FOX Sports Sunday with Hartman and Ohrnberger: 09/06/2020

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Don't listening to Fox Sports. Oh yes, living the Drain
once again on a fabulous Sunday, Hartmann and Orenburger. We
are coming alive from the guy Go Fox Sports Radio Studios.
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raid quote. All right, Rich, I gotta tell you this
right at the top. Okay, So yesterday, Katina and I

(00:23):
are doing the show, and I'm looking up and We've
got everything. We got college football on, We've got NBA
Playoffs going on, we have golf going on, the Tour
Championship going on. We're getting previews of the Kentucky Derby.
I've got Serena Williams playing Sloan Stevens at the US Open.

(00:46):
All of that's going on. All right, I'm trying to
if we don't even have enough TVs to watch all
of this, And it suddenly hits me that exactly one
week from today, right at this moment, we're gonna have
nine NFL games kicking off simultaneously right here, ten o'clock

(01:10):
West coast, one o'clock on the East coast, right this second.
As we've done in the past, Rich. We're gonna have
nine NFL games kicking off simultaneously, and we've been sort
of searching for a return to normalcy, and this will
sort of be for us the first real taste. I mean,

(01:34):
the NBA playoffs at this time, that's not normal. Shorten
baseball season, that's not normal. US Open Tennis at this
time not normal. We are going to have nine NFL
games kicking off simultaneously exactly one week from today, exactly correct.
And yeah, you're right, that's an interesting way to look

(01:55):
at it, and it's one that I hadn't looked at
it yet. In a sport world that has been completely
turned on its head. You know, you know, an absurd
number of conferences starting now versus some conferences starting potentially later. Uh.
You know in college football, UH, tennis is out of whack.

(02:15):
Golf has been postponed and pushed back. UH. Baseball is
on this abbreviated season toward UH, an expanded playoff which
may occur inside of a bubble. The NBA restart inside
of a bubble. The only sport that has just steered
through this, and and whatever your opinion of it, put

(02:36):
that aside for a moment, because I understand, there's a
lot of people in the medical industry, you know, who
have spent their life studying disease. Really, they don't see
a clear path for the NFL to survive the entire
season doing it the way they're planning on doing it.
And then there are some people are saying the virus
be damned, life is dangerous. Let the players do what

(02:59):
they want, let them earned the living they want to earn.
Let these owners who own these teams perform their business
to the way they want, and let the fans decide
whether they want to show up. So you have you
have commentary on both sides. But the one sport that
has steered straight through this whole thing and said we're
just gonna do what we do and we'll see where
the chips fall has been the NFL. So when the

(03:21):
NFL season kicks off on September the tenth, this Tuesday,
and then the ensuing Sunday, a full slate of games,
it is going to be the only sports league that
has navigated this absurd time in all of our lives
across the world without flinching. It's crazy. So we're gonna
have the Thursday opening game Kansas City hosting Houston. There's

(03:42):
going to be thirteen games on Sunday, and then of
course the first Monday always has the two games, so
we're gonna have the two money nine games. So I
mean and Enrich, you and I have been working in
separate arenas here uh, up until the weekend. I assume
I'm going to see you next weekend up here one

(04:05):
hundred person so as we sit here now, now that's interesting.
So last year we we had two things that were
always going on last year on Sundays. One was when
are we going to see our first missed extra point? Correct?
And when is Jamis his first interception? Right? That was

(04:26):
we started every single Sunday with those two things, When
are we gonna see a miss extra point? And when
do we can see Winston's throw us first interception? And
it was almost like clockwork, before the first television break
and all the broadcast, we got our answer on the
extra point. Yeah, and within the first quarter of play,
at very least sometimes within the first series, the first series,

(04:49):
it was almost uncanny how many times first series you
throw an interception? Winston? Look, um, I hope he really
does make the reformations he needs to become a great
quarterback at this level. Uh, he is. He's on the
right team, by the way. Oh yeah, yeah. And Sean
Payton in that system, they can really they can. They
can make you. They can make you look and I'm

(05:12):
not saying anything, but they did for Teddy Bridgewater. Correct.
Bridgewater comes in there is almost a reclamation project, and
he turns around and becomes starting quarterback for Carolina Panthers
in free agency. And here you have Jameis Winston who
was working with a very talented coach and Bruce Arians
But I think he had to be asking him to
do more than he was capable of because he was
their starting quarterback. But given the experience of being a

(05:34):
backup behind Drew Brees in that system with Sean Payton
at the helm, he may have time to incubate and
become a better passer. But last season it was laughable
how many interceptions you throw thirty and all including the
final pick six to uh become the one and only
member the thirty club. But remember, and we were talking

(05:54):
about this, by the way, during our show during the week,
Rich made the prediction of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who
have not made the playoffs in thirteen years, have not
won a playoff games since they won the Super Bowl. Okay,
that was the two thousand and two season. Just with
Tom Brady being added as their starting quarterback, you are

(06:15):
already tabbing them as Super Bowl champions. Just like that.
You've gone from thirteen years not making the playoffs eighteen
years without a playoff win too, winning the Super Bowl.
You hear good teams say this all the time. You
hear good teams say this very statement all the time.
That was last year's team, This is this year's team.

(06:36):
You hear super Bowl winning teams say. You hear absolute
you know, complete disasters of teams say it. You hear
it when coaches take over a new team. You hear
when a new quarterback end. There's a team really and
it's true. If you believe that there is this some
invisible inertia that carry carries over from year to year,

(06:57):
you are mistaken last year's Hatrea team to use them
as an example, since that's where Tom Brady came from.
They had one of the winningest quarterbacks in NFL history
as their as their leader. Um. They had an offense
on paper to enter the season looked somewhat anemic but
um still, you know, maybe enough. They had a great defense,

(07:20):
no questioning that, and they took that train all the
way into the first round the playoffs. For them, they
got bounced out by the Tennessee Titans. A year later,
they have something like a dozen opt outs. They still
have a great secondary, but they have a lot of
question marks up front on their defense. They don't have
that quarterback anymore. Year to year, everything changes. Everything changes

(07:40):
now they have Cam Newton. Look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
They have a quarterback a year ago. They have a
quarterback a year ago who throw thirty interceptions. That's double
most of the quarterbacks who started the position in the
NFL double. Okay, they still through for an astounding amount
of yards, five thousand yards. I mean Jameis Winston was

(08:01):
able to connect with receivers, but he was also unfortunately
able to connect with defensive players as well, and it
led to the demise of that offense, which affected the
defense in in in a complete fashion. I mean seven
pick six is when you are when you are giving
teams six points per game for almost half the season,

(08:23):
you're gonna get beat a lot. So I look at
these two teams, was a completely different story than The
Patriots get started with Cam Newton, will see where that
story takes them. The Buccaneers get started with Tom Brady,
We'll see where that story takes them. But I can
promise you the ten team in both of those examples
are going to be completely different than the production of

(08:45):
the team. The turner over, the roster, everything in the
NFL makes every year a new challenge. All Right, we
got a lot of NFL news going on right now.
As of course, rosters have been set at fifties three.
By the way, this just in the future Hall of
Famer Adrian Peterson, who was released by the Washington football team,
has just signed with the Detroit Lions. So at age

(09:08):
thirty five, I'm this guy. I mean, there's there's there's
a lot of baggage there. We understand that, but just
look at Adrian Peterson, the football player who came back
from a devastating knee injury to almost set the NFL
rushing record. I mean, he comes back with Washington and
and you know, I mean a running back in thirty five.

(09:30):
How do I even equate that? I mean, I mean,
that's like an NBA player at fifty I mean it
means it's unreal. But the Lions are you know, they
got carry On Johnson, they got some you know, uh,
they took DeAndre Swift and they got some really talented
young running backs. But doesn't hurt to bring in an
old pro on his way to Canton, Ohio like Adrian Peterson.
And let me let me just interject this thought too,

(09:52):
because I've been thinking about this a lot laterly. You know,
when when your dad was thirty five, or even when
my dad is thirty five, it was a very different
time in this country from a medical science standpoint, from
an acceptance of alternative medicines. Look, we're seeing an advancement
in the space of science during you know that that

(10:15):
is just blitzing. It's at light speed. Look, we're back
in space for the first time in a warm time,
you know where we're We're obviously facing a global pandemic.
But alongside that, there are a lot of people who
are saying, you know what, who knows what's after this life,
Let's try to extend this life as long as possible.
This this this theory of anti aging or or this
practice of of you know, age related medicine. Look at

(10:39):
Tom Brady forty three years old. That's my point. Doesn't
forty three look different in the NFL than it did?
You know, it's interesting you mentioned forty three. In nineteen seventy,
George Blanda, uh made history. He was like this forty
three year old kicker backup quarterback with the Raiders. He
had this run of five con ecutive games when he

(11:01):
became like a national hero. He kicked winning field goals.
He came in a game late through. He seemed like
he was a hundred years old. I mean, he was gray,
He looked old, and he was the same age as
Tom Brady. I mean, if you look at George Blanda
side by side from when he was forty three as
supposed to Tom Brady, I'm gonna treat that. I'm gonna

(11:24):
tweet that out. I'm gonna take a I'm gonna take
a picture from Tom Brady at and then take a
plan because and you know what, we have video evidence
of guys in the seventies flicking a cigarette off the
sideline before they go into the game, before they remove
their capes in a cold game. And look, everything has changed.
People take care of their bodies better, especially those performing

(11:46):
at the highest level of sport better than they ever
have in their life. I mean, in the seventies, for
crying out loud, there are guys who are substitute teachers
in the off season. There were guys who worked in
the factories in the off season. Nowadays, these guys can
dedicate three hundred sixty five days per year during sixty
six on a leap year to making their body as

(12:06):
good as possible for the job that they do in
The only job they do is being the best football
player they possibly can be. So I think Adrian Peterson
at thirty five, Tom Brady at forty three, these other
quarterbacks who are already making promises of playing close to
or over the year or the age of forty, I
see it as becoming more and more of a possibility.

(12:27):
And you're gonna see more and more production because the
game has never been safer, albeit it's still not a
safe game to play. And also the athletes have never
been more dedicated to the craft, and science is catching
up to helping keeping them on the field for longer. Alright,
We're gonna take advantage of what maybe our final Sunday
talking about the NBA, because once we get to next Sunday.

(12:50):
We've already given you a preview. We're gonna have nine
games kicking off at ten o'clock and as soon as
those games are over, we go to the afternoon games.
We're gonna be NFL, NFL, NFL M or NFL starting
next Sunday. But the NBA Playoffs the bubble. We thought
there could be some crazy things happening, but the first

(13:11):
round sort of one as planned. That is no longer
the case. Where are we heading with the NBA Playoffs?
From the Geico Fox Sports Radio studios, We're gonna tell
you coming up next Steve Harbin and rich Ormburger. All right,
right now, it is time for the Geico Play of

(13:34):
the day. What to This is out to Ryan Field,
going back all his Tucker. He's watching it go. That
is gone. Career Hall run number three hundred for Mike
Trout and he sits the top the Angels Hall broad
leaderboard all by himself. There you go, Mike Trout three
hundred career home runs, breaking the record he shared with

(13:57):
Tim Salmon as the all time career home run leader
in Angel's history. By the way, Tim Samon still has
one record. He has the most career home runs of
anyone who was never named to an All Star team.
He'll always have that. Maybe my question is how many, um,
how many home runs will Mike trot Hip? By the way,
did you know the right now guy goes offering an

(14:18):
extra fifteen percent credit on car, motorcycle, and RV policies.
That's fifteen percent on top of what Guyka could already
save you. So what are you waiting for saving extra
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dot com to learn more. So Rich, he's got ten
years remaining on his contract. He signed through the season.
He's twenty nine years old. Obviously it'll be thirty nine

(14:38):
years old the end of the contract. The most home
runs he's ever hit in a full season was last year.
He had forty five home runs. He leads the majors
and home runs this year with fifteen. He is four
hundred and sixty two home run short of Barry Bonds records.
So if you do the math, if he averaged his
career high a forty four ten years, he would still

(15:02):
be short. So it doesn't appear that he can get
to that record. Well you know, but but still what
we're watching and unfortunately on throughout the years, what's been
a pretty subpart team or or average average to sub
average team with the Angels. Because I want, I want
to speak delicately here, because I know my good friend

(15:24):
Gavin is listening very closely to what I say about
his Angels. But um, this is an incredible baseball player.
What we're watching, his history being made on a daily basis,
consistency metronome like consistency that Mike Trout has performed with
is it's just we It's hard to quantify and and

(15:46):
it's difficult to enjoy to the fullest extent because he's
not a big personality. He's not Michael Jordan's during the
nineties Bulls runs. He's not Steph Curry during the Warriors
recent dash to championships. He's not Lebron James, who is
you know, as outspoken an athlete as as we've ever known,
you know, if you want to go back in the day,
He's no Muhammad Ali, top of his game but also

(16:09):
culturally relevant. Mike Trout is anonymous. He's anonymous except for
his bat, I mean the crack of the bat, what
he does on the base path. Two hundred stolen bases
on top of those, most player ever breaking Willie Mazes
record fewest games necessary to have at least three hundred
home runs and two hundred stolen bases in a career.

(16:31):
So it is important, you know, in some ways, to
not only be you know, for you to get the
attention and recognition you deserve. You know, across the the
scribes covering the game of baseball and the people like
us who have loud voices and big opinions on sport. Uh.
You you also have to have a charismatic personality. But

(16:52):
it's not requisite to be one of, if not the
greatest baseball player we've ever seen. Because Mike Trout stories
yet to be completely written, and by the time he
finishes doing his the damage he's doing to the record books,
he could be arguably the best we've ever seen. Leads
the Majors and home runs right now, leads the America
Leagan slugging percentage in ops on a really bad Angels team.

(17:14):
So Mike Trout making history yesterday. All right, let's get
to the NBA here, Rich, because as we mentioned, next Sunday,
we're gonna be wald Wall NFL back to our norm.
The NBA Playoffs. I mean there was mild surprises in
the first round, but not really. I mean, the main
culprits were there. We see the Box, we see the Lakers,

(17:34):
we see the Clippers. Those are the three teams that
everyone had at the top of the mountain going in
as the three teams most likely to come out with
an NBA championship. Well, the Bucks are on life support.
They're down three all right? Now? Did you see what
happened to them to the other night? They were outscored
by the Miami Heat forty in the fourth quarter. Not

(17:57):
only is that a stunny number, it is the greatest
fourth quarter margin twenty seven points of any playoff game
in the history of the NBA. Think about that. No
team had ever been outscored by twenty seven points in
the fourth quarter of an NBA playoff game. Ever, that

(18:18):
was a Bucks team that was leading by twelve. They
lose by fifteen. There down three. Oh and oh, by
the way, Janice is questionable for Game four. I want
to ask you. There's three theories about the Bucks right now,
and I'm gonna throw them at you and ask you
how they've got themselves in this position. Theory one is

(18:39):
is that when they lead the boycott that several players
on that team, I'm not saying you honest with several
players that were leading the boycott mentally may have checked out,
all right. So that's that's number one. Number two is
Milwaukee had the best home court record in the end

(19:00):
be a and as the one seed, they would have
had home court. So a lot of people are saying
they're suffering from neutral court, that their real advantage was
having a home court and that was taken away. Or
the third theory is the Miami Heat are just a
really bad matchup for the Milwaukee Bucks. So which one

(19:21):
is it? I think I think it's that last one.
I really do. As much as I want to speculate
about how the walkout or boycott affected their their restarting
this bubble playoff, as much as I want to speculate
how much being in a bubble has distracted certain teams
from producing on court because they missed their home venue

(19:42):
crowd energy, the reality is this Miami Heat team, it
appears to be built to beat the Bucks. What they're
doing collapsing on Janice, taking away the Greek freak from
doing what he does in most matchups across. You know,
the Bucks regular season and into playoffs is to take
over games offensively. Who could stop him, Well, nobody by themselves,

(20:05):
but a few can. And that's what they're doing. They're
making an overwhelming commitment to put the game in the
hands of the other Bucks not named Janice. And that's
a big problem for Milwaukee because nobody's stepping up in
a major way to take the weight off his shoulders.
We saw in the postseason for the Toronto Raptors who
were going against a depleted Warriors team, albeit able to

(20:30):
find some help from the supporting cast when the Warriors
defense crushed on Kawhi. Leonard Siakum became a star of
those NBA Finals a year ago. Nobody's becoming a star
in Milwaukee. Nobody's doing it down in Orlando right now.
It's not working for them, and so Jimmy Butler is
becoming the story here because they can't stop his hot hand. Now. Defensively,

(20:53):
I mean the Miami team, it's Miami team. They have
they have players who can make a shot right at
the break, and that's a problem for Milwaukee because it
spreads the floor, so you're having wide open shots in
the paint sometimes, but it's the perimeter shooting that is
knocking the doors off of the Bucks right now. But
most importantly is you need to find one other cast

