The Bernie Fratto Show Calls Out the Ravens & Recaps the Biggest Stories from 2025

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You don't listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well, that's right, you heard the man. It is that
time of week. My name is Bernie Fradle. Wear come
to line from the Fox Sports Radio compound here in
Las Vegas. Take it up to three am Pacific, six
am Eastern. So much to get to, so little time.
How about those Baltimore Ravens. Yeah, they're still alive. No

(00:25):
thanks to Lamar Jackson. And imagine, imagine your fate and
your hopes and dreams. Suddenly they're tied to shootdoor standers
in the Cleveland Browns. And unless the Browns win on Sunday, well,
I guess it's a rap for the always over hyped,
underachieving Baltimore Ravens. Yeah, you heard me say it. You know,

(00:49):
reminds me of a story. When I think of the Ravens,
reminds me of a story. Go back to the mid
eighteen hundred. It's two brothers. They were twins, career criminals,
thirty years three decades. They were rough shot over this
small town, robbing banks, pillaging. They were thieves, miscreants, ne'er
do wells, hulums. Suddenly, one day one of the brothers

(01:12):
dropped dead. The surviving brother was distraught. In fact, he
was so distraught he approached the town preacher and said,
I want the biggest funeral this county's ever seen, and
I will write you a check for ten thousand dollars
if you will eulogize my brother. And all I want
you to do is tell the community that he was
a saint. The preacher said, well, if the check clears

(01:37):
my funeral day, I'll do it.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
The check cleared, and the day of the funeral, hundreds,
if not thousands, gather from counties around to hear the
eulogy of this man who had been a career pain
in the ass. And as the preacher began to speak,
he motioned toward the casket and he said, this gentleman,
here before your eyes. He was a crook, a thief,

(02:03):
a criminal, a miscreant, a hudulum, a ne'er do well.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
He never did any good.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
In his life. But compared to his brother, he was
a saint. Nobody likes a phony. You know you don't
like a phony. The Ravens are phonies. Spot to lie
and I'm gonna start with Lamar Jackson. Oh and don't worry,
John Harball, I'm getting to YouTube. I don't know what

(02:29):
they're gonna do with Lamar Jackson and or John Harbaugh,
but I'll tell you what I think they should do.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
But let me start with the receipts.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Let's face it, whether you like this situation or not,
the Ravens are going to have to make some sort
of contractual decision on Jackson the softseason. Well, he does
still have two years on his contract in his current deal,
and yes, his cap pit for twenty twenty six would
be seventy four million. Well, that means the Ravens will

(02:56):
either have to either extend Lamar Jackson, which he wants.
I hear he's still pissed off that his last contract
wasn't guaranteed like Deshaun Watson but I digressed, or tray
him in order to reduce that figure.

Speaker 4 (03:11):
Those are the only two options.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
By the way, Lamar Jackson does not have a no
trade clause, so the Ravens could not simply move him
to another team without his permission.

Speaker 4 (03:21):
Check that I misspoke. He does have a no trade clause.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now, the Ravens' decision on Jackson is not as clear
cut as it might have been, say a year ago.
He's been limited to twelve games this injury, this year
by injuries, because of injuries, and his numbers, Wow, they've
not been quite as good when he's played. He's throwing
for twenty three hundred yards, ran for three hundred blah
blah blah blah blah, not anywhere near the same numbers

(03:47):
he put up in his MVP caliber season at twenty
twenty four.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
And remember all those Super Bowls he won? Not either, Yeah,
neither do I. Now.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Complicating things further is that the Ravens have not found
any playoff success, much less Super Bowl success. You know,
one can debate how much of that is Lamar's fault
despite all their regular seasons success. Yes, Lamar Jackson and
the Ravens have won exactly three playoff games in seven seasons.

(04:16):
Matter of fact, while we're on the subject, Lamar Jackson
is three and five in the playoffs. He's throwing ten
touchdown seven picks. He's got a fifty five percent completion
rate and uh oh, by the way, two fumbles, and
he's passer rating is sixty eight point three. Yeah, they'd
not missus. Lincolnow is a play plus. In case you

(04:39):
missed it, Lamar Jackson has numerous injury issues. He's missed
four games this year, potentially counting. We'll see if he
plays next week, it may not matter, and left early
in two others. That raises questions and poses challenges. Now
a number of the team's top players have been played
by injuries. I get that. Or they've made really uncharacteristic,
mixed and different games. And you know you'll never hear

(05:05):
me say a damn one bad thing about Derreck Henry. Ever,
class guy, hall of famer. Even he had some fumbling
issues this year and across the Ravens. And maybe you
can't blame Harball for that, but I'm sick of his
platitudes and it's disingenuous, albeit affable demeanor. It's not been
a good year for John Harball. Perhaps just time for

(05:26):
him to go too, Starting in Week one when the
Ravens blew a fifteen point lead in the final four
minutes in Buffalo. They've dropped a few games that they
had no business losing, and that just adds to a
string of late collapses under the aforementioned John Harball. There
have been some very curious personnel decisions along the way,
like sticking with a couple of struggling guards like Daniel

(05:50):
Falaley and Andrew Voorhi saw year keeping Keaton Mitchell on
the bench early in the season and then not making
sure Henry was on the field late and last Sunday's
crucial loss to the Patriots. Now, even after they stabilized
following a one in five start, they had the ersatz
five game winning streak, mostly by beating up on Alsa rants.

(06:11):
The Ravens played poorly in back to back home losses
to the Bengals and Steelers. Those games were metaphorical. They
exemplified the Ravens issues at home all season. They've lost
a franchise eye six games at home at M and
T Banks Stadium, including three in prime time. When you

(06:31):
repeatedly lose in front of the home fans in a
national audience, that's a good way to make your coach
look bad. If that was their goal, it's working really well.
It doesn't reflect well on John Harball and his staff,
and so many players on the roster seemed to be
regressing or not playing up their expectations. It's right there

(06:52):
for you to see. Add to that repeated failures, the
whole fourth quarter leads questionable in game management decisions. Frankly
and overall, since his team's hit a ceiling. That's the
way I see it, and let's not forget again the
repeated late game collapses. A major point of criticism is
Baltimore's recurring there's a body at work here inability to

(07:16):
lose games, their inability to or the ability to lose
games by their inability to close out games. That's a
repeated pattern that's persisted, not for this season only, but
for several seasons. The Baltimore Ravens have blown numerous double
digit leads in the fourth quarter, and that's a trend

(07:36):
that I think even casual observers will attribute to a
lack of crucial decisions made in the heat of battle
also known as in game adjustments by the coaching staff. Again,
the Ravens blew that fifteen point lead in Buffalo Week

(07:57):
one in the final four of the game. Now, Harbaugh's
faced a certain scrutiny. He's had certain strategic decisions and
key moments which I think even a blind man would
argue coss the Ravens, starting with Derrick Henry's usage. A
major point of contention as the season war on this

(08:18):
year was a decision to keep Derrick Henry off the
field during crucial final drives. Obviously he's your most effective
running back, which he proved Saturday night. Maybe too little,
too late. Plus a lack of accountability. There have been
some reports that suggest to perceived lack of accountability from
John Harbaugh.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
There are a lot of critics who have.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Privately said he kind of acts like a tactical bystander.
Remember when he was asked in the press conference, why
wasn't Derrick Henry on the field? I should have been.
I'll have to check with Monkan or whatever.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
He said.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
I'm paraphrase, no quote. What the hell you're in charge?
What you want to watch a game by a ticket?
There are plenty of other systemic issues. This has that
ongoing struggles with running the ball and key moments, inconsistent
offensive line performances, and there are other deeper systemic issues
that really haven't been addressed, and we don't have a

(09:11):
time to get to bottom line. It's time for new direction.
They both need to go. You're never gonna win a
damn thing anymore.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
They won one.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
He beat his brother back in twenty twelve with Trent Dilfer.
I think no No, that was the earlier one. Never
Mind that was Dilfer figured don't quote me on it.
That was Joe Flacco. Sorry, I got a fewels of
my game. I'm a little hotter on the collar tonight. Yeah.
I'm not saying they both couldn't be valuable contributors elsewhere,
but you're done in Baltimore. I trust my eyes.

Speaker 4 (09:43):
I tell me a lot.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
After eighteen seasons, I think it's not just me. There
are a lot of people who believe both the Ravens
and Harball would benefit from a fresh start, not too
dissimilar when Andy Reid left from Philadelphia to Kansas City.
So there you have it. In about eleven hours. Check that, Yeah,

(10:05):
about eleven hours, it all starts up again. And if
the Browns don't beat the Steelers, well, then I like
to thank the Baltimore Ravens for participating in this year's
football twenty.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
Twenty five NFL season.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
But again, listen, you want to keep you want to
put from the rough, never mind the horses, blind boys,
just keep loading the card. You want to bring them
both back. Knock yourself out. What do I know? As
Dennis Miller every once said, that's just my opinion, I
could be wrong, by the way. Feeding off the success
of our college football bracket challenge each March, we decided

(10:43):
to do a bracket challenge for the college football Playoff.
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(11:05):
will be open until just before kickoff at seven thirty
pm Eastern on New Year's Eve. Again, fill out your
bracket at Foxsports Radio dot iHeart dot com for your
chance to win one thousand dollars. Coming up, let's take
at the Let's take a look at the playoff picture.
Now that the Saturday games are in the books, and

(11:26):
what all the Sunday games mean?

Speaker 5 (11:29):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (11:29):
And who has to do what? And who needs help
from who? And I'm gonna lay it all out for
you like a Philadelphia lawyer. I'm Bernie Frattle. Where come
to your line from the Las Vegas foxforts Radio studios.
Keep it locked you are listening to the Bernie Fraddle
Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (11:44):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Fly fools goheare with Donyfoosgo. Yeah you know is We're
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Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (12:03):
But instead of us telling you how great we are,
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Speaker 5 (12:08):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.

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What what are you doing interrupting our promo?

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Yeah, you wasn't talking about you. You took those clips
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Speaker 7 (12:19):
Oh yeah, Well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
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Let me put this into context.

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Shut up.

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Yeah.

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Anyway, Just listen to the Paullyntoni Fusco Show on I
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Speaker 4 (13:01):
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Speaker 2 (13:06):
Simple as that. Well, two more games are in the
books thanks to Saturday. And actually they determined quite a
bit playoff wise, because when the Texans beat the Chargers,
that clinched the playoff berth for the Texans and that
eliminated the Indianapolis Colts. Wah wah, wah wah. It also

(13:28):
won the AFC West for the Denver Broncos. And if
you're into this circle of life stuff, the last time
the AFC West was won by someone other than Kansas City,
it was the Denver Broncos. And that year the Denver
Broncos actually won the Super Bowl. The Super Bowls played
in Levi Stadium. Guess where the Super Bowl is being

(13:51):
played this year? If you guess Levi Stadium, help yourself
through some cookies out of petty cash. Nicely done, And
am I suggesting the Broncos will win the Super Bowl? No?
I just like this oddball stuff. And yeah, the Ravens
are not out of it yet, sort of kind of
after they win over Green Bay. But that victory handed

(14:13):
the Chicago Bears the NFC North title. So a lot
of stuff happened Saturday, but we're not quite done yet.
Start with the NFC right now, the number one seed
the Seahawks. They are on pace to be the number
one seed, And if the Seahawks win later on today Sunday,

(14:36):
later on Sunday, they'll still need the Rams to lose,
her tie and the forty nine Ers and Bears to tie. Yeah.
I can't make it this stuff up. That's how it works.
So the Seahawks are at Carolina, who I think is
gonna put up a good fight. But the Seahawks can't
clinch the number one seed on Sunday unless all those

(14:58):
things happen. They win, the Rams lose or tie, the
Bears forty nine Ers tie, But the Seahawks can cleanse
the NFC West if they win and the Rams lose
or tie and the forty nine Ers lose or tie,
or if the Seahawks tie and the Rams losing the
forty nine Ers lose. See, we got to cover it
all here. Can't just make outfit up. So you know,

(15:21):
according to the people who were nerds that sat in
front of class with like fifty pens in their front
pocket and taping their glasses and raise their hand always
asked the teacher for more homework, they say, Seattle has
a forty six percent chance of holding on to the
number one seed and a fifty percent probability of winning
the NFC West according to the playoff predictor, which I

(15:43):
think is a drunk guy in a basement throwing darks
left handed and he's right handed. But nonetheless, there you
have it. Chicago Bears are the number two seed. The
remaining schedule, they're at San Francisco and they're home against Detroit. Now,
the Bears secured their playoff berth via the Lions lost
to the Steelers last week, and then they won the
NFC North after their overtime went over the Green Bay Packers,

(16:06):
who also fell to the Ravers and Ravens on Saturday night.
The Bears have about a fourteen percent chance at the
number one overall seed. The number three seed the Eagles
the remaining schedule at Buffalo and versus the Washington Commanders.
Back to back chance to the NFC East. That hasn't
happened in a long time. But it doesn't look like

(16:27):
they're gonna get the number one seed. I won't go
through what they have to do to have that happen.
It's just not gonna happen, okay, But I think it's
gonna be an interesting game against the Bill Sunday number
four seed the Carolina Panthers. The remaining schedule, they host
Seattle Sunday that are at Tampa Bay. They have designs
Carolina on clinching the NFC South.

Speaker 4 (16:48):
How do you do that?

Speaker 2 (16:49):
You win Sunday and the Bucks lose or tie, or
the Panthers tie and the Bucks lose. Well, I feel
like this is gonna continue you on week eighteen, in
which Carolina will visit Tampa Bay and that could be
for all of marbles and we'll cover it all next week.
But a big one over the Bucks moved Carolina into

(17:10):
first place in the NFC South. They also have a
forty five percent chance to win the division. According to
that aforementioned nerd who sits in the basement throws darts
at a dark board while these drunk left handed sat
in the front of class in fifth grade with the
prescription ash trays and ask for extra homework for the teacher.
The Niners, they are the fifth seed right now. Their

(17:33):
remaining schedule, they host the Bears in which promises to
be a good game Sunday night, and then then they
also home.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
Against the Seahawks. Huge props of the Miners.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
My god, they lose Fred Warner, they lose you know,
you don't happen, and they're still right there. So at
least the Niners have clinched the postseason position because the
Lions lost Week sixteen, and they have about a twenty
seven percent chance at the number one seed in the conference.
They but they got to win out against the Bears
and Seahawks to secure the top seed a home field
advantage in the playoffs. They could do it, and they

(18:04):
can do it. The Rams currently the sixth seed. They're
at Atlanta Sunday and then they're home against Arizona Cardinals
in the last week. The Rams are already in the
postseason field. There, they're they're you know, secure in the
knowledge that'll be going to the playoffs, but they're going
to need some help to win the division crown, and
they also want the conferences number one seed, so they

(18:27):
have to beat the Falcons and the Cardinals in their
final two games. Very doable. But then they have to
have the Seahawks lose to the Panthers, but then beat
the forty nine ers, and have the forty nine Ers
beat the Bears and lose to the Seahawks, and have
the Bears not tie the Lions. Okay, they gonna happen.

(18:49):
The Rams odds of clinching the number one seed fell
from fifty three percent to twelve percent after Week sixteen results.
According to that guy in the basement, Packers, Well, they
are nine to six and one. They have one game

(19:11):
left at Minnesota. They've clinched a playoff spot because the
Lions lost to the Vikings on Christmas, but they cannot
win the NFC North. They're locked in at number seven.
Better than sharpstick in the Iron. A lot of people
trade places with them, but that's where they're at. Tampa
Bay is currently an eleven seed. They're still in the
playoff picture, and their remaining schedule is at Miami Sunday

(19:38):
and then again home versus Carolina next week. So the
loss to the Panthers dropped Tampa Bay out of playoff position.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
As we stand, right now.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
But they still have a fifty four chance and winning
the NFC South because they face Carolina one more time
and they will hold the tiebreaker if they win that game.
But they gotta beat the Dolphins first Sunday, all right,
So that's the NFC. Let's move on to the AFC.
The Denver Broncos sitting pretty at thirteen and three as

(20:13):
the current number one seed. They have one game left
on the schedule, they host Los Angeles Chargers. They could,
in theory, though, the Broncos Sunday, while sitting on the couch,
clinch the number one seed if the Patriots lose, plus

(20:33):
the Bills lose or tie, and the Jacksonville Jaguars lose
or tie. With all due respect, they have a hell
of a hard time seeing how Jacksonville loses in Indianapolis Sunday.
Could I be wrong? Yeah, but I don't see it.
The Broncos they ended the Chiefs nine year reign atop

(20:54):
the AFC West, that is by virtue of the Chargers
long set, and now they have about a sixty percent
chance to earn the number one seed. Per the nerd Patriots,
who knew, well we did. We said they were on
the short list to go from worse to first happens
just about I think, out of twenty five last twenty
five years, it's happened twenty four to the last twenty

(21:17):
five years, and in twenty eighteen it happened twace. The
Pats are number two their seed. Their remaining schedule, they're
at the New York Jets, which I think will be
relegated to the English Not So Premier League next year,
and then they're home against to Miami Dolphins. Now, the
Pats can actually clinch the AFC East Sunday if they

(21:37):
win and the Bills lose, or even tie, or the
Patriots tie but the Bills lose. So if the Pats
losing the Bills lose, it is going to go to
Week eighteen. If the Pats win and the Bills lose,
Pats are your new AFC East champions for twenty twenty five.
But the good news is the Patriots have punched their
playoff ticket. They beat the Ravens last Sunday night three

(22:00):
percent likely to win the AFC East and actually still
have a thirty percent shot at the number one seed.
We'll get into that next week. The Jacksonville Jaguars give
it up to Liam Cohen did it last year as
an OC with Tampa Bay, doing it in Fine Feddle.
This year with the Jacksonville Jaguars, they really look good

(22:20):
and by the way, Travis Hunter has been hurt all year.
Their remaining schedule, they're at Indianapolis later Sunday, and then
they're home against the Titans. Now, there's no such thing
as an easy schedule in the NFL. You know, wash
your moth out with hope if you think anything's easy.
Some games are tougher than others because some teams have
losing records and some teams have winning records. But then

(22:42):
a National Football League, they're all tough. You can't take
anything for granted. However, having said that, it seems likely.
It seems likely that Jacksonville will went out beating Indianapolis,
who've obviously very depleted.

