04/04/2021 - FOX Sports Sunday with Aaron Torres and Bernie Fratto - Fox Sports Radio

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports. That is right, everybody. Fox
Sports Radio Sunday. You heard the man Jonas Knox, Brady
Quinn taking some time off. Hope they're enjoying in Easter Sunday.
I am Aaron Torres, joined by Bernie Fratto. You can
hear him eleven PM Pacific, straight out of Vegas. But

(00:23):
we're not here to talk about Vegas. Well, not much Vegas.
We'll get to Vegas later in the show, but we
got some college hoops to talk MLB. John Paul Morossio
joined us later. Bernie Fratto, My man, how you doing?
What up? Player? How are you living? Not much in
the news? No, I mean listen, you know you myself,
Producer Lee, we were on the phone there, and I
mean we we had to cut out stuff that if

(00:46):
this was, you know, July, we would do a whole
show on some of the stuff that we had to
cut out today. But you know, I want to get
into There is so much to discuss, as I said,
as the saga just pointed out, so much baseball going on.
We have news off the field in the end of
fell but the story right now is college hoops. Of course,
Tomorrow night Monday night, Baylor will play Gonzaga for a

(01:07):
national championship. But that is on the heels of one
of the greatest games in the history of college basketball.
Here is how things ended, courtesy of Westwood One. We're
going to the right side at choose hang seven seconds
to go, six seconds choose hanging the paint, fade away.
No got his own rebound, slithers to the ram and
lays it in. Three seconds ago we're tied at ninety.

(01:29):
Here comes Sugs long three for the way, banks at home,
Bangs at home. Jalen songs deep banked three. Just then
Gonzaga one step closer to history, unbeaten. So Bertie Vrado,
we saw an iconic game last night. Gonzaga holds on

(01:53):
to beat U c l A ninety three ninety in overtime.
I was lucky enough to be on air with Arnie
Spanierd when the game one final. You came on right after.
But when you hear we can talk about the history
anything you want momentarily, but just you hear that call,
you watch that game. I'm sure you were at home
prepping for your show. Your initial thoughts when you hear

(02:13):
that call again, less than twenty four hours later. My
initial thought is I always believe that this COVID tournament
would produce what I call a team of destiny America
on ice team. Okay, it's not gonna always go perfect
for you. Everybody forgets that the Miracle and Ice team
in with Mike Russiani. They beat the Russians, but they
trailed one to nothing, they trailed two to one, they

(02:35):
trailed three to two, they were outshott to fifteen. But
in the end they won. And it showed us again
last night that sports are the greatest reality show. You
can script everything but the ending. And I've been listening to,
you know, to a lot of shows throughout the day.
People reflect and ruminate on the greatest games ever, and
I think we should get into that and were this rates?

(02:55):
But just for last night, it's a standalone game. It
doesn't get any better. When one team shoots and scores
ninety points and loses, you know you've seen a do well.
And that was my immediate reaction as well. And again,
Arnie Spanier and I were on air during that game,
and it's easy to fall into that trap of how
does it rank, you know, Duke versus Kentucky ninety two

(03:18):
or Villanova at the buzzer against North Carolina game that
I was fortunate enough to be courtside at. I was
about ten ft from Chris Jenkins when he hit that shot.
But you know, we can there's another time for that.
And and my biggest takeaway, Bernie, is exactly what you
just said is that there are games that they have
a good ending. A buzzer beater, uh made field goal,

(03:40):
a missfield goal at the end of a football game,
a walk off home run doesn't make it a great game.
This was a great game, as you alluded to, fifty
eight percent from the field just below it for U
c l A. Fifty percent from Gonzaga. I love this
stat personally, Bernie. U c l A did not have
a single player on a it's roster that played in

(04:01):
yesterday's game shoot below fifty percent from the field in
the game, and they lost, and they lost. And to me,
what that speaks to is that this was an incredible
game start to finish. You know, great shot making, great defense,
even though the stats would tell you otherwise. I just
thought it was across the board, not only one of