(21:14):
member amongst this Milwaukee Bucks team who can hold the
torch for a night where Janice is getting crushed on
and nobody else is doing it. Yeah, this game will
tip off in two hours. Game four that series, And
getting back to Katino, Rich I had mentioned to you
we were talking about potential second round matchups a couple
of weeks ago, and so what about the Heat Bucks,

(21:37):
I mean, with the Bucks have any concerns, He goes,
let me tell you something. That Heat team is very physical.
That is not a good matchup for the Milwaukee Bucks.
It has been a nightmare so far. Bucks are going
to try to do something that's never been done in
the history of the NBA playoffs. Down three oh, it's
happening Baseball's happening in hockey a couple of times, but

(21:59):
no NBA team has ever been down three oh in
a series and come back to win that series. That
game will tip off in a couple of hours. Al Right.
On the other side, we got some more NBA news
to get to. But first let's find out what's trending
right now as we welcome into one and only Mr
David gascon Fellas, how are you? Are you ready to

(22:21):
have Rich back next Sunday as we sit down and
kick off nine NFL games. Listen, before you get your
ass up here, you better bring a rack a rib. Okay, alright,
everybody calmed down. Nobody's freaking out. Nobody freak out. Pet's
heads are falling off. I mean it's gonna look so

(22:41):
with the college football season for the Mountain West being
bumped to the spring and my color analyst duties with
the San Diego State Aztects, that means I have an
open day on Saturday, which means a lot of smoking
and grilling can get done on a Saturday. That's all
I'm gonna say. Can you imagine a few of those

(23:01):
racks of ribs gask on here as we kick off
our first NFL Sunday of the year. I could see
it now, Rich is riches quing up a couple of racks.
Watch a little army, little Middle Tennessee, Little Austin, Pow
Next Saturday. Next Saturday, Clarson Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Yeah,

(23:28):
well that's good. So your key car won't work until
you bring that rack into that very fair. Yeah, hey guys.
NFL news today, Jadeveon Clowney makes an official one year
deal with Tennessee worth fifteen million dollars. It was between
the Titans and the New Orleans Saints. Tennessee wins out
Adrian Peterson and New Home. He goes from DC to
Detroit Motor City with the Lions one year deal with

(23:48):
just a hair over a million dollars. The Pittsburgh Steelers
picked up and signed Josh Dobbs and released Duck Hodges.
Mammie Dolphins Away are signed wide receiver Antonio Callaway, added
him to the practice squad, and the Bears have signed
defensive end Mario Edwards Major League Baseball seen Nelson Crew
scratched from today's line up with the Minnesota Twins due
to a minor hip tightness, and the club also activated

(24:08):
right into pictures Zach Wtel from the ten day injury lists.
All right, David, thank you very much. Did you did
you're rich when any money yesterday on the ponies? Uh no,
I'll tell you what my TV partner did yesterday. It's
very complicated. I I you know, there's there's a lot
of different methods of betting, but no, I did not

(24:30):
have and what have paid well? By the way, the
show horse, by the way, came up at one. So
oh that's nice. That was a long shot right there.
So yeah, but no wasting here either. Guests going just
a boring day, casadel Orn Burger. By the way, I'm
gonna add another layer to those roots in next weekend.

(24:50):
I'll explain what that's going to be. But first we're
coming alive from the Guy Go Fox Sports Radio Studios.
Easy to save more on car insurance with Guy Go go
go to got go dot com or call in otto.
The only hard part figuring out which way is easier. Yeah,
just quickly you put a request in, we will deliver
next weekend lemon cookies. What Yeah, you wanted it, you

(25:15):
got it? You got it? Well listen, I you know
obviously Denise Hartman, she always loves the challenges you do. Yeah. Yeah,
and and she if she's gonna throw down next weekend,
it looks like it looks like I'm gonna have to
answer the bell. Lemon cookies with the barbecue. How about that?
How about that? Ribs and lemon cookies for our listeners.
That will be pictures. All right, let's calm down a

(25:39):
little bit, everybody. All right, So getting back to the NBA. Now,
if the n b A is gonna have a ghost
of a chance to hold up to the NFL avalanche
that will begin on Thursday, the one matchup they have
to have is Lakers Clippers. And as we went into
the second round, both teams are looking good. Akers, you know,

(26:01):
after losing their first game to Portland's looked really good
to close out series out in four. And the Clippers
they had a couple of blips, but their last game
against the uh Mavericks, they just blew the door off Dallas.
So you're like, all right, we're in good shape. The
Lakers are playing good basketball, Clippers are gonna play good basketball.
The Rockets one dimensional, no one over six six Denver.

(26:24):
I mean, come on, it's like white a walk over.
And then and then and the Clippers blow out the Nuggets.
So you're like, okay, we know the Clippers are in
So what happens Friday night? The Lakers laying egg? I mean,
they don't show up, no defense. Anthony Davis going against
a team with no one over six six took six

(26:45):
shots in the first half. Lebron doesn't score a point
in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Clippers last night after
blowing out the Nuggets, I'm looking up there, down twenty
like in the first quarter, I'm like, what the heck
is going on? Rich, I cannot overstate this. The NBA
has to have Lakers Clippers in the Western Conference Finals.

(27:08):
I don't disagree with you. I mean, I do not
disagree with you. I think it would be an absolute bummer.
And this is look from from the standpoint of an
NBA fan. That's that's the place that I can speak from. Look,
I'm no analyst. I watched these games. I notice and
recognize what I can, and I bring that to the
airwaves every time we talk n b A. But I

(27:30):
didn't play the sport professionally. I am a fan of
the n b A. I'm a super fan of Lebron James,
watching him dominate over basically my entire life as as
a as a fan of the NBA. I mean, look,
I I transition from a nineties Bulls fan as a
kid and then at the same age basically because he's

(27:50):
thirty five, So am I I'm thirty four. He took
over the sport of basketball. I've been watching him since
I'm eighteen years old. So I look at the sport
through the eyes of of childlike wonderment, of of the
enjoyment for the masses that it is that it always
has been for me. And if you have anything less

(28:11):
than Clippers Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, something terrible
has happened in Orlando, and it is going to affect
their ratings horribly. Oh. I mean with Janice almost a
hundred percent out, Okay, so your m v P is
gonna be gone at some point in the series against Miami, man.

(28:32):
I mean, they gotta hope that whatever happened to the Lakers,
they're gonna correct it tonight. Uh. That was a shocking game,
Rich because normally if the Rockets are going to beat
the Lakers, it's because they just had a ridiculous shooting
night from three point land. That was not the case.
They made some threes, but they shot thirty four percent.

(28:54):
They did it by going to the whole. I mean,
they were just taking it to the rack and there
was like no resistance at all. Lay up after lay
up against a Laker team that had been off for
a week and just they just didn't show up. So,
you know, and I'll put it this way, the Rockets
are better than Portland's Okay, there they don't. Parland had

(29:18):
Damian Lillard. This team has James Harden, they have Russell Westbrook.
He also have Eric Gordon, by the way, who's a
pretty good offensive weapons. So, um, this is gonna be
an interesting series. As far as the Clippers concerned. I
I saw Doc last night after the game. He goes,
let's put it this way, everything we did right in
the first game is everything we did wrong last night. Yeah. Look,
the Clippers are a really nice team. And to to

(29:40):
sort of follow what you're saying, they're about, Doc, uh.
You know, one of the highlights of watching Clippers basketball,
what makes them so unique as an opponent in the
n b A is they really and truly are defensive
basketball team. You see that more often in NT double
A hoops. You don't see it as often in the NBA,
especially because this league isn't about defense. It's about offense,

(30:03):
and the rules have curtailed the abilities of defenders to
be particularly effective. But the Clippers have a defensive ball
club in the locker room during that game against the Nuggets,
He's telling the guys, look, I understand we're great on defense.
I love it. I want us to continue being great
on defense. That's fantastic, But we gotta get it popping

(30:24):
off on offense. We gotta we gotta get it to
the whole. We gotta, we gotta put the ball in
the basket, otherwise we're gonna lose to these jokers. And
that's exactly what happened. Yeah, you know, I was saying,
where's Yo kich? He showed up last night? Points, eighteen, rebounds.
Murray had a good shooting game. He had twenty seven.
But when's the last time he saw Kawhi Leonard go
four of seventeen shooting in a playoff game. He had

(30:46):
scored at least twenty nine points in every playoff game
so far this season, averaging thirty two points. He had
thirteen his plus minus his minus sixteen. That's as bad
as you're ever gonna see Kawaii Leonard play in a
playoff game, and I doubt it's gonna happen again. Listen,
milsa Paris. They added thirteen points off the bench. You know, Look,

(31:08):
they lost by twenty three in the series opener, and
and you can you can argue that it's because not
only did the Nuggets starters you just mentioned yr Kich
didn't perform, but their bench didn't perform. So they got
a better performance out of a star and they also
got a better performance out of their bench. So that
adds a tremendous amount of points to the end result,

(31:29):
which was enough to beat the Clippers by nine. I
mean the end of the first quarter, Denver was leading
forty to forty four points in the first quarter. I mean,
Doc Rivers must have been like, I'm sorry, did somebody
take my team away from me? Who are these guys?
Forty four points in the first quarter. So the n

(31:50):
B a in a desperate attempt to stay relative. And
again I'm not blaming the NBA. They just got to
get their season done. I mean, that's all they need
to do. We need to finish the scene and complete
the season financial purposes, and we'll never hopefully we'll never
have to see the NBA playoffs go head on against
the start of the NFL final thought on this, you

(32:11):
got the two time NBA Finals m v P Kawhi Leonard,
who had the rare off night. Offensively, still had eight assists,
he still had ten rebounds, but he only shot four
for seven team from the field. Look over the last
twenty eight playoff games that this man has played. In
twenty seven of those he had twenty points or more.

(32:34):
You know, So, look, I'm not expecting this to be
the the forthcoming norm for Kawhi Leonard. He's going to
get back off the schneide and he's gonna be a
better player in Game three of the series. But he
better be and and Paul George better stay playing the
way he is now. Playoff pe appears to have arrived
in Orlando. They need to lean on those two powerhouses

(32:54):
to guide them through this series. Otherwise, again, like you
said this, I mean, could you imagine Nuggets used in
for the Western Conference Final? No, no, no, no no cannot happen. No, No,
That Deviri Houston and that will be a shutdown. With
all due respect to the Nugget and Rocket fans out there.
They need star power, they need Lebron, they need Kauai,
they need Lakers Clippers in that Western Conference Finals. Alright,

(33:16):
So Miami will look at closed out Milwaukee. That game
will tip off in less than two hours. And then
later on this evening, Lakers down one oh to Houston.
We'll try to even up that series, alright when the
guy go Fox Sports Radio Studios. So yesterday everything's going out.
We got us Open Tennis, we got the Kentucky Derby,
we got Tour Championship, we got all these things. And

(33:37):
then I'm looking up NBA Plus and I see college football.
All right, So where do we stand with college football
all over the NFL? But college football is really gonna
kick into high gear on Saturday? Uh? Coming up Saturday?
Or will it? Some of the questions still surrounding the

(33:57):
college football falls schedule. Coming up next golf Steve Harbor
and Rich Armburger. Where coming alive from the getic Fox
Sports Radio studios. All right, before we get to this
college football, I'm reading a headline today on a major
news site. Here's the headline. Record cold temperatures and a
rare September snow arrived this week. That is all what

(34:22):
I experienced yesterday. Let me tell you about yesterday. So
I leave our Sherman Oaks studios at one o'clock and
I'm heading back to Westlake Village, which means I'm driving
right through the heart of the San Fernando Valley. I'm
watching the temperature gauge in my car and it hit
a number I've never seen before. As I reached Woodland Hills, California,

(34:43):
which happens to be my hometown, I looked up and
it said one nineteen. The actual temperature yesterday in Woodland
Hills was one seventeen. Okay, so now, when we talk
like a hundred degrees, it's a hot day. When you
talk one seventeen, I'll put it this way. Even where

(35:06):
in Westlake Village was about ten degrees cooler. It was
furnace weather. Like I've been in Arizona. I've been in
the desert Vegas obviously, you know that that furnace blast
that you feel. Um, it's uncomfortable that, I mean, it
was unreal yesterday when I felt bad taking my dog

(35:27):
out to go to the bathroom, exactly would stay inside.
I would stay inside with a c and they could
not get back inside. I mean, there's hot and then wow, okay,
that's that's death valley hot. Uh. And it's the same
thing today. By the way, it's finally gonna cool off
a little bit for the Labor Day. Monday. Not much.
But wow. Uh so when I see you know, snow

(35:49):
in September, not here, Okay, I promise you're not here. Yeah,
you know, and you mentioned Labor Day special shout out
to everybody who makes this country strong. You know, we
forget what Labor Day is all about because we we
smell the barbecue and everybody has the day off from work.
So we're hitting the beaches or you know, throwing a
bonfire wherever you live. You got plans, there's no question

(36:11):
about it, because the Monday off from work is uh
is much needed for the long weekend. But yeah, look,
I mean what's made this country great and what's always
been great about this country is how hard our workforce
works for all of us. You know, especially during the pandemic.
You've had these these first responders, these frontline healthcare providers

(36:33):
who have been you know man, you know double masking it,
you know, doing the job with trash bags on at
the beginning of this thing. And the people who keep
the lights on, the people who collect the trash, the
people who run the registers at the grocery stores. Tomorrow's
about you, you know, Tomorrow's about the great union workers
who helped forge the United States. So so a special weekend.

(36:57):
I think Labor Day always gets lost because it's kind
of like, is it really holiday? Is it just an
excuse to to get back to the beach. But no,
it truly is a real holiday. And of course here
we uh we celebrate those who were appropriately celebrating. Right.
I would hardly term what I do for a living
as labor. Um I work every day, but as I

(37:18):
don't labor. There are people that have real work out there,
and I agree with you. All right, So we had
two games on Thursday. Speaking of college football, we had
six games yesterday. Tomorrow we're gonna have b y U
and Navy. That is the complete Week one of the
college football season. Now, next Saturday, folks the A c

(37:39):
C in the Big twelve get their seasons underway. That
means Clemson, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, all these big name
schools are scheduled to play on Saturday. Now is about
a month ago when the Big ten in the Pact
twelve said we're gonna shut it down. We thought the
dominoes may fall, but a lot of conces said no,

(38:01):
We're gonna proceed with a fall schedule. And here we are,
here we are, you know, and all of a sudden,
instead of talking about spring football, the Big Ten and
Pac twelve are suddenly trying to reevaluate their situation. They
can't start in September, but they certainly don't want to
start in the spring, so they may move up their schedules.

(38:21):
So with everything that's going on in college campuses positive
test everywhere we saw it was a Tennessee that had
to shut down their practice. They had some forty players
that may have been exposed or something like that. Um,
it's not the NFL's not professional football. How confident are
you that we're gonna be able to navigate through a

(38:43):
fall college football schedule. I'm really not confident of anything
these days, you know. And I think anybody who's speaking
with certainty or in ultimate terms, I think they're either
lying or their naive. I say that a lot because
you still do hear people saying things with certainty, and
you still do hear people saying things and making promises

(39:05):
where I don't think they can. And look, well, yes,
there are certain Power five conferences, the SEC, the A
c C, the Big twelve who are often running with
their conference schedules starting in a week. Uh, there are
already some instances of teams who are going to have
to delay or postponed games, TCU being one of them.
You know, they're they're they're set to go against s

(39:28):
m U in a week and they can't do it.
They can't kick off because there's been an outbreak on campus,
so they're going to postpone that game. I just don't
know how you have a full college football season with
as many universities as you're talking about. Uh, travel, even
interconference travel, it's gonna get it's gonna get tough at
some point. So I Steve, I'm I'm interested to see

(39:50):
them try to do this safely for the sake of
the student athlete. But I am not confident that this can,
you know, really be completed in a fashion that we're
all as sports viewer is gonna feel like, Wow, that
was an except acceptable end. All Right, quick question for
Iowa Sam right now, Iowa Sam, how do you feel
about Iowa stak kicking off their season next Saturday when

(40:14):
you're beloved Hawkeyes are not kicking off the season. I've
just accepted it at this point. It's been such a
weird year that I'm gonna be. It's I do the
Iowa Minute for Bucky Brooks and Jonas Knox. It's gonna
be the Iowa State Minute, all right, until it's gonna
be all sy Clones over the Hawk Rock Party and
the Boys. All right, we're in the Guy Go Fox

(40:34):
Sports Radio Studios. As we mentioned, next Sunday is gonna
be a whole different sound to this show. So how
ready is the NFL for the start of their season?
We're gonna tell you coming up next, all right, rolling
on on this a Sunday, Harbin and arm Burger. We're
coming in live from the guy Go Fox Sports Radio Studios.
Fifteen minutes. Gonna save you fifteen percent a more on

(40:55):
your car insurance. Visit guy Go dot com for a
free rate Quoe. Well, exactly one week from today, we're
already gonna be an hour into our Sunday football schedule.
Nine games. We'll kick off at ten am on the
West coast, one o'clock on the East coast. Already have
a Thursday night game in our rear view mirror. We're

(41:18):
gonna get ready for afternoon games and then to Monday
night games. In other words, we're gonna get back to
business as usual to some extent for the National Football Lake.
So let's back it up a little bit here, rich
about how ready the NFL is for the start of
this season. And let's begin with Thursday's opener between the
Super Bowl champion Chiefs and the Houston Texans. Arrowheads Stadium

(41:42):
will be the site, and the plan is for seventeen
thousand fans to be brought into Arrowhead. And we were
talking to someone that works out of Kansas City during
the week. He said, how they're gonna do this is
they're gonna have like ten sections of fan ends. They're
going to be dispersed around Arrowhead. But we haven't seen this.