Speaker 4 (22:55):
Hats off to phillip Rivers.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Oat and the Tennessee Titans, who have actually covered five
in the last six games, or for the last five,
but they can clinch. Jacksonville can clinch the AFC South
just by winning out. That's it.

Speaker 4 (23:09):
They don't need help. They gotta win out.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Or they finish one and one, and the Houston Texans
would have to lose Week eighteen the same, all right,
but they make it easy on themselves to win the
AFC South just by winning out the Jacksonville Jaguars. Dude,
the number four seed, give it up. If I if

(23:34):
I have to hear, if I I have a nickel
every time it's Mike Tomlins time to go elon MUSKND
be mowing my lawn, I'd have my own I'd have
my own private jet with twenty four hour access. Look now,
Pittsburgh's nine and six. I expect them to be Cleveland,
and I expect them to be Baltimore, be eleven and sixteen.
With Aaron Rodgers, they can cleanch the AFC North real simple.

(24:00):
Beat the Browns Sunday or tie the Browns and it's over.
Steelers win the AFC North. No, DK metcalf and I
think the Browns will play with Pride and Miles Garrett.
You know it's never about the money, No, never about
the money, man. I just I don't care about records.
I want to win. Oh, here's two hundred million. Oh,

(24:21):
I can't wait to get back. I'll get about eighty
million sacks and we'll go three and fifty eight. He
plays hard, Okay, give him some credit. People will be
watching to see if he breaks the record, and it
will probably be one of those meaningless records because.

Speaker 4 (24:37):
It they don't win.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Okay, but if they knock off the Browns, I'm sure
that the Ravens would you know, sentiminie Christmas basket, Steelers
or Rivals less they done. The Steelers are in control
of the AFC North, which is where you want to be.
According to the NERD, eighty two percent chance to win
the division.

Speaker 4 (24:56):
The Buffalo Bills. They are number five seed. The remaining
is chederl Again.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
They host Philadelphia one and a half point favorite Sunday
and then home versus the New York Jets. Now, while
the the Bill's chances at catching up to New Windland
to win the division title are very slim, about seventeen
percent according to the NERD, the Bills are very much
in the playoff field because the Colts lost last Monday,
so their ticket to the dan chis punched. So they

(25:24):
got that going for him. The Houston Texans eleven and
five and looking good doing it. Remember they started oh
to three and then they were three and five. Kind
of like Lamar in the playoffs, and now they're eleven
and five, the hottest team maybe in the NFL. They
host Indianapolis next week. You would expect they'd win. Houston
will clinch the AFC South well, only if the Jaguars

(25:46):
lose their last two games, or if the Jaguars finished
one to one and the Texans win Week eighteen. The
Jexans chance of winning the AFC.

Speaker 4 (25:54):
South is about thirty nine percent, but.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
They'll need help from at least one of the jaguars
final two opponents, which are the Colts and the Tennessee Titans. Hmm,
I don't assarily feel good about that. If you are
a Texans router, you're number seven seed currently this Los

(26:18):
Angeles Chargers. Their final game is at Denver next Sunday.
They're eleven and five. Solid season. The Chargers are in
the postseason, but they're locked into a wildcard spot because
they allowed they got beat it home Saturday to do
a very tough Texans team. Uh, just a nod game.

(26:40):
Dick Or the kicker is as money as can be.
He missed an extra point, he missed the Chip shottfield goal,
and then he given Saturday or Sunday, as they say,
but the Chargers are at least in the postseason. Finally,
last and least, in my opinion, you're a number nine
seed currently the Baltimore Ravens, who sit at eight and eight.
They have one game left at Pittsburgh. The only thing

(27:04):
to know now is if it's gonna matter or not
the hopefully the Ravens playoffs. Folpes aren't done yet, because
they beat the Packers Saturday thanks to a herculean performance
by Derrick Henry, the only man in the history of
the NFL toy scored four touchdowns in the game for
two different teams. I am an encyclopedia of useless information.

(27:26):
They'll need the Steelers. The Ravens need the Steelers to
lose to the Browns on Sunday to have a shot
next week if the Steelers win. If Tomorrow night, at
this time, the Steelers are beating the Browns that game
against the Steelers, Let's put it this way.

Speaker 4 (27:42):
The Steelers beat.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
The Browns on Sunday, the Ravens will play Week eighteen
at Pittsburgh, but it won't matter. You already knew this,
but these are the teams that are already eliminated the
Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs. The
Cincinnati Angles, the New York Jets, the Cleveland Browns, and
Tennessee Titan said. Oh wait a minute, stop the presses

(28:04):
the Raiders. The Raiders are eliminated. I thought somebody said
this team is ready to win big now, so what
they said the first week of the year. Okay, never mind,
we're just having fun. We're not solving the world's problems.
We're solving a few NFC. The Lions are eight and eight.
They're done.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
Bums.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
It generally bums me out. It does if you know
my history. The Vikings are also out. Cowboys are out,
The Falcons are out. Excuse me, excuse me for just
half a second. Anybody got a camel non filter deck

(28:45):
and borrow. The New Orleans Saints are out. Washington Commandos, goodnight.
Arizona Cardinals, and your New York Giants are here in
Las Vegas Sunday.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
And they will not be going to the playoffs either.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
So there you have it, fine fedal fashion. By the way,
for the best pregame show of your weekend, be sure
to tune into Fox Sports radios Countdown to Kickoff, presented
by BETMGM every Saturday and Sunday morning. We will count
you down to all the biggest games for three hours
right up until kickoff. For all of the best plays
and up to the second injury news, tune into Countdown

(29:22):
to Kickoff, presented by BETMGM, every Saturday and Sunday morning
right here on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app.
Coming up, we are We are twenty three minutes away
from the midnight hour. You see from where I sit
here in Las Vegas, Nevada. In twenty three minutes, the

(29:43):
clock will strike midnight. Literally, it will be twelve midnight
here and perhaps where you are listening. We have a
huge listening bass in California five seventy am, among many others,
and anywhere in the Pacific time zone it turns midnight
for you as well. Literally, but wherever you are in
the world. We've had callers from London, We've had callers

(30:05):
from Ireland, Japan, even Detroit. Well, it's literally or or
figuredly the midnight hour because you get the last word.
And that's what makes this segment so great, because the
callers are fantastic and they continue to raise the bar
every week, and I'm really looking forward to hearing your
thoughts on these three topics that we will be setting up.

(30:27):
In just a second, I.

Speaker 4 (30:30):
Have Bernie Fradam.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
We are coming you alive for the Fox Sports Radio
studios here in Las Vegas.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Keep it locked.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
You're listening to the Bernie Fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
All right, back in the Bernie Fradtle Show, Fox Sports Radio.
We are sixteen minutes away from the men at hour
from where I sit here in Las Vegas. The clock
strikes midnight literally perhaps the same for you, but literally
it strikes it. Figuratively, it strikes midnight for all of

(31:05):
us because you have the last word. It's just a
colloquial way of saying, it's the man that hour. You
get the last word. We do this every Saturday at
midnight Pacific time. Eight seven seven nine nine six six
three sixty nine eight seven seven nine nine in Fox.
Callers have been fantastic. Look for more of the same tonight.

(31:26):
All right, So let's set this up so if you
happen to catch my opening monologue, I took some pretty
direct shots at the Baltimore Ravens, believing that it's just
simply time for not just Lamar Jackson, but John harbaughtago.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
I'm tired of the hype and the boloney. I gave
you the numbers.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
He's three and five in the playoffs, fifty five percent
completion rate, ted touchdowns, seven interceptions to fumbles. Forget it, man,
it happened at sixty eight point three passer rating. Meanwhile,
John Harball.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
Has done many, many, many questionable things.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
This is the staff.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
It's not been a good year for him.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
Repeated late game collapses, questions about Derrick Henry's usage, lack
of accountability of many systemic issues. Look any Reid left
Philadelphia and went to Kansas City. It seemed to work
out after eighteen seasons, eighteen seasons in the National Football League.
Perhaps the Ravens and Harball could benefit from a fresh start.

(32:32):
So do you agree with me, am I full of crap?
Do you think Harball needs to go but Lamar needs
to stay? Do you think Lamar needs to go and
Harbor needs to stay. They both need to go, they
both need to stay. That's what makes this segment so
good because we get variants of opinions and thoughts, and
most people bring pretty good batchy sipts. I just don't

(32:55):
think you're going to get anything else out of this
group that you would have hoped you would have gotten.

Speaker 4 (33:02):
There're eight n eighty for reason. And look, with all
due respect.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
To Lamar, I defended him to the hilt coming out
of Louisville. I love the guy, and he's had a
serviceable NFL career. But you gotta win, man, That's what
it's all about. A player of his caliber, you would
have expected him to win. I can't tell you how
many national talkings predicted the Baltimore Ravens win the Super
Bowl this year, and they'd all high five each other.
They're all happy. He has finally aftered why why? Based

(33:29):
on what? Just because just because it's their turn. No,
you know, Jackson, by the way, you can't discount as
numerous injury issues now, I don't know. You really can't
question a man's injury. I don't know how hurt his
back was, but I'm really curious if you could really
had to play tonight, which I could he have played?

(33:51):
I mean, justin Herbert plays with a broken hand. Rogers
has brought every week he's playing, even Burrow. They're playing
for enough that he's playing, and look, maybe he really
couldn't play. I don't know. It just feels odd, just
an opinion. Pulled this a couple of years ago. Seemed
to have a mysterious injury, you know, when he was,
you know, pining for that new contract which you got.

(34:12):
So listen, listen, you hear my point? Is it time
for Lamar Jackson and or John Harbor to go? Yes?
Know why bring your receipts number two? Okay, it's official
now the soonest USC can play Notre Dame again is

(34:33):
twenty thirty. Now, this is a rivalry that goes back
to nineteen twenty six. They've played ninety three games.

Speaker 3 (34:40):
Yeah, I get it.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
USC's only won twice in the last ten games. That
suggests because the nature of the rivalry has become lopsided,
that it was a factor in halting it. As a
matter of fact, Mini Cynics more than one has said
quote now I'm quoting them, not me, that USC has
canceled this game becau don't think they can win.

Speaker 4 (35:01):
Meanwhile, Collins worried.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
About the game being played in the Blizzard Come on, yeah,
show me which games have been played in the blizzard, Colin,
I've covered I've been around this game.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
I've bet longer than you.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
They play usually in October and the weather's pretty nice
and Matt By the way, while I lived in Michigan
from ninety three to twenty ten, I went to seven
Notre Dame games at Notre Dame, Okay, October ninety three
Lee Beckton, the Lee Beckton game, and Notre Dame smoked

(35:34):
the USC. Then ninety four Remy Hamilton Michigan made the last.

Speaker 4 (35:38):
Second field goal. Saw a bunch of them.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
It was always temperate weather, always always now USC defenders
and we may have them call in the night at
eight seven seven nine nine six six three sixty nine
eight seven seven to nine nine Fox they.

Speaker 4 (35:52):
Say, hey, wy, don't you go kick rocks.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
USC's got to play Penn State next year, Ohio State, Oregon,
Washington at Indiana, now Wisconsin, and then of course you're
crosstown around with UCLA. You ain't got time for Notre
Dame anymore. Well, that's not flying with me. USC has
played tough schedules in the past and they still managed
to play Notre Dame. And I know Notre Dame schedule

(36:15):
is not tough next year, at least on paper. You know,
I'm not going to dog them. Anything's easy if you
don't have to do it. But think about it, a USC. No, No,
we're playing Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, Wisconsin
in UCLA. We ain't got time for Notre Dame right
now in this new playoff format. Okay, it's more important

(36:40):
for us to get to the playoffs, and as we
have observed, the selection committee tends to punish teams that
lose for losses that come in November rather than say September,
although that part's debatable. If you tell me Notre Dame
wasn't punished for their early season losses. Again, it's all rhetoric.

(37:01):
If they wanted to play the game, they would, You'd
figure it out. I know. There seems to be some
sort of impasse where SC was like, well, we'll play
earlier in the year. Don't even know we want to
play it late in the year. Now, I'm asking you
whose side are you on? Did USC screw this up?

(37:23):
Did Notre Name screw this up? Is USC duck in
Notre Dame? Does this make sense based on the schedule?
I told you, no, one's gonna care if USC makes
the playoff, which they're not gonna do.

Speaker 4 (37:35):
I think this is a shame.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
Just just take a second to sample the responses for
multiple prominent USC alums over the years.

Speaker 4 (37:47):
You think they like this? Are you serious? So you
take Notre Dame off this schedule?

Speaker 2 (37:54):
I guess you can now add another FCS full or
a group of five opponents to get that extra win
on their conference schedule.

Speaker 4 (38:01):
But that's only going to take USC so far. Okay.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
Officials from both schools have said they put a good
face on it if you believe it. They say the
series will tentatively restart in twenty thirty. But what if
USC hasn't improved and haven't gone to the playoffs the
next four years, which is entirely possible. Man's pig ten
for real? So topic number one is it time for

(38:31):
lamar and or John harbaughtago or neither one and an
full of crap USC? Notre Dame?

Speaker 4 (38:38):
Who sat are you on USC's or Notre Dames?

Speaker 2 (38:42):
Cynics will argue that USC canceled this because they don't
want to play a game they can't win. They've only
won two to the last ten. I don't know if
that's true. You can make a case that's true. Sc
backers will say, no, man, we got Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon,
Washington at Indiana, Wisconsin, Ucla at Wisconsin. By the way,

(39:02):
we ain't got time for you. We're worried about other things.
But it's a shame because this is really a storied rivalry.
There's a pomp and circumstance of this game that's almost
indescribable in so many historic headlines that have come out
of it. And listen, this is still show business. This
is for the fans. I just get the feeling if

(39:24):
Lincoln Riley wanted to play bad enough, they'd have found
a way. Screw it, We'll play in October.

Speaker 4 (39:28):
Whatever. So that's number two.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
And number one, of course, is what I said about
the Baltimore Ravens.

Speaker 4 (39:35):
Number three.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
I want to squeeze this one in here. Play stupid games,
win stupid prizes. I'm calling it the half a million
dollar punch see around the world. For whatever reason, I
don't know what the justification would have been. DK Metcalf
strolls over punches a fan in Detroit. The scene the
scene of the Mouse at the Palace where I was.

(39:58):
What were you thinking when you saw that punch? I
just want to know what were you thinking? I'll tease it.
I think he's gonna get a game suspension? What the
hell was he thinking? No, we got too, and you
can take your your appeal and put it where the
sun don't shine. You can't go punching fans. I have
no idea what the guy said. I don't think there
could be any justification for that. If you said the
wrong thing, ban the fan for life. Those are our

(40:18):
three topics. Eight seven, seven, nine nine six six three
six nine, eight seven, seven nine to nine one. Fox
is the Bernie Fraddle Show, the man that hour.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
Don't listen no Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (40:31):
That's right, you heard the man. Bernie Frale Show keeps
rolling right along. My name is Bernie Fraddle. We're coming you,
Lyne from Las Vegas. Fox Sports Radio Studios. Just getting started.
We'll take you up to three am Pacific, six am Eastern,
and the phone lines are jamming up. We've got the
situation in Baltimore is it's just simply time to move

(40:51):
on from lamar and or John Harbaugh or am I
full of crap?

Speaker 4 (40:57):
Number two? You see notre Dame.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Cynics will argue that USC's ducking him because they can't
beat him us. He says, no, man, we got Penn State,
Ohio State, Oregon, Washington at Indiana, Washington, at UCLA, Wisconsin
at u C l A, ain't got time?

Speaker 4 (41:14):
Who sat?

Speaker 2 (41:15):
Are you on?

Speaker 4 (41:15):
Number three? DK?

Speaker 2 (41:16):
Metcalf play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The five hundred
and fifty five thousand dollars punch scene around the world.
It's time for the midnight hour. All right, We're gonna
get to all of you. I appreciate your patience. You
took the time to call in. We start with Andrew
and Bakersfield Andrews. Start us off tonight in find fettle.
What's up?

Speaker 9 (41:37):
What'd you say at the end?

Speaker 2 (41:38):
Go ahead and start us off tonight, buddy.

Speaker 4 (41:40):
All right.

Speaker 9 (41:41):
Well, came into the garage, thought this Christmas maybe not
Bernie might not be on.

Speaker 10 (41:47):
Turn it on?

Speaker 9 (41:47):
Heard it with you. I gave you the Bernie, and
then I gave.

Speaker 2 (41:51):
You it is baby, there it is.

Speaker 3 (41:53):
Give you all right.

Speaker 9 (41:56):
I don't know much about the second topic. That's the
only one I'm going to talk about. But to me,
college football, especially at college sports, should teach men and women, loyalty, courage,
how to keep fighting, how to believe that you can.

Speaker 11 (42:13):
Win, And for some reason.

Speaker 9 (42:16):
I feel like they're going in the opposite direction of that,
having these players just oh yeah, you know, I go
to Stanford right now.