(04:22):
the best college basketball games I've ever seen. It was
one of the best sporting events that I've seen in
a very long time. Well, there's no doubt. Not only
was it a great game artistically because both teams played
extremely well, but you cannot not reflect on this game
without keeping it some historical perspective and texture, because it
was not only a great game, it had a shock value,

(04:42):
fantastic finish and if you're into those fantastic finish games
and shocking endings like we saw last night, Aaron, you
remember the images that Jimmy Valvano running around the floor
looking for somebody to hug as is North Carolina State underdog,
shock Houston and five Slam of jama Well that was
thirty eight years ago today. Wow, So there's perspective there,

(05:04):
and not for nothing. The last team to hit a
buzzer beater to put themselves into the championship game like
Gonsaga did last night, you've got to go all the
way back to nineteen seventy seven and the Marquette. Then
they were the Warriors, coached by the late great Al McGuire,
who went on to beat North Carolina. They shocked the world.

(05:26):
Al McGuire had just announced his retirement three weeks before that.
So I think you can argue that last night was
one for the ages, because if we're talking about those
games still all these years later, there's reason to believe
we'll be talking about this game years from now. Here's
a couple of other stats that are worth noting. One,
it is only the second Final Four game ever in

(05:49):
which both teams hit the ninety point mark, the only
previous one seven Indiana seven, u N lv N three. UM.
It was also the first over time game in a very,
very very long time. The other stat that Arnie Spannier
and I talked about on Saturday night, no team had
a lead greater than seven at any point in the game. UM. Gonzaga,

(06:12):
excuse me, had the lead of five with a minute
seventeen to go. U c l A cuts it all
the way back. So let me just ask you this burn.
You know, you mentioned the context of Jim Valvano, you mentioned,
you know I mentioned a minute ago, Christian Lightner and
Duke and all that. What what are what are some
of the greatest games? I'm not saying you you have
to define this as the best or second best or

(06:34):
third best, but what are some of the great games
that you have seen and how does this one compare
to that? Well, that's a great question, and here's how
I answer that, because it's highly subjective. And I'll tell
you why. Because picking out your best or favorite of
anything in the world of sports is like your favorite
noodle and the playistpaghetti. It's gonna be subjective. Because ask

(06:54):
Arnie Spanner seven when his Arizona Wildcats beat Kentucky eight
four seventy nine, That game win over time, That game
went overtime in the final game. How about two thousand
eight when Kansas beat Memphis seventy five to sixty eight overtime.
They were joking Calipari's Memphis team couldn't make free throws. Well,

(07:16):
they couldn't, and the game went overtime. Asked Kansas fans
if that was a great comeback. How about Michigan Seaton Hall.
Steve Fisher takes over for a fired Bill Freeder because
both sheen Beckler says he wants a Michigan man. That
game goes over time. Seaton Hall, coached by p J. Carlsimo,
almost beach Michigan. Glenn Rice sinks to clutch free throws.

(07:38):
Michigan wins eighty to seventy nine in overtime. The all
timer for me two Michael Jordan's North Carolina tar Heels.
They beat Georgetown sixty two to sixty one when poor
Freddy Brown through the ball to the wrong guy as
time ran out. And here's a significance in that game, Aaron,
this is what I mean by teams of destiny. Gonzaga's

(07:58):
legacies at hanging in the balance tomorrow night. Now, I
think they're gonna win, but if they don't, no one
will look at them the same in history. That Georgetown
team that lost to North Carolina and Michael Jordan and
eighty two should be recognized is one of the greatest
teams in history. But it's not, and I'll tell you why.
First of all, they did something over a four year period.

(08:21):
They went to the finals three out of four years
and came within three total points of winning three championships
in four years. They lose to North Carolina by one
in eighty two. They beat five Slamma Jamma in eighty four,
and somehow they lose to number seven seed Villanova Rowley Massimino.
They shot like Villanova, shot like seventy last night that night,

(08:43):
and they beat uh they beat Georgetown by two. No
one talks about that great Georgetown team because they didn't win.
They won one. They could have won three and four years.
What will be interesting, Aaron, is how this game is
judged in history and heart by what happens tomorrow night
as well. First of all, before we go further, we