(42:04):
I mean, we're watching the NBA with no fans. Were
watching Major League Baseball no fans. We're seeing the US
Open no fans. We're seeing golf tournaments no fans, MLS
no fans. Seven team thousand fans are gonna be in
Arrowheads Stadium on Thursday night. Is the NFL ready for that?

(42:27):
I don't know. I don't know. I mean, realistically, anything
that happens with or to those fans may not be
the NFL's problem unless they face litigation. You know, you
understand what I'm saying, Like the fans being at the
stadium should have zero effect on the NFL. The fans

(42:50):
are going to have to protect themselves from each other.
They're gonna have to socially distanced, They're gonna have to
wear their masks when they can or when they should,
uh and sort of handle whatever they're going to handle
separately from what's going on on the field. Now, if
if there's you know, some sort of gross negligence at
any of these venues across college football or professional football,

(43:13):
or if these you know, UH waivers potentially that fans
are going to have to sign or agree to at
the purchase of these tickets for the football season are
something less than iron clad, and there's a workaround, trust me,
an attorney somewhere, we'll be able to find it. And
then of course that's when you have litigation. But I
don't think that's NFL's problem in the short term. I

(43:35):
think the NFL's problem in the short term is now
that training camp is breaking, and now that you have
players going home to their families, and now you have
certain states that allow for in dining room dining where
you have certain states where you know, you know they're
going to allow people to attend concerts or or you know,
do certain things that you know, if you base your

(43:58):
your life off of what the medical experts are saying
are sort of against some of the better judgment people
should use, well then we may have an outbreak in
the NFL. And that's just the fact. Now, don't get
me wrong. I do think the NFL is going to
try to keep the season pumping regardless of how many
people become infected. But at a certain point you'll hit

(44:19):
a point where you absolutely can't move forward. And then
what happens? Then? Do do you end up breaking this
season into bubbles? Somehow do you do you cancel the season?
God forbid? I mean so when I say I don't know,
I mean I have no idea if the NFL is
prepared for all this. Yeah, I'm reading on the Chiefs

(44:40):
website about their ticket sales, and I'm gonna read this
is off the Chiefs website. Okay, yeah, let's here it.
Holder of the ticket acknowledges the following one. There are
communicable diseases, viruses, bacteria, and illnesses in booting. COVID nineteen

(45:02):
present in the Kansas City community. Two, Holder may be
exposed to diseases at near, or around the stadium and
its environs. Three Management cannot and does not claim to
protect holder from exposure to or transmission of a disease.
Four Holder is not carrying or infected with the disease

(45:25):
and has no symptoms consistent with any such disease. Five
Management may require the holder to wear a CDC compliant
protective masks. So they have all these specifics, But the
bottom line is as a holder of a ticket for
the games, I'm just talking about the Chiefs right now.
You are acknowledging the fact that you potentially are putting

(45:49):
yourself at risk, is what they're saying. You're acknowledging there's
COVID nineteen in Kansas City and that somehow, some way
you're taking that risk on your own. There's no liability here.
You do understand that by holding this ticket. So, I
mean the Chiefs have covered every base specifically talking about

(46:10):
COVID nineteen as far as their ticket policies to concern,
and still they were jumping over each about Super Bowl
champions fifty years since they wanted Super Bowl, Uh, seventeen
thousand gonna be packed as much as they can be
into Arrowhead on Thursday. It's gonna be quite a sight,
and it's gonna be and it's gonna be a major

(46:32):
discussion in this country. You know that because we haven't
seen seventeen thousand people in a in a stadium for
anything since the outbreak of this pandemic. Well, if there's
anything we know about the NFL, when they are at
the center of controversy, they do their best to sort
of obscure the controversy and have everybody lean in uh

(46:56):
to the storylines that they want promoted. And so you
know they're going to do the same thing with the
Chiefs having fans and fifteen other franchises so far to
today that are going to do the same. And I
have no idea how many more fans the Cowboys are
gonna let in than the Chiefs. That is yet to
be even determined by Jerry Jones. He hasn't stated publicly
what he plans on doing. But you know there's gonna

(47:18):
be a lot of fans, and the Chiefs aren't going
to be the most. I promise you seventeen thousand that's
not gonna be the most. Not across the NFL not
after the opening weekend, you'll see. But um, the problem
is the problem is also what's gonna happen on the field,
because in the NBA, with the bubble restart, obviously social

(47:39):
justice uh that that took a a a front row
uh seat as far as what these players were about
in getting this this bubble started in the first place.
And we have a president who will tweet at players.
We have a president who will tweet at leagues and
commissioners and will encourage people to stop up watching. And

(48:01):
you know, and that's not we're not talking about politics.
We're just talking about power. You know, that's a powerful man.
Whether you voted for him or not, that's a powerful man.
And he has sway. And so what happens not only
when you have this pandemic in certain stadiums are allowing
people in, but you also have you know, a potential
for boycott's in the opening weekend when you have a

(48:22):
where where you're going to see players and coaches. Look,
Billy O'Brien is going to take a knee for the
national anthem. He said it. He's a head coach of
a football team. That's the first commitment we've heard from
somebody that's going to be the opening night of the NFL.
Billy O'Brien is going to take a knee for the
national anthem. Yeah, it's it's just going to be as

(48:42):
much of a story as the pandemic and fans being
allowed in the stadium. And then aside from all that,
you know, we we have the actual games. The NFL
is about to take over the news for the next
two months, no question. By the way, A quick note,
quick note here, as we are to mention throughout today's
show and well into the season, Riches all in on

(49:05):
the Bucks winning the Super Bowl. Well, they just took
one more step to ensure that of actually happening. They
have just signed Josh Rosen to their practice squad. So
if you don't know the Josh Rosen story. Two years ago,
he's the tenth overall pick in the draft by the
Arizona Cardinals and he immediately stated that there were nineteens

(49:26):
that passed on him. We'll regret this decision for eternity.
And I remember on this show Steve Hartman was like,
and he's damn right, and that U. C. L. A.
Bruin is one of the best ever. And they should
rename the Rose Bowl the Rosen Bowl. I remember you
saying it all. I was not that big of a
Josh Rosen fan because he didn't win Jack at u
c l A anyway. So then he performed so poorly

(49:51):
that Arizona ends up with the number one pick and
they take Kyler Murray and somehow they trade Rosen to
Miami for a second and a fifth. He starts three
games from Miami. He's a disaster and he just got
released by Miami. They just threw away a second and
fifth round pick for nothing. So we were wondering will
any team take a shot at Rosen? Well, the Buccaneers

(50:15):
are going to sign them to their practice squad, and
the irony there is. Rosen also stated upon entering the
NFL that he would win one more Super Bowl then
Tom Brady. So if Brady to win a seventh Super
Bowl and Rosen is sitting on that team as a
backup quarterback or even a practice squad member, he just

(50:37):
created a bigger mountain for himself by being part of
that team, you see what I mean. Suddenly instead of
having to win seven Super Bowls, Rosen's gonna have to
win eight Super Bowls, now, I don't know, it's that
could be a tall order for Josh Rosen. Yeah, like
I I don't necessarily, I don't necessarily uh see that

(50:58):
being the case for Josh Rosen. Um. But but here's
the deal, uh, I don't. I don't say never. And
as ridiculous, dude, as ridiculous as that sounds, how unlikely
is it that Tom Brady would go to nine Super
Bowls and win six of them after being drafted in

(51:19):
the sixth round? There you go, you know, and and
with the right coach and the right approach, we've seen
players who really were sort of afterthoughts. Well, Kurt Warner's
the all timer. I mean. By the way, one note
about Josh Rosen that might be interesting to you. He
is two months younger than Joe Burrow. Oh that's interesting.

(51:43):
That is very so. Josh Rosen, twenty three years old,
is actually two months younger. It makes sense though, because
fifth year guy. Yeah yeah, he had a transfer from
Ohio State to Ellison was in three years. He played
as a true freshman. So correct, there you go, and
so so look, his whole future is ahead of him.

(52:04):
That's all I'm gonna say about Josh. Actually, you know what,
the fact that he can observe Tom Brady in any capacity,
that's got to be a plus. Right. Look, will laugh
about the the efforts of Jamis Winston during his stint
as a Tampa Bay buccaneer. But what he could learn
under Sean Payton and Drew Brees, you know, it can't

(52:26):
be learned anywhere else on the planet. So if he listens,
if he understands, if he's able to put into practice
some of those lessons, he could turn around and become
a completely different player. Josh Rosen, Josh Rosen is now
going to be working with a Super Bowl winning coach
and Bruce Arians, a superwinn and quarterbacks six times over,
and Tom Brady. Same rules apply. Winston can become a

(52:47):
better quarterback watching Breese and Peyton. Same can be said
about Rosen watching Brady and Arians. Yeah, and again, Bruce
Arians is a big X factor because he's always been
considered a quarterback guru of sorts. He deal with that
in Pittsburgh with Big Ben. So um, we wish him
the best. I mean, you hate to see any quarterback

(53:07):
because he obviously has talent. It's just being in the
right place at the right time, and maybe just sitting
back and observing in Tampa could be a good thing
for Josh Rosen. All right, when the guy go Fox
Sports Radio Studio. So as you can tell, we're getting
ready for the NFL season, and so as we look ahead,
look into our crystal ball. Who are some of the
teams that are sort of flying under the radar, teams

(53:31):
that could surprise in. We're gonna tell you coming up next,
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(53:52):
and to find a shop near you. Better get Mako. Oh,
I have a good laugh right now here, Uh Steve Harvan,
Richard Armburger coming alive from the guy, I go Fox
Sports Radio Studios. Or earlier I asked you rich to
seek out a photo of George Blanda from nineteen seventy
when he was the talk of the NFL world. There
was a five game stretchery either kicked the game winning

(54:14):
field goal game time field goal ties in those days,
or through the game winning touchdown pass, and it was
like he was an American folk here that someone at
age forty three was doing all this in the NFL
and Tom Brady's forty three. So you've done these side
by sides of George Blanda circa nineteen seventy and Tom
Brady circa fifty years later in um by the way,

(54:38):
when you found the George Blanda photo where you stunned
or what were your thoughts? No, look, I mean George
Blanda looks like what forty three looked like to me
when I was a kid, Like when somebody told me
what forty three, You know, forty three sounded inchient when
I was a kid, Right, Yeah, you couldn't imagine making

(54:59):
it to forty three when you're like a twelve year
old kid. And so when you looked at a at
a forty three year old man, you you looked at
George Blanda, you said, oh, yeah, that's forty three. That's
a guy who worked this whole life. He's raised the family,
he sent his kids off to the workforce or to
college himself. Tom Brady looks like a boy Brady. I

(55:20):
mean he's angeless. I defy you. I defy you to
to tell me Tom Brady is actually forty three years
old after you look at the side by side. So
go to rich Hornburger on Instagram or go to at
rmburger on Twitter and look at this comparison. There is
no comparison. I don't I don't even know how these

(55:42):
two humans are from the same planet. Now I see
one guy replying saying, yeah, it's definitely not the plastic
surgery inherent transplant for Tom Brady. They have a series
of photos of Tom from the time he was drafted,
uh to where he is today, and it's it's quite
a change. It really is how it is. But I
mean this is this is where we are in. If

(56:03):
you want to look better, you can do it, right,
I don't have a problem with that. I mean you
could do it. You can do it. You guys think
that George Bland ever heard of moisturizer back in the day.
Do you even think he knew what avocado toast was.
There's also this theory about you know, Morrow Burrows and
you know, yeah, I mean everybody was literally smoked. You know,

(56:24):
I said this when I when I started working with
the Raiders, Ray Guy was still our punter of the
great legendary Ray Guy. And the only time Ray wasn't
smoking was when he was actually on the field. I
mean literally, I mean the only time he didn't seem
to have a cigarette in his hand is when he
was actually you know, having to field the punt and
and and getting the ball off. Um. So yeah, different

(56:45):
health habits in those days, a much healthier lifestyle for
Tom Brady. I'm sure that George blanda back in the day,
all right. So you know, we were thinking about what
which which like world famous supermodel was George Bland associated with.
I don't think there was any of those, although you
know he he had a young understudy in in Ken's Stabler.

(57:06):
Darryl Lemonick was the starting quarterback, Blended was the backup,
and then they had this young guy who was like
a third stringer future Hall of Famer ken Stable. He
had all the girls, allright. Stabler was the guy that
had up with all the girls, all right. So we
get into every NFL season and it never fails. At
the end of the year, a team will have a

(57:27):
breakout season and people say, who saw that coming. Nobody
like nobody had that coming. So I'm looking at the
thirty two NFL teams and you have your usual suspects
every single year. But if I were to point out
one team that I think and they showed signs of it,
but I think they're going to have a full breakout

(57:49):
season is the Miami Dolphins. I think when you look
at how bad this team was, you remember last year
they were hit, They were just bad. They were historically bad,
like they remember this, Gavin. They were as far as
the point spread was concerned, they were on record pace
for the widest point spreads over a course of an

(58:11):
end of like seven games, and they were like fifteen
eighteen points underdog. They were on lost some money. The
Chargers had to think. It was a seventeen point favored
spread over the Dolphins, and I don't think they cover.
I mean it was. It was really unbelievable. They have
a new quotes and Brian Flores and it just seemed
like maybe he was a little bit overwhelmed. But by

(58:35):
the end of the season, and this is one of
my favorite stats from last year, they ended up winning
after an o N seven start and they lost the
first three games. Four games they lost fifty nine to ten,
forty three nothing, thirty one to six, and thirty to ten.
I was but they won five of their last nine games,

(58:56):
and New England lost five of their last nine games.
UM with the uncertainty about New England minus Tom Brady,
Buffalo is a solid team. But are they overwhelming? And
the Jets, who knows. I could see Miami sneaking in

(59:17):
there a couple of close wins. Maybe Ta actually contributes
big time as a rookie, we'll see. I know he's
a special quarterback. I could somehow see Miami in that
division sneaking out nine or ten wins and getting into
the postseason, which would be a remarkable accomplishment. Look out

(59:39):
for the Miami Dolphins this year. I like it. Listen,
I like it. I like Brian Flores. He was with
me in New England during my time playing there. At
the time, he was defensive assistant. So this is a
guy who has gone over the past decade from holding
up the cards and preparing the cards for the scout
team offense to being a head coach in the NFL.

(01:00:01):
That is ascension. This is a talented human being. This
is a hard working guy is incredible motivator. I look,
it is an impossible task to get the scout team
motivated on certain days because look, these are guys who
are doing all the work and getting zero of the
credit preparing the offense or starting defense for the game ahead.

(01:00:21):
But he was great at it, and he's great at
everything he's done as a defensive coordinator with the Patriots
and now as a head coach. Now is his greatness
resulting in a lot of winds? No, not yet. But
this is a guy who has that bright future ahead
of him. So I agree with you there, but I'll
give you my worst. The first style team in the
NFL on specifically excited about, and it starts with their

(01:00:42):
head coaching higher as well. Matt Rule with the Carolina Panthers,
a five and eleven football team in I think he
was the perfect coaching higher. He was absolutely outstanding with
what he's done at Temple and what he did at Baylor. Um,
he made those programs elevant. He really did, I mean,
in Baylor's case, absolutely dominant. Beyond impressive. Uh So you

(01:01:06):
look at a coach like that, pair him with some
of the offensive help they have now with Teddy Bridgewater,
at quarterback DJ more More and Curtis Samuel at receiver.
Christian McCaffrey is the best running game back in the game.
There's there's no question about it. I mean, you can
do so much with this offense that you really couldn't

(01:01:26):
do a year ago because you didn't have competency at
the quarterback position the way you do now. I mean,
run Christian McCaffrey in the slot, real speed on the
outside with a quarterback who could get it there accurately.
I'm excited about the Carolina Panthers. That's an interesting team
because you mentioned their five and eleven record. They were
five and three halfway through the season. They finished oh

(01:01:48):
and eight. UM, so they just completely caved in lash.
I like that. I like that a lot. Teddy Bridgewater
who obviously resurrected his career filling in for Drew Brees
in New Orleans. Um, yeah, I like that. McCaffrey is
just ridiculous. Oh he's awesome. I mean, that guy is
just I just always get back to and and in retrospect,

(01:02:10):
you know, there's only twice in ten years of voting
for the Heisman where the guy that I had first
did not win the Heisman Um. I actually voted man
tight tail over Johnny Manziel because of Notre Dame's undefeated season.
I didn't know about his false girlfriend or any of that.
And obviously the voting was long before they got blown
out by Alabama, and I had McCaffrey over Derrick Henry.