Speaker 12 (42:25):
But peace out.

Speaker 9 (42:27):
This guy's going to pay me more.

Speaker 13 (42:28):
You know.

Speaker 9 (42:30):
That's all I have tonight.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
All right, Andrew Lawyers, appreciate you checking in, buddy, and
yet you can count on me on Saturday night. Thanks
for calling in, super John and Oregon. Is this your
first time calling the Bernie Frattle Show.

Speaker 14 (42:41):
Yeah, it is, thank you.

Speaker 2 (42:42):
Welcome in.

Speaker 4 (42:42):
How are you, John?

Speaker 14 (42:44):
I'm well, hey, you get your rain boots on out.
There's what's that happened?

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Yeah, we get right in here in Las Vegas. Occasionally
we certainly have, but nothing to get too excited about.

Speaker 14 (42:55):
Yeah, hey, I heard that FC is being held over
the cols UH to surrender their merchandise right to the
Big ten and there's gonna be a billion dollar lawsuits
and the think Notre Dame. They I don't feel bad

(43:15):
for him, really, I mean, traditions come and go. Really,
I mean, we don't have a civil war here anymore
in Oregon, Oregon State.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
And yeah, that's true.

Speaker 14 (43:27):
State go ahead, they could and it's it's about it's
about this giant law suits that's coming down over the
merchandise thing.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
They You know what's interesting, I had not heard that
there was a correlation between that and the fact that
usc wouldn't play Notre Dame. I think clearly USC is
the team decides that doesn't want to play. If I've
given you my rationale, if you were to pick a side,
would it be us here Notre Dame?

Speaker 5 (43:52):
Uh?

Speaker 14 (43:52):
The West Coast guy.

Speaker 12 (43:54):
See, although I.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
Oh, there you go. You're you can full on the
Catholic two. We're all he's got that Catholic gill. All right,
let's go back to number one. Do you have any
thoughts on Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh in Baltimore?

Speaker 14 (44:09):
Yeah, they picked together and just come back around and
do it again.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Do you you'd bring him back if you were the owner?

Speaker 14 (44:16):
Oh, if Dallas can live with Dak through all that,
I'm sure that Baltimore can live with with Lamark for
another year or two for sure, for sure.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
And the well DK metcalf when you saw the punch,
the dumb ass punch seen around the world that you know,
five hundred and fifty five thousands doll have cost him
and oh, by the way, hurting his team. And should
Cleveland beat Pittsburgh, they're not gonna have DK metcalf week
A team against Baltimore.

Speaker 4 (44:43):
Other than that, how was it play? Missus Lincoln?

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Go ahead?

Speaker 14 (44:45):
I really think they should do a case study on
DIVA wide receivers. I don't know what makes them snap
the way they do or act the way they do.
It just it's it's it's beyond me. And I hope he,
I hope he he stays productive, and I hope you know,
the punch really didn't connect.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
That's not the point. That's not the point.

Speaker 14 (45:09):
If we can move on, and I just I don't know.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
Well, we're moving on, all right. He's moving on about
half a million lighter.

Speaker 12 (45:20):
That's I am super John.

Speaker 4 (45:24):
I like the name, I like the vibe.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
Please don't be a stranger.

Speaker 4 (45:27):
We do this every.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Saturday night, pal midnight Pacific time. Jim in Massachusetts fitting
Lee in the number three hole the night.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
What do you got for us, Jim Bernie. They're gonna
move Lamar. I think ownership will move Lamar because he
is mockable, seeing how he has two years left on
his contract.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Keep keep your dis in mind, no pal, and I
think they should. Okay, but seventy four million dollar cap
hit unless they move him. And also he has no
trade claws, so I agree with you they should. The
question is will they be able to pull that off?

Speaker 3 (46:03):
I think I think they will. It's been done before
and I think Highba is a good coach, so he
should just stay there. And the only reason in New
England beat him is because the defense was out there
all day. They beat on, they beat on New England
and they.

Speaker 10 (46:15):
Got tired in the fourth quarter and that's what happened.
And to prove my point, you got seven starters out
for New England coming into this week career and percussion,
uh you know, concussion protocol. And one of them is
your top running back, who I think is a great player.
He need a player, and I don't think he'll stay
in New England once his contracts up, he'll move on.
But that's the story with them. Uh, the UFC and

(46:39):
Notre Dame. You know what, just play. Just play doesn't
think I don't want to play there and we want
to pick and chew that schedule. If you're that good play.
I mean, because you've got to get You've got to
get money for the TV, right and all this other stuff,
and I mean, you know, don't whine, just play.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
You know, it just doesn't have a good look.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
You know, does not have a I agree, And you
what do you.

Speaker 3 (47:04):
Expect when you What do you expect with somebody that's
got the IQ of a house plan? I mean, why
would you even think of doing that? You know?

Speaker 2 (47:12):
I mean he lost his temper and I don't know,
you know, it's more of an impulse control than an
intelligence thing. I don't know anything about the k metcalf.
I know a lot about it.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
No, no, no, there's no need for that.

Speaker 5 (47:25):
Not.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Well, what I'm gonna keep hold on, Jim, stand stand
a line because we've got a good, long history. I'm
not going to speak out of school if I really
don't know. I'm not trying to be politically correct. People
see right through that. Okay, that's that's crap. But the
bottom line is I really know anything about the guy.
But I saw that, and that was like, Okay, I'm
merely asking for people's need jerk reactions. Mine was you remember, Jim,

(47:49):
I was in Detroit for the Mounts the Palace. I'm
telling you one of these is going to happen again.
Continue on, I mean to steal your time.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
Go ahead, No, no, they have no spots, Fernie, you're
making zillion dollars. You're like what one percent of the
athletes that all try to play in college, it doesn't
matter the sport in college or whatever, and semi pro
to try to get to that level, and then you
go and do something like that, you know. And that's

(48:16):
besides where security. I mean, they got security on the
field and all those teams, you know, all you see
them all, they're all watching the stand, you know, and
stuff like that. Why wasn't that nipped in the bug
before it even started? Because for him to go over
and do that, it wasn't an isolated be like a
five second incident. That had to be going on for
quite a while, right, So, I mean, in a little

(48:36):
bit fault on everybody there, you know, especially the drunk
that was was harassingal you know.

Speaker 4 (48:42):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
I don't know what the fans said, and maybe the
fans should be kicked out, maybe the fans should be
banned for life, But I have yet to see a situation, Uh,
were a professional athlete, and any certainly any of the four
majors to stroll over the stands and punch a guy
and the defense that will connect. Come on, man, okay,
I just you know, don't piss on my shoes and

(49:05):
tell me it's rain and that was a bad look
all the way around. Did we hit on the s
se Notre Dame yet, Jim or just did you?

Speaker 3 (49:13):
What?

Speaker 15 (49:14):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (49:15):
Your thoughts on USC Notre Dame should have.

Speaker 3 (49:16):
Continue us Notre Dame. They should, they should play.

Speaker 15 (49:20):
But why are you talking teams?

Speaker 3 (49:22):
You're that good? You know you want the premier at
Both of them are premier programs in the country. I
always have been.

Speaker 16 (49:29):
Play the game, you know, people like to see.

Speaker 3 (49:31):
That, you know, but play the game where you're worried
about having a lot so you're not looking good.

Speaker 15 (49:35):
Or something like that.

Speaker 3 (49:36):
You know, if it's down to that, you shouldn't even
have a program.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
And I think it is down to that. I hate
to say it, I really do, Jim, anything.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
Else, pal Uh, just go get him burning love your show,
all right, Thanks to you.

Speaker 2 (49:50):
I appreciate you. This next gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, please
stay seated for the entire show Yep, he's got balls.
I don't want to see him, but he's got him
the legend that we know as Manuel and Guardina. Manuel,
welcome back in Buddy.

Speaker 17 (50:05):
Getty up jingle or spick up your feet because I
just won't to celebrate with my man, Bernie Fraddle.

Speaker 13 (50:16):
First off, God bless you, Bernie. I hope you had
a merry Mary Christmas, and I hope you have a happy,
happy New Year.

Speaker 8 (50:24):
My man.

Speaker 13 (50:25):
I really appreciate.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
So we got three provocative topics here. I think callers
have been good.

Speaker 13 (50:31):
Three of the best, three of the best you've ever
put on the table. If I may interrupt, Bernie, these
are very very.

Speaker 5 (50:41):
Excellent.

Speaker 13 (50:42):
First one, I think me personally, I would throw Lamar
like ten mil get rid of the note trade and
trade him because he's gonna fetch you the most. Okay,
while Harbaugh does have questionable tactics, especially with his his
clock management and his run game, I still would keep him.

(51:06):
You know, I'm not gonna do a total blow it
all up. I'll keep him around, let him get his quarterback,
and give him another two years. Put it at twenty,
you know, and if he's great, you know, you extend
him and he becomes a chuck nole or you know,
one of those types. But that's how I would go

(51:28):
about that topic. Number two, USC and Notre Dame, Right,
that's number two. Yeah, Okay, I grew up an that
s C fan, but once my sisters graduated from UCLA
with masters, I kind of backed the way. However, I'm
pretty deep in Trojan knowledge, all right, and this is

(51:50):
pathetic man, you know, But I'm gonna give you a
little too, if you give me a second. In my opinion,
they're ducking Notre Dame. This is a monumental rivalry of sports,
not only just college football, but East West, you know, Midwest,
whatever you want to call it, just big, big time,

(52:15):
big time, right, rivalry. And I think sc IS is
just shooting themselves in the foot. However, my dad came
up with a very good counter, and that's that a
Notre Dame. Man, they've been acting holier than now forever.
They got the Pope behind him, they got the Catholic Church,

(52:36):
they got NBC, and he brought up a good point like, hey, man,
you're independent, why don't you join somebody you know you
can pick and choose who you want to play. So
that's a little bit of where I see. But in
the end, I think they're both stupid for allowing it
to get to this way, because this is something that

(52:57):
sports needs, especially collegiate sports. Because one of the last
callers called it, Man, it's becoming a farce with these
seven year majors and these guys at three different schools.
I mean, I'm sick of it. Man, It's disgusting to me.
But you know, follow the money, right, Bernie, and was

(53:17):
what was number three?

Speaker 2 (53:18):
Well, you saw DK Metcalf throw the punch, I'm assuming,
Oh yeah, all right, you're a what was your.

Speaker 13 (53:25):
Pitty tea?

Speaker 5 (53:26):
Stupid tea?

Speaker 13 (53:27):
The malice in the palace? Like you said you were there,
you could have got much worse, and especially in a
football stadium.

Speaker 18 (53:35):
Are you kidding me?

Speaker 13 (53:36):
It could have really really been bad. There's no way.
Once you're a professional athlete, I've said this time and again,
you lose your license to fight back like that. Okay,
I mean you got to take the heckeling. You got
to take all of it. Man, Hey, ask Jackie Robinson
what you got thrown at?

Speaker 3 (53:56):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 13 (53:57):
The racial and all disrespectful remarks that he got thrown
at and he never lost. He's cool, you know, and
that's why they get paid.

Speaker 19 (54:07):
That's why they are blessed by God with that athleticism.
But sometimes unfortunately they're not the sharpest tools in the ship. Bernie,
I love you, my man, and uh you know I'll
be missing.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
Appreciate it man well always. Uh Mike in Houston, you
are up next.

Speaker 4 (54:22):
Welcome to Bernie for out of show.

Speaker 15 (54:24):
Good morning, Bernie's let's let's jump right in here, Lamar
and there. Uh Now, I don't believe they are this
particular years and ugly for them because there's the previous
color pointed out. Their defense is atrocious. He just can't
lump it just right there with him in Horrbord. This

(54:48):
is just gouldn't be an off. You know, this is
off Steven this season in my opinion. Uh, he's when
he's said healthy, he's perennial. Uh you know their perial
playoffs team. And although you're right, the I test for
what does he do when he gets the playoffs, he
hasn't done that.

Speaker 4 (55:07):
Not just the eye test. I gave a lot of stats.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
I brought a lot of receipts. Numbers are better, but.

Speaker 15 (55:13):
How many sanchized quarterbacks are out there. You know, they're
they're they're hard to five.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
You know. Here's the deal though, for what he's being
paid and the number of games he's missed and the
repeated failures in the playoffs, and then this year he
missed games and they're not even to make the playoffs.
I don't think unless Cleveland wins Sunday and Pittsburgh loses
again at home against Baltimore week eighteen, and I don't
want her. I think Harball's done too. I just think

(55:39):
they've effectively, you know, reached him the rope. But anyway,
continue on.

Speaker 15 (55:43):
All I know is some way, somehow Baltimore thinks Sam,
I don't want my Texans to play him.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
You know, Well, as long as Cleveland upsets Pittsburgh, and
if you're scoring at home, and hope you are, Pittsburgh's
actually lost their last three games in Cleveland, so it's
not all the real possibility. We'll see what you door
Sanders can do. So there you have it. Okay, let's
talk about the USC versus Notre Dame. Who sold that line?

Speaker 15 (56:11):
Well, uh, the previous one of your previous college sold
much under a little bit. Bernie the only thing cost
for their life has changed these rivalries, you know, especially
now with the poor and all that, they're going to
come and go at a faster pace. Hey, way back
in the day Southwest Conference, nobody cried when that all

(56:32):
broke up, and they had great rivalries here in the
state of Texas. Uh, Texas, Texas A and m has.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
Doubt been I remember that. That was awesome. Yeah, the
old Southwest Conference. Man was at Arkansas, fred Acres at Texas.
I mean it was a classic.

Speaker 15 (56:49):
Yeah, and a lot of us, including myself the caid'd
I cried when when all that went down, But it happened,
but yet we survived. The sun came up the next day.

Speaker 2 (56:58):
Ernie pragmatic approach enough. I can't argue with that.

Speaker 15 (57:02):
So, mister metcalf, Uh, there's the old axiom where the
customer is always righting and in fans are pro sports,
they are the customers. But look, that customer is always right.
That that thing is long and dead. We don't know
exactly what happened.

Speaker 20 (57:20):
I can't.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Fans got a lot to be you know, He's shorts
aren't clean either, there's no question.

Speaker 15 (57:24):
Oh no, no, no, oh no no no, I'm with
you because these uh, you know, some of these fans think, hey,
I paid my money, do but say what I want.

Speaker 20 (57:35):
And that's just it's just not true.

Speaker 15 (57:37):
However, that Metcalf has to have a poor head.

Speaker 11 (57:40):
He's just got to walk away.

Speaker 15 (57:43):
Maybe we'll never know exactly what that was back and
forth was or exactly.

Speaker 2 (57:48):
You know how I had to stroll over about fifty
feet or one hundred feet to get to the you
know the thing you have to walk with you.

Speaker 4 (57:55):
Yeah, so, but you're to your points taken, Mike. I
appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
Thanks for you back in that good stuff. Please don't
be a stranger eight seven, seven nine nine six six
three six nine eight seven ninety nine on Fox, let's
hear from you. We have these three topics. Is it
time for Lamar Jackson and or John Harbaugh tog usc
Notre Dame is no longer Who do you blame?

Speaker 4 (58:19):
And I'm gonna have some more on that.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
I think some people have brought some valid points up
that the only thing constant has changed and there are
other rivalries that no longer exist, other conferences no longer exist.
But this is the greatest intersection intersectional rivalry in college
football history.

Speaker 4 (58:38):
I'll get to more of that later.

Speaker 2 (58:39):
All right, listen, everybody, We've got Martin and Orange, Romance
in Kansas City, Bill in Chicago, Jeff in Denver.

Speaker 4 (58:48):
Be patient, We'll get to all of you.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
I'm Bernie Frattle, come to your life the Las Vegas
Fox Sports Radio Studios.

Speaker 4 (58:54):
Keep it locked, Bernie frattleshiw Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (58:57):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk line up
up in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search
FSR to listen live. Folly Foods go here with Tony
Foods Go Yeah. As everybody knows, we're the hosts of
the award winning Polly and Tony foodsco show.

Speaker 7 (59:15):
Yeah, but instead of us telling you how great we are,
here's how Dan Fatrick described us when he came.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
On our show.

Speaker 3 (59:21):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
What what are you doing? Were interrupting our promo? Yeah,
you wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally
of context.

Speaker 7 (59:32):
Oh yeah, Well, after this promo, I'm gonna take you
out and beat you.

Speaker 6 (59:35):
Let me put this into context.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
Shut up.

Speaker 7 (59:38):
Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Paully and Tony foodsco
Show on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
Ye Hi, We're back at the Bernie Fratis Show, Fox
Sports Radio. The midnight hour continues. We waste no time.
We go back out to the phone lines. We are
joined by Martin in Orange. Martin, welcome back here.

Speaker 5 (01:00:00):
How are you happy New year?

Speaker 8 (01:00:02):
Bernie, Dan, Good morning. The thing with the Ravens Man
and a lot of teams.

Speaker 21 (01:00:11):
Are going through this, and I think Lamar Jackson is
one of the premier offensive players in this league, and
I think Harball is one of the most the premier
defensive coaches in the league. And I think that's where
we're getting that water and oil mix. And I'm on
the side of the Jimmy's and Joe's and not the

(01:00:32):
exs and o's. So I think if they're gonna move anybody,
they should move Harball. Get an offensive minded coach there
and try to go against what Baltimore has been doing,
which is defense first, offense second, and try to win
a championship that way.

Speaker 8 (01:00:50):
S He Notre Dame. This is the one game, Bernie
that it doesn't.

Speaker 21 (01:00:56):
Matter what the records are, doesn't matter who the players.