(09:04):
should update the women's final four, where Stanford is your
twenty twenty one national champion. They beat Pack twelve rival
Arizona fifty four fifty three. Stanford is your women's national champion.
Of course, a men's national champion will be crowned on
Monday night, Gonzaga versus Baylor. We'll get back to Gonzaga momentarily,
Baylor momentarily. How about the run that U c l

(09:27):
A was on? Okay, I do I know it's easy
on a night like last night where we have an
all time great game. Bernie has just done an incredible
job of contextualizing. Um, you know, some of the great
games that have been played this U c l A team. Now,
I don't think they're I don't think I know. They're
not a traditional Cinderella. They were the preseason Pact twelve favorites.
They finished, they started the year twelve and two, had

(09:47):
a few injuries, had a few uh you know, as
a suspension, But this was a team three overtime games
played about as perfect of a game, you know, Ernie, Bernie,
excuse me, sorry, I'm I'm having flashbacks. I saw Ernie
Spaniard tweeting about his Arizona Wildcats there. But Bernie, you know,
it's really funny when we talk about, uh, some of

(10:09):
the greatest games that have ever been played by an
individual team. When I was watching U c l A
last night, it reminded me of Villanova eighty five. They
couldn't miss and Georgetown couldn't do anything, and Villanova slowed
down the tempo, you know, screeching to a halt. I
was getting vibes of that from U c l A
on Saturday night. They didn't end up winning, but I

(10:31):
don't think that we should undersell how incredible this run is.
First team since nineteen seventy five to play three three
overtime games in the n c A Tournament. They beat
Michigan State just to get into the field of sixty four,
then of course beat Alabama and overtime in the Sweet sixteen,
and they are one Jalen Sugs miracle away from potentially

(10:51):
playing for a national championship on Monday night. Well, obviously
it looks like U c l A basketball is in
very good stand under You saw what he did at Cincinnati.
He brought that same toughness and grit that guys like
Kenyan Martin had at Cincinnati. But U c l A,
with their resources in their cash A will recruit California
quite well, one of the basketball high school hotbeds in

(11:14):
the country. And I think U c l A future,
the future of U c l A basketball is very bright.
In fact, none of the players last night that started
are graduating. Now you don't know if you know if
anyone who will come back. But here's my point. U
c l A is not a Cinderella. When you add
up you go to the Final four, and there were

(11:34):
a total of eleven national championships accumulatively with all final
four teams. U c l A had all eleven. None
of the other teams have won a national championship. So
what has happened now is the future has arrived ahead
of schedule. And I think that U c l A
serve notice and mccronin serve notice and he's got kids

(11:55):
that are gonna want to go there, and with eleven
and seventy three kids in the transfer portal, he may
backfill in quicker the new think, but I also think,
and coach Tom Iszel told me this at Michigan State,
You've got to win your own backyard. Too many times
great Southern California kids have left and gone elsewhere. I
think mccronin starts to win his own backyard well. And
Johnny jousing the iconic performance in the Final four last night.

(12:16):
He is, of course from Tarzana, not far from u
c l a's campus. Group about five minutes from u
c l a's campus. Cody Riley, a Southern California kid.
The future is bright at u c l A under mccronin.
But momentarily we will get back to Gonzaga because I
want to ask Bernie Fratto, anything happened on Saturday night
that is caused for concern going into Monday against Baylor.

(12:39):
This is Fox Sports Sunday. I'm Aaron Tooris and Bernie
Fratto filling in for Jonas Knox and Brady Quinn. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
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s R to listen live. What's Up Everyone, Kids Meet
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(13:01):
have a new sports podcast called The lights Out Podcast
with Sean Mariner. This podcast especial to me is I
get a chance to talk to some of the best
we've ever done it on the field or the trap.
So whether it's talking to a super Bowl champion or
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I'm giving you the best insight from the best we've

(13:22):
ever done it. Listen to Lights Out with Shawn Marion
on the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get
your podcast. Welcome back everybody, Fox Sports Sunday. He is Cameron,
I am oh no, no, no, sorry, but this is
a great song. He's Bernie Fratto. I'm Aaron Torres. We're
filling in for Jonas Knox and Brady Quinn. Bernie, I'll
give you a hundred bucks if you can name this song.