(01:02:30):
Now you look at Henry now and you're like, Okay,
that wasn't a week Heisman pick. Based on his NFL career.
Derrick Henry, he might be the second best running back
in the NFL right now, behind McCaffrey, but I have
McCaffrey number one, and a lot of people did not
know if this guy's game from Stanford was going to
translate into the NFL, and he hasn't missed a beat.

(01:02:50):
One of the biggest questions was can he withstand the
riggers of the running back position in the NFL? Can
he run it between the tackles and he's going to
strong runner, wrong runner, Shifty guy rarely gets hit square
and flush where the injuries occur because he just is
so dynamic in short spaces. And then on top of it,
he can he can be split out wide. I mean,

(01:03:13):
this is a guy who can be put on the
sideline and make plays from that standpoint in the passing game.
I mean, initially he was being rated as a potential
second round pick as a wide receiver. Of course, he
ended up being selected as a running back with Carolina.
The rest is history so far, but there's a lot
of history yet to be written on him. All right,
when the guy go Fox Sports Radio Studios. Much more

(01:03:34):
on the NFL and the start of their season coming up.
But first let's find out what's trending right now. How
about you, Mr Gasconny, got any uh sleepers out there
for the upcoming NFL season? And whoever Gavin picks, I
go the opposite way that seems. Yeah, he's got the Broncos. Broncos.

(01:03:56):
I will be I'll be curious to see what happens
to the Dome teams this year in the NFL, Saints
and Falcons, those sort of teams because they rely a
lot on the home field advantage, and when you don't
have fans and attendance, that's gonna hurt a ton. Also,
I think the biggest thing I know they're they're reigning
Super Bowl chants with Kansas City now and going on

(01:04:18):
the road. Well, you don't have to worry about an
opposing team's fans, and that allows you to audible up
the line of scrimmage. You get your calls defensively. I
don't know. I think Kansas City is gonna have a
huge year. Again, I know that's lower redundant. Do you
think it would be for some of these dome teams
that will be sans uh fans if they pipe in

(01:04:40):
noise at levels beyond what fans can actually generate, would
that be fair? Yeah? I mean who would you get
to do that? Though? Who does that? Seattle, Indie like
those are those are fan bases that are are are
piping hot. I know Denver's like that too, um, but
I mean the Chargers they really haven't had a home

(01:05:01):
field advantage in quite some time, so they don't have
to worry about that. They almost benefit from this if
you think about it, while all these other fan bases
are getting adjusted to it. I mean, I'm being serious.
They've they've they've been used to playing in quieter stadium,
and the Chargers didn't. They lighted up a couple of
years ago on the road. They won every game except

(01:05:22):
for the playoff game, right every game out of town
they left a road game to the Rams at every
every time they got on a plane. Yeah, exactly until
that team they grew to except for the Patriots, which
they dispatched of them in the playoffs. Yeah, they won
every game. Yeah. So yeah, that's what I'm kind of
curious about these Dome teams, just because they are relying
on that and especially with the fast tracks. So I

(01:05:44):
don't know. I think there'll be a little bit of
regression with the New Orleans Saints, but I mean, you
lose Teddy Bridgewater, like you mentioned, Um, I don't know,
there's something different about them. I think here in with
Alvin Kamara, do you think it gets a long term deal.
I don't know. I mean, he he probably should. He's
been an important part of that office for a long
time now, especially because Breeze isn't airing it out like

(01:06:07):
everything is underneath to Michael Thomas and A Kamara's Mark
King remained there anymore. You know. It's just it's it's
the way of the NFL. The running back position, especially
on better teams, usually is invalued as much as other
other spots. It will be interesting, guys. Major League Baseball
a couple of games that are going on right now, tribe.
The Milwaukee Brewers two to one, Yankees getting beat right now,

(01:06:28):
but the Orioles to one, and the Mets are on
top of the Phillies four one. This game right now
sits on the top of the fifth inning. Speaking of
the NFL, Titans have signed Jadeveon Clan to a one
year deal or fifteen million dollars Pittsburgh. They're signing quarterback
Josh Dobbs. They released Douck Hodges, and they've also signed
safety Sean Davis to a one year deal. And as
Stephen mentioned, Tampa Bay Buccaneers added Josh Rosen to their

(01:06:51):
practice squad after he was waived by the Miami Dolphins.
Fellas back to you, all right, David, thank you very much.
Once again we are coming alive from the guy Go
Fox Sports Radio student. He is easy to say, fift
cent more on car insurance with GUIC go to guy
got dot com or call eight or nine four seven otto.
The only hard part figuring out which way is easier. Gavin.

(01:07:12):
You so you you're picking Denver? Is that your pick
as a breakout team? No? I Actually, if you want
a legit a legit answer, And this is not based
on my homerism. Uh, Indianapolis Colts. Okay, let me just
say this the Chargers. If you there were two D
and twenty four offensive linemen that played a hundred snaps

(01:07:32):
last year, the Chargers started three of the bottom twenty five.
The point is the Chargers had an atrocious offensive line.
That he goes to a team with the best offensive
line correct when the Chargers keep him clean, he was
like the eight ranked quarterback. I was looking at some
of the stats on that. I think the Charges are
the Colts are gonna have a terrific season with Philip

(01:07:55):
Rivers at the helm. Every wants to put him in
the grave, but he's gonna be clean. He's gonna be fine.
I think the Cults wins well, I mean obviously when
you're talking to the two of us. Okay, for those
that don't get to hear me during the week, UM,
I am known as a harsh Rivers critict. It's not

(01:08:15):
personal because personally he's a very extremely likable guy, outstanding
family man. But the fact is in this last decade
and which he started all a hundred and sixty games
for the Chargers, they had a losing record for a
decade and didn't win a single division title. That you
can give a lot of different reasons, but quarterback is

(01:08:37):
the only position in the NFL where they have a
one loss record, and over the last decade he had
a losing record and zero division I hear you, And
what's the consistency there? It's a terrible offensive line. Well
it might wait a second, a member of that offensive
line is on the show and his name is Rich Ornberger.
All right, so you want to address what Gavin just

(01:08:58):
destroyed you by that he was so the Chargers over
their history of of and and listen, it has been
a bumpy ride in the past decade for Philip Rivers
as a Chargers court starting quarterback. Um, they've they haven't

(01:09:18):
built up this offensive line many of those years. I mean,
there's no arguing that point because if you look at it,
and I'm pulling them up right now because specifically I
remember my time with the Chargers, but beyond that, so
it's it's so let's go back to two thousand and
ten and let's talk about where they've been. So in

(01:09:40):
two thousand thirteen was the last time prior to the
eighteen season that they went to the post went to
the postseason and won a game. And I was a
member of that team. They signed me in the teen
free agency and I came in there and you know, look,
we got things done up front. There was a thousand
yard rusher, uh in Ryan Matthews. So when you get

(01:10:01):
the run game established and you can protect Philip Rivers,
you can have success. Now fast forward to team. What
was similar about these two years. This is the next
time the Chargers entered the postseason and they won a game.
It was offensive line again. They had a thousand yard
rusher and Melvin Gordon. Okay, and they were obviously in
second place behind the Chiefs, but they won a game

(01:10:23):
on the road, a wild card game against the Ravens.
We just talked about how they were on the road
that season, every plane flight they took. They won the
game outside of the Patriots, which was the final stop
for them in the divisional round. But when Philip Rivers
has a run game and an offensive line who will
protect him, he's a postseason quarterback. Virtually every time that's

(01:10:43):
the case. I mean, you could go back into the
two thousands with la Danian, Tomlinson and the offensive I mean,
Philip Rivers had the fifth quickest release last year, Jacobe
Brisett had the second. No One look at Philip Rivers Okay,
seventy seven and eighty three with his records started quarterback

(01:11:05):
in this last decade. As far as Rivers and his
ability to throw the football, no one's ever questioned that
he throws two empty space better than any quarterback I've
ever seen. Okay, I mean he throws the spots where
you're like, where is he throwing it? And the receiver
shows up. It really is remarkable. It is a golden
opportunity for Rivers. Look, I will sit here if the

(01:11:26):
Indianapolis Colts have a breakout year, and it's certainly possible
because they're one of the best offensive lines in the ly.
They have the best guard guy that's already got a
ticket to the Hall of Fame, and Quinton Nelson, all right,
the guy's gonna be in the Hall of Fame. Um,
they got everything necessary for them in a division that's
very winnable. Let's Frank Reich and Nick Well. I mean,

(01:11:47):
I could get into the Reich thing, but I like
the job Frank Reich has done in Indianapolis. But he
has that opportunity and if Indianapolis should get to the
super Bowl if they win the A Even if they
don't win the Super Bowl, there is no longer a
question about the Hall of Fame. However, Donovan McNabb was
in a similar situation with the Eagles where he got

(01:12:07):
to a Super Bowl. He was in the NFC Championship
Game several times, and then he got shipped out. Remember
he went to the Redskins and it was a disaster.
Then he went to the Vikings, it was a disaster,
and all the positives that you might have said he
was sort of a marginal Hall of Fame candidate seemed
to go out the window. So I'm rooting for Philip

(01:12:29):
Rivers personally because he's a really great guy and he
certainly has talented quarterback. But if it doesn't work in Indianapolis,
it's gonna work against his candidates. What I would say
about that, if Rivers look like he did last year
with this team, he doesn't deserve to be in the
Hall of Fame because he's going to be protected. No,
that's what that look, you know, Gavin Steve, I think

(01:12:53):
that it's pretty easy to settle this, but when when
you have obviously the record of a team attached to
the most important position on the field, like starting pitching
in baseball. Uh you know, I mean it's it's it's
that important to be a good starting pitcher. It can
affect the outcome of games so much that that of course,

(01:13:13):
like you know, you you're going to be pegged with
wins and losses. But we all know football is a
very different sport from baseball. Football is a collection of
ten other people on the field who need to do
their jobs. Football is a collection of twenty two people
offensive defensive starters combined who need to do their jobs.
Football is a collection of arguably thirty three people who

(01:13:35):
have to do their jobs, including the special teams units
who are on the field and punt punt return, kick
and kickoff return. So if you have a bad special
teams unit, you're gonna lose a bunch of games. If
you have a bad defense, you're gonna lose a bunch
of games. And that that's before you even get to
the offense. So trust me when I tell you I
agree with you that the onus should fall at the

(01:13:55):
lap of the head coach and the quarterback in the
majority of the constances. But unfortunately for Philip Rivers offensively,
they didn't build a strong enough offensive line around him consistently,
consistently enough for him to have the sort of success
that you would hope a player of his caliber would have.
All right, or in the Guy Go Fox Sports Radio Studios. Uh,

(01:14:18):
the end of a legend. The end of a legend
at least for now, we're gonna talk about one of
the most shocking NFL stories that has come out today,
without question. Coming up next, Steve Rman, Rich Horinburger, We're

(01:14:38):
coming alive and the Guy Go Fox Sports Radio Studios.
Fifteen minutes. Gonna save you fifteen more on car insurance.
Visit guy Go dot com for free raide quote. So
you know how it works. You know, you're you're on
the internet, You're looking at all the different stories. You're
just sort of browsing, surf in the web everything else,
and then all of a sudden, I hit the brakes.
I'm like, what Duck Hodges has been released by the

(01:15:04):
Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, I'm not exactly sure how this happened,
but Devlin duck Hodges, are you kidding me? Has been
released by the Steelers. Now, if you don't remember the
story from a year ago. Undrafted guy out of Stanford
right peered in a couple of games, had to start

(01:15:25):
against the Chargers. You remember this one, of course, Gavin
big Charger fan out there, and he beats the Chargers
and then later gets an opportunity to start again. And
at one point he was three and oh as a
starting quarterback for the Steelers. Now the last and and
by the way, five games into his NFL career, his

(01:15:45):
pass rating was over a hundred. So it wasn't just
that he was winning games, he was winning style. He
goes the Arizony Goes sixteen of nineteen. Uh, I mean,
this guy suddenly is the talk of the NFL. Now
the last three games, all losses against Buffalo at the
Jets at Baltimore, are not pretty. But how do you
give up on this guy? And who who is going

(01:16:08):
to be lucky enough to sign Devil and Duck Hodges?
Now that's a name that I would I would take
a serious look at right now, look at that. I'm
trying to look up their roster right now and figure out,
like who their third string court because obviously they just
resigned somebody. Here's what happened. They added Josh Dobbs. So

(01:16:32):
I remember Dobbs was actually originally drafted by the Steelers. Yeah,
but I'm going to keep Mason Rudolph over him. And
then he went to Jacksonville's a backup. Last year, they
released him and they signed him back and waved Duck Consges.

(01:16:53):
How could they for Josh Dobbs. I'm missing something here right,
Hang on? Hang I believe Josh Dobbs is dating a bachelorette.
I'm not sure if that has factored in. Yeah, I mean,
this is this is the deal. Yeah, Dobbs is now
on the roster. Look you know I I I mean

(01:17:15):
by your criteria, and this is the truth. Steve with
his three and three records, So over the past decade,
Doc Hodges has performed better than Philip Rivers in the
Winds Lost columns. Yes, three and three. Absolutely a better
quarterback by your criteria. Josh Jobs is dating Hannah Ann,

(01:17:36):
one of the finalists of last year's I thought she
was really she was one of my favorite very um well,
you will remember when he made his big splash Gavin
against your Chargers. I remember that because we were out
to dinner on double date situation. I was like Oh,
you know, I'm glad we chose a place that has
TVs on, but I'm not gonna be watching it too much.

(01:17:57):
You're not so worried what you wanted nothing at the half,
and I was like, well, now it's really easy to
not think about Yeah, they made it simple that day. Look,
the truth is the Pittsburgh Steelers without Ben Roeth was
it's an interesting team. I wanted to get into the
steel What do you think of the Steelers? I mean
they've been out of a couple of years. Obviously, no
Levian Bell and Tonio Brown. I mean, they've had a

(01:18:19):
lot of changes. Big Ben is still around, even though
he's threatened retirement like three or four years in a row. Right,
he's still there. Mike Tomlin is still there. Can they
get back to a playoff mode? I dude, Yeah, absolutely.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of those defenses that are
waiting to have an offense to attest themselves too. I mean,

(01:18:41):
really a talented group led by uh Watt up front.
He's just an unbelievable force at pass rushing. You just
you just have no offense, and and it's because you're
starting quarterback went down with an elbow as soon as
the season begins. So it's basic Rudolph and it's Devlin
Duck Hodges Sen. Neither one of them really passed Muster

(01:19:03):
as a starter in the league last year. But Ben Roethlisberger,
what he's able to do with the football is accurate
as he's been, uh you know, and and with a
decent even just a decent run game with an with
an outstanding defense like Pittsburgh has. I I think the
Steelers are one of those dark horses, and maybe not
that dark of a horse. I mean, this is truly

(01:19:24):
a team that can can be what they've been typically
when Ben's healthy and when they have a stout defense.
They're a team built off the running game. Their team
that just needs competency at quarterback to carry them. Now.
I mentioned the other day about Mike Tomlin. You know
Bill Kawer this year was elected to the Pro Football

(01:19:44):
Hall of Fame at great fifteen year run as the
Steelers coach. Tomlin has been the coach almost as long
I think one year less and actually has a higher
career winning percentage then Cower. They both won a Super Bowl,
they both lost a Super Bowl, so they're almost identical.

(01:20:05):
So if Cowar's a Hall of Famer, is Mike Tomlin
hall of famer? Mike Tomlins a Hall of Famer. He's
never had a losing season, Yeah, he said. The worst
he's ever done is eight and eight and and it
hasn't been often. I mean, this is a winner at
head coach and and and and truthfully, he's been handed
some tough circumstances. You know. Look, I think that they

(01:20:30):
have improved their team. This rookie Chase Claypool is getting
a lot of press um. You know. Deonte Johnson at
wide receiver could have a breakout. Your James Conner, if healthy,
is one of the better running backs in the league.
Ben Roethlisberger, I mean, that's the story of the offense.
As long as he stays healthy. Big Ben is one
of the most competent pastors in the league. And tag

(01:20:51):
it with that good defense that it's gonna be a
team to beat in the n FC. Al Right, on
the other side, I want to get to something we
haven't discussed much of other than a play of the day,
and that's Major League Baseball. We're down about twenty games
to go, folks. In other words, were two thirds of
our way through this season. How's this gonna play out?