Speaker 8 (01:00:59):
Are, You don't need to know them.

Speaker 21 (01:01:01):
There's two rivalries in the country that everyone goes to watch.

Speaker 8 (01:01:05):
That's Army Navy and USC Notre Dames. And this has
everything to do with with this has everything to do
with USC being cowardly and running away. This was never
a topic until Riley moved into that head coaching position
where he looked at that thing and was like, man,
we got to get rid of Notre Dame. We can't

(01:01:26):
win a championship. Well, let me tell you something, coach.
If you would have beaten Notre Dame this year and
you would have been in the playoffs, Notre Dame beats
you and they were kept out of the playoffs. So
who needs this game more? I think you guys need
this game. It was a big mistake to take him
off the steadwell less topic.

Speaker 4 (01:01:49):
What was that last Yes, yeah, Martin, it was a
DK metcalf.

Speaker 8 (01:01:55):
That one just yeah, that one blew my mind because
I don't know what said, but I know there's nothing
that is said.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
To handle it like that.

Speaker 15 (01:02:06):
You have security there.

Speaker 8 (01:02:08):
You could point out a fan, you can have them
escorted out of the games. You have all the power
in that situation. My gut reaction when I seen that,
because I actually seen it live for in that game,
I believe Mike. My gut reaction was, I went back
to Patrick Swavey and Roadhouse and what do you say.
You don't fight in your place of business, You take

(01:02:29):
it outside.

Speaker 22 (01:02:30):
And they said, well, what if he calls my mother
or you know what?

Speaker 8 (01:02:33):
And Patrick Swazey looked at him and said, well is
your mother you know what? And it's that simple, Bernie,
I love you. Have a good night.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
Martin always always brings it man Romanelli in Kansas City,
I believe the first time caller, Yes, sir, welcome to
the show.

Speaker 4 (01:02:50):
How are you good?

Speaker 5 (01:02:51):
How are you good?

Speaker 4 (01:02:53):
What do you got for us tonight?

Speaker 5 (01:02:55):
Well?

Speaker 22 (01:02:55):
Number one. I think the main problem is uh Harba.
I think he's just been kind of slow, honestly, and
I think they might need a faster paced coach.

Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
Well, you know, you may be right. Romanelli and Martin
brought up a good point about Harball's a defensive coach. Well,
they're allowing three hundred and sixty yards a game this
year that ranks twenty seventh, So I do think Harball
is a very big part of this issue.

Speaker 22 (01:03:19):
Continue on, I think Lamar just needs some help in
his receiver room too. Obviously, Jay Flowers is good, but
he's inconsistent, So you'd.

Speaker 4 (01:03:29):
Stick with Lamar and Cyanira to the horball.

Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
Is that fair?

Speaker 20 (01:03:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:03:34):
Okay, let's move on to USC Notre Dame. Who's sad?
Are you on? Romanelli?

Speaker 22 (01:03:40):
Honestly, I'm just disappointed with both of them. I mean,
I think USC's running away from it, and I don't
think it's gonna help Notre Dame get in the playoffs
at all. I'm an Army Navy fan, so to see
another staple rivalry kind of go away is just disappointing
to me.

Speaker 4 (01:03:55):
I think it's disappointed in the country. I really believe that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
I mean, other than World War Two in COVID, they've
played every year since nineteen twenty six. So finally you
saw I'm sure you saw DK metcalf and the punch
scene around the world, the half a million dollar punch.

Speaker 4 (01:04:13):
Did you have a knee jerk reaction to that?

Speaker 22 (01:04:16):
I just think it's unsportsman like in being a poor
fan as well. I mean that fan, oh, yeah, shouldn't
have done any of that, and then he should have
definitely been cooler headed and just walked away.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
Yeah, a good, good call. Appreciate you. Don't be a stranger.
I'm not giving the fan a hall pass in any way.
You know, we're losing some of our sensibilities in society now.
It's been twenty one years since Mouse at the Palace
November nineteen, two thousand and four. I was there. We
had a radio remote. I'll never I'll tell the story
again some time. I've told him many times. Many things

(01:04:50):
people will know. But what the main thing is people
don't know is it came out of nowhere. It was
spontaneous combustion. Bill in Chicago, Welcome to the Bernie Frattle Show.

Speaker 12 (01:05:01):
Hi, Bernie, how are you? First time?

Speaker 3 (01:05:03):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Good, Welcome in Bill.

Speaker 12 (01:05:05):
The Yeah, just I have strong comments on the first two.
The third one I really don't have a great.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
I won't.

Speaker 12 (01:05:14):
I won't bother with it. But the the first one
is in regards to Harbaugh and the Lamar is you
got to put this in context, is you know this
is not happened. This has happened before. You've had a
great player like Lamar, a great quarterback who you know
who who's a great in the regular season. But he's
just isn't the same guy in the playoffs. We've seen

(01:05:36):
it before, Payton management, who's struggles for years. Aaron Rodgers
really never has been. It's not the same guy through.
You look at the history. You know, he won a
super Bowl. You know, in the playoffs, he wasn't as good.
He went from great to above average.

Speaker 2 (01:05:51):
Okay, that's fair. Just ever so quickly, Bill, believe it
or not, Aaron Rodgers won a super Bowl his fourth
year in the league. He's not the first two years.
You go ahead, he.

Speaker 12 (01:06:02):
Did, he did, you know, so there's no doubt that
there's there ahead of him because Manning broke through. But
Manning was basically six years without a playoff victory his first.

Speaker 2 (01:06:11):
Eight years of the LEA.

Speaker 12 (01:06:13):
So it's the kind of thing you can't put that
on horriball. This is just something that you know what,
he's just not the same guy in the big spots,
you know, And that's really more on the player. The
coach can only put him in the position to do it.
You know, don't forget our ball won a super Bowl
with at best and above average quarterback in Flackhaw. You

(01:06:35):
know how many other coaches can you say have done that?
And then have had the success you had so.

Speaker 2 (01:06:40):
Well that you know your stuff, and I compliment you,
Brian Billick also did with Trent Dilferd. But but here
you don't want you don't want to. Yeah, yes, you
can't go.

Speaker 12 (01:06:52):
Yeah no, I really like you said. But like Billick's
just different. And I'll tell you why. He had an
historic defense where he just had a game manager quarterback,
whereas you know, Harball had to win a Super Bowl
with an above average quarterback in flackout and he had
to get through with it. It was a good defense,
but that was not the same. That was not a

(01:07:13):
great Ravens defense that year. So and if you look
at his record versus Mike Tomlin, very similar. And Mike
Tomlin's a very good coach. So I don't think I
go after to go after Harball. So I would keep
Harball and I would and what I would do is
I see I think it's fair your your your point

(01:07:34):
criticisms of Lamar Jackson, my but you know, let's face it,
he's got a seventy two million dollars cap hit next year.
They're not going to get rid of it. They're not
going to get rid of him. He's got no trade.
So that's that one. The second one, the second one
you had to say, Okay, well this is this is
a shame on really USC, but particularly on Lincoln Riley.

(01:07:56):
He's been trying to get rid of basically bring to
bring this schedule in and make it easier since he
got there, and he has that success against Notre Dames.
So this is all about lighting up his schedule. So
this is on USC primarily, you know, and but Lincoln
Riley even to a greater extent. It's a real shame.

(01:08:17):
I agree with you, Ernie, because this is the best
rivalry in college sports. All due respect to Michigan Ohio State.
Michigan Ohio State is a great robbery, but it's not
in the same class as Notre Dame and the USC.
You look at the Heisman Trophy winners, you look at
the national championships. No rivalry has been at this level,

(01:08:38):
you know, and so it's a real shame that they
didn't do it. I'll tell you the other reason why
USC looks really bad is because if you would have
the argument, well, you know what, there's only four teams
that can get into the playoffs like before, and we
want to light the schedule. Okay, that's a more fair argument.
Nick Saban did that year after year. But here's the

(01:08:59):
thing we're going into probably we're twelve now, we're probably
going to sixteen in a year or two. So if
you can't get in with sixteen in the future, I mean,
you know, you don't deserve to. You don't deserve to
get in. Even with Notre Dame on the schedule in
Ohio State, you know, you just don't deserve it. Let's
face it, they weren't one of the best twelve best

(01:09:19):
teams in the country this year. USC you know, they
weren't a part of that group now, so you know
they weren't as good as note name that didn't get in,
and nor Dame didn't deserve to get in. But you know,
so it's the kind of thing. So it's shame on them.
They're running from a rivalry and there's no need to
because like I said, it goes to sixteen teams. You
know you could, you're gonna get teams in. There were

(01:09:41):
three losses now, and if you play a good schedule
like USC will, they're gonna get in even with three losses.
So it's really shame and it's really shame on USC.
Do you know what Petro Papodocles is?

Speaker 4 (01:09:55):
Of course I do.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
I don't know them personally, but I don't think he's
happy about this, and I want to get to their callers.

Speaker 4 (01:10:01):
I would thank you so much for calling it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:03):
Don't be a stranger. Obviously you're well researched on your
thoughts and opinions. We just got to manage the time
clock here, buddy. Don't mean to cut anybody short. Hold
that thought. You can bring it up again next week.
And the irony is that Notre Dame just agreed to
play BYU, the team they didn't want to play in
the Pop Tarts Bowl, and we roll on. Jeff in Denver,

(01:10:23):
Welcome in Bud.

Speaker 11 (01:10:25):
I got a few things for you, Bernie. What happened
to brand new fooler?

Speaker 18 (01:10:29):
You?

Speaker 2 (01:10:31):
I I'm setting that aside because every we don't have
time to get to it during football season. I had
a good four year run, and we're going to do
it again brand new. What kind of brand new fool?
Are you? Followed by what my name? We'll resume it
again at some point. But as you can see with
the topics, there's so much more and still got to
get to tonight, but we will. We'll bring it back
at some point. Jeff.

Speaker 11 (01:10:53):
That's a killer that's a killer bit.

Speaker 2 (01:10:55):
Anyway, we got a lot of good a lot of
good response.

Speaker 11 (01:10:58):
Oh give me a few ex seconds. I got three
sides on that punch. First of all, any given stadium
has security every twenty to thirty feet baseball, football, So
we're in the hell with security.

Speaker 2 (01:11:14):
They didn't hear here. Here's the thing, my man, regardless, regardless,
I just want to deal with the here and now
on what happened. The punch happened. The punch happened. There
were fifty three players in the sideline, only one punch
the guy. So what was your knee jerk reaction? Now,
if your kneejerk reaction was, it's not DK's fault and
security is fault. I'll accept that. But is that really

(01:11:37):
was that really a reaction?

Speaker 11 (01:11:38):
Jeff, No, it's And then there's the other case. I
got three angles on this. First of all, security that
they didn't hear anything, because there's a good five to
ten seconds. Well, there is a code of conduct in basketball.
There's been fans thrown out courtside. You have to ye,
you know, you can heckle.

Speaker 3 (01:11:58):
You can heckle, but you can't across the line.

Speaker 2 (01:12:01):
All right, So here's the deal, big fella. We have
so many people on the line. We understand all the
rudiments and fan conduct. I just want to know what
your thoughts were.

Speaker 3 (01:12:11):
Then, Well, then you saw the punch.

Speaker 4 (01:12:14):
What were you thinking?

Speaker 11 (01:12:16):
I agree, you can't. You can't punch.

Speaker 2 (01:12:18):
Anybody, Okay, but there was let's go out to the
USC Notre Dame. What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 11 (01:12:23):
That I'm Colorado, I'm in Denver, so I missed the
Colorado Nebraska rivalry too. They should just let things, let
things go. But I think that USC might have had
something against sud Dame because I'm still missed at Notre
Dame for kicking your ball and going home.

Speaker 5 (01:12:41):
Oh we didn't make the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:12:43):
Were in agreement there, my friend? Another another terrible look.

Speaker 2 (01:12:46):
Do you have any thoughts jeff on Lamar Jackson and
John Harbaugh and in Baltimore.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
They just seed a divorce.

Speaker 5 (01:12:56):
They need a divorce.

Speaker 11 (01:12:57):
And as far as the cap hit, I mean, Denver
took a fifty four million dollars hit on Rus Wilson.
Listen to your excellent number one.

Speaker 2 (01:13:07):
Seed excellent, excellent point.

Speaker 4 (01:13:10):
Good on you, Jeff. I appreciate your calls.

Speaker 2 (01:13:13):
You always bring receipts, and I just got to make
sure I get every everybody in here. When we continue,
we'll have Jimmy and Boston, Michael, New York, Rick and Louisiana.
I don't want like to cut anybody short, but I
want to make sure nobody gets cut off too. So
I don't know, maybe I need to readjust my Mark
Medina interviews because I hate when we get tight on this.

Speaker 4 (01:13:36):
Towards the end, we'll we'll we'll continue with these final three.

Speaker 2 (01:13:39):
Callers, and look, uh, you know, we're not trying to
solve any problems here or solve the world's problems. We're
observing ancillary facts, you know, ancillary events as it were.
They take place in the world of sports, and try
to have a roundtable discussion if we can make any
of this makes sense, and it's not always easy to do.

(01:14:02):
I Bernie Fraddle were kemedy lyone from Las Vegas Fox
Sports Radio Studios. Keep it locked.

Speaker 4 (01:14:06):
We're listening to Bernie Fradles show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:14:10):
You don't listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:14:14):
We're back on the Bernie Fratles show, wrap it up
on the midnight hour. Jimmy in Boston, welcome in.

Speaker 11 (01:14:20):
How are you, Bernie?

Speaker 20 (01:14:22):
Always a pleasure, good morning, thank you. I know you
have other callers, so I'm a last right through this stuff,
DK metcalf He's got more to lose that his more
to protect, the highest standard on him. So he's in
the wrong for himself more than anybody. So he shouldn't
have tore the punch, bad bad book that everything. So

(01:14:43):
uh whatever the fan does, that's up the security and
the team to.

Speaker 3 (01:14:47):
Take care of.

Speaker 20 (01:14:48):
And uh so DK Metcalfe, I put him in the
fault as for college athletics at us USC, and not
to Dame Bernie, I'm disgusted with college athletics. They booked
of each other. Tell you the truth. With all this,
all these changes, the portal money and the stabotaging of
the conferences, blah blah blah, it's disgusting, you know what

(01:15:08):
I'm saying. So as a notre dame hater, I'll say
no dame. But overall, Bernie, this is just business as usual.
Paul jeff lettis and why people finding this bs you.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
Know, continuing byproduct of continue okay, and what have you
got for us?

Speaker 9 (01:15:25):
On?

Speaker 2 (01:15:25):
Uh on?

Speaker 20 (01:15:26):
Okay? Uh the Lama Jackson Lamar Jackson. I think we've
seen the best of him, so I would entertain, uh
dealing him. I wouldn't rush to deal him, but you know,
I said, I think you've seen the best of him,
and so John hab I disagreed with Bernie. I think
he's an excellent coach. And I don't know why coaches

(01:15:48):
aren't allowed to have a bad year. Let's say, yeah,
it's a bad year. Okay, fine, I don't know why
coaches aren't allowed to have a bad year, yet players
can and and uh, I think his body of work
has given them the benefits out the right whatever he
is gone wrong. And if you want to call for
his job, Bertie, I hope you've been calling for Medioca
Mike Thomlins job for the last ten years, because what

(01:16:09):
has he done the last five ten years? You know
what I'm saying, my friend, you know you.

Speaker 2 (01:16:13):
Got me on you got me on that, Jimmy, I
got no defense. I have not called for Tomlins and
I just feel like, uh, I'm going to accept your point.
And his body at work gives him the right for
one more year. I just think John Harbaugh's gotten very
stale to me.

Speaker 4 (01:16:27):
So Jimmy, that may be the case.

Speaker 11 (01:16:29):
But that may be the case.

Speaker 20 (01:16:30):
Give me ga, let's get a year to find out.
But instead of rushing to the door, I accept.

Speaker 2 (01:16:35):
That, Jimmie, great stuff, man bing bang bong, excellent. Mike
in New York. Welcome in, my Bertie.

Speaker 15 (01:16:43):
I'm going here for the speaker, polp Canery.

Speaker 4 (01:16:46):
Yeah, go ahead, Bell.

Speaker 16 (01:16:49):
The court said that Lamart Action has a server to mind.
Jeff second ridden harbous a proven go one more year
on that, okay, as boys, you see order, Dame, I'm
a nerdon, Dame Ben. I can't switch mystery at all.

Speaker 5 (01:17:11):
The beat bet.

Speaker 16 (01:17:13):
Bami has to give rid this tour. I'm a dumper
Transford telling you on and who is not insured?

Speaker 4 (01:17:24):
Mike.

Speaker 2 (01:17:24):
I appreciate your calling, buddy, don't be a stranger. We
do this every Saturday night. I know you're in New
York until midnight Pacific time, three m your time. Rick
and Louisiana, you're wrapping up for us tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:17:35):
You know what to do.

Speaker 5 (01:17:36):
Yes, thanks, stick, Nicole. I'll keep you I'll keep it brief.
As far as the Ravens I say keep them together.
I think a lot of when his contract was negotiated,
when Lamar's I want to give a lot of shout
out to his mother because his mother was the one
that was negotiating his contract. So hey worked out well

(01:18:00):
for him. Now he's at the end of this big payout,
so that's a good thing. As far as USC and
Notre Dame, last time we were talking about how Notre
Dame were going to the Bowl game. Now this week
you're talking about how USC won't play him, So I say, USC,
don't play them. Then the next thing is the DK

(01:18:23):
DK metcalf. I don't know what the guy said to him,
but if opposing teams are gonna try to find out
what he said, and he's gonna have an interesting future
when he goes to the to the away games, because
they're gonna find out what it was, and they're gonna
shout at don't and probably get a group of them

(01:18:45):
to shout out whatever it is that was said to him.