(13:42):
It's a great one. Well, first of all, it's a
match up from an old Lionel Richie song Oh my goodness,
come on, Yes, Cameron and the Diplomats, Hey mom, Okay,
who did it originally? Lionel Richie obvious. Okay, well you
want to play stumps the show, I'll be better packer
launch here, big fellow. You never really answer the question,
you kind I'm not played. You got it consup? Alright,

(14:05):
they didn't write the originals, but okay, well they made
a great remix and it's nice. It's it was. It
was a great song. It was Okay, I was still
in high school and I'm getting all I got. I
got some great hairs from working with Arnie spanning. What
I'll go to? Uh, all the hits were all we know,

(14:27):
very good. Alright, So great song and Cameron Diplomats, hey ma,
And of course great game last night, Gonzaga U c
l A. We spent the opening segment talking about it.
Ninety three to ninety was the final score. Gonzaga the
buzzer beater. Jalen sucks. He becomes an instant icon. Uh.
And we're gonna spend you know, various points throughout the
show talking about this game. Uh, the game tomorrow. You're

(14:51):
gonna give some historical context, even further than what you've done.
You know you saw U n l V in person
in the early nineties several times. I just want to
ask you burn Gonzaga wins this game, and a couple
of things. One we had wondered all year long. Okay, Gonzaga,
how are they going to handle a close game? Are
they gonna play well? Are they going to tighten up?

(15:12):
What is gonna happen this that? And I will say, like,
on the one hand, they did pass the test. On
the other hand, there were a couple of close calls
late Johnny jus and gets called for a charge that
could have been a block that could have won that
game for U c l A and overtime. This is
all a long winded way of me saying, Gonzaga enters
tomorrow night thirty one, and oh, but was there anything

(15:32):
that you saw last night from Gonzaga U c l
A that concerns you a little bit? Tomorrow? Survive in advance?
And I think I've told you about the two thousand
game that coaches so they could have easily lost to
Larry you Stay and Iowa State. They were done by
seven with about five minutes to go. Story for another day.
You don't go through this tournament and cruise. It happens

(15:54):
now and then, but it's not gonna be this year.
What you saw last night, though, Let's give U c
L a credit. By the way, they call all six
of their games. They covered the spread in all six
of their games. That's saying something Gonzaga. I believe this
is the best team Mark Fuz ever coached. And I
know that's a strong statement, but Jalen Sugs' is a
projected top five pick or a kissper at the West

(16:15):
Coast Conference Player of the Year. Drew Timmy incredible footworker,
reminds me of Bill Walton. That's not hyperbole. He'd be
the number one player for the teams in the country.
And Andrew Namhard the key to transfers from Florida. He's
the only guy that had a triple double this year.
But Summation, what we saw last night, that the public
saw that hasn't maybe seen Gonzaga a lot this year,

(16:37):
is they look beatable. They look beatable. And I know
in the excess and os there and later in the show,
we're gonna really break it down. I will tell you
what Gonzaga has to do to win. I will tell
you what Baylor has to do to win. But what
we saw last night is every possession counts, every play counts,
and in the end, one team might make one more
play than the other team did. And you throw out

(17:00):
all the you know, the records, and you throw out
all the UH statistics in the metrics and the Ken
Palm numbers, and in a single game affair, anything can happen.
And that almost happened last night because what was it,
three weeks ago U c l A. I lost four
games in a row and they were glad to be
in the playing game and look what they did with it.

(17:22):
So what you take away from last night is that
you don't know anything until the two games get on
the floor and the real bullets start to fly. Absolutely.
And as you alluded to in the first segment, um,
this was not a traditional eleven seed from U c
l A's perspective. They have talent, They have top fifty prospects,
top one hundred prospects. Johnny Jusing started his career at Kentucky.