(01:21:12):
Talking about playoffs in a bubble? And can major League
Baseball with stand the start of the NFL season plus
the conclusion of the NBA playoffs? Where is that going
to put our national pastime. We'll give you a little
taste of where we are with baseball coming up next,
all right, Continuing on a very very busy Sunday, Hartmann

(01:21:37):
and Orenburger, We're coming alive from the guy called Fox
Sports Radio Studios. Fifty minutes could save you fift cent
or more on your car insurance. Busy guy, go dot
com for a free rate quote. Yes, next Sunday will
be fully immersed into what is our traditional Sunday of
NFL football. That's where we're gonna be. We're gonna be
in the middle of nine games. We're gonna have our

(01:21:58):
national correspond so we're gonna give it reports all over.
So next Sunday we'll be back in NFL mode full time,
So that's no question about that. And and and Rich
will be here. I'll be joining the staff up in
Los Angeles to pull back the curtain that sort of
exists between us and our listening audience. Who can't see us.

(01:22:19):
I've been broadcasting out of San Diego. UH. Steve has
been up in l a uh and and we're going
to join forces and and and again. You know, we're
we're trying to be as careful as possible with the
pandemic and social distancing, and I think radio in general
is acting in with this discretion as much as we can.
We're trying to be in separate studios, or we're trying

(01:22:41):
to be as far apart from each other in the
same studio as possible. So we will be broadcasting live
from Los Angeles starting next Sunday, in front of our
four gigantic monitors, wall to wall football going on uh
split screens when needed. It's gonna be wild. It's gonna
a while, and it's it's going to from that point

(01:23:03):
on be the main focus of our our Sunday show,
as it always is now normally for Major League Baseball,
they've always had this dilemma of beginning their postseason UH
in the beginning of October will well into the NFL season,
and it's a head to head battle. I will say
this from Major League Baseball postseason, though it rarely disappoints

(01:23:26):
in other words, it seems to build some momentum. And
I mean there's always occasions where it's not as good
as advertised. But last year was a pretty exciting year.
The Nationals obviously had never won a World Series. The
upset the Dodgers. Remember that incredible Game five of that
series when they Dodgers seemingly had the game of Dodgers Stadium.

(01:23:47):
They are up three to one, they bring in Clayton
Kerr Show gives a back to back home runs to
tie the game, and then you know, a Grand Slam.
And so the baseball has been good. But this year's
different for baseball because not only will they be competing
with the start of their playoffs in the first week
of October with the NFL, they're gonna be going against

(01:24:09):
the NBA Finals. So it's like, wow, all right, a
lot of obstacles from Major League Baseball, But I have
to give major League Baseball credit. You know, we had
the Marlins fiasco followed by the Cardinals fiasco, but since
then things have calmed down and they're trying to get

(01:24:32):
back on track. By the way, the Cardinals still have
six more double headers. They got to get through umun
six more double headers, but they are going to, barring
another outbreak, get to the finish line, and then once
they get to the playoffs. If you haven't heard, not
not a percent official, but the suggestion was that the

(01:24:56):
National League playoffs would be held in Arlington in Houston,
which are American League cities, and then the American League
playoffs would be held in Los Angeles and San Diego,
which are National League cities, so that no team would
have any kind of real home field advantage. Um. I'm
sure they're still trying to figure out that entire dynamic,

(01:25:17):
but I mean, you got to give him credit. I mean,
it looked bad for a while. They're really looked bad. Um,
and somehow they've righted the ship and guys are behaving
themselves and they're they're seemingly pulling this thing off. I
I think that baseball, uh looked for a long stretch there. Well,

(01:25:37):
it's nothing's really long. It's been such a truncated season,
But for a stretch are looked like baseball wasn't gonna happen.
It looked like you were gonna see outbreaks among each
of these franchises at different points. You know, I mean,
if you really, if you just sort of thought about
what they were asking the players to do, the lack
of compliance or just the unavoidable true youth that you're

(01:26:01):
going to have people in contact with people with COVID
nineteen and it's gonna spread like wildfire once one person
gets get contracts the disease. But since we saw what
we saw with the Marlins which affected the Phillies, and
of course with the Cardinals, they were able to contain
the outbreak and they were able to push forward. And

(01:26:23):
I I mean, I would more than anything praise the
players who, with some of these stark outlooks that were
being discussed on continuing this this Major League Baseball season,
really obviously have made the the adjustments necessary in order

(01:26:43):
to keep the wheels on. We'll see if the NFL
can follow suit. We'll see if we'll see if the
bubble is instituted in Major League Baseball. I think it
should be. I think you want to take on the
safest possible approach for your postseason because that that is
obviously the highest rated moment of your MLB season. But uh, well, well,

(01:27:05):
you know, again, a lot of a lot of praise
to the players for making whatever requisite changes they needed
to make to keep this from failing. Yeah, and you
know I mentioned the Cardinals. So they have twenty seven
games in the next twenty two days. Twenty seven games
in the next twenty two days, they have one day off,
they have six doubleheaders, twenty seven games in twenty two days.

(01:27:28):
By the way, that only get them to fifty eight games. Uh.
And Major League Baseball has already said if those two
missing games have a bearing on the playoffs, which to
be honest with you right now looks like it would,
they would have to make up those games the day
after the regular season they have that open date. Uh.
The expanded playoffs are gonna be very interesting, especially on
neutral sites. It's gonna be the best two out of three,

(01:27:50):
which puts teams like the Dodgers or you know right now,
Tampa's the number one team in the American League. You
know in Jeopardy, you know, you go out there, you're
a starts game one, you lose, And we saw what
happened to the Dodgers a year ago. Going up against
Strasbourg and Shures here in the first round in a
short series, three out of five, two out of three
is a very scary proposition. But on top of all that,

(01:28:12):
not only is baseball somehow surviving all this, and we've
seen productive seasons out of several players, but we've talked
about baseball desperately in search of a breakout star, somebody
that goes beyond just baseball people that, oh, yeah, we

(01:28:32):
know him, like a Mike Trump, Mike Traws a classic
example where he's a god in baseball circles for what
he's done in his career, but it doesn't have any
crossover appeal. The San Diego Padres have a young player
named Fernando Tatis Jr. You and I know him well,
see a lot of this guy, and I know you've
been asking a lot of baseball people. We've been talking

(01:28:54):
to our buddy JP Morossy John Paul to join us
a little bit later on about other or not this
kid is. Is there yet or at least on his
way to be in that desperately needed crossover star. The
baseball needs to sort of just emerged from its own
cocoon and and suddenly get back into you know, the

(01:29:16):
national conversation. So what do you think? I mean, we've
been hyping him up. D you see signs that it
could happen absolutely. Look the as of Friday night, Okay,
as of Friday night, uh, he led the n L
en runs, home runs, rb i's and war And then

(01:29:38):
on Friday night he was able to go two for five.
Uh he had a double and a seventh inning homer.
That was his fourteenth of the season. You know, And
and he just keeps piling on more and more statistical
achievements as the days roll on. This is not only
a special player and a talent. Uh. His his his abilities

(01:30:01):
don't just stop at the plate. It goes beyond. In
the field. Playing Mann in the shortstop position, he makes
leaping grabs that you know, they defy logic. You think
he's better suited to be dunking a basketball than he
is playing the shortstop position. The way he's able to
so nimbly turned double plays, the speed in which he

(01:30:24):
transitions from scooping a ball to firing it off to
first base, I mean this, this is truly a five
to tool player. But it goes beyond that because he
has this baseball psyche, this ability to to run the
base path with such aggression. It almost it's beyond. It's
beyond five tools. He's he's instituted this different level of

(01:30:48):
play that people just are surprised by. So he can
grab an extra bag, you know, he can get home
from first base routinely. He's he's just doing things we
so airly see in baseball, and he has a persona
to back it up. He's fun. He's got the blonde
dreadlocks hanging out at the back of the batting helmet.

(01:31:08):
He's got those shades on. He he has the social
media profile. He's bilingual. Uh, he's he's smiling, and he's
he's celebrating. Look. I love Mike Trout for the ball
player that he is and that he's been the we're
talking about the metronome like consistency. But when you compare

(01:31:30):
him to Fernando Tatis Jr. And you had the up
close comparison during a short series between the Padres and
the Angels, Mike Trout looks like more more like one
of the cardboard cutouts behind home plate. Uh. Then he
does a ball player because Fernando Tatis Jr. Pops off
the screen. I know that there are kids that play basketball,

(01:31:51):
kids to play football, kids to play hockey, but there's
something about baseball that maintain means the certain air of
always being a kid's game. I don't know what it is.
Maybe it's the ball field or whatever. But when I
when you get to the next level, the professional level,

(01:32:11):
there there seems to be, uh, the sports sort of
grow up. I don't look at it that way of baseball.
Baseball needs enthusiasm. I go back to the days of
Pete Rose. You know, when Pete Rose was in his heyday,
back when I was in high school and everything else,
and he ran the first on walks and there was
that enthusiasm. He played it like it was a kid's game.

(01:32:33):
That's what baseball desperately needs. There's gotta be that air
of what makes baseball, I think different than other sports.
I mean not everyone agrees with that, but that's the
way I've always looked at baseball is that it maintains
a certain level of just being a kid's game. Um,
you don't have giant men, you know, have super tall guys.
You know, baseball is one of those sports where you

(01:32:56):
can be any shape size, it doesn't matter. I mean,
either you got the skill els to play the game
at the highest level. You don't look, you know, look
no further than Aaron Judge standing next to alto that.
Yeah exactly. You know, I mean like when Judge and
Alta stand next to each other on the base path,
you just you know that this is a game. There's

(01:33:16):
room for anybody type, any style of play. But the
styles that really cut through are the ones where talent
intersects with charisma, and Fernando Tatis Jr. Has that in spades.
And I hope that Major League Baseball on the short
season he played last year, he he he ended his
season due to injury. He only played about eighty games. Uh.

(01:33:38):
And then the the again, the abbreviated season we're dealing
with in Major League Baseball this year, they latch onto it,
they lean into it. They make him the face of
this game because they need somebody who is going to
provide the level of entertainment alongside alongside the immense talent
that Fernando Tatius Junior possesses. Yeah, I mean it's I

(01:34:00):
Baseball has done a good job, and it's gonna fly
under the radar because, like I said, once we get
to the NFL season, it's gonna take a backseat. But
I applaud Major League Baseball. They hung in there under
very tough circumstances, they stayed the course and it looks like, hopefully,
keep our fingers crossed, they're gonna get to the finish
line and we're gonna get to eventually a world Series.

(01:34:21):
We're in the Geico Fox Sports Radio studios recovering everything
right now. There was one other sports story I want
to get to very briefly because we're gonna get back
to the NFL because we have a lot of NFL news,
But there was there's one brewing sports story I want
to get to and how it's wedged in with everything
else going on right now in a very busy sports schedule.

(01:34:44):
We'll have that coming up next. Steve Harry Rich Harburger,
did you know the right now guy goes offering an
extra fifteen percent credit on car, motorcycle, and RV policies.
That's fifteen percent on top of what Geico could already
save you. So what are you waiting for save an
extra fifteen percent when you which by October seventh, Visit
guyga dot com to learn more. Um, the busy, busy,

(01:35:06):
busy sports calendar is just going to go into uh
warped speed with the return of the NFL next week.
So Um, you know, a lot of different things are
going on right now, but something happened yesterday and it
wasn't like I was watching it exclusively. I sort of
watching a number of different things. But I had my
eye on the US Open tennis tournament, an actual match

(01:35:28):
I cared about, and that was Serena Williams going up
against Sloan Stevens. Um. There's a little bit of history
between the two of them. Uh, Sloan won the US
Open a couple of years ago, and Serena is simply
the greatest I think the greatest female athlete of all time.
I don't think it's really a much argument, to be
honest with you. So anyway, she's trying to win her
twenty four career Grand Slam Singles tile, which would be

(01:35:50):
tie the all time record. And I could get into
the logistics of how legit the previous record was, but
that's what's at stake for her. So she's out there,
and of course it's an empty Arthur ash Stadium, there's
nobody there, but not true. Her husband was there, Alexis
and their three year old daughter, Olympia. This girl so adorable,

(01:36:13):
I mean, I mean, she is absolutely adorable. And so
Sloan Stevens wins the first set six to you think
maybe Serena is in trouble. Remember she's only a couple
of weeks away from her thirty ninth birthday, which in
tennis terms like a d um. And she comes roaring
back and she wins the match, and you know, it's

(01:36:34):
usually you see the tennis players are trying to figure
out where their people are, right because there's somebody and
and it's like there's just like her daughter and her
husband sitting in the front row, and her daughter's like
waving at mommy and you could see her just like
her heart's coming. I felt so good about that. I
don't know, there was something about that moment, I call

(01:36:55):
it a little mushy or whatever. This little girl so
adorable and she sees mommy out there and mommy's playing well,
and you know, we're in the midst of social justice
issues and and so much of it. I was just
I don't know, I had a flashback. You know, when
we first heard about Venus Williams um and we didn't

(01:37:16):
even know about Serena at the time. You know, we've
heard about this guy, Richard Williams and Compton, and he
had this young daughter named Venus Williams, and you know,
she was considered this protegee and we were waiting to
see her in action, and then all of a sudden
she burst on the scene and they're saying, oh, by
the way, she has a younger sister, Serena, who might
be even better than her. And I think about the

(01:37:36):
Williams sisters coming out of Compton and the impact that
they had on their sport and really the sports world
as these incredibly talented female tennis players, um, and just
their place in sports history, especially in times right now
when we're made aware of a lot of social issues

(01:37:57):
and everything else. And I'm telling you what, rich Sir
Williams got a lot of heat early on about what
he was I I don't know, exploiting these girls or whatever,
but both of them have just been a tremendous credit
not only to their sport but really, uh, just the
way they've they've done their business, you know, in the

(01:38:17):
spotlight they've been under since they've been teenagers. And just
seeing Serena sort of share that moment with her little girl,
I just blew me away. Yesterday I had such a
different reaction to that. I I mean as a competitor.
I I can't imagine what it would be like if
I were in the middle of a game and I

(01:38:38):
could hear and decipher my child's voice from the crowd, like,
you know, because babies they don't know they're inappropriate, so
you know, they'll coop or talk loudly or sing at
the wrong moment. And can you imagine like preparing for,
you know, an important serve and all of a sudden,
you here, can I have cookie? You know what I mean?

(01:38:59):
Like would be clear as a bell in an empty stadium,
you know, so I I you know it just to me,
that's where my brain goes, you know, understanding how unbelievably
locked in to my job and my performance. And look,
football is a different game, like you know, you're you're
almost deaf to anything other than you know, especially at

(01:39:20):
the offensive line position, like committing as much carnage as
you possibly can on your opponent, you know, as soon
as the ball snaps, I mean, you're in a car
wreck and you're trying to physically man handle the person
in front of you. When you go head to head
with a linebacker coming off a double team block and
he's screaming downhill because the running backs right behind you.
I mean that collision is loud in your ears. You

(01:39:42):
get this ringing going, and you know, it's almost like
every time it happens, it's almost like going home, like
you know, that's the space you need to reside in.
And I can't even imagine if, through the silence of
a stadium, all of a sudden, in between players, I
heard my son scream out, go daddy, like it would
us be bonkers. And you know, some of these NBA

(01:40:03):
players are dealing with this now as family are starting
to be welcomed into the bubble, and there's a little
bit of a cheering section, you know, in these in
the empty Orlando arena. It's got to be completely bizarre.
So yeah, I do agree. I completely acknowledge, like the
the moment Serena shared with her child was gorgeous in

(01:40:25):
every single aspect of of you know, of of that experience.
But but as a competitor, as an athlete, what a
what a weird place to mentally kind of go between.
What a juxtaposition, you know, And it's been so difficult
for Serena because she's lost the US Open final consecutive years,
two upsets. I mean they were like what happened here?
I thought she was going to win? Um, but in

(01:40:47):
what's gonna be an empty Arthur Ashe stadium, you know,
and she's gotten out to the round of sixteen. If
she gets all the way to the final, uh, and
you know there's her little daughter, Olympia, and her husband's
in here in full view when there's no one else around.
Could she hold her emotions together? I mean, you know,
she was like any mom. I mean she sees baby

(01:41:08):
and I'm waiting her three year old, and they do
I have I have a two year old right now,
and one of my favorite things is whenever he hasn't
seen me for a while, and it could be you know,
going out to the grocery store, could be you know,
taking a walk in the morning, you know, and coming
back home. I you know, my wife gets him out

(01:41:29):
of the crib before he you know, he's so he
doesn't see me. And then I walked through the front door,
and it's that moment, man, Like it's it's just it's
the craziest stage. It's the best. But again, when you're
performing like this highly intense and focused skill like the
last thing I want to be thinking about. And maybe

(01:41:50):
it's because like football is such a destructive sport, like
you kind of almost have to block out that there's
anything in the world more important to you than you know,
dominating the next play, you know, the next down, because
there is so much danger. I mean, tennis, it's it's
more of a low key sport. There's not much physical contact.
So maybe it's just completely a different mentality or space

(01:42:11):
you need to get to. But it had to be
in some ways a little bit distracting. It was imagine
you're coming off the field, you know, you're blocking, and
there's there's and with your a little boy and he's
like daddy as you're but I'm trying to focus on
the game right now, folkus. But anyway, it was it
was a moment. It just sort of got me thinking
about the Williams sisters in general, and they're amazing story.