Speaker 4 (01:18:47):
So that's an interesting rick.

Speaker 2 (01:18:49):
I've been able to find out what the fans said.
And I'm not giving a fan of hall pass. I
just think that Cooper had to have to prevail. But
think about what you just said there, if that can
used against him in future games. Nothing good comes.

Speaker 5 (01:19:02):
Out of this, that's right, that's right. So he's gonna
he's gonna not be you know, he's not gonna be
able to play, so he'll be he'll be out of
the game mentally. So A.

Speaker 2 (01:19:15):
That's okay, good stuff.

Speaker 4 (01:19:17):
Rick, I'm gonna uh.

Speaker 2 (01:19:19):
Demure had a lot of smart collars tonight saying no,
Lamar Jackson should return and uh uh John Harbaugh should return.
So I accept that. I accept that. I just think
everything is juxtaposed per the expectations you have, not just
this season, but the past several seasons where they've fallen

(01:19:41):
short many times. And how many more times do you
do you want to put up with that? And I
accept uh Jimmy's point, Uh you know, how about uh,
how about Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh as a comparison, tom
I didn't have Lamar Jackson though, and and I think
that's the X factor here. People think about Lamar Jackson

(01:20:03):
walks on water now I or they used to. Anyway.
I defended the hell out of him coming out of Louisville.
I thought he's a brilliant talent and a far better
pocket passer, and he's had a good NFL career, But
when you get to January and he gets hot and
it's hard to breathe, and when the situation demands great
and this can you be great? Three and five record,

(01:20:24):
ten touchdowns, seven interceptions, a fifty five percent completion rate,
a sixty eight zero point three passer rating doesn't really
cut it for me. Having said all that, I've always said, well.

Speaker 4 (01:20:37):
Who you gonna replace it with?

Speaker 2 (01:20:38):
We don't really have a replacement in Baltimore for either guy,
So I think some really thoughtful callers there. The DK
Metcalf thing is obvious. Notre Dame's some pragmatic callers on
that too. Other revalries have gone away. This one's a
little different, I think, But we're in an ever evolving world,
and perhaps the earlier caller is right as well. This
is just a byproduct of the evolution of college football,

(01:20:59):
which doesn't any thing resembled like it used to just
a decade ago. All right, coming up and switch to basketball,
Mark Medina Medina Magic Lots to get to keep it
locked and listening to the Bernie Fradle Show on Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:21:12):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:21:15):
That's right. You heard the man Bernie Frattle Show just
keeps rolling right along. My name is Bernie Fraddle. Or
come to you, lion from the Las Vegas Fox Sports
Radio studios and we'll take you after three in Pacific,
six am Eastern.

Speaker 4 (01:21:27):
Lots to get to.

Speaker 2 (01:21:30):
But the guy coming up, you know him, You love them,
You can't lay without him. We got all kinds of
NBA stuff. Three simple words.

Speaker 4 (01:21:35):
It's that time.

Speaker 2 (01:21:37):
Mark Medina Medina Magic are Fox Sports Radio NBA guru,
also a writer for essentially sports. Mark, Welcome back in
as usual. Not an event on an uneventful week.

Speaker 18 (01:21:51):
Yeah, and when we're talking about this week, certainly it
was about Christmas, and it was a great Christmas, I
think for everyone except for the Lakers. That was one
ugly game to set the last against the Rockets.

Speaker 2 (01:22:02):
Oh my goodness, gracious listen, we'll start there then, Because
so a couple of weeks ago, when the Lakers are
fifteen and four, I know you said it sort of
ingested I want to eat crow because I said to
be forty two and forty and I can't back off that.
And I say, well, if there's a nineteen game season,
I would, but all of a sudden, mark, they're four
and six in the last ten oh and three in

(01:22:24):
their last three. And these are some inconvenient truths. Their
net rating is worse with Lebron on the floor. Defensively,
they're far worse with Lebron on the floor. So let's
start there. Four and six in the last ten oh
and three in the last three. Uh, is this just

(01:22:44):
a bad patch or we have a situation where you
know this is a portent perhaps for the remainder of
the season.

Speaker 18 (01:22:53):
Well, Berdie, I think what you're suggesting is that I
should be eating crow right.

Speaker 2 (01:22:57):
No, no, no, no, it's an ongoing it's go ahead. No,
I don't mean to imply that it's an ongoing motif here.

Speaker 18 (01:23:04):
Yeahh I'm being a little facetious, as you know, they're
going to obviously end the streak here. But I think
that when we're looking at the big picture here wins losses,
we saw that the Lakers were a very terrible defensive team,
and we also saw that, you know, they want some
close games that maybe they should have been a bad
business winning. On one hand, you can say, okay, good teams,

(01:23:25):
know how to win and clutch fashion. That's a good thing,
but it can also camouflage some things. So what we're
seeing at here is the Lakers have a really great
offensive team. I don't think there's any issues from both
the production and chemistry standpoint. We know that Luca Dodgics
runs at the show. Lebron James's credit is very adaptable

(01:23:46):
with being second fiddle, sometimes even third fiddle, because Austin
Reeves has taken his game to another level and he
has been a good fit with Luka Dodgics. But here's
the problem, Bernie, their defense isn't there. Even with guys
like Mark because Smart, who was acquired in the offseason
to give them some positive energy, it doesn't translate to

(01:24:06):
the rest of the team. Jared van Vanderbilt really great
defensive player, but JJ Reddick has made the decision not
to start them most of the games because he's calculated,
you don't what I want to have a better offensive
team because of the strengths of the personnel here, and
because Jared's such a poor three point shooter, it's going
to clog up the spacing, et cetera, et cetera. So

(01:24:28):
it really has this feeling of kind of whack them all.
They're leaning on their strengths, Let's create more problems with
their weaknesses. So what does this mean moving forward? I
think it's, you know, a fasten your seatbelt, because it's
got to be more turbulent times ahead, even through wins losses.
Here's why Austin reeves he's out for least a month.
He has a Grade two calf strain. Grade two means

(01:24:50):
that you have a partial tear. Calfs trains are always
delicate because we've seen players with the calf strains come
back too early and then get achilles injuries and the
other thing. Defend even though they have this whole film
session today and you know J. J. Riddick is talking
not just about role players but calling out Luca Dodgers,
calling out Lebron about improving their defensive effort. That can help,

(01:25:15):
but I think that can't solve everything because they're just
not a good defensive team. So they're going to have
to make changes before the trade deadline. But that creates
a whole other question because what do they do. They
don't have a lot of assets to offer, and I
don't think that Lebron's going to wave his no trade clause.
I don't think the Lakers are even going to trade him,
so it might be one of those things of making

(01:25:36):
marginal deals and then wait till the summer. Unpresumably Lebron
retires before addressing the rest of the roster needs.

Speaker 2 (01:25:45):
Well, Lebron always said he'd stop playing when he's ineffective.
That might have been quick Christmas Day. But anyway, you
saw Thunder in all seriousness, Now you saw these teams
in the last forty eight hours. You Oklahoma City Thunder,
the Nuggets, the Rockets, the Timberwolves. Man, it's they're playing

(01:26:05):
a completely different brand of basketball the Lakers are. And
while I do agree with you, the Lakers, by the
eye test, appear to at times have an offense that's serviceable.
Their offense is behind every one of those teams I
just mentioned in terms of points scored per game, which
has led to JJ Reddick's remarks, which really wants you

(01:26:25):
to address, because he has a very blunt remarks that
went viral. Even said tonight we were a terrible basketball team.
He questioned their professionalism. He warned them that there were
uncomfortable practices coming up. I mean, it was kind of
Bobby Knight esk which drew the ire of the you know,
the Kendrick Perkins and the and they and you know
the Kenyon Martin's of the world and Charles Barklays. Could

(01:26:49):
could JJ Reddick lose that locker room.

Speaker 18 (01:26:54):
Very well?

Speaker 13 (01:26:54):
Could?

Speaker 18 (01:26:54):
I mean NBA coaches have a very tough task here.
But I think in the short term, I don't want
to say he dialed it back as far as the
messaging goes, but maybe the way it was delivered, you know,
practice today he made a clearer reporters. It wasn't about
singling people out. It was about, you know, having candy
conversations as a group and addressing everything. And so he

(01:27:17):
owned up to his own shortcomings. That he conceded about
how the offense have been structured ever since Lebron's returned
to the lineup and how he can improve in that
area of providing more clarity for everybody's roles. And then
he invited you know everyone, star players and role players
to speak up. So I don't think that that shielded

(01:27:38):
JJ Reddick and the coaching staff for pointing out defensive
miss cusan flaws from Luka doncch Lebron James DeAndre Aiden
Rui at Yamora. So I think that, you know, given
that it wasn't one of these Bobby Knight sessions where
jaj Reddick's throwing chairs and just ripping guys down to shreds,

(01:27:59):
it was a lot more original. But in today's NBA
maybe that's more effective because you only have so many
times in the NBA where he can get really really angry.
And if you're getting really really angry all the time,
eventually to what you said, guys tune them out. So
JJ is trading that fine line of you don't want

(01:28:19):
to act like your buddies with you know, these players,
since you're not a player anymore. But you can't just
sort of the kitchen think of them all the time
and expect that they're going to, you know, listen with
you know, with emergency like urgency.

Speaker 2 (01:28:35):
Well, uh, yeah, I listen. I think when you're a coach,
you were in a lot of hats and the NBA
is a different I told you my conversation with Juck
Daily going back two decades ago, more than three decades ago. Uh,
it's managing an adult daycare center. And you didn't say
that in the pejorative. See, these are grown men that

(01:28:55):
are multimillionaires that have lives and families. You've got to
tread lightly. And when Kendrick Perkins makes the statement on
National TV they didn't respect this guy. I don't know
if it's true or not, but you can't dismiss it.
So just again just to redirect the witness. You know,
how do you interpret Kendrick perkins remarks.

Speaker 18 (01:29:15):
Yeah, I mean, you can't dismiss it, but I think
it is too early. We have to keep in mind,
you know, the Lakers sent very strong messaging that they
support JJ righty, giving him an extension before the season
even started, despite having one more year or you know,
being there for only one year. So you know, I
think that JJ is feeling the heat just to end

(01:29:36):
the three game losing the streak, But I don't think
in the short term that he is coaching for his
job security next season. I think pragmatically what's going to
happen is that, you know, they'll entertain deals. They clearly
they have some you know, needs they need to address
before the trade deadline February fifth, to get some more
three and D players that can bolster their defensive identity.

(01:29:59):
But I don't think they're going to trade Austin Reeves.
I don't think they're ever going to trade Lebron even
if he base, there's no trade clause. So what does
that leave you? He combined guys like Jay Vincent really
at Chamora don't and connected maybe a first round pick
and hope something sticks. But I think it's really going
to be about make the best of this year, still
try to at least be in the playoff picture, and

(01:30:22):
then next offseason with Lebron James for Jubilee. You know,
now on the team, they have more room to resign
Austin Reeves and you know, really bolster a good team
around him and Luka Dontrich so that they are in
that contenting mix.

Speaker 2 (01:30:38):
Honestly, I think they're in trouble. I mean, they should
take care of Sacramentos on the night, But conversation for
a different day. Cooper Flag, by the way, it looks
visually like he's lost some weight, and that's a good
thing because I remember when the Olympic team is working
out here in Las Vegas in December twenty twenty four,
he was he with nuts and he looked thinner, and

(01:30:58):
I got to tell you when you look at his
progression mark in the NBA, just in terms of what
he's done recently. I mean October he was averaging like
thirteen points a game, shooting forty percent from the field.
That jumped to eighteen and November all of a sudden,
now averaging almost twenty five points a game.

Speaker 4 (01:31:16):
And shooting over fifty percent.

Speaker 2 (01:31:19):
Your thoughts on Cooper Flag and how well received this
as being this is by the NBA as a hole.

Speaker 18 (01:31:26):
Yeah, I've talked to a lot of different scouts and
you know, league personnel outside of Dallas the last few
weeks about Cooper Flag and his core of the season.
And there's two takeaways. Three takeaways here. One, not surprised
he is drafting number one for a reason. We knew
he was going to be a special player. Number Two,
there's a lot of you know, scouts for an office
people that attribute his improvement for the fact that he's

(01:31:49):
no longer playing point guard position. They thought that the
Dallas Mavericks. Most of them argue that they put him
not in a good position to succeed because that's not
a skill set, that's not experience being a playmaker. But
they're so dire at point guard. With not having Kyrie
Irving because of his injury, D'Angel Russell just really hasn't
been a good fit. But there are some people, you know,

(01:32:11):
Matt McKenzie, Cooper Flag's trainer, another skuy talked. He thought, hey,
you know what this helps broaden Cooper flags skill set.
So there's some different opinions there, but the third thing
that everyone agrees on is that Cooper Flag has just
the great package of He's a great score, very versatile defender,
is all about the right stuff, plays through pressure, doesn't

(01:32:34):
get rattled, very confident, very coachable, and I know talking
to Matt McKenzie again, his trainer, he really has kind
of an old school veterans spirit when it comes to,
you know, working on his game. He watches a lot
of film on players. He's trying to emulate future opponents.
You mentioned about him losing weight. He's gained strength, but

(01:32:56):
I want to be surprised if he's lost some of
the body fat. There's been a lot of emphasis this
past summer on his conditioning and weight training so that
he could absorb the physicality in the NBA and be
more durable, more available, so that he doesn't have major injuries,
and you know, the way his routine is after games,
it's almost like a veteran player. He gets its bass,

(01:33:20):
he's always getting a left after games. He does yoga
sessions from time to time. He's really moditoring his diet,
you know, where he's not perfect all the time, but
you know, it's very heavy on protein, making sure that
he's hydrating pretty well. So it shouldn't be a surprise
that you're seeing him take a huge leap this core
of the season because one, we expect that for him

(01:33:42):
to do that, because he's so talented. But most importantly,
he's all about the right things that you know, result
in you know, great NBA players becoming even better.

Speaker 2 (01:33:53):
With Mark Medina Medina Magic every Saturday night Sunday into
Sunday morning, one am Pacific on the Bernie Frider Show
or far Sports Radio. NBA Guru also a writer for
Essentially Sports. I'm curious, it's part of it's part of
Cooper Flagg's comportman. Does he ever scream hell yeah when
an opponent is a free throw?

Speaker 18 (01:34:17):
You know, I know he's an emotional player, but he
usually tries to be stocked in between the lines with
his opponents, but you know what, he is a competitive guy,
so I want to be surprised.

Speaker 2 (01:34:29):
Well, how about yeah, I know, you know what's going
on with Wenby? I don't know who Peede and his cornflakes.
I know they say that he was really pissed when
in twenty nineteen his FEBA team lost to chet Holmgrens,
and he's carried it way overboard and it's not a
good look for my humble opinion. Why does Wenby hate

(01:34:56):
hold him so bad? He does, Okay, it's not just
it's a rivalry thing or whatever, And he says it's
not even a rivalry because on two levels above.

Speaker 4 (01:35:05):
Check what's going on there? Seriously, what am I missing?

Speaker 5 (01:35:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 18 (01:35:08):
I mean, it is a rivalry, but there does seem
to be it's more than just basketball. There's some personality
things I think. I think really it just feeds into
how competitive Wemby is. That he feels that he's one
of the best players in the NBA right now, certainly
the best in his rookie class, and he feels that
he says so much skill, he's mostly durable, and he

(01:35:32):
looks at someone like chet Holmgren, who's someone who's not
like that he does have a lot of skill, but
he has a lot had a lot more durability issues
challenging with adapting the you know, to the physicality of
the NBA. But I think the other thing that Victor
Wan bidowm has made clear to that I don't think
that he looks at the Oklahoma City Thunder in a

(01:35:53):
favorable light as a team. You know, he's talking about,
you know, the Spurs playing ethical basketball and all that.
I think that's a out at the Thunder because they've
been seen as a team that you know, just gets
the foul line a lot because Shee godes Alexander his craftiness.
But they're also a team that also fouls a lot
themselves because they get a lot of they have a

(01:36:13):
lot of physical wing defenders and they get a lot
they get away a lot with non calls, and so
I didn't get all fuels together. And you know what,
I think that's actually great for the NBA. You want
to have rivalries, you want to have that animosity kind
of the old school eighties Lakers Celtics where guys don't
like each other and it carries over to the court.

(01:36:34):
So I'm all about it, And you know, every time
they match up against each other. It's made for some
pretty entertaining and competitive matchups.

Speaker 2 (01:36:42):
Well, they Spurs certainly seem to have their number, and
yeah they do, right, and then they turned this, then
they turn right around and used to the Lucy Utah
by what thirteen. So look, it's a long season. We'll
see what happens. But I got to tell you that
Western Conference playoffs, I think is going to be a
real glantlet. I really do there are we haven't even

(01:37:04):
mentioned Denver. All of a sudden, they are clearly back
in the mix. Giving your thoughts on Denver. I mean
they look really good to me.