(17:43):
If you can be a star at U c l
A and play at Kentucky, you can play anywhere in
college basketball. And I'm with you. Instead of trying to
tear down Gonzaga, and what does it mean and why
is it this and why don't we just give credit
to u c l A, which played in Absolutely Yes,
I want to say something. What's interesting about last night's game.
We talked about it being one for the ages. It

(18:04):
was the third highest scoring Final four game in history
here in seven UH Indiana un l V. That was
one of the highest in Kansas, Maryland in two thousand two.
And let's give some real credit to the PAC twelve tournament.
Check that the PAC twelve Conference. They played sixteen games
in the tournament. They covered fourteen of them, many by

(18:25):
more than ten points. I think this means this may
be a winner to the future. That these schools are
are spending money on coaching and they're encouraging West Coast
kids to stay out west, and I think the West
Coast not has some structural advantages over some of the
blue bloods and other sports where if they can keep
these these kids home, then they're gonna be something. Now,
remember U c l A was a double digit UH

(18:48):
dog last night, and prior to that, double digit dogs
who'd entered the Final four and five straight up five
against the spread. So give u C l A credit.
They almost pulled off a miracle. Absolutely, And the one
thing I would say on the Pack twelve point and
I want to get to Baylor quickly before we get
to the sager um the Pack twelve. I know people
I live in the l A footprint. I the Pack

(19:10):
twelve footprint. I live in l A. And I'm telling
you there are people in the Pack twelve that believe
that had there been an n c A tournament last year,
they could have had similar success. Oregon was really good.
USC did not have Evan Mobley, but they had another
lottery pick on Yakamot. Yeah. Now, I'm telling you I'm
a hunter. I've talked to coaches, I've talked to administrators

(19:30):
in the league. They believe they could have had a
similar run last year. Baylor Houston. I just want to
hit on this really quick. Uh. You know, nine team
point win for Baylor. We don't have to break down
the xs and oes. Uh. What what did you make
of this game? Was it more Baylor dominating? Was it
Houston having a bad day? What did you see when
those two teams tipped off in the first game? It
was Baylor making their three point shots That's what they

(19:52):
do because when they make their three point shots, they're
virtually unbeatable because they can penetrate, drive and kick. And
when they're when they're open and they hit their shots,
they've got fabulous guards Jared Butler debian Mitchell mac otigue.
When they are hitting their shots. And by the way,
they already lead the nation with a clip from three,
they shot even better than that. And when they forced
turnovers on almost one fifth of their opponent's possessions like

(20:15):
they did yesterday, Houston does not have that kind of firepower.
Their only job was to slow it down and make
it a fist fight in the phone booth. And I
will tell you Baylor got off the bus and just
started jack in threes and it was over fairly quickly.
I want to just digress to your point for a
second about the Pack twelve, and I think it's an
excellent observation. Look at the coaches in that conference. Andy

(20:35):
Endfield did it a few years ago at Florida Gulf
Coast that was a team ahead of its time. Dunk
City s C. I believe has a bright future what
Dana Altman's doing at Oregon. These are quality teams and
I think the Pac twelves back and you know, even
within the endfield, I don't think people realize this. Um.
You know, he is a coach that made the n
c A Tournament in seventeen and or excuse me, twenty seventeen.

(21:01):
Um from there, in twenty nineteen, they were the first
team out. They were the first team out, literally the
last team to miss the tournament. Uh. Last year, had
there been an n c A tournament, they would have
been in. And then they obviously made an e Leite
eight this year. So we're essentially talking about four n
c A tournaments since two thousand sixteen, one game away

(21:21):
from five n c A tournaments and one year they
were uh. And obviously there was no n c A
tournament last year, So credit to him. Arnie Spaniards, Arizona Wildcats,
I think will kind of survive this year and get
back on track as well. Anything else from yesterday's games,
and again we're here until eight o'clock. We're filling in
for Jonas and Brady Brady Quinn. We got plenty of

(21:41):
time to preview tomorrow's game as well. But anything else
that stood out to you from from Saturday night, No,
and one other thing about the twelve the pack twelve.
I can't believe I omitted Wayne Tinkle and Oregon State
tip of the cap to them off standing year. Last
night again was a typical March Madness game game. You
have one or two of these every year, and it's

