a I'm not as big of
an NBA guy as definitely Brian Rich. I don't want to,
you know, take away from your NBA chops, but I'm
not like as invested in the NBA on a night
to night basis as a lot of other people who
do really good work for this network and other networks.
So I'm not gonna, you know, go over my skis
here talking about the NBA and breaking it down from
a you know, an analytical standpoint, but it's it's a

(01:47:22):
player's lead.

Speaker 2 (01:47:23):
The players have all the power.

Speaker 5 (01:47:25):
So this story might be the tip of the iceberg
for more stories like it to continue to pop up,
where really successful coaches lose the locker room and that's it.
They're gone, it's over, it's done. They like they can't
get it back. I don't know if Denver's gonna make
it through the West. I don't think they're going to.
I think they're The West is a really tough conferences

(01:47:45):
here on like the East, which is like Boston and
nobody else. But this will be a lesson. Like imagine
if if Denver gets bounced in the first round of
the playoffs with a guy that's averaging a triple double,
I mean, maybe the coach is worth a little bit
more than we then we're putting it in for. But
this is just like, it was such a weird story
and the timing of it was just bizarre.

Speaker 2 (01:48:06):
So yeah, we'll see how it plays out.

Speaker 5 (01:48:08):
But I'm definitely with you, Rich I don't think the
head coach in the NBA really really matters a ton,
But I think it matters a little bit, a little
bit more than the credit that Michael Malone probably got
in this situation.

Speaker 2 (01:48:21):
Yeah, I'm on the opposite side of you guys, Like
I'm not saying a head coach in the NBA means everything,
but you guys are making it sound like they're a
dime a dozen. Is there any real difference between coach
A and coach B? And yeah there is, Like look
at the Lakers, good example, if you like before they
got Luca, If you didn't see a difference between JJ

(01:48:43):
Reddick and Darvin Ham, I don't know what to tell you.
I have no words for you, you know what I mean, Like,
look at the Calves. The Calves have one of the
best records in the league. Look at what Kenny Atkinson
has done with that being the best offense in the NBA.
Did they have some blockbuster trade and all of a
sudden they got all their stars, Like they got Evan Mobley,

(01:49:04):
they got you know, Tereus Garland, they got Donovan Mitchell
in the offseason, Like, no, those guys were there the
previous year, Right, So coaching matters. I don't want to
make it sound like it's the most important thing ever,
but it matters a whole lot more than you guys
are making it out to be.

Speaker 3 (01:49:21):
That's fair, I think.

Speaker 4 (01:49:22):
I think Okay, from from a standpoint of in game adjustments,
there are times where a coach can absolutely save the
day and come up with the inbounding play or you know,
the half court offensive set or defensive scheme that is
going to solve the problems that a team face in

(01:49:43):
the first half.

Speaker 3 (01:49:43):
Hey, you know we're switching at the point of attack.
Let's get rid of that.

Speaker 4 (01:49:47):
You know we're gonna stay man to man, We're gonna
fight over screens, you know, whatever it may be. So
there has to be somebody with a thirty thousand foot view,
and the best coaches can do that can kind of
have an eagle eye view of what's happening court. Do
I think that is happening as much as these guys
are massaging relationships making sure that all these guys are

(01:50:10):
happy or playing well in the sandbox. Not to dumb
it down to a level that's you know, far more
immature than it actually is, but to a certain extent,
I think that's the bigger part of the job. Emotional
intelligence is more important than basketball since and I think
the best coaches know that. Now, don't get me wrong,

(01:50:30):
you need to have respect.

Speaker 2 (01:50:32):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:50:32):
The reason why JJ Reddick even has a job.

Speaker 4 (01:50:35):
Is because there's not a single person either in this room,
the three of us talking, or anybody out there who
doubts his basketball acumen. You know, he is paired up
with one of, if not the greatest players ever worn
a jersey in the NBA, and ultimately, Lebron respects his
head coach. He hand picked him, you know. But if

(01:50:56):
JJ Raddick or any coach proves to be a bad
orchestrator of personality, they're gone. They're gone.

Speaker 3 (01:51:03):
They're gone, because that is the most important part of
the job.

Speaker 4 (01:51:06):
Whereas in the NFL, look, Belichick wasn't a particularly likable guy.
I don't think I would have necessarily chosen him to
be my partner in the three legged race at the
family picnic. But is he an incredibly intelligent football mind. Yeah,
And even though he you know, ruffled some feathers along

(01:51:26):
the way, was he a winning coach?