Speaker 18 (01:37:11):
Yeah, I mean the Denver Nuggets. You could never dismiss
them because of Nikole Jokic and he's back an MVP conversation.
I think the reason why there's some relative concern with
them is, you know, they've had some pretty significant injuries.
With Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown, they're really great rotation players.
You know, Aaron Gordon, great defender, has improved as a

(01:37:33):
three point shooter. He really makes life easier for Nikole
Jokic with their two man game inside. And Christian Brown
he's a great young player. That's all about, you know,
making winning plays. He's a great three point shooter, great
hustle guy, great perimeter defender. So I think that's where
the concern, uh, you know, carries over. Same thing with

(01:37:54):
Cam Johnson. He's had some significant injuries. But Nikole Jokic
playing MVP Jamal Murray, he's finally healthy. He's been pretty
consistent and you know, they have a pretty good culture
there that you can't dismiss them. But the thunder, you know,
with exception when they play the Spurs, they've been pretty

(01:38:14):
much like an well oiled machine. You haven't seen much
drop off with their championship DNA and the Spurs, even
with overlapping with injuries with Victor Woman Yama Jaron Fox,
it's clear that they're not just a playoff team, but
they're a team that's going to be in the mix
because of their strong chemistry with both their young players
and their vests.

Speaker 2 (01:38:32):
Mark, I just got about a minute, but someone asked
me this the other day, so I will defer to you.
What is the latest from your vantage point on the
NBA gambling scandal. We know that Terry Rozier is trying
to get some charges dismissed. We know, the wheels of
justice grind very slowly, but even now Adam Silver is

(01:38:52):
called this cooled an insider trading soccer for the NBA,
but it's gone kind of dorm it's the latest.

Speaker 18 (01:38:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's frustrated. Thing is there
doesn't seem to be a latest as far as we know.
I mean, Adam Silver talked to the media before the
NBA Cup Championship, and you know, he showed that why
he went to law school and he practices as a lawyer.
That he said a lot of things but essentially said nothing.
That basically, the investigation is still ongoing. They hired an

(01:39:19):
outside law firm to handle all this stuff. So I
don't expect that there's going to be any resolution until
the end of the season. But I think that there
is some short term things that they have to address
that i Am Silver acknowledged that it's very hard to
untangled because you know, Terry Rozier is with the Miami
Heat and if he's not going to be able to

(01:39:41):
play Miami, Miami has to get some kind of reimbursement,
whether it shraft picks assets in return for this trade.
But that hasn't been resolved. It should be, but you know,
the NBA hasn't made any suggestion that there's clarity on
how they're going to handle them.

Speaker 2 (01:39:59):
Mark, great stuff. As always, when we talk next Saturday,
we will be in a new.

Speaker 18 (01:40:03):
Year and yep, I'll talk to you next year. Keep
your servers well.

Speaker 2 (01:40:10):
Great stuff, all right, Mark, appreciate j Mark Medina Medina
Magic our Fox Sports Radio NBA guru also a writer
for Essentially Sports as you can clearly see very much as.

Speaker 4 (01:40:21):
His finger on the pulse of all things NBA.

Speaker 2 (01:40:25):
By the way, with the iHeart Radio app, you can
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(01:40:46):
up at the top of your screen coming up. All right.
The college football playoffs are going.

Speaker 4 (01:40:52):
To resume here on New Year's Eve.

Speaker 2 (01:40:55):
Ohio State resumes The number two ranked Buckeyes defense champs
take on Miami fresh off their very impressive performance at
Texas A and M among three other matchup as well.
We're going to dive into all of them, the matchups
to watch and give you our thoughts and who the
winners and those games might be. I'm Bernie Fradderwork Company
Line from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep

(01:41:17):
it locked.

Speaker 4 (01:41:17):
You're listening to the Bernie Frattles Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (01:41:20):
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
listen live all.

Speaker 2 (01:41:32):
Right back at the Bernie Frales Show, Fox Sports Radio
Company Live from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios
take up to three am Pacific six am Eastern.

Speaker 4 (01:41:43):
By the way. Feeding off the success of our.

Speaker 2 (01:41:45):
College basketball Bracket challenge each March, well, we decided to
do a bracket challenge for the college football Playoff. That's
right now that there are eight teams left standing, It's
Bracket Challenge time. Compete against our Fox Sports Radio hosts
against Philip listeners who to see who has the best
College Football Playoff bracket. Play for your chance to win

(01:42:06):
one thousand dollars. Visit Fox Sports Radio dot iHeart dot
com to register, get rules, and to fill out your bracket.
Andrew will be open until just before kickoff at seven
thirty pm Eastern on New Year's Eve. Again, fill out
your bracket at Fox Sports Radio dot iHeart dot com
for your chance to win one thousand dollars. Speaking of

(01:42:28):
that kickoff on New Year's Eve, which is Wednesday, the
first game will be the number two Ohio State Buckeyes,
currently in nine and a half point favorite against Miami,
fresh off their impressive defensive flugfest. It was more like
a fistfight in to phone booth against Texas A and M.

Speaker 4 (01:42:44):
So who wins this thing? Let's take a look at
some basic.

Speaker 2 (01:42:46):
Matchups, okay, and by the way, the winner of this
game will take on the winner of Georgia, Ole miss
and the Fiesta Bowl, which has played New Year's Day,
and we will get to that in a minute.

Speaker 4 (01:42:58):
Couple things here.

Speaker 2 (01:42:59):
Ohio State has a very sophisticated pass game, but Miami
has an excellent pass defense, okay, which has really helped
a lot by a tremendously fierce defensive line. They got
a couple of stud ed Dressers, Ruben Bain Junior, a
Keying Messidor, and they're a key reason why that defense

(01:43:20):
is so solid. They almost look like an NFL defense.
But the truth of the matter is Julian saying gets
rid of the ball quickly, usually less in less than
two and a half seconds, completes almost eighty percent of
his passes. And the Hurricanes, although they have rocked up
the second most pressures in sacks in the nation this year,

(01:43:43):
and they're going to pressure, Julian saying, there's no question
that's going to happen. The question is will it be effective.
That's something we got to watch, all right. The Gotahouse
State's run game, and Miami has an excellent run defense.
Bo Jackson is picked up right up where Quinn, Shawn
Jenkins and Trevion Anderson left off. He's rushed for over

(01:44:05):
one thousand yards and he's terrific after contact, okay, seven
hundred yards after contact again. Miami's defensive line has been
one of the best in the country getting after the quarterback.
But the Keynes are also pretty damn good and run defense.
I don't know what happened against Louisville and SMU, but
the truth of the matter is, there were only two

(01:44:26):
defenses this year to hold Ohio State fewer than twenty
four points, Texas and Indiana, and those are the only
two where Ohio State field to rush for one hundred yards.
Miami's front seven is going to have to bring that
kind of hat on hat defense if they have a
chance to beat Ohio State. Now, let's slip the coin.
Miami's pass game versus Ohio State's past defense. Kid Ohio

(01:44:50):
State find a way to pressure Carson back. Interestingly enough,
Miami's PFF blocking grade he stirred in the nation. They
pret TechEd Carson Beck and he gets rid of the
ball even quicker than Julian's saying. Now, Miami's run game
against Ohio State's run defense. That's basically asking, well, they're

(01:45:11):
old line versus Ohio State's D line again, another tremendous
matchup pitting two very extremely physical lines. Ohio State is
a defensive line that's basically like a wall, and they
got first rounders on that line. And the truth of
the matter is that makes Miami's quest to beat the

(01:45:37):
Buckeyes that much more difficult. And I'll tell you why,
Because when you don't run the ball. Passing LANs don't
open up, and Miami brings a relatively straightforward approach on
the ground, So it's gonna be man or men. They're
gonna have to Miami's offensive line is gonna have to
win these individual battles. Where do I think this shakes
out Ohio State's lay nine and a half. I don't

(01:46:00):
know that they hang the number, but they certainly can.
I think it's gonna start out as a slug fest,
and I think one of the two teams are gonna
have to outlast each other. But the reason I believe
Ohio State will outlast Miami it's simple and it's right
there before your eyes. Ohio State has tremendous playmakers. They

(01:46:22):
have a great ability to make explosive plays either on
the ground or through the air. And Miami does not
have the depth of receivers that Ohio State has, and
they're not an explosive offensive team that will catch up
to Miami over a four quarter game against Ohio State.
So I'm gonna call it Ohio State twenty four to fourteen.

(01:46:43):
Could I be wrong? Sure? I don't want to lay
the nine and a half, but I sure as hell don't.

Speaker 4 (01:46:47):
Want to take it.

Speaker 2 (01:46:47):
I'm not getting in front of a speeding train. Ohio
State lost to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship game.
Ohio State didn't play in the Big Ten Championship game
last year. They lost to Michigan in the final game
of the year, and he saw what happened when they
after the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:47:01):
Don't think they can't do it again?

Speaker 3 (01:47:02):
Do I think?

Speaker 2 (01:47:02):
They repeat? I'm not sure. I don't feel great about it, actually,
but we're gonna get to that in future shows. Let
them see they get back past Miami. First. It all
starts New Year's Eve. If you live on the left
coast where I do, right out of the gate, New
Year's Day, don't sleep In nine am, the Oregon Ducks,

(01:47:22):
a team I think will be a surprise team, takes
on Texas Tech. The winner of that game has to
play the winner of Indiana Alabama, which would also be
a good game as far as as far as the line.
Oregon is currently a two and a half point favorite
against Texas Tech, and I think that's about where it
should be.

Speaker 4 (01:47:44):
Texas Tech again.

Speaker 2 (01:47:46):
The first thing your eyes gravitate to, of course, is
their passing game versus Oregon's passing defense. Baron Morton has
been one of the most effective quarterbacks. As long as
he's got a clean pocket, he makes big time throws.
And there's no question. I mean, he's a veteran, he's
a red shirt senior. However, However, when he's pressured, things change.

(01:48:11):
And fortunately for him though, Texas Tech and they're owd
Lion is excellent at giving him clean pockets. Now, Oregon's
pass rush is strong this year, they're you know, in
the top twenty and pressure rate and things of that nature.
But again, this is a matchup. Whoever wins this matchup
could be crucial to where this game goes. If Baron

(01:48:33):
Morton has a clean pocket time to throw, Texas Tech
is likely going to get their points. It becomes a shootout.
Texas Tech gets pressure on him, things could change now
Texas Tech. Again, here's the deal. Texas Tech has a
run game, and the question will be how well can
Oregon maintain gap integrity and their gap run schemes and

(01:48:56):
slow down Texas Tech in their run game. Imary on
goal on defense. Primary goal on defense for Oregon is
to somehow force Texas Tech and to bad down in
distant situations you want if you're Oregon. I know this
sounds cliche, but if you can get Texas Tech into
a lot of third and sevens and a lot of

(01:49:17):
third and nines, that's going to vote very well for Oregon.
Now on the opposite side, Dante Moore has been sensational
for Oregon. Howiey fair against you know Texas text defense.
They're excellent in their pass rush Greade. But Oregon again, now,
you don't get to this point without a great old line.
They have great line guys on their O line, and

(01:49:39):
I think the goal and this is again sound very cliche,
protect Dante Moore as well as possible. But again, Dante
Moore has a very quick release. He gets rid of
the ball much quicker too than your average quarterback. His
average time is under two point five seconds. He makes
quick decisions, he makes excellent downfield throws.

Speaker 1 (01:49:58):
So you have some time.

Speaker 2 (01:50:00):
I think you have kind of two mirrored teams here.
But I do not believe Texas Tech has seen an
offense like Oregon's all year period. Okay, Oregon's run game
is the best run game in the country. Now, incidentally, coincidentally,
it's coming up against the best run defense in the country.
So as they say, get your popcorn ready, this may

(01:50:22):
be the best of the four games in terms of
styles and matchups, how they make fights. Okay, Oregon runs
the ball terrifically. Texas Tech has a great ability to
stop the run. I know that sounds very cliche, but
the truth of the matter is that's the reality. But
I don't think Texas Tech has seen has seen an

(01:50:45):
offense like Oregons. Their defense has shown why. It's been
incredibly effective this year. And you know they had no
trouble with BYU of very solid team. Both their times
ran through. That's edricd pretty well had one hiccup. Texas
Tech could win if they stop Oregon's run game. That's

(01:51:06):
a big, big if. And right now, the hottest quarterback
of of all these teams eight teams, I think it's
Dante Moore. But in the end, I think although these
teams are incredibly even, there's one area of the game
where Oregon is just simply better. It's quarterback. It's quarterback.
I like Dante Moore better than Baron Morton, and I

(01:51:26):
think that's the difference. I feel like it's a field
goal game. Oregon handles Texas Tech twenty seven, twenty four.
Can the Indiana Hoosiers the undefeat the Indiana Hoosiers keep
it up? They host Alabama and Kalin de Boor, fresh
off their tremendous comeback win against Oklahoma. The winner will

(01:51:47):
take on the whoever prevails in the Texas Tech Oregon
game I just mentioned. All right, so we start with
Indiana's pass game versus Alabama's pass defense. Alabama does a
very good job been disguising their coverages. Can Mendoza see
through that? Bama has to disrupt quarterbacks because they're not

(01:52:08):
great in pass rush production. Their solution is to disguise
coverages in the secondary after the you know, not pre snap,
but post snap. They've done that pretty well this time
this year. And when they've done so, they've had a
you know, pretty good coverage grade in terms of their
ability to slow down the teams posing passing offenses. But

(01:52:30):
Fernando Mendoza has done an excellent job of reading defenses
and and deciphering you know, complex coverages, and he's proven it.
He's he's he also gets ball, gets rid of the
ball very quickly. And if Indiana is not prevailing through
the air, they certainly prevail on the ground. You have
a situation where Indiana's run game against Alabama's run defense. Uh,

(01:52:53):
Indiana just runs downhill. But Alabama has a good, good
run defense.

Speaker 4 (01:52:59):
They've been in this year. They're you know, statistically, they're
they're top twenty. Okay, not they're not. They're not the best.

Speaker 2 (01:53:10):
But Alabama's defensive tackles and the linebackers, they're the ones
that will decide how well Indiana runs the ball, whether
or not they can, you know, curtail the Hoosiers and
their running attack and then depend on their Heisman Trophy
winner for Nana Mendoza to carry the offense, which he's
proven he can do. Meanwhile, his ty Simpson turned a corner.

(01:53:33):
He's proven he's been able to handle blitz He's been
a bit of a roller coaster this year when he's blitzed.
But the tooth of the matter is he was blitzed
a lot with Brent Venables defense against Oklahoma, and he
acquitted himself quite well. The Hoosiers will probably blitz as
much as forty eight fifty percent of the time, and

(01:53:54):
Indiana also does a great job of disguising they're coverages
with those blitz packages. So look, it's gonna be a
nice chess match between these two teams because ty Simpson,
much like Mendoza is gonna have to do is read
those defenses and decipher those complex coverages and disguised coverages. Again, Alabama,

(01:54:17):
their run game versus Indiana's defense, can Bama find any balance?
Indiana has an elite run defense. Alabama does not have
an elite run offense. All Right, these two teams, if
you look, if you watch what they've shown you by
the eye test, Okay, you could say, and both these

(01:54:38):
quarterbacks are projected to go in the first round. But
I think Mendoza is far more consistent than ty Simpson.
Not that ty Simpson has in in his moments. And
Alabama should be credited because they've been very resilient in
their passing attack. And one of the things Alabama's done,
they're opportunistic, they create timely turnovers, but they just don't
run the ball. Alabama has a severe lack of a

(01:55:01):
rushing offense, and their pass rush is not up to par,
say against teams like Miami. I like Indiana to win
this game. I'll call it twenty eight to seventeen. I
think Indiana's just gonna be too much. Coming up, this
final game has real interest to me for multiple storylines,
which I'll get to in just a second. A matchup

(01:55:24):
of a couple of old sec rivals. This one's gonna
be fun. I'll break it down for you. Coming up,
I'm Bernie fraddlework coming to your life from the Las
Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep it locked. You're listening
to the Bernie Fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:55:38):

Speaker 4 (01:55:42):
They're back at the.

Speaker 2 (01:55:43):
Bernie Fraddle Show, Fox Sports Radio. Coming to live from
the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. We will take
you up to three in Pacific six and eight m Eastern.
We've covered three of the four games. The finale we're
talking to college football playoffs, the Georgia Bulldogs number three
Georgia Bulldogs, who I think are very scary, host Old

(01:56:04):
Miss number six Old Miss in the Sugar Bowl. It'll
be New Year's Eve, eight pm Eastern time. The winner
of that game, well, they'll take on the winner of
Ohio State Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. So the quarterfinals
will wrap up with Georgia and Old Miss. The Rebels
who actually won their first game in program history. They well,

(01:56:28):
they dismantled two Lane forty one to ten, and the
Bulldogs got to skip their first round because they were
twelve and one. Their only loss was Tobama. They won
the SEC. It is actually a rematch.

Speaker 4 (01:56:41):
It's the only.

Speaker 2 (01:56:41):
Rematch of the playoffs thus far. Georgia beat Mississippi at
home week eight. The score was forty three to thirty five.
Now lot's happened since then. And if you'll notice that
Old miss was warring their dark blue uniforms when they
beat be two Lane. I'm told those were Lane Kiffin's

(01:57:02):
least favorite. So you know where I'm going with that.
I think they're extra motivated. But look again, matchups, can
Gunnar Stockton dominate the perimeter of the field? Old Missus
pass defense is not exactly something to write home bomb.
They very much struggled to defend the perimeter of the
field this season. They ranked his seventy six and PFF

(01:57:24):
coverage grade. And you know what that means. They're gonna
give up their points. They're gonna have to clean that
up otherwise it's gonna be another shootout.

Speaker 4 (01:57:31):
And it look.