(22:02):
highly subjective because if you're part of those other schools
you mentioned the open, whether it's Jordan's eighty two team
or Michigan of eighty nine or Kansas in two thousand
eight or Arizona eighty four, your subjectivity is going to
make you believe those were the greatest games last night, Gonzaga,
this may well be the greatest game in their history
if they finished the job tomorrow night. U c L

(22:22):
A tip of the cap. It's too bad someone couldn't.
It's too bad both teams could advance because it was
that kind of game. There weren't the losers. Absolutely, And
I actually saw Troy Aikman, a prominent U c l
a alum, tweet essentially the same thing, basically saying it
was a game. Let's see if I can find this
really quick off the top, where he basically said what
a game. So proud of both teams tonight. One of

(22:44):
those games where when one team is not a loser,
aren't we only have winners? This was college athletics at
its finest. Congratulations to coach Cronin in U c l
A on a great season. Hats off to Gonzaga. So
Troy Aikman, obviously from the NFL U c l A alum.
We have talked enough college basketball for now. NFL coming
up schedule changes. Bartie Fratto has some insight, but first

(23:08):
let's get to Steve to Sega with what's trending, guys.
A thrilling finish to the women's title game tonight? Is
Stanford edged Arizona fifty fifty three? Arizona missed the final shot.
How about a head coach who wins national titles almost
thirty years apart to our Vanderveer, the longtime Stanford coach
was national champion in two and now this year, edging

(23:29):
an Arizona team that Stanford, of course beat twice in
the regular seas. Fact, Stanford finished first in conference four
games over Arizona in the standings. There's a stat out
tonight that this is the first team ever men's or
women's tournament history to win their semi final and final
game by one point each. Well. The men's final four
is concluding tomorrow night. Would number one rankin zag at

(23:50):
thirty one and oh facing Baylor. To the NBA News,
Milwaukee gave Drew Holliday a four year extension. The Clippers
will give to Marcus Cousins a ten day contract this week.
According to The Athletic Gordon Hayward did not play at Boston.
He's averaging twenty points a game for Charlotte, but we'll
be missing at least a month with a spring foot.
Boston's up to the five mark after beating Charlotte easily

(24:10):
one six. Celtics record twenty five and twenty five. The
Clippers led the Lakers by twenty in the second quarter today,
one eighty six the final score. Lakers have lost six
of nine. Chicago ended a six game losing streak beating
Brooklyn one one oh seven. Kyrie irving fifteen assists. James
Harden was out with a tight hamstring. Kevin Durant and
the Nets could return from his injury this week. N

(24:32):
h L wins for Detroit, Washington, and Florida. The Vancouver
Canucks are still off due to massive COVID issues. More
than twenty players and coaches have tested positive there. Jordan's
speech won the Texas opened by two strokes in San Antonio.
The Masters starts Thursday, chance of rain there by Friday.
By the way, NASCAR was off for Easter weekend. The
next race in the Cup Series Saturday night on FS

(24:54):
one from Martinsville. In Major League Baseball, a few minutes
away from first pitch in Anaheim, the Angels two and
one on the young season, hosting the White Sox, and yes,
it's not only Shohyotani pitching tonight, he's batting second for
the Halos Arizona three one winner at San Diego. Dodgers
are three and one on the young season after winning
at Colorado again four to two, the wind to Julio,

(25:15):
Areas Houston four and oh after dominat Gonna get Oakland
nine to two wins for Toronto and Baltimore on the road,
the Orioles are three and o and Philadelphias three and
o after a two one win over Atlanta. The bad
news Tomorrow's National's Braves game has been postponed. The entire
weekend series for the Nats against the Mets was postponed
as for Washington players had tested positive for COVID. Back

(25:35):
to you, Thank you, Steve Seger. This is Fox Sports Sunday.
I am ariatoras Bernie Fratto is joining me. We are
filling in for Jonas Knox and Brady Quinn. Hope those
guys are enjoying a lovely Easter holiday. Uh, Bernie, we
talked a ton of college troops to leave the show,
and with good reason. We had a great game last night.
Uh we have we will hopefully have a great game tomorrow.