(01:42:34):
I mean, it's one of the great stories of all time.
All Right, we're in the guy go Fox Sports Radio Studios,
Gavin is a story to share with us on the
other yes, yes, on the other side. On the other side,
just called the teaser. Alright, we're trying to dangle the
carrot in front of the horse on the I mean
we we you know, we go through this show, but

(01:42:56):
everyone about Gavin are brilliant producer has a story he
wants to share, which we're gonna do on the other side,
but first let's find out what's trending. Nobe is more
anxious to find out about gavin story than this man
because he hangs on his every world. David Gascon, I
don't know about all that. Yeah, I don't think so.
I'll tell you what football season with you, and Gavin

(01:43:19):
has always entertained because he's an absolute blowhard homer for
the LH Chargers. That is not should you bet against
the Chargers last year? I'll tell you what he did
do is he bet on the Chargers and when they
went to Miami and they were double digit favorites, Like,

(01:43:41):
that's one thing you don't do West Coast team going
East coast and being favored, you don't do it. Sometimes
you forget the NFL Laying seventeen points is just it's
never gonna happen. What happens, and you're a blowhard? Do
you remember my pick of the week last year? Remember
what was I at one point I was I think
you ripped off twelve in a row or something like that.

(01:44:01):
It was insane. It was my college football pick. But
what did you lose? Like it was like Maryland or something. Yeah,
someone always bad. It was Maryland against Ohio State. I
remember that. Yeah, and but I I think I got
to thirteen or fourteen and know it was crazy. And
the best part about it is Gavin didn't start tailing

(01:44:23):
you until you were close to double digits. But then
he did. He wrote, Yeah, like if you're at a
craps table that you want to ride Steve Hartman's hot
hand for at least seven No NFL game, just college football.
There always seemed to be a game. So what are
you doing this season then? Because I don't know, We're
going to start over again. That's what we do. Yeah,

(01:44:44):
but would you are you considering dipping your toes into
college football this year? Well it's gonna be interesting because,
um well I have to see the lines. We'll start
next week. We'll see how this looks with some of
the running out of story time. Yeah, yeah, Kevin's got
a big story, big, big, big story from that Kevin Kins.
Let's say that for our number five. Um, guys. Shane

(01:45:05):
Bieber looks like he's on his way to win a
cy Young five innings this uh this day, he had
ten k's, a walk, five hits against one urn run.
Laurens e r a A one five Indians right now
all over the Brewers four to one is a score
in that one. Yankees getting beat again by Baltimore. They
had three hits in this ballgame. They trail four one.
Gary Sanchez not playing his bench today by a skipper

(01:45:27):
brave seven one over the Nationals, met seven one over
the Phillies. Marlins and Rays are locked up at three
a piece. NFL news today Jadeveon Cline the one year
deal or fifteen million dollars in the Tennessee. Titans and
Lions picked up running back Adrian Peterson a one year
deal worth one point one million. Of course, Miami and
Milwaukee Bucks trying to avoid elimination, avoid getting swept. Big

(01:45:51):
news here, Jana Sintenna, coopo spring Ankle and all will
actually play today. Excellent. Al right, well they need him.
They need a mirror call. Obviously, no team has ever
been down three on one of NBA playoff series. But
that's where the Bucks. The number one seed find themselves
all right, David, thank you very much. Once again, we're
coming you alive from the guy called Fox Sports Radio Studios.

(01:46:12):
He's in a say, fifteen per centemur and the current surance.
The guy go to guy got dot com a call
eight on or nine four seven otto. The only hard
party figuring out which way is easier? All right, Gavin,
our brilliant producer has a story to share with us.
What do we get right? Well, you guys were obviously
talked sharing that great story with Serena and kids and everything.
It got me thinking about a story of athletes and

(01:46:33):
kids from Friday. This was Russell Westbrook. Of course, we
saw the Rockets in the Lakers game on Friday and
they showed a little bit of the crowd. And who's
allowed in now are the family members. So there's a
lot of wives and toddlers. That's pretty much the only
people spectating the sport. I'll play the highlight right now,
what Russell Westbrook did it? Nine minutes left in the game.

(01:46:54):
Back to the Rockets that scored seventh straight. Here's a
quarter three for Russell Westbrook. Oh he hit it. That
was one of those no, no no, no, no, no, yes
type of shots for us. He's fired up. Okay, so
that puts him up fifteen with nine minutes. Last most
people thought it was like the dagger of the game.
It pretty much was. He turns around after hitting that
and he's yelling into the stands at all the little

(01:47:15):
kids they're watching. He's going, that's what the bleep I'm
talking about. He's using all these expletives, the complete antithesis
of what you guys were just talking about. And I
just had to share that because the video of him
going ballistic at little toddler's looking at a Nintendo switch
was hilarious. So and and what's crazy about it is
the fact that on the television broadcast, what we're hearing

(01:47:39):
is not what the players are hearing. It is quiet
inside of that building. What's happening over the television is
they're sweetening it with sounds. Obviously, you hear the sneakers
a lot louder on the broadcast than you would, you know,
if you were even fifteen or twenty feet away from
the floor. Uh, You're you're hearing basketball sounds. You're hearing,

(01:48:00):
You're hearing, like as clear as day, what the players
are saying on the court. So the fact that Russ
turned and shouted what he shouted to families like he was.
I mean, think about it. If you were in a
room with a grown man fifty feet away and he
shouted at you, that's what the f I'm talking about,
you'd be like, wow, that's quite jarring. Well, in a

(01:48:21):
crowded arena, it's not as jarring, but but in an
empty and you know NBA Orlando bubble, I mean what,
it's ridiculous. Well, it's interesting the site. So we knew
that once they got to the second round, the playoffs
are going to open up the bubble. So I saw
this in the Toronto Boston game where you got all
these that was literally it was amazing. So they all

(01:48:45):
have the social distancing and everything else. What do you
see moms and babies everywhere like either you know, wives
or girl friends of these players with these toddlers or babies,
and they're all space to bar their own and are
all exactly well there you're doing what you're doing. I mean,
when you got a toddler or you got a baby,

(01:49:06):
like I just imagine them sitting there, they're playing Super
Mario and they're this guy is just yelling at them.
It reminded me, and I did the angry man say
that mom. It reminded me. A couple of years ago,
Rich and I went to a San Diego State basketball
game and he was with his son, Ty, who was
two or three years old at the time. And you know,

(01:49:30):
I'm sitting next up, you know, Uncle Steve, sitting there
yelling my brains out right. I am, I'm cursing the officials.
I'm going absolutely nuts, just bonker, And you're just trying
to handle your son. You know, You're just trying to
corral him, you know, get him whatever you can to
occupy him. He's got this nuts sitting next to him

(01:49:50):
is screening me obscenities and everything else. Because that's why
I am. You know, I just I I'm not sitting
in a press raw. I'm just sitting there. We were
right literally in the front row ce eats. Also. Um
but I can't even is that. I mean you talked,
we talked earlier about Serena might be a little distracted
with her three year old daughter there. What about some

(01:50:11):
of these NBA players. Oh, I can't even imagine me.
They got the mommy's there and the babies are there
and there's no other crowd there. Yeah, I like I imagine,
imagine like you know, one of the kids. I mean,
it's gonna happen all the time. You have the kids there,
Dad's at the foul line. Mob. Look there's Dad. There

(01:50:32):
is there's that like you can hear I mean then
you know, of course it's gonna be like no, you
know you hear that too. Yeah, you hear it all now.
So players and and by the way, or or imagine
this like when dad's like close to you know, the
clocking into the game in the substitution area, like you know,
like da Dad, Dad, you know, like I mean, that's

(01:50:54):
gonna happen where you know, like all right, I'm coming,
I'll see you after the game. I'll see give. People
don't understand when you're watching these NBA games, you're hearing
piped in noise. Lebron exposed this place he goes. There
is no noise there. It's quiet when we were in there.
First of all, it's relatively dark arena, and then on

(01:51:16):
top of it, it is stone silent. So whatever you're
hearing on television is not actually what we're hearing. We're
just out on the court. So so like when when uh,
you know, when when Harden whoever, whoever has kids, they
have to go home and be like, listen, what what
uncle Russ said? You know we shouldn't. It will never

(01:51:37):
be repeated in our household. Like I guess he's but dad,
he said, this is what that? No no, no, no no,
don't you finish that? Well, it doesn't matter what Uncle
Russ said. We don't say that in our household. But dad,
I think it hits a time out. Like I am
telling you all right, I want to get to now.
As you know, the players and NBA officials had clearance

(01:52:01):
to bring people into the bubble, but one group that
did not have clearance or NBA coaches Michael Alone, the
coach of the Denver Nuggets, went off the other day.
The players have their families here, which which they deserve,
which is the right thing to do. The referees are
allowed to being one guest, which is great for the referees.

(01:52:23):
The coaches, the coaches are not allowed to bring anybody.
I say, shame on you, nb A. This is crazy.
I missed my family and I think I speak for me,
I speak for my coaches and probably all the coaches
down here sixty days and not having access and not
being granted the privilege to have my family come here

(01:52:43):
to me is criminal in nature and that shouldn't be,
shouldn't be at all. So I wanted to get that
off my chest. I mean, that was amazing because he
was asked about the game, right this was sort of
like a game question, and he just completely said, I
don't want any want to talk about that because now
of a players, you know, wives, kids, family were showing

(01:53:03):
up inside the bubble. And he's like, and so apparently
what happened here. The NABC, the National Association of Basketball Coaches,
which by the way, Rick Carlisle is the president of,
they're still negotiating to get people into the bubble. And
as you heard, but long say, two months, two months,
we've been separated, completely separated from our loved ones, and

(01:53:26):
I see all these babies and girlfriends and wives and
everybody else showing up. We got nothing, and the officials
get somebody. We don't lessen though, but this is that
it might be good. I mean, you're talking about distractions already.
This is the reality of of the world we're in
right now. Everybody is making uncomfortable decisions on a daily

(01:53:50):
basis that affects their their life, you know, and whether
that means taking certain risks and going to work, whether
it means taking certain risks financially and working, or curtailing
the amount of work you're doing, you know, or or
finding avenues that you're not used to. Look, it's different
for everyone, and I understand the frustration. In fact, you know,

(01:54:12):
you play it because it's so bizarre, like the requests
seas making I want to see my family and my kids,
like I mean, that's just it's absurd that that came
up at an NBA press conference, But here we are.
It's um I I will say this though, Uh, for
the amount of of damage that this could potentially due

(01:54:35):
to these athletes and these coaches, there's no question from
a mental standpoint, this strains them. I know the majority
of them believe like this, this was what needed to be.
They needed to find a way to complete this season
because you put so much work into a season. You
put so much of your heart and your energy and
your drive and so much of your life into making

(01:54:57):
every season special. And everybody's got a ants once you're
in the tournament, right, I mean in them. Yeah, usually
it's the best teams that advance. But look at the
Miami Heat. You know they're up three oh right now,
it can happen. And so in that vein, I think
the majority of the players and the coaches are very
happy to be there. But still a couple of things
clearly they need to hammer out. Can you imagine literally

(01:55:21):
right now, being separated from Anna the boys for sixty days,
no physical contact for sixty days. No, No, I mean
it would be I mean sixty days. I I guess
I I don't care how many zoom calls or whatever
you're talking about. Physically separated from them for sixty days,

(01:55:43):
I could say, and be flipping about it. Yeah, I
think I could do it, you know. And I mean,
if you had to, you could do it, you could.
But the truth is, but the truth is I haven't
been away from either of my kids for longer than
a weekend since they're born, and my eldest is five,
So yeah, I don't know how they could do it. Yeah. Uh,

(01:56:04):
And again, zoom calls are not physical. All right, I
just want to make that clear. All Right, we're in
the guy go Fox Sports Radio Studios, all right, We
have tipped off the Miami Milwaukee game. The Heat rup three.
Oh how do we get here? We're gonna tell you.
Coming up next, Steve Harbin and a rich Ornburger. We

(01:56:26):
are coming alive from the guy go Fox Sports Radio Studios.
The Miami Heat Milwaukee Bucks Game four is underway and
it's not off to a good start for the Bucks.
They need to win four straight. They're down tended to
to start this game. This has been demolition time the
Heat coming off a historic fourth quarter in Game three,

(01:56:46):
going back rich again, Bucks needed to win. They were
down to Oh, they're up eight, seven, seventy five going
in the fourth quarter. Everything seems to be an order
and they get out scored fort in that fourth quarter.
Never are in the history of the NBA playoffs ever
any game has any team been outscored by twenty seven
points in the fourth quarter. Any Let me think of that. Um.

(01:57:09):
This is a team that had the best record in
the NBA this year. They have the player that most
likely will be named as the league's most valuable player.
He has already been named the Defensive Player of the Year. Um,
and they are about to get swept, perhaps by a
Miami Heat team who by the way, yesterday talking to
Katino about Jimmy Butler, who has really found a home

(01:57:32):
in Miami, and also a coach named Eric Spoelstra. You
know this guy who won back to back championships as
an NBA head coach. He got to the NBA finals
four years in a row, and he was largely anonymous
because of the president's presidence of Lebron and d Wade
and Chris Bosh plus a guy that his boss, pat Riley,
And it's like, who's this guy, Erik Spoelstra. This guy's

(01:57:55):
a hell of a coach and he's shown it because
the Heat have held it together with the departure all
the superstars and now the rebuilding things. Um, but I mean,
are you when we look talk about the Greek freaky honest? Statistically,
there's no argument about being the most valuable player both
ends of the court. This guy's numbers literally are off
the charts, and that's what it's based on. But Rich,

(01:58:18):
we talked about regular season versus postseason. Can you really
be considered a great player if your postseason numbers don't
match what you do in the regular season, Well you can.
It's gonna take a lot longer for people to admire
you as one of the greats of the game if

(01:58:39):
you're only a great performer during the regular season. Um,
you know, you know, if he ends up having something
like a twenty year career and he is one of
the top scorers in this league, one of the best
defenders in this league throughout that twenty year career in
the regular season, but he will come the postseason and

(01:59:00):
I think everybody will will be able to categorize him
as one of the greats of the game. But it'll
just take a long time for us to mentally get there,
because part of the sports narrative is how many championships
have you won. Part of the sports conversation when we're
talking about greatness, when we're talking about the absolute elite
of any sports league, is what did you do? From

(01:59:22):
a team's perspective? And look, is this all his fault? No,
it's not all his fault, because who are the stars
around Janice? I mean, is it Brook Lopez? Is it
Eric Bledsoe? I mean, is it Chris Middleton? Is it
Wesley Matthews? Is it Pact? You know? I mean, this

(01:59:44):
this team, it's it's a it's a nice team. But
I mean, when you think about the Clippers, when you
think about the Lakers, when you think about the Buston Celtics,
when you think about some of these other teams, the
Houston Pockets, it feels like they have more than one
star and their roster. And I'm not saying it's absolutely

(02:00:07):
needed for you to advance in the postseason, but it
certainly helps. And so when you have one other player
on the court that draws attention, what happens all of
a sudden, It avails your your ultimate star, your best player,
to have more opportunity. That's the reason why the dynamic
duo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook worked. That's the
reason why the dynamic duo of of Anthony Davis and

(02:00:30):
Lebron James has worked over the course of this season.
It's because when one guy gets hot, the defense collapses
on that guy and it leaves another star open. Milwaukee
needs to build around Janice and they've needed to do
so for a long time now. Yeah. I mean, the
numbers he's putting up in the playoffs are great. Fifteen rebound,

(02:00:53):
six assists. He's doing what he's doing in the regular
season statistically, but the Bucks come up short again. And
by the way, I threw something out yesterday, you embrace
yourself for this one. Are you ready for this? So
anytime you got a guy like Janice and he's on
a Milwaukee tim remember this was sort of the true
with Lebron, right. I mean, he was frustrated in Cleveland.