Speaker 2 (01:57:35):
It's one of those situations because Georgia can also run
the ball, okay, can the Rebels? Can Mississippi defend between
the tackles. Back in the eight week matchup, Georgia ran
the ball for two hundred and twenty six yards against
Old Miss, and they ran the ball almost fifty times,
and most of those runs were between the tackles, where

(01:57:56):
the Georgia averaged almost six yards of carry. Let's face it,
Old Miss in their defensive tackles they had major problems
containing Georgia. They had major problems containing Georgia between the tackles,
and the truth of the matter is the rest of
the Rebel defense wasn't exactly stellar either in that game. Now,

(01:58:18):
for Old Miss to compete in this game, of course
they're going to compete in the game. Their pass game
is going to have to really show up and chew
out and they'll have to do a better job because
the Bulldogs are going to run man coverage. They're very athletic.
Georgia runs probably more man coverage than anybody in college.
But when they beat Old Miss back in week eight,

(01:58:41):
they ran't even more man coverage. And that leads me
to believe Georgia believes they're more athletic than Old Miss.
Both teams are very athletic. That worked very well. Trinidad
Chambliss for Old Miss had maybe his worst game passing
or passing great as it were against Georgia, and primarily

(01:59:02):
it's because he was pressured. And so the Mississippi is
gonna have to do a better job at beating the
beating Georgia's blitzes. And then Old Missus run game can
they improve. They had their season worst rushing performance in
the first game against Georgia. Georgia has a stellar, stellar
run defense, probably the most consistent if we're talking about

(01:59:26):
the four facets here, you know, offense defense, offense defense,
Georgia's runs defense is the most consistent, not only of
the of Georgia's team, but probably the most formidable of
all of the you know, of the units we will
see on the field here. On New Year's Night, Georgia
completely shut down Mississippi's running attack. In the first game,

(01:59:50):
Kawan Lacey had like thirty one yards on fifteen carries.
And again, as I talked about on some of the
prior matchups, Ole miss started, you know, their problem started
up front. They could they had major trouble blocking Georgia.
So the Rebels are going to have to find a
way to really balance their offense. Run the ball, pass
the ball. Are They're going to basically force Trinidad Chambliss

(02:00:14):
to put, you know, put the whole team on his
back against maybe the most elite defense remaining in the tournament,
probably that's Ohio State. So look, I don't think there's
going to be seventy eight points in this game, but
I think Georgia can get to thirty or into the
low thirties, and I think the final result is going
to be about the same in terms of margin of victory.

(02:00:34):
Georgia beat them by eight points last time. They're laying
six and a half. This is one game where I
would I would lay the points. I think, you know,
Trinidad Chambliss, he has plenty of weapons, but that defense
is just vulnerable and the Bulldogs defense's lights out lately.
And if you look at you know, the old myths

(02:00:55):
in the trenches, that's where Georgia has, frankly, the biggest
advantage coming up. The biggest story is at twenty twenty five,
we talk about them. It's a Bernie Fraddle show on
Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (02:01:09):

Speaker 2 (02:01:12):
That's right, you heard the man. The Bernie Fradtle Show
just keeps rolling right along. My name is Bernie Frattle.
We are Comedy Alive from the Fox Sports Radio studios
here in Las Vegas.

Speaker 4 (02:01:25):
We'll take up to three am Pacific, six am Eastern.

Speaker 2 (02:01:30):
Still lots of stuff to get to, including the fact
you probably already know this.

Speaker 4 (02:01:35):
Of course, this is our final show of the year.

Speaker 2 (02:01:40):
I won't see me again until next year Saturday Night,
which happens to be I believe January third sounds right
to me. So usually typically it is my eighth year
with Fox Sports Radio. As we are winding down the
year with essentially just hours to go in the remainder
of twenty two twenty five, we are already up to

(02:02:02):
December twenty eighth. I like to reference what I thought
were the biggest sports stories of the year. Now, various
publications give ten, twenty third whatever.

Speaker 4 (02:02:15):
There's too many. I boiled it down to about four.

Speaker 2 (02:02:19):
But I think they're they're all doozies, okay, because the
real sports stories are. Sorry to disappoints you, the quote
unquote rise in popularity of the NBA at WNBA did
not make my list. It made everybody else's, not mine.
I don't hear people talking about that. Prove me wrong.
Let's see if they get to January ninth and get
a deal, if they actually go on strike, that would

(02:02:39):
be a story. That would be a story. But it's
not my one of my top stories this year. These
aren't any particular order, but I say what I thought
was the best for last because of those storylines. But
the first one hat that really got the ball rolling,
and it was first weekend in February, was the Luka
Doncivs trade.

Speaker 4 (02:02:59):
And that was such a sensational.

Speaker 2 (02:03:01):
Story that when Sean Trania of ESPN tweeted out that
the Dallas Mavericks had in fact traded Luka Doncic, one
of the best players in the NBA, the franchise player
who had just taken the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals,
a young guy, yeah I'd been around a few years,
but really just starting in his career, to the Lakers.

(02:03:27):
Just about everybody thought, honestly, it was a fake tweet.
Why in the world would the Mavericks make an insane
move of that nature to the hated Lakers. No less well, first,
it turned out to be true. It turned out to
be huge news. And it's been reported that Luka Doncic

(02:03:48):
was so upset at the time, so shocked at the
time he threw his phone across the room and he
wasn't the only one. And it really sort of led
to this transfer of power on paper. And we know
now that you know, Nico Harrison had seen enough. He
didn't want to get stuck paying him seventy six million
in the off season. He implored Luca to lose weight.

(02:04:10):
Luca didn't, and now Lucas since lost weight, but I
don't think his defense is any better. If you saw
that Rockets game the other night, I'm sorry, but I
don't want to get off on a tangent.

Speaker 4 (02:04:20):
This was a huge story.

Speaker 2 (02:04:22):
Okay, you served Idie Lebron James Laker angle and ultimately
the guy again, as I just said, who made the
trade MAVs former general manager Nico Harrison, who at one
time was one of the most respected executives in the NBA.
They fired him. Dallas fans are devastated, and it's there

(02:04:45):
are still people that are scratching their heads even though
the dust has settled somewhat. But This is a trade
that'll have ramifications and reverberations frankly for years, and that's
why it was very much one of the big stories
of the year for me. Again, these aren't in the
other particular order. We will see where it goes. Clearly

(02:05:09):
the Lakers are building around Luca. We'll see where it goes.
But man, think about it. I went over some of
the big trades, and and you know when Jabbar got traded.
I don't want to go over litany now. But it
very much ranked up in those animals, and it will
be talked about. And then the thing that remains to
be seen is will Luca create a new era in Lakerland?

(02:05:33):
It is a it is an organization of eras, and
will he win a championship? But boy, I remember I
think it was like February fourth, if memory serves, I
was doing my Friday night show. Then I'm like, whoo, man,
what a story. Another story that give this it's due.

Speaker 4 (02:05:53):
This is a story.

Speaker 2 (02:05:55):
We are seeing the end of the dynasty of the Chiefs,
and in my humble opinion not to return all dynasties
eventually in and now the Chiefs has as well. And
that's the story Now, at the beginning of twenty twenty five,
the Chiefs were headed to their third Super Bowl and
perhaps trying to become the only team to three peat
in Super Bowls. Now, the Green Bay Packers won three championships,

(02:06:18):
they won the first two Super Bowls, and they actually
won the NFL Championship in nineteen sixty six, but the
Super Bowl hadn't been established at all, the NFL NFL
Championship Game, the fact they didn't even called the Super
Bowl to Super Bowl four. But the Chiefs really had
a legitimately good chance to be the only team to

(02:06:41):
this point to have won three Super Bowls in a row,
and they got stopped and the Eagles owned them. And
by the end of this year, all of a sudden,
now the Chiefs have gone from going to three straight
Super Bowls, winning two of the three, almost winning a third,
winning three and five years to missing the playoffs, and

(02:07:02):
they're going to be under five hundred and not looking
good doing it. And they will have for the first
time in over a decade not won their division. It's
going to be Denver now, and you know, we'll see
what's next for Travis Kelsey. It seems like he's going

(02:07:25):
to retire this time. People speculated he would retire after
last year's Super Bowl. I said, no way, no way.
I remember telling my wife, I said, he doesn't want
to end this way. And they came back and they
did everything they could and it just wasn't in the
cards this year. Then Patrick Mahomes blows out his knee
and now the team's announcing a move from Kansas City
to Kansas The Chiefs had a hell of a run,

(02:07:47):
a nice run. This thing is over and I do
not think it's going to return anytime soon and maybe
at all. What made the Chiefs so unique and so
rate was they were solid in all three phases. But
their quarterback was a magician who had this incredible ability

(02:08:08):
to make plays off schedule and these whirling dervish, harlem
globetrotter plays and they weren't flukes, and he would do
it at the most important part of the game or
when virtually no time was left. Just ask Buffalo. He
had seconds left of the game and an engineer to drive.
And it's like, if Mahomes had the ball last, you know,

(02:08:30):
you get your affairs in order.

Speaker 4 (02:08:32):
That's gone.

Speaker 2 (02:08:33):
He tried some of those worlding Dervis plays and to
put the team on his back. He seems to have
lost that gear. I'm not imagining it. Just go back
and watch the film. Is he still a solid quarterback? Absolutely? Well,
he come back from his acl strong and compete at
a high level.

Speaker 4 (02:08:46):
Absolutely. But this team, look, there's an old thing.

Speaker 2 (02:08:51):
Casey Stengele once said, and you know this goes back
a bit, but read a book, youngins.

Speaker 4 (02:08:57):
The Yankees, I think.

Speaker 2 (02:08:58):
One like they went through a period they won like
nine of twelve World Series note out of twelve years,
and Casey Sengle basically said, teams can't beat the Yankees
because they gets stuck staring at the pinstripes. Well, that's
essentially analogous to what the Chiefs were. You get on
the field with the Chiefs and those red Casey helmets
and the way they conducted themselves, and the friendly walls
on the sidelines, and this incredible combination of speed, skill, athleticism, toughness, clutch,

(02:09:24):
a team that truly was cohesive, and those right red
uniforms and bright red helmets and the Casey this is
storied franchise. Okay, remember they went to Super Bowl One,
lost the Green Bay everybody remembers what Joe Naman did
in Super Bowl three. Everybody forgets what the Chief did
in Super Bowl four, beating what should have been an
unbeatable Vikings team twenty three to six with Lenny Dawson

(02:09:48):
in company. So this is a storied franchise, but they
can't win games on reputation anymore, not at all. And
I don't think they're you know, I know Tom Brady
tore his ACL and two one thousand and eight, the
team won. People will say, well, I still wont eleven
games that year, Well, they won seventeen year before with Brady,
and Brady went on to win three more Super Bowls

(02:10:09):
and go to four more, but it took him six years,
seven years to get to the next one. If that's
the same with mahomes on seven years, home is going
to be thirty six. I think he wants to play
a long time and he may well be able to.
But it's just a different NFL right now. But whatever happens,
the Chief's legacy is secure. But that to me two
huge stories, the Luka Donson's trade and the end of

(02:10:31):
the chiefs. Now this one we referenced, ever so slightly
with Martin, Medina, and for good reason, because the advent
of legalized sports betting, which is now prevalent in about
thirty eight states, has changed the dynamic in America's come
out of the shadows. I don't think it's a bad

(02:10:53):
thing at all. It's a good thing, but it's not
without some issues. As it were, since PASSBAW was overturned
in twenty eighteen. Last year, a lot of people raised
eyebrows that the gambling fabric the sports world had become
immersed with was starting to frey at the edges a bit.

(02:11:15):
There were gambling scandals that got worse, okay, and it's
cost quite a few people to throw the rems up. Frankly,
there's scandal after scandal after scandal, and they got worse
than twenty twenty five. The two major highlights and NBA
points shaving scandal that involved the mob allegedly which has

(02:11:36):
been heavily reported two Cleveland Guardians pitchers who purposely threw
pitches that helped gamblers. There's a thing called micro betting
where you can bet, you can literally bet whether a
pitch is a ball or strike, and this is one
of the byproducts of that. And then there's zero reason
as long as sports leagues and networks remained hand in

(02:11:57):
hand with gambling companies to think that the gambling wave
will slow down anytime soon. And we can only hope
that the scandals slow down, but there's no guarantee that
will happen. I know there are a lot of any
gambling advocates.

Speaker 4 (02:12:11):
I am not one of them.

Speaker 2 (02:12:12):
I've argued, you know, people have argued for years that
a huge scandal was coming. I guess I was not
even I was fooled because there are so many guardrails
in place, and there are so many checks and balances
in place, and great organizations like the one my Matt Hole,
my buddy Matt Hole founded that are designed to ferret
these things out. So if you hear stories about a

(02:12:35):
basic college baseball coach from Alabama and an oddball betting
pattern in Cincinnati or wherever it was, you know, or Indiana,
they find these things and they can report them, and
they can invest them with all the metadata they have.
But the truth of the matter is it's raging out
of control, and they say there are larger ones in
the way we shall see. This NBA thing is incredible.

(02:12:57):
Now I saved the fourth one. I think this is
kind of the be the best for last of the
four best sports stories, and I do think there are
people that feel I'm omating something, and you know, this
can be very subjective, but there are arguments about whether
or not this was the best World Series ever. Let's

(02:13:22):
relive it. It's only been a couple of months. It's
a ended. This was a banner year for baseball period
at some of the highest TV ratings in years, a
bunch of exciting young new ball players breaking through, and
what did it culminate in?

Speaker 4 (02:13:38):
You call it a fall classic?

Speaker 2 (02:13:40):
It was a fall classic. The Dodgers in the Blue
Jays went at it, throwing haymakers for seven games, every
one of them in their own right where they were intense,
including one that went eighteen innings and the Dodgers or
checked at had the Dodgers down to their last out

(02:14:04):
multiple times in front of their home crowd in Toronto,
which was going bananas, and somehow the Dodgers managed to
escape like Houdini every single time, and they ended up
winning the World Series on an extra any double play.
And after that incredibly dramatic game seven, improbable Dodgers come back.

(02:14:29):
Many folks were saying this is the best world series ever?
Was it the best World series ever? I'm not so
sure I can go that far because I know too
much about some of the other incredible world series going
back decades. You know, Games one, two, four, and five
were all tense, but they didn't go down to the wire,

(02:14:52):
and all of them were decided by more than four runs. However,
you always remember what happened last right, Game seven has
to be considered the greatest Game seven ever ever, based
on advanced analytics. Now, I know there are people argue, well,
you know Bill Mazerowski had to walk off him run

(02:15:13):
with Pittsburgh in nineteen sixty and Toronto had to walk
off for them run off of Mitch Wims in nineteen
ninety three. Joe Carter, I remember seeing that live. But
in this case, okay, they create these things called championship
win probability. You heard me, joker about the nerd with

(02:15:35):
the glasses in the basement doing all these stats and
got a forty six percent chance of making the playoffs
and all that. Well, these guys actually are pretty sharp
and they don't bat a thousand, but they can also
with their with their you know, crunching numbers, abilities and
software advanced.

Speaker 4 (02:15:56):
You know, I don't know what the hell do you
call it? Mechanism they use these days.

Speaker 2 (02:16:02):
They actually created in game win probability based on how
much certain plays or particular.

Speaker 4 (02:16:09):
Plays contribute to a win, based on the.

Speaker 2 (02:16:11):
Score, the inning, the outs, the runners and all that,
all those things, and it combines with an adjustments for
the point in the postseason you're in. So it has
to do with how intense the moment is, how pivotal
the moment is, and the various events taking place in
the probability that may or may not lead to a win.

(02:16:32):
Nothing has more leverage than a Game seven of a
World Series. Nothing. And as you analyze and assess those adjustments,
they continue, they continue to take on more importance, and
they gain more value as the game gets later. For example,

(02:16:53):
you may or may not recall when Will Smith hit
the goal ahead home run with two ounces in the
eleventh inning, it was only one of nine different plays
where the title winning odds moved by at least fifteen percent.
It had previously done that several times. After bolbashett hit
his home run, Muncie Rojas also Ernie Clement flying out

(02:17:19):
to Andy Pohetz in the ninth when he ran seeming
like a country mile just about Kilder's left fielder and
bringing in that catch after just being replaced defensively by
Dave Roberts right there. One hit wins the whole damn thing.
Pawhtse and Dalton varshow were each grounding out with go

(02:17:40):
ahead runs being forced out at home. Keky Hernandez grounded
out with the bases loaded the tenth inning. Vlad Gerreer
Junior's leadoff double in the bottom of the eleventh and
Mookie Betts double played it in the game, which was
the highest rated one in TV in Major League Baseball history,
in just the third game where Game seven World Series

(02:18:04):
in and in a double play, and the first since
like nineteen forty eight.

Speaker 4 (02:18:10):
So all of that happened just in the latter half
of Game seven.

Speaker 2 (02:18:14):
For crying out loud, now, you know, if you really
want to get nerdy on this, given the contents of
Game seven, there were other sensational plays like that, believe
it or not, even in the nineteen twenty four World Series.
But there were only three World Series in the most

(02:18:35):
recent one being nineteen ninety one. And you remember what
a phenomenal World Series that was That was Minnesota and
Kirby Pucket and Jack Morris against thee Atlanta Braves and
Bobby Cox. What an incredible high drama baseball, just high
drama baseball in and on a Sunday night. But you
had six plays. So if you're watching TV, we watched

(02:18:56):
sports differently now and they'll flash on the screen, team
has ninety three percent chance to win this game. Then
there'll be a play and it'll move percentage points one
way or the other. There were six plays in Game
seven alone that based on the play that took place,
whether it was a double play, a flyout, a home run, whatever,

(02:19:20):
six plays in Game seven that moved the odds of
winning fifteen percent in that game. Only now there's only
been that hasn't happened, Okay, in one hundred years, maybe
twice or three times in one hundred years, and all
the other World Series, this happened six times in Game
seven alone. Now, coming up at the end of the show,

(02:19:44):
I want to relive some incredibly notable stats from the
World Series that you will probably get a kick out of.
But and there are things that just don't happen every day.
All right.