(25:57):
We had a great women's National Championship on on Sunday
night here. But listen, let's be honest. The NFL is
now a fifty two week a year topic and uh,
speaking of weeks, this week it was announced that the
NFL will officially it was long expected, but they have
added a seventeenth regular season game. I'll just give some

(26:18):
semantics really quick. It does not affect the preseason one
fewer preseason game. Uh, It'll still be kind of a
twenty game calendar. If you will seventeen games total in
the regular season. They will alternate a FC versus NFC
getting that that extra home game. Um, and the week
just goes. The season just goes a week longer, still
one by week, but seventeen games now more NFL, more football,

(26:41):
more of what America wants. When he saw this news, Bernie,
what we're thinking, Well, it's not that big a deal
to be because the new collective bargaining agreement that was
negotiated and science just last year allows the NFL to
go seventeen games as early as this season, provided they
have negotia at least one new media rights deal, which

(27:02):
they have done. By the way, the new Amazon deal
will pay a billion a year by itself. Look, Roger
Goodell's stated goal is no secret. He wants to grow
the NFL into a billion dollar entity. So what does
the seventeenth game mean. It means an additional one billion
to the NFL over the next ten years. And I

(27:22):
know player safety always comes up. I get it, But
the statistics have shown, Aaron that player safety has not
necessarily been compromises as a matter of fact, in order
to According to nfl PA data, NFL players have experienced
a decrease in time missed with injury a thirty percent

(27:43):
reduction and concussions and the lowest figures for a c
L tears and lower extremity strands in the last five years.
So I think on balance, this is gonna be a
good thing. It's gonna be a good thing in Vegas
because now you've got that seventeenth week to bet. Super
Bowl gonna be played the second week in February. The
season is going to be elongated. We love the NFL,

(28:06):
and now we get more of it. Well, and this
was that was my exact thought when you when we
started kind of bringing up this topic. Is something we
might talk about today. This is just my my belief
that Roger Goodell wants to rule the world basically for
lack of beers. Seriously, I mean, think about the advances
that have been made just over the last couple of
reference here. Sorry, yeah, no, it's okay. And so, first

(28:28):
of all, one of the things that I didn't reference
off the top, this now means more international games. We
should see some not only in London, but also Canada, Mexico.
I believe South America may get some games here in
the future as travel restrictions get loosened. So that's part
of it. But now we have you know, free agency
opening right kind of around the time of March Madness.

(28:49):
I mean, we saw the Jimmy G trade, which we'll
talk about here at some point later this evening, or not,
excuse me, not the Jimmy G trade, but the San
Francisco forty Niners traded to the number three pick. May
lead to it of me G trade down the road,
but uh, you know, the forty nine is making that
big trade kind of right in the middle of the
n c A tournament, Carson Wentz moving teams, and so
this just proves to me. Oh, by the way, don't

(29:10):
forget the NFL. They played a game on Christmas this year,
Saints versus Vikings. They loved it. That used to be
the NBA's day. NFL said no, no, no, no, no.
Now we're playing every Christmas or or at least we're
planning on in the future. So it just proves to
me the NFL, as you said, uh, billion dollar year
business and they are just coming for all of the
real estate that all of the other sports have. And

(29:32):
by the way, I'm glad you referenced to in their
preseason games and now there are three instead of four.
I may be in the minority, but I'm glad they
kept preseason games. The years I covered the Lions ten
years from OH eight part of the pre and post
game team, as well as other things. Listen. Coordinators have
always told me that they can better evaluate position battles

(29:55):
in live competition versus another team. That's one of the
benefits of preseason game. Also, preseason games serve as a
vehicle to evaluate the progress of a high draft choice
from one year to the next, again in live competition
versus another team. And it is still a source of
revenue for the owners, and the players are going to

(30:16):
want to see the salary cap limit increase so their
salaries can increase. So all this will go into the
revenue bucket for the NFL, which means at some point
you may see Dak Prescott's you know, recent contract looks
somewhat pass You might see a fifty million dollar year
player sooner than you think. Well, and it's really interesting
because Arnie spani or nine, I hate to keep referencing him,