(02:01:13):
They did get to the finals the one time, but
they got swept and then they got taken out by
the Celtics. Remember they lose a playoff series to Orlando,
and then he leaves. He goes to Miami. Can you
imagine Janice if he were to join Steph Curry, Clay Thompson,
Draymond Green and Golden State. Remember they had the second

(02:01:36):
overall pick in the drafty um. Can you imagine him
on that team. The problem with markets like Milwaukee is
how are you going to loure free agents to come
to Milwaukee. The only way you're gonna do that is
if you go on to run like the Warriors went on,
where you're joining a champion, where you're joining a team

(02:01:58):
that just has this in credible inertia every year they're
pumping out championships. But Janice can't do it alone and
so it's more likely that he leaves rather than he stays. Yeah.
I just throwing out there. Bucks fans are screaming, what
are you talking about? Okay, I just threw it out there.
When the guy go Fox Sports Radio Studios. NFL starts
next week. Yes, the finals Sunday before the start of

(02:02:25):
NFL Sunday. That's what we have today. And once again
we are coming alive from the guy. Go Fox Sports
Radio Studios. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent and
more on your car insurance as a guy. Go dot
com for a free raid quote. We're gonna get an
update on Major League Baseball. John Pomerossi is gonna join
us at the bottom of the hour. Also, the final
four set in the Stanley Cup playoffs, so he'll give

(02:02:49):
us a little inside on which two teams may end up.
I mean it's Vegas is still an unbelievable storry. I mean,
here they are again, right, they get to the Stanley
Cup final in their very first year of existence, which
still just is mind blowing. I don't care what sport,
an expansion team getting all the weight to the final. Uh,
And here they are two years later, and they're back

(02:03:09):
in the conference finals, so they're they're a big store.
We'll get tim with all of that. Um, But I
gotta get back to the whole notion that we are
sitting here once again, a week away from the first
full NFL Sunday. Um. I mean, imagine right now, Rich,
you know how this is. So we've been three hours
into the show. We're sort of coming down that stretch run, right.

(02:03:33):
We got those morning games and you get a couple
of games where they're coming down the final drive and
everything else. We're also getting ready for the couple of
afternoon games. There only couple of afternoon games that first weekend.
You got the sunny game too, money night games. But
I mean, I mean the build up to this NFL

(02:03:53):
season has been unlike anything we've ever seen. We had
no preseason games. The Hard Knock Show has been a
contain pastrophe. I mean, have you watched any of that
thing yet? Uh No, not a single you haven't missed.
I told you I watched one episode in its entirety,
and I really felt for the producers. I mean it
was like, we gotta come up with something here and

(02:04:14):
we got nothing. Um. So, I mean, does it make
it different right now? I mean, does it feel different
for you that we are literally four days away from
the opening game of the NFL season A little bit. Yeah,
I think that the Hall of Fame game, even though
I'm reluctant to call it an actual game because starters rarely,

(02:04:38):
if ever playing it. It's more of just a celebration
of the opening of the football season. And then typically,
you know, whatever teams are participating, you have their starting
quarterbacks do sideline interviews. There's more of this relaxed mentality
around that game. Training camp is often running and has
been for a few weeks. A lot of the young
players are getting some game time. It's it's a festivity

(02:05:02):
more than a football game, and and it it gives
you your first taste of live action football. And then
you get into the dull drums of the preseason, and
then come game three, there's a little bit of a
rise in excitement because you actually see starters take the
game into the second quarter. And then the final week
of the preseason is sort of everybody just setting their

(02:05:24):
fantasy rosters, hosting their drafts as we get ready for
the kickoff of the season, and we've had none of that.
Now the fantasy drafts are still going on, but many
people are opting out of their cash leagues because, look,
money's tight. It's a pandemic. A lot of financial hits
have been taken over the course of time. But I
do say, like every other season, there is a palpable

(02:05:48):
excitement around the kickoff, especially the matchup. You know, we're
talking about DeShawn Watson, we're talking about Patrick Mahomes, arguably
two of the best quarterbacks in the league. Now, um Mahomes,
you know, just MVP season in the making interrupted by
an injury, comes back and he ends up being the

(02:06:10):
MVP of the Super Bowl and their way to winning
the first Super Bowl for the Chiefs in fifty years.
Deshaun Watson was having an m V piece type of
season earlier in the year. If you remember then, the
Texans had some losses. They finished strong. They were I
think three and two last five games they played, including
playoff performances. The last loss was obviously to the Chiefs

(02:06:35):
where they were leading the game and the Chiefs came
all the way back to win. I think the final
was like fifty one thirty or something like that. You know,
so this is this is an exciting matchup to bring
football back, and I think there's going to be a
lot of people watching. All right, what do we take
away from no preseason football? You know, for years we've
been wondering about preseason football. High school doesn't have preseason football.

(02:07:00):
Ledge doesn't have preseason football. You know, you go back
to the original days of preseason football in the NFL
when players weren't making a lot of money. Believe me,
in the old days, old days. Um, the second the
season ended, they went back to their other jobs. They
had an offseason job, and then they would come back
for the football season. That's how it worked in the

(02:07:21):
old days. So they had six preseason games, and you
needed games just to get yourself ready for the season.
If the NFL season goes on at least on the
field without a hitch, where are we with four preseason
games or two preseason games or any preseason games. Could
we finally see the elimination of these games. Maybe you

(02:07:44):
get organized scrimmages. We've always talked about this, rich you
participated in them, where there are a lot more productive
in many respects in the preseason games, where you get
organized with another team. When coach says, all right, these
are things we want to work out. The other coach says,
all right, these are some specific things we want to
work on. Aren't they actually more productive than actual preseason games? Yeah,

(02:08:08):
I mean they you can get a lot more done,
There's no question about. You could also keep the players
who you absolutely need to keep safe safer in a
scrimmage scenario. Look, I mean, is it rare that it happens. Yeah,
it's rare. But our players horribly injured in preseason games. Yeah,
that that is true. I mean Julian Edelman is probably

(02:08:32):
a bad example, but years ago he tore his a
c L during a preseason and missed an entire year. Now,
it was a non contact a c L tear like
many a c L tears are, but he was going
full tilt. You know, if you have you have a
scrimmage situation, maybe you can substitute him more often. And

(02:08:54):
so again, maybe it's a bad example because it could
have happened on a practice field anyways, but I aggress
Odell Beckham junior years ago, when he was still with
the New York Giants, broke his leg in a preseason game.
The list goes on. You have these instances where players
because it's a game situation as opposed to a game simulation.

(02:09:17):
Are going absolutely full tilt and the result of which
could be catastrophic for certain teams and their ability to
have even a good year entering the year. So yeah,
I agree with you. I think you could get as
much done or more in a scrimmage scenario. But again,
who misses out? The owners do on gate prices and

(02:09:38):
parking prices and concessions prices, and all of that goes
into ownership's pockets that's not shared with players. So in
the the grand lexicon of conversation between owners and players
on the union side, when c bas are negotiated, they
don't want to let go of the preseason because that's
money in their pocket that they're divorcing themselves with if

(02:09:59):
they do, in fact count out to the players. You
do understand next year, folks, we're going to a seventeen
game schedule. So next year it's gonna be a seventeen
games schedule. That whole dynamic is beyond me. You know,
remember what we were suggestings because everything sixteen is so perfect, right,
I mean, you got thirty two teams, sixteen games, eight

(02:10:21):
at home, eight on the road, and all of a sudden,
you have a seventeenth game. What do you do with that?
And we were talking about, you know, the future of
games overseas is in question, right I mean, we don't
know about London traveling around the world right now. We
don't know what the world's gonna look like a year
for now. Hopefully things will calm down when we don't
know for sure. We were suggesting the idea of neutral

(02:10:42):
sites all over the country where you would have every
team would have eight home games, eight road games, and
then a neutral site game. It could be the neutral
site game of the week. You could do it for
seventeen straight weeks and every single team would participate over
that amount of time, and you could have let's just say,

(02:11:02):
Beaver Stadium. What would it be like for an NFL
game to be in your home field there at Penn State.
What would that what? How would the reception be, especially
a place that sandwich between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. What kind
of response would an NFL game get in that stadium? Well,
depending on the teams you put there, and depending on
the type of year those teams are having, it would

(02:11:25):
be varied. I would think the students would show up
in mass you know, so if you you offered them
the availability to buy discounted tickets, you know, and fill
out the student section, I think they would, um, you know,
Pittsburgh Steeler Philadelphia Eagles game there would would sell like hotcakes,
you know, because you're in in in a Penn state,

(02:11:46):
you are a stealer game or any Eagle game. Well again,
depending on the year, do the Eagles, you know, do
the Eagles have a three and ten record entering week
fourteen or Week fifteen? Do the Lers have you know,
a seven and one record, you know, entering week nine? Yeah,
like it matters a great deal. How good of a

(02:12:08):
team you're putting in there at a neutral site, whereas
in your home stadium, you know, you kind of have
your season ticket holders. Look, let's put it this way.
I think it's a unique idea. I think it's a
good idea. I think in practice it would potentially go
sideways at certain locations, at certain venues, depending on you

(02:12:29):
know the record of the two teams playing each other.
A neutral site game would always be good for the Chargers. Okay,
I'm just I'm gonna just say that the Chargers, by
the way, uh so fi stadium, the new stadium in Inglewood,
which is the home of the Rams and the Chargers.
I haven't been there yet, but I have a number
of people that they've been taking people on tours of

(02:12:51):
the new stadium. Gorgeous stadium, by the way, you know what,
you know, it's interesting the feedback I've been getting on it.
It's gorgeous. Everything's new. On the outside, it doesn't look
as big as you think it would. Remember, the price
tag is unlike anything we've ever seen. Five billion dollars
was the final price tag for this stadium. Um, it's

(02:13:13):
beautiful in the sense that there's it's all new, right
and and and basically where they really shine from what
I've been told so far, is going to be for
the height end people and other people that are gonna
pay the insane prices to be there, are really going
to get the v I P treatment. Yeah. The rest
of the stadium. Yeah, the two places the money was

(02:13:38):
really spent was because of height restrictions in that area
of Los Angeles. They had to dig in as opposed
to build right exactly, and so they created a bowl
stadium for That's the reason why outside, you know, it
doesn't give this monolith, you know, uh, you know, sort
of very big presentation. But inside, I mean, the video

(02:13:59):
boards are insane, and the completely you know, see through
roof is insane. And like you said, a lot of
the money is put in in these higher end spaces
to make them feel luxurious. Yeah, it's gonna be one
of those where the high rollers are not even gonna
watch the game. Okay there, It's just gonna be a
place to hang out when you got money to throw

(02:14:19):
away and and you're of that level rich. I don't
know if you're going to be of that level. Oh no, no,
I'll be at every game, both the Chargers and I
never did actually ever get to the game at the
soccer stadium. I pride myself that I would never ever
ever walk into that stadium. I went. It was fun.
I'll tell you you know, this is gonna sound really
because I've been to that stadium for soccer. I've been

(02:14:40):
that stadium for high school football, but never for now.
This is gonna sound really bizarre. And I know we're
up against it and we're gonna be welcoming on JP
MOROSSI here at the bottom of the hour. But I
have to say, as the NFL continues and the at
home experience improves drastically. As we all know, that's the
direction we're all heading in. Everybody's got these fifty plus

(02:15:03):
flat screens mounted on their wall and the sound system
like you could really build out for a reasonable amount
of money, a pretty enjoyable set up to watch your
games on Sundays or Thursdays or Mondays. But I I
think the future of the NFL is going to be
smaller stadiums. They'll be luxurious, they'll have all the trappings
to to get a lot of money from the higher

(02:15:25):
end clients. But that experience watching professional football in the
soccer stadium, while it seems so so beneath the NFL,
maybe it really it worked because you're closer to the
action than you could ever imagine being. Now again, you
know that nobody liked that that the Chargers were in
Los Angeles, but you know, from the standpoint of watching

(02:15:47):
any team play there, it's it's an enjoyable experience. Well,
we're gonna find out not this season, that's that definitely
know the same thing with Vegas with their new stadium
that's gonna be empty throughout this season, but in the
future We'll see how these new stadiums play out. All right,
when the guy go Fox Sports Radio Studios history, I'm

(02:16:08):
a history guy. Rich is not. Well, it's not that
he's not, it's just that he's not like I am.
I don't live in history. I know that you live
in the moment. I live in moments. Well, I'm a vampire.
I've been around for a long time, so anyway, Um,
but there was a historic moment. We're celebrating anniversary. I
would anxious to get your perspective on coming up next.

(02:16:31):
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Better get Mako. Steve Harban and Rich Armburger. We're coming
alive from the Geico Fox Sports Radio Studios. By the way,

(02:16:55):
I was just talking about the heat wave that we're
having here, and I'm going to get an update on
the Woodland Hills weather here right now. One sixteen UH
is the posted weather right now. Um. I was reminded
of this yesterday rich high of a hundred seventeen degrees.
This is where I grew up, and it broke the

(02:17:16):
record for the date of one fifteen back in nineteen
seventy two. I was fourteen years old back then, and
it was a reminder we didn't have air conditioning. Oh wow.
So I'm thinking back, like, my dad was not a
believer in air conditioning. He's like tough at out and
I'm thinking it was a hundred fifteen degrees. I was
fourteen years old and we had no air conditioning. I

(02:17:38):
just it was just a thought that went through my head.
I can survive anything, right, Hey, I speaking of survival.
Today is the twenty five anniversary of one of the
most famous moments in baseball history. It was the day
twenty five years ago today the Cal Ripken broke Luke
Garrig's record with his two thousand, one thirty first consecutive game.

(02:18:02):
Ripkin would go on to play two thousand, six hundred
and thirty two consecutive games. That's sixteen years, sixteen years
without missing a single games. As a former athlete, and
I know you were a football player. When we talk
about durability, records. Where does that rate from an athlete standpoint?

(02:18:26):
I mean when you when you judge a player, where
does the durability factor factor in for someone that actually
plays the game? UM immensely high on the list. I
know a lot of people don't think that. You know,
sport is a particularly difficult way to earn a living

(02:18:47):
because you know, in the NFL you played sixteen games
a year. You know in the n b A, look,
you're playing a kid's game for money. You know they're there.
There are people who will say I'll trade positions with
you in a second, and maybe there's a lot of
people who would make good on that promise. But look,
what you're not seeing our off seasons filled with orthopedic surgeries.

(02:19:12):
What you're not seeing is the amount of time and
energy and the absolute limits that you have to push
your body to to stay in the sort of peak
physical condition to take on another year and another year
and another year of playing on the gridiron or on
the hardwood or on the diamond. It's difficult. It's taxing.

(02:19:34):
I'm not saying it's the most taxing profession I can get.
I can guarantee you if you gave our listeners the phones,
they could call in with a million, you know, ideas
of a more difficult way to earn a living. But
it doesn't mean that this isn't difficult to you know.
And so from the standpoint of playing sport, when you

(02:19:56):
have a guy who exceeds what seems human possible from
a durable ability aspect, like a Frank Gore where his
son is now a college football player and he's still
playing in the NFL, like a Tom Brady who may
be there one day you know who, you know, who knows?

(02:20:16):
I mean, as kids are getting older and older, you
you have this, you have this ridiculous statistic of you know,
championships and and you know yards throne for and touchdowns
thrown for and all these things. We're talking about Tom
Brady specifically, but one of the most striking statistics is
how long he's done it for. By the way, um,

(02:20:39):
the fact that I do radio seven days a week,
does that counter in Is that a durability rate? Oh? Yes,
without questions. By the way, we've had a the buck
situation just got a whole lot worse. Let's hear this.
Let's working right, bounced to gianness in the lane, but

(02:21:00):
up no good and all at right, ankle is done again,
I think, and this time you could hear him. Oh
my gosh, he's playing so well keeping the Bucks in
this game. At nine, he came down and landed on
Iguodala's side of his foot, and that one hurt. You
could hear it, alright. So get this. Jannis had scored

(02:21:22):
nineteen of their twenty nine points. In other words, he
was like single handedly trying to will his team to
victory in this game against the Heat. He rolled the
right ankle. In game three, he rolled the exact same
ankle again. He was taken to the locker room. It
would appear that if the Bucks are gonna stay alive

(02:21:44):
in this game against the Heat, they're gonna have to
do it without Janice. Like you said, Uh, he was
doing it all. He was willing this team to a
potential victory. That just happened. The score sits at thirty eight,
thirty four. Uh, the Heat just hit a basket. It
in the paint, you know. So, look, I mean, is
it possible that is it possible? Yes, it's possible. Is

(02:22:07):
it improbable that the Bucks win this game without Joannice? Um,
here's the deal. If they do find a way. Could
that be the turning point in the series. Could that
make things more interesting if the Bucks find a way
to do without Joannice. Well, let me ask you this
about rolling an ankle. We've all been there, right, We've
rolled ankles. I mean he rolled that ankle in game three.
The fact that he came back out on the court

(02:22:29):
for Game four and then was playing at the level
he's playing, but to roll the exact same ankle twight
and he rolled it again. Yeah, this is what happens.
And and Steph Curry is actually a good example of this.
You know, Steph is a problem perimeter shooter, no doubt,
but the ankle problems are there as well. And people

(02:22:50):
will say, well, yeah, but Steph Curry, I mean his
game is about the no, no, no, his game is
about making space to be able to shoot those shots.
So the the you know, the transcendent ball handler that
he is, alongside of this unbelievable three point shooter he is.
I mean, how many times have you seen him, you know,
guard it up? I mean, he you know, you have to,

(02:23:13):
you have to start playing defense as soon as he
crosses over half court because he's he's liable to shoot
from half court, you know, so he'll have he'll be
facing pretty tough man to man defense, and then off
the dribble he'll be able to create space and knockdown
to three. Janice's game is different, obviously, but it's all
about driving, it's all about bullyball. It's I mean, he

(02:23:35):
can shoot, there's no question about it. But but this
is a guy who's a long strider who just depends
on his weight bearing joints to help him explode to
the lane. You know. So yeah, I think this would
have a tremendous impact. And when you sprain an ankle
several several times, what happens is, you know, it's all
swollen and sore and it gets stiff. But when you

(02:23:56):
warm it up and you start playing on it. I've
done this, you know, I can't countless times during my
my playing career in college and professionally, what happens is
you warm it up and all of a sudden feels
loose like because all of those ligaments just got stretched out,
and so you're more liable to strain it or sprain

(02:24:16):
it or roll it again after you've done it the
first time. All Right, we're in the guy go Fox
Sports Radio Studios. We're gonna check in with John Paul
Morossi on the other side, but first we find out
what is trending yet again with David Gasca. I don't
normally go this route, but the U s open for

(02:24:38):
Novak Djokovic came to an abrupt end. What happened just
a couple of moments ago. Check this out. Corinio boost
got it past Djokovic at coffee right sideline? Is she
challenging what happened? There's a line Umpire's saying something about
her neck. Who's in some distress and is down. She

(02:24:58):
did she get hit by something? But orally towards and Djokovic.
You're both holding that line Umpire. Now she's taking her
mask off. I think she's having problems breathing. Novak Djokovic
defaulted out of the US Open in shocking circumstances. My goodness,
so his first loss in twenty doesn't come where he's

(02:25:21):
beaten on the court, but he beat himself. Novak Djokovic,
in frustration, smacked the ball. It hit a line Umpire
in the throat, and after a long conversation default. Mr
Djokovic loves shocking words, we're going here this US Open,
Pablo Corno boost is the beneficiary. This is stunning. Has

(02:25:44):
ever seen anything like that? Is unreal? And remember no fetter,
no Nadal Djokovic out now. But under those circumstances, I've
never seen that. And the officials got together after, so
it wasn't like a an abrupt de fault, but they
got together, they talked to him, and then they booted him.