Speaker 3 (01:51:28):
Absolutely?

Speaker 4 (01:51:28):
Because in that game, coaching really matters in the NBA
game superstars really matter, and having happy superstars, you know,
the happiest.

Speaker 3 (01:51:38):
Cows make the best milk. Same thing in that NBA.
That's how it works. Get you have to have a
good farmer.

Speaker 4 (01:51:45):
And and I guess Mike Malone was intending to the
pasture well enough.

Speaker 5 (01:51:49):
No, I won't make any cow jokes with the utters
in the milk up.

Speaker 2 (01:51:53):
Save that for your imagination.

Speaker 3 (01:51:54):
Be utterly reduced.

Speaker 2 (01:51:58):
We are.

Speaker 5 (01:51:58):
We got bad jokes for days today. I am alieving,
utterly ridiculous. No boomers allowed.

Speaker 2 (01:52:06):
Yeah, no, Brian, I hear you.

Speaker 5 (01:52:08):
I do think there's a lot of I think there's
a lot of value that a good head coach can bring.
I think there's a certain level of respect that a
good head coach needs to command. And that seems like
the vibe of this story. It seems like Malone wanted
to play a lot of defense and the Nuggets were like, hmmm,
you know, I'd rather just shoot it and do.

Speaker 2 (01:52:29):
All this other fun stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:52:32):
And then there was a clash of culture, and I
guess that clash of culture in the locker room led
to this departure. So we'll see how the Nuggets fair
in the playoffs. It'll be let's leave it at this.
It'll be a good case study for if a team
can fire their head coach three days before the playoffs
start and actually make some noise, because if they get
bounced in the first.

Speaker 2 (01:52:52):
Round, I think regret will be the first word that
comes to mind. Yeah, it was funny because both that
fired their head coaches late in the season played each
other last night. Yeah, the Grizzlies against the Nuggets, and
it's like, oh, my firing ball weird. But I just look, man,
I don't understand, like the Nuggets are still fourth in

(01:53:14):
the West. I know they're fourth in the two years ago. Yes,
let me the only title in franchise history. And it
was that bad. It was that bad. That makes sense.

Speaker 4 (01:53:29):
Let me ask you this question though, like if you're
in a bad relationship right, uh, And I don't want
to make this dark, but like an abusive relationship or
somebody who you just don't jibe with, or you know
there's a situation where you know something happened along the
way that is unforgivable, whatever it may be, are you

(01:53:49):
just gonna stick it out to make it to Christmas
even though it's two months away. I mean or are
you gonna say to yourself, no, man, like I gotta
I gotta pull myself up, and I gotta I gotta
get out of here, and I gotta make the right
choice for me right now.

Speaker 2 (01:54:06):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:54:07):
Again, that's on a personal level, and we're talking about
an organization. We're talking about a billion dollar organization when
you're talking about NBA teams. But if you you distill
it to its simplest form, If from a relationship standpoint,
something isn't working out with a head coach, why wait,
just yank that band aid off and see if it
doesn't get better on the other side.

Speaker 2 (01:54:30):
Yeah, no, I'm not down with it. Like it's like again,
they want a title less than two years ago. You know,
we'll call it two years ago. They want to tie.
They're probably gonna be a fifty win team this year.
They're fourth in the West. Like again, the reports the
players were freaking miserable. Okay, so what, get over it.

Speaker 3 (01:54:50):
How much money do they make?

Speaker 2 (01:54:51):
You could pay me that and I'd be willing to
be miserable, right right. Oh, some players were upset that
he favored Russell Westbrook. Again, get over it. He doesn't
get along with the GM Okay, fire him in the
off season.

Speaker 5 (01:55:05):
You're not that bet an interesting backstory. There might be
something going on between him and I heard there was
a lot of belly aching and drama behind the scenes.