Speaker 4 (02:20:00):
But again, of all the things that happened in.

Speaker 2 (02:20:03):
Twenty twenty five, I would say what I just shared
with you, these things, the Luka Dansis trade and the
shock of it on February fourth, not only that he
was traded, that he was traded to the Lakers shocked everybody,
and everybody thought it was a fake tweet. That's right
up there, the end of the Chiefs and their dynasty

(02:20:26):
as it were as an era. It's over the gambling
scandals that seemingly are getting worse, and then the NBA
and multiple big name people facing very serious charges, and
the poker games associated, et cetera. And then followed finally
again by the best World Series ever. Again coming up
at the very end of the show. I'm going to

(02:20:46):
save this. There are multiple notable stats that I want
to relive. Believe it or not, we're only about six
and a half weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting.
But one of the things that happened, I'll tease this.
Dave Roberts was not a National League Manager of the
Year finalists, but each of the three teams with National

(02:21:09):
League Man of the Year finalists, Reds, Phillies and Brewers
were eliminated in the playoffs by David Robert Stodgers. That
had never happened before in the history of baseball. That's
just one of about twenty oddities I am going to
have for you coming up at the end of the show.
We're gonna save it. I'm Bernie Fridder Were comedy line
from the Las Vegas Fox Sports Radio Studios. Keep it

(02:21:29):
locked and listening to the Bernie Fraddle Show on Fox
Sports Radio.

Speaker 6 (02:21:33):
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
listen live.

Speaker 2 (02:21:46):
We're back on the Bernie Frattle Show, Fox Sports Radio
Comedy live from the Fox Sports Radio studios here in
Las Vegas. I want to remind you if you miss
any of tonight's show, you'll want to catch the podcast.
Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts.
Right after the show, Tonight's podcast will be posted. Be

(02:22:07):
sure to follow the podcast raty five stars You're getting
to provide a review again. Just search Fox Sports Radio
wherever you get your podcasts. You'll find tonight's show full
show poster Right after get out the year. And oh,
by the way, for the best pregame show every weekend,
be sure to tune into Fox Sports Radios. Countdown to Kickoff,
presented by bet MGM every Saturday and Sunday morning, will

(02:22:29):
count you down to all the biggest games for three
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right here on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Coming up in a bit, I'm going to get to
those crazy World Series oddity statistics, and so people have

(02:22:51):
asked me for my thoughts on Michigan's hiring of Kyle Whittingham.
I will get to that a bit later in the
show as well. But you know, we covered all in
the Burning From show, including the football spelled futbl Yep.
We are one hundred and seventy six days away from
World Cup Soccer right here in North America. That's why
we bring you Chris Burpfetts World of Soccer.

Speaker 23 (02:23:14):
The greatest goals, the thrilling finishes, the international Dramati build.

Speaker 1 (02:23:26):
Hie, It's all here in this report from the world
of soccer.

Speaker 24 (02:23:33):
So the end of the year starts a new calendar
for all of us. Welcome to twenty twenty six here soon. However,
it also starts something that is of big interest to
us in the world of soccer, and that is the
Winter transfer Window, which opens on the new year on
January first, and opens up clubs to just that transfers trades,

(02:23:54):
moving stars between clubs, and there are some big names
out here. One of the biggest one might have just
been taken off the books. Immediately, reports out from a
cy called Team Talk with an indication that it looks
like Liverpool will not try to move Mohammed Sala in
spite of the outbursts and everything we've talked about in

(02:24:15):
this incredibly weird saga with Sala near the end of
the year. Sala, of course now currently working with Egypt
for the Africa Cup of Nations, which means that he
just won't be available for a little bit anyway. Either way,
though I'm not fully buying that his contract is pretty big.

(02:24:36):
I know the report says FSG the owners would block
the transfer of Sala if it was tried to make,
but there's a lot of interested buyers out there, and
not all of them are in Europe. Saudi Arabia continues
to want big top players, and a Egyptian born player
like Mohammed Sala would be fantastic because much like MLS,

(02:24:59):
the Saudi League has a lot of interest in making
a much bigger impact and they have some very very
big pockets. But it's has been a struggle for them
to try to attract top talent, current top tier talent
away from Europe to Saudi Arabia. It's kind of got
the same issues a lot of MLS has, so we'll

(02:25:20):
keep an eye on that. One other article I really
wanted to talk about has been making the rounds a
little bit lately, and that's a piece in The Economist,
a magazine of financial interest from over in Europe. Pretty big,
I know, my dad used to have a subscription. I'm
not a terribly big fan of them because they can

(02:25:41):
be quite quizzical. The article reads headline, America is now
the biggest market for international football and there's a lot
of key themes that we should probably talk about from that.
I will warn the piece kind of falls into a
lot of the same traps and gripes that a lot
of Europeans have about perceived notions of North America as

(02:26:02):
a sports market, so it's really kind of tough. And
this isn't the only time the economists has looked at
North American soccer and go when, Wow, why isn't it
like this, Why isn't there promotion, relegation, Why isn't it
like this?

Speaker 1 (02:26:15):
Why do you do stuff like this?

Speaker 24 (02:26:16):
And it can get really exhausting after a while, And
if you don't have a subscription, I really can't blame you.
It's not a very it's a magazine of not a
sports variety. But there is some interesting stuff because we
do need to start thinking about North America and the
United States as massive markets for international soccer, for bringing

(02:26:40):
in attention span as a World Cup is barreling down
in twenty twenty six, and for a lot of media
rights for European soccer, the Champions League, Premier League that
continue to be key media acquisitions front and center for
entities like NBC and Paramount who put on these events

(02:27:02):
and bring in a lot of stuff. But also a
lot of this is talking about the market growth. By
like twenty twenty five, America is the world's largest market
for international football, and a lot of that comes from
the spending on media rights. It also points out a
massive shift to streaming platforms that's changing how Americans watch
sports and hoping to attract younger fans. Now, this is

(02:27:25):
where I want to quibble with this article a little bit,
because we have detailed quite well how the Apple TV
MLS League Pass has kind of failed for MLS, and
I think by this time next season or soon in
the future, MLS will just be offering it's watching to
anyone who's subscribing to Apple TV, which is great, fantastic,

(02:27:48):
now that I don't know how much that applies to
something like say the Premier League, where you do need
a lot of use of NBC's Peacock app to use that.
And I will tell you I have Paramount Plus so
I can watch Champions leagues. So you know what got
me there. And I guess the biggest impact I see
from this article and from this idea of America being

(02:28:09):
the largest market for international soccer isn't involved in MLS,
which I know a lot of people would talk about
what this means for MLS, and the writer is fairly
dismissive of MLS in this what he is London based
and I don't think he's set foot in the United
States as far as I've seen, But I will say
there is a lot of talk over in England about

(02:28:30):
clubs playing matches in Southeast Asia, which has been a
massive growing market for them for viewership for a long time.
And by that I mean, you know, friendlies at the
beginning of the year, you know, kind of like how
the NFL does their own international series, except much earlier.

Speaker 1 (02:28:48):
And I have watched as.

Speaker 24 (02:28:49):
European clubs have drawn bigger and bigger crowds playing in
the United States, playing at Cowboys Stadium, playing at so
far these friendlies between European clubs, clubs like Roma and
Barcelona and Liverpool and Arsenal and the Manchesters like they
sell out our massive NFL stadiums when they do come

(02:29:10):
to town. And I think that that right there is
going to continue to be a big news story coming
into twenty twenty six in the shadow of the World Cup.

Speaker 1 (02:29:21):
We will see you next year in the world of soccer.

Speaker 2 (02:29:24):
Happy New Year, Yes we will.

Speaker 4 (02:29:27):
And next year starts Thursday.

Speaker 2 (02:29:29):
We are one hundred and seventy six days away from
World Cup soccer being played and for once, could it
be possibly the United States plays a meaningful game that's meaningful.
I remember when we started this. The World Cup was
late in twenty twenty two and the US played England
the day after Thanksgiving. To open things up. Well, you

(02:29:50):
can look up what happened.

Speaker 4 (02:29:51):
Let's just put it this way.

Speaker 2 (02:29:52):
We were underwhelmed and we're hoping that might not be
the casu's time, but they gain people in Hell on
ice water. Coming up, we wrap up the show. I'll
share those world Serious stats and some final thoughts on
Kyle Whittingham and why he turned out to be probably
the best hire Michigan could have given the state of
the state of the football program at Michigan. I'm Bernie

(02:30:14):
fraddle Wick comeing to your life for the Fox Sports
Radio studios here in Las Vegas. Keep it locked. You're
listening to the Bernie fraddle Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (02:30:23):

Speaker 2 (02:30:26):
All were wrapping it up on the Bernie Frattle Show.
I think my producers Mark Ramsey lead to lap two veterans,
two pros, keeping the plane in flight mid air, turning
all the dials, keeping us glued together, running everything smoothly,
hitting all the brakes, answering the calls from all the
great callers during the Men That Hour. All that good

(02:30:46):
stuff cannot do the show without great producers, thanks to
Mark and Lee. All right, let's get back to the
World Series stuff, because I mentioned as one of my
four best stories of the year, along with of course
the Luca Trade, the end of the Chiefs dynasty, the

(02:31:06):
game league scandal is getting worse. I don't know if
it was the best World Series ever, but it was
the best Game seven ever, I think for multiple reasons.
But there are many notable stats that will define this
World Series and I want to share them with you
because this is way out there kind of stuff. So,
as I mentioned earlier, Dave Roberts was not even a

(02:31:30):
National League Manager of the Year finalist, but each of
the three teams that were National League Manager of the
Year finalists, which happened to be the Reds, the Phillies,
and the Brewers, were all defeated in the playoffs by
Dave Roberts and his Dodgers. That has never happened before

(02:31:50):
in the history of baseball. Freddie Freeman became the first
player in Major League Baseball history we're talking about a sport.
It's been around one hundred and fifty six years to
have two World Series walk off home runs. Miguel Rojas
became the first player in history to tie at game

(02:32:12):
seven World Series in the ninth inning. Remember when Bill
miles Rowski hit his home run, his walk off home
run in nineteen sixty, the game was tied. So Miguel Rojas,
who Dave Roberts put in the lineup on a hunch,
Boy with a hunch, became the first player in history
to tie a game World Series in the seventh inning

(02:32:33):
with a dinger. Will Smith became the first player ever
to hit a home run in extra innings in a
World Series game. Yeah it happened, by the way. Will
Smith an absolute iron man during the World Series and
a stellar signing by the Dodgers. I think the game
a ten year deal. A couple of years ago. He

(02:32:54):
caught all seventy three innings. Will Smith caught all three
innings in a seven game World Series, would set the
record for most innings ever caught in a World Series.
How can I forget Shoho Tani Shohe was the first
player in one hundred and nineteen years with four extra

(02:33:15):
base hits in a World Series game, and the only
player to reach base nine times in one game. Yes
it was an extra inning game. Show hey reached base
nine times in a World Series game.

Speaker 4 (02:33:27):
Never happened before.

Speaker 2 (02:33:29):
Yamamoto the third pitcher in World Series history to pitch
in a Game seven with zero day's rest. And by
the way, he was warming up in that eighteen inning
game in the bullpen after having pitched the day before
a couple of days I think of the day before.

(02:33:49):
Had that game going nineteen innings, you would have seen
Yamamoto in that eighteen inning game, which would have been
a nineteen inning game. But the first World Series pitcher
in history to pitch a Game seven was zero days rest. Yeah,
I'm moldo. The second pitcher in World Series history and
the first in one hundred years to pitch over two
innings on zero day's rest when he threw two innings

(02:34:09):
in Game seven, and they were critical innings. Now, in
the history of the World Series, there have been forty
one games that have gone check that. There have been
forty one World Series contests World Series series that have
gone seven games, so that's nothing new, but only six
and all that time were decided in the nextra innings,

(02:34:31):
and only three in history have gone eleven or more innings.
There was an eleven inning game and there was an
eighteen inning game. So whether or not this World Series
in twenty twenty five between the Blue Jays and the
Dodgers was the greatest World Series of all time can
be up for debate. I don't think the Game seven

(02:34:55):
can be up for debate as the greatest perhaps Game
seven of all time, and I certainly I don't think that.
What can be up for debate is that it's certainly
one of the biggest sports stories of all of twenty
twenty five. One of the other stories that will certainly
be in the annals of history and sports history and

(02:35:18):
certainly college football history is what took place in Michigan
these last few weeks, and after much speculation by most
people who don't know what they're talking about, I heard
a guy come on this network and say, oh, yeah,
after Jetfish wins Friday night, there's your next coach. Now
you don't know what you're talking about. It was never
going to be Jetfish, was never going to be Jesse Minter,

(02:35:39):
and not because they're not both outstanding coaches. I was
told by people I trust, Michigan's just simply was not
going to bring someone in who had been part of
the Harbor regime at any time. They're under a lot
of scrutiny, there are a lot of pressure. They've hired
a Michigan hired an outside law firm from Chicago to
begin a pretty comprehensive investigation of the athletic department, which

(02:36:00):
is already underway. So he ended up with Kyle Whittingham.
And for the second time now, Michigan's had to kind
of make a head coaching higher at a bit of
an inopportune time because, first of all, two years ago,
Jim Harbaugh departed right after the National Championship when the
Wolverines could make the higher till January twenty sixth after

(02:36:20):
Horball left for the NFL and they promoted the Roc
Show on Moore. Now you know what happened there, and
they had to move along. So Michigan needed a stabilizing force.
They needed someone to bring both the football program and
the athletic department back to respectability. They hired a coach

(02:36:41):
in Kyle Whittingham, who took over for Urban Meyer at
Utah in two thousand and five. He's going to be
a Hall of Fame coach, all right. One one hundred
and eighty games, And in two thousand and eight rich
Rod's first game, Utah strolled into Michigan and hammered them
beat him. And then Utah beat Carball in his first game,
I believe, back in twenty fifteen.

Speaker 4 (02:37:02):
So you know, he's had some history against Michigan.

Speaker 2 (02:37:07):
But I think objective people can surmise that while there
is no perfect coach, this is sort of the horse
for the course that Michigan needs right now. It's an
ideal coach to lead them through this era, which is
very turbulent. Yeah, so what if Whittingham sixty six years old,
Saba was seventy four. You can either do this job

(02:37:28):
or you can't. If you're an agist, you're an idiot.
Plenty of young guys who could not do this job.
Plenty of older guys could do this job. He can
do the job, and all sixty six year olds are
not created equally. This guy's a stud, all right. He
took over for Urban Meyer in two thousand and five,
and at that time, Utah was just a regular run
of the mill Mountain West program. All of a sudden,

(02:37:51):
Utah under good leadership, and part of that was Kyle Whittingham.
Utah found himself in a major conference, first the PAC
twelve and then now they're in the Big twelve. And
Utah was not only joining much more powerful conferences, they
were doing so in fine fashion. They're at the top
of those conferences or near the top of those conferences.

(02:38:13):
He is eighty nine games, over five hundred, two PAC
twelve titles, and a Mountain West crown.

Speaker 4 (02:38:19):
One seventy seven and eighty eight.

Speaker 2 (02:38:22):
Most importantly, when you take a look behind the curtain
of Kyle Whittingham, he has a spotless reputation. He's had
a terrific career. His teams they're not really in trouble,
not that I can remember. Kyle Whittingham builds very strong
team cultures, and as I tweeted out, this is a

(02:38:43):
guy Kyle Whittingham, who's experienced, no nonsense, he's well grounded,
and he's successful all four of those things. Utah had
a bit of a dip recently. He turned them around
almost immediately. He lost his quarterback, Cam Rising. For the
whole year, they went from five to seven to said
it's ten to two. And what is he known for?

(02:39:04):
Stacked offensive lines, great defensive elite defensive units. Okay, Utah
had the misfortune and they are undermanned a quarterback. The
two teams in conference got on BYU in Texas Tech
or they had a real shot at being in the
foot football playoff. So the Michigan's getting an experienced guy,
a guy who can handwride this thing, who's a veteran.

(02:39:26):
It's a completely different contrast to some coaches in the past.
The other thing, too, is as successful as Kyle Whittingham
was at Utah, He's going to have many, many more
resources and money that at any time in his career,
which has already been extremely successful. Now, remember Michigan had
the number one recruit Bryce Underwood to the program last

(02:39:47):
year with a twelve million dollar contract of which he's
been paid two and a half million. And truth of
the matter is, I'm told that Bryce Underwood is excited
by this hire. We'll see maybe he is, hopefully is.
And I think Jason Beck, the defensive coordinator, I believe
will come to ann Arbor with with with the Kyle Whittingham.

Speaker 4 (02:40:10):
I don't know. I can't prove it, but we'll see.

Speaker 2 (02:40:13):
So he recruits well, he coaches well, he's a leader.
And the truth of the matter is, if they can
get five years out of them, I think they're gonna
be just fine. And it's a time and history where
they got the coach they needed.

Speaker 3 (02:40:27):
All right.

Speaker 2 (02:40:28):
Three of the last four Michigan coaches failed to let
make it through four years. Harbaugh was the only one.
I think he will. It's gonna do it for the
Bernie Frattles Show. See you next Saturday. Keep it locked
up next to Great Andy Furman on Fox Sports Radio.

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