(02:26:05):
I think it's only saving grace. I mean, I know
that this has gone viral already, but there's no fans
in attendance, right, but can you imagine if there were
at that place was just filled the capacity getting as
right out of there? Absolutely brutal, dude, what is going on? Yeah?
So the line judge was obviously not really paying attention

(02:26:27):
too much and he had his head down and fired
at right at her and drill there. So he's gone
and done for the tournament, and the US Open is
over and done with for him. NFL News today, Tennessee
Tians Jadeveon Clowney sends a one year deal with fifteen
million dollars with the club Lions picked up running back
Adrian Peterson. He gets a one year deal and HL News.
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach John Cooper said Stephen stamp

(02:26:48):
Cost won't play the Eastern Conference Finals against the New
York Islanders. Pian maguire and Sean Burke had been interviewing
for the Arizona Counties General Magic position, according to multiple
league sources, and guys as he have EPO line, you
can you could ask you about that one guy Thatcher
Demko from San Diego because he was lights out but
his Vancouver Canucks not advancing you. They are gone, all right,

(02:27:12):
thank you very much. Shocking at the US Open. The
joker is out, all right, We're coming alive. From the
Guy Go Fox Sports Radio studio is easy to say
fifty per cent a Martoncurrencrent's a guy go to guy
Go dot com or call eight or nine four seven otto.
The only hard part figuring out which way is easier.
Joining us right now once again our Fox Sports MLB insider.

(02:27:32):
He's also a man that knows the NHL backwards and forwards.
He is the one great John Paul Morossi and JP.
I'm gonna start with hockey right now. We're down to
the final four. We got the Islanders, we got Tampa,
we got Dallas, we got Vegas. How is this gonna
play out? Well? Good afternoon, Steve and Rich and David

(02:27:52):
as well. Thanks for the toss there on the Thatcher
Demko reference. Of course, he was very good for the
Canucks that they are out, as he mentioned, my pick
to win it all. Now, how about the New York Islands.
We're all back to the early eighties here, Islanders finding
a way to win the cup. Thomas Gryce has been
tremendous in goal, very diverse goal scorer. I think we've

(02:28:17):
seen from them here recently. Beauvillier has been very good,
Nelson has been excellent. Bailey big game last night too.
So I think in the midst of this very unique
hockey season, we're going back to our roots. If you're
a hockey fan, in the seventies and early eighties, the
Islanders were always so dominant, and I believe they'll find
a way to get it done this time. The Golden Knights,

(02:28:37):
so I think they'll win the West. Mark Stone has
been very good here and then of course they've got
two different goaltenders, which has been so important in this
unique playoff year because of all the back to back
games so they've got Leonard and Flurry really important. So
I say, Islanders the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.
I I grew up walking distance from Nasau calls Him

(02:29:00):
where the Islanders played. My grandfather, who I lived with,
had season tickets and so when my cousins weren't bow
guarding all of them, I remember taking the walk with him.
It was about two miles from our house, and you know,
so we beat all the parking and those were some
of my fondest memories growing up. They weren't a very
good team. They weren't a very good team during my
my years growing up, but it was on the heels

(02:29:21):
of them having a tremendous amount of success. But yeah,
I'd be interested to see that they'll start Golden Nights
taking on my team, the Islanders. That'd be fun. Hey, JP,
steering you toward baseball, which is obviously the flavor of
the day in San Diego, and you know that from
your time spent on our show on Extra thirteen sixty
in San Diego. Are Fox Sports affiliate but concentrating on

(02:29:44):
more global issues. Is this bubble scenario going to happen?
Is it? Do you think that is really the only
path forward for the playoffs this this postseason, well something
MLB and the Union are looking at. I would say
that for a variety of reasons, it seems very plausible
that they'll go that route. The question just then comes,

(02:30:06):
if they do that, you do it before the first round,
that best of three series to begin the playoffs or
after it, so before then the Division Series, LCS World Series.
That's probably the key question we've seen the commissioners speak
publicly about this. He told the l A Times that
there are a number of different iterations under discussion. Obviously,

(02:30:27):
one that's been reported would involve Texas with Houston and Arlington,
and the other one would involve southern California with potentially
some combination of Dodgers, Angels, Padres. Interestingly, the commissioner talked
about how, whatever this situation looks like, how he would
be concerned, Yes, would be concerned about a scenario in

(02:30:51):
which one team got to play the entire World Series
at its home ballpark, so that you would, uh, maybe
if you're gonna do let's just say that the World
Series in California, that you would actually want the Dodgers
to have to travel away from Dodger Stadium for three
games at least, so you'd say one into a Dodger
Stadium and then they play whoever the a l entrance

(02:31:12):
is at Angel Stadium or at Petco Park, just to
get them away from their home to the advantage even
without fans. So very interesting set of circumstances. Um. I
still think there's a lot of details to be worked out,
but it does seem to me you consider where things
have been for the NBA and the NHL, and what
you need to know that you can do in the

(02:31:32):
playoffs is play the games on time on the days
on which you expected to play them. And we've seen
baseball have a lot of success, but there's been a
positive test of taking a week off for a particular team,
most recently the A's. That's how baseball has handled it,
and handled it, by the way, very very well. But
you don't really have that luxury of stopping the playoffs

(02:31:53):
for a week unless it's a very dire circumstance. So
to avoid that you probably go with the plan of
therefore going to bubbles. It's just a quite exactly when
and where, you know, last week at this time, we
were counting down to the trade deadline talking about the
San Diego Padres. They ended up making six trades they
brought in. They overturned a third of their roster in

(02:32:15):
a single weekend. We were started back and forth where
we're gonna see a lot of activity? Was this just
one general manager, a J prelor going nuts? Were you
surprised that they were able to pull off as many
deals as they did? Well, when a J gets going,
as we talked about before, and my colleague Joe Sherman

(02:32:36):
pointed this out at the L. M. Wilby Network, that
when he gets going, it's hard for J to stop.
And this this was certainly the case this past week,
from Rosenthal and Moreland all the way through the Clevinger blockbuster. Uh.
He clearly has a team that he believes can win
the World Series, and when he has that, he makes deals. Uh.
And we've even seen it last week or so, there

(02:32:57):
was still some concerns. Chris paddocks last start was especially good,
So it makes a lot of sense to add as
much pitching as you can, uh, Tatis, Machado, Hosmer, that's
still the core of the team. Corona worth of course
as well. But I think it was important to really
show up the catching department two with Jason Castro and Nola.
I think that was a two really important moves, just

(02:33:18):
to add them better and experience there. But certainly, when
you think about catching, it really does take some time.
That's such an integral part of your club to handle
the pitching staff, and it's gonna take some time for
the catchers to get really familiar with the pictures. So
I think a J. Pruller, as you point out, was
the most aggressive GM in the game, but other other
teams were active too, and certainly for me covering it,

(02:33:40):
it felt like a normal deadline. Some of the big
potential deals didn't happen um the likes of Lancelin and
Dylan Bundy, But I think overall we saw some pretty
significant traits happening in baseball on August thirty one, JP,
I keep looking at the the rankings and the n
L and a L, and the one thing that that
sticks out to me is how many of these teams
are going a postseason. You know, when you have a

(02:34:02):
situation where you have fifteen teams and eight of them
are are stamping their ticket, you have a lot of
teams still in play, and this season is almost over.
So with that, what what are some of the I
guess lesser known, lesser quantity teams that are really potentially
going to inherit a postseason birth and and can make

(02:34:24):
some noise in the postseason as a result of this
trunk hided season. Well, that's a great question, rich and
I think that there's there's really that that issue of
who has the pitching to be able to pull off
an upset in the first round. The Cincinnati Reds, who
have been a very underwhelming team this year, they've got
it and I'll be watching them closely to see if

(02:34:44):
they can find a way to get in to the
National League playoffs, because the NL side in particular creates
a circumstance where we could see a team under five
hundred make the playoffs, maybe even two. Now the Filings
have played better of late, and they may actually be
a day throw his team too. They entered the season
with a lot of expectations. Uh last season two with

(02:35:05):
Harper arriving, Harper has in a somewhat surprising way. It's funny.
We just we've had a lot of other topics to
discuss in baseball In the last couple of weeks. But
Bryce Harper has had a tremendous year, and we seem
sometimes to talk more about the superstars when they don't
have great years than when they do, and he's been
very good. Their pitching has gotten better, Joe Girardi is

(02:35:26):
an excellent manager, and for all those reasons, I think
Philadelphia they get go. And you gotta face Aaron Nola
in the first round. That's a tough assignment. And by
the way, right now, I know when I last checked couples,
I think twenty four hours ago about what matchups were,
you would have had a Phillies Padres first round, which
means Austin Nola against Aaron Nola in round one. Brothers,

(02:35:47):
how about that? Uh So Aaron Nola has never faced
his brother in a major league game. Pre interesting story there.
So I think I put Philadelphia there. The Reds. I'm
not sure that Blue Jays are really a st on
candidate to move throughout the American League playoffs, but they
did get Taiwan Walker to go along with hunjan Reyu,
and if they get Boba Chett back towards the end

(02:36:08):
of the year, they may be a dangerous club as
well as right now of course, They've entered today tied
with the New York Yankees for second place. Looks like
the Rays right now have a clear path to win
the Al East this season. J P. John Palmerossi is
John s R. Fox Sports MLB Insider. Yesterday, Mike Trout
hit his three hundred career home run. He leads the

(02:36:28):
majors with fifteen home runs, leads the American League in
slugging percentage o PS, putting up the big numbers as
usual despite the fact that the Angels are once again
a really bad baseball team. Are you one of those
guys he has ten years remaining on his contract, ten
years he's signed through the season. Are you one of

(02:36:49):
those guys that say, I can't wait to see when
it's all said and done, what kind of numbers Mike
Trout ultimately will have? Does that sort of when you
think of his projection and we're ten years from now,
what those numbers are gonna look like? Are you of that,
ilk when you have a once in a generation player

(02:37:11):
like Mike Trout, Oh, without question, Mike Trout, look at
the numbers and what he's on pace to do. You're
talking about one of the great great of the great
top three, top five players in the history of the game.
And we certainly, I think in baseball, probably even more
than other sports have have that bias to say, well,

(02:37:31):
Ruth was the greatest, and William Mays and and and
Hank Aaron and the heroes of the day has gone by,
which is natural and sports And obviously it's a microcosm
certainly of the Jordan Lebron debate, I suppose. But Mike Trout,
if you look at the numbers and you compare them
to the people that are in his own era, and
how much better he is and almost everybody else by that,

(02:37:51):
by that, by that wide margin, and compare that same
thing to others historically, he is going to be of
the hall of the Hall, I mean, of the elite
of the Hall of Fame. He's in that class. He's
in that class without question right now. And and you're right,
the Angels are not going to be in the playoffs.
They've only been in the playoffs one time in his career.

(02:38:13):
That is not his fault, and nor is it his
fault that we talked about. Well, he hasn't crossed over
and become an American sports icon in the way that
Lebron is okay. It's it's a different sport, different time,
different marketing, a lot of different factors there. But he
has done everything he's supposed to do. And I think
it's important for those of us who cover the game,

(02:38:34):
myself included, to not get too hung up on well,
you know, there's only one Mickey Mannil only one Maze
or Aron, There's only one Mike Trout. This guy is
is in that conversation of the very best players we
have ever seen. And I think if we get too
hung up on the fact that he hasn't been in
the playoffs but once, I think we're missing the larger

(02:38:55):
picture of a truly great American athlete. He makes history
every day, every year. There's no question about it. JP.
I could say the same about you. Thank you as
always tremendous stuff. Hold on, hold on, let's tie him
down for another interview. I won't do that, I promise it.

(02:39:16):
I won't pull again. Kind you are, you are too kind.
And and in these times here a beautiful fall weekend
here in Michigan, I'm I'm missing my college football. I
am I am soothing my my the pain I have
over that by knowing that I'll be sitting at the
fifth yarn. There it is. There's the playoff, all right,

(02:39:36):
j P, thanks so much as always love it. Guys,
have a great week. Thank John Paul Morose. If you
missed the last week, I nailed him down on national
radio to do an interview for our weekly show, which
of course he showed up. I gave him no choice.
Even you were shocked by my offer. He couldn't refuse alright.
Coming up on the other side, we mentioned that we

(02:39:59):
are four days away from the start of the NFL season.
A week from today, we're gonna be knee deep in
NFL football. What is it going to be like? We're
gonna tell you. Coming up next, Steve Harbor, Rich Harber
here in the guy called Fox Sports Radio Studios. I
want to thank the guys. I was Sam today. He's

(02:40:20):
all psyched up to give us our cyclone report. Yeah
next week. Not not excited about getting out in this
weather right now. Yeah, it's gonna it's it's one sixteen
right now with the heat is a little bit oppressive
as it was it oven heat gave David gascon of course,
and uh and Gavin, everyone's excited next week because uh,

(02:40:44):
Not only are we gonna have a full NFL Sunday, um,
but we're gonna have your ribs and Denise's lemon cookies. Yes, okay,
this is exciting stuff. Hold on, we do we have
a Honice on the gumbo update right now. Let's let's
go to get David Gascon right now? What do we wait? Look,

(02:41:05):
we obviously saw him rolled the same ankle that he
rolled in Game three. What's the update? Yes, the diagnosis
is a sprained ankle. He is not returning for Game four?
He has done? Yeah right now? Was that his last
game as the Milwaukee Buck? In here with that take?

(02:41:26):
What about my Russell Westbrook greatest athlete of all time? Yeah? Okay, okay,
By the way, the Bucks are leading that bedroom. It's
cool with the hot takes. It's a here. Milwaukee outscored
Miami seventeen in that second quarter, so the Bucks up
too at the half. Alright, So we're gonna have the ribs,
we're gonna have the lemon cookies, and we're gonna have

(02:41:48):
a lot of football. Um. And it's gonna be interesting too,
because some games are gonna have fans and some games
are gonna be in empty stadiums. I mean a little
bit of a hodgepodge, you know. I mean I just
hit myself with my microphone getting excited about it. But
your first time, it is first time I've ever been

(02:42:09):
around a microphone. Steve's headed to the room. I am.
I'm excited about it. So, uh, when's your vision? Are
you gonna be having sleepless nights and anticipation of No,
we're gonna experience here. What's the deal? No? I you
know what. I I'm a planner to a certain extent,
So I think I'm going to Obviously, for the next
few days, I'm locking myself into the fantasy draft portals,

(02:42:34):
and then of course I'll spend you that this week.
Oh yeah, we do. Oh yeah, And then I'll spend
the night before the game just dreaming Mahomes and Watson
Wowesday night football. It's gonna be a hellaire So until
we meet again next Sunday, I just brace yourself, fans,

(02:42:57):
it's gonna be so good at the NFL back Yeah.
Mayby

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