Speaker 2 (01:55:13):
That could have been it. But they fired both of them, right,
they fired the GM and the head coach. Yeah right,
that's okay, all right, Okay again, I haven't heard an
opinion or I've gotten a report where I'm like, all right,
I get it. I see where they're coming. Not one,
not one doesn't make any sense. Hey, score bigger at
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(01:55:35):
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countless basketball betting options, including new look, same game parlays, teasers,
live bets, and so much more. All right, we've got
Rich orn Berger, Penn State, All American, AKA, I fire
them all, Fire them all even before the playoffs. What

(01:55:56):
do they do anyway? What are they good for? It's
a long nickname, but that's We've got Jared Smith FSR,
betting analyst I'm Brian nough all right, coming up next
rapid Fire. We wach have three selections for you. We'll
break him down. Coming up, It's Fox Sports Radios Countdown
presented by BETMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented

(01:56:16):
by BETMGM. On the last Sunday here in the NBA
regular season, BETMGM will be running the NBA Sunday Splash Jackpot.
Users will have the opportunity to win a share a
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(01:56:37):
place a ten dollars plus NBA player three pointers bet
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three pointers on that Sunday, you'll win a share of
fifty thousand dollars in bonus bets. Hey props to the crew,
our trusted producer, Bo Benson, the Dodgers Zone Pod technical
producer Extraordinary Chris Purfett, Pride of Detroit Pod and crushing

(01:57:01):
it on the digital side. Our guys Sager posting our
clips and social media appreciate.

Speaker 3 (01:57:05):
His hard work.

Speaker 2 (01:57:06):
Top of the hour. Up on game LaVar Arrington, TJ. Hushman, Zada,
Plaxico Burst. They've got you covered in less than nine
minutes from now. Keep it locked right here on Fox
Sports Radio. All right, we got some picks to make.

Speaker 3 (01:57:18):
Let's do it rapid fire.

Speaker 2 (01:57:25):
All right, Jared, we start with you. What do you like?

Speaker 5 (01:57:27):
Well? I gave this out during prop it up. I'll
give it out again because it's probably one of my
favorite plays of the day. Rory to shoot seventy or
better at Augusta in round three, essentially under seventy and
a half for his round score. He's been fantastic, Tita
Green around the greens, and.

Speaker 2 (01:57:41):
The short stick has let him down.

Speaker 5 (01:57:42):
He's really had two bad holes through his first thirty six,
and I think he will shoot seventy or better today
in round three. All Right, yourpie nerfy time. We all
know we love the baseball vibes. We're back in the
first inning mode. Nationals, Marlins Nurfy, Trevor Williams, Sandy ALCNTRA.
Both offenses below average in the first inning, and I
think that pitching matchup screams no run in the first inning.

(01:58:03):
Let's give you a yes, run in the first inning.
Cubs Dodgers your feet. Cubs one of the best offenses
in MLB. They had a bagel last night thanks to
Yamamoto and that great Dodgers pitching staff Ben Brown Rokie Sasaki. Today,
much more hitter friendly matchup on the pitcher's side for
the Cubs and Dodgers will go your feet in La Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:58:24):
I got Padres on the spread minus one and a
half facing the Rockies. They've struggled this season. Padres bats
are on fire right now. However, I'm also gonna take
the over on the eight and a half runs in
this game. Padres Rockies today at Peco Park. It can
be a hitter friendly ballpark. Padres again offensive power. Rockies

(01:58:47):
are facing a pitcher named Kyle Hart on the mound
for San Diego today, who he's struggled. He struggled this season.
They've got some good bats in their lineup, so I'm
expecting a high run game there. Dodgers minus one and
a half as well on the spread, facing the club's
strong home field advantage. Not a high opinion of the

(01:59:08):
Cubs this year. Give me the Dodgers, So Padres minus
one and a half Dodgers minus one and.

Speaker 3 (01:59:13):
A half and Padres Rockies over the ain' and a
half run line.

Speaker 2 (01:59:19):
Man, I had the top Scandinavian market circled, but it's
no longer available right now on bet mgs.

Speaker 3 (01:59:26):
I think they underway. O.

Speaker 2 (01:59:29):
Man, that's rough right there. That's okay, just my first
bad beat of the day for being out right there.
Give me give me a birdie on a par three.
I'm going for uh the Shambo. I'm also going for
Scottie Scheffler. Wow, they've been birdying consistently on par three holes.

(01:59:51):
I think we get at least one of one Verdi
from each of them today, and then I'll also I'll
double dip. The putting has been a lot better. Bryson
de Shambo to shoot seventy or better, so he's gotta
be two hunder par today. That's at plus money, that's
at plus one ten. I like what I'm seeing out
of the guy. He's been in the sixties. The putter

(02:00:12):
is working wor seventy or better today. I'll double dip
with the Shambo. I enjoy the golf, the hoops, the ball,
all the good stuff.