(30:38):
but he's the guy that I do every Sunday night,
Saturday night with um. You know, we we argued about
Dak for about two years and when I saw the numbers,
it struck me. I don't think this is a reflection
on Jerry Jones. I don't think this is a reflection
on Dak Prescott. I think this is a reflection that
Jerry Jones believes that this will not be an outlandish
contract in two, three, four years down the road as

(30:59):
it hits the middle of deal. And so I think
what it speaks to me is there's a lot more
money coming in. You reference the Amazon Thursday game that
will now be streamed on that platform, obviously again international.
There's so many different variables that go. And let me
ask you this, Bernie, do you have any insight this
is your area of expertise one of many I should say.
You just reference that you covered the lines for ten years,

(31:20):
and you live in Vegas now and you're so plugged
into the gambling world. I have to assume the NFL
assumes there's some big windfall that is going to come
from gambling as well. I've heard kind of rumors. Do
you have any real insight on that. Well, there isn't
a direct link. I think they've benefited from fantasy leagues
and such. What will happen is TV ratings will continue
to increase because the vast maturity of people who gamble

(31:43):
get high making the bet and they're going to continue
to watch that game even though it might be forty
two to three with two minutes to go, because they
got to over forty six points and they want to
see if that game goes over. So, in an indirect way,
the more fans, the more um TV ratings, the more
people that that legalized betting is now in eighteen states
with about thirteen more on the docket. That will continue

(32:04):
to grow. The audience and the casual better will grow,
and that will increase more and more interest in the NFL,
which indirectly will increase the coffers. By the way, uh,
speaking of taking over the world, the NFL draft, of
course is taking over the world. And we're gonna talk
momentarily about Justin Fields, the news that came out this week,
and some other stuff that that we've kind of both

(32:25):
heard before we do. Do you have a good tweet
that somebody sent in well eron you had asked about
takeaways from last night's doubleheader and lou Riley tweets and
he says, how about a shout out for Miley Cyrus
also known as Hannah Montana for quote crushing American woman.
I won't quiz you on that that was originally written
by Burton Cummings and the guests who great song. He

(32:46):
loved that halftime show. He said, she needs to do
the next Super Bowl halftime, not another pretender like the Weekend.
He spelled the Weekend wrong. They don't have any in it,
but you remember eron Weekend and they're big hit. I
can't with my face when I'm with you. What do
you think about Miley Sarace Hannah Montana doing the halftime
for the Super Bowl? Well, first of all, So, first

(33:07):
of all, I am in favor. I think most of
the Super Bowl performances are pretty good. I was a
fan of Jalo and Shakira for some probably pretty obvious
reasons a few years ago. But you know, like I
I don't really get is it good? Is it bad?
I don't really care, but I'll say this. I was
kind of walking out of the house as Miley Cyrus
started yesterday. I was getting ready to come into the

(33:28):
Fox Sports radio studios. I thought the performance was fine.
I saw some pushback on social media. It seems as
though Lou really liked it, so I didn't really get
a chance to watch it. I have no problem she
wants to do the Super Bowl show. Hey, give me
somebody that I know, somebody that I'm familiar with, a
little wrecking ball, a little party party in the USA. Yeah,
I mean it does. It doesn't get much more America
than America. Football party in the USA. Partie doesn't get more.

(33:53):
I'm gonna say one last thing, So super Bowl forty,
which was in Detroit, Pittsburgh, in Seattle, like cover day
game for the ninety one Sious Radio with my partner's
Mark Wilson, Rob Parker halftime show that year. Yes, Sir
Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. Very good Mick Jagger,
Rolling Stones. And it just proves I mean, listen, when
we can talk Super Bowl halftime performances, it means that

(34:17):
the NFL is always on our minds and what is
coming up next on our minds kind of as sports fans.
Of course, we have the Masters next week, and then
we will turn our full attention to the NFL Draft.
A couple of news and notes from this week NFL Draft.
Bernie Fratto, Aaron Torres, we'll talk about that coming up.
This is Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Sunday.

(34:38):
I'm Aaron Torus, joined by Bernie Fratto. We're filling in
for Jonas Knox and Brady Quinn, who are, of course
enjoying a great Easter Sunday off. Bernie, you got any
insight on this song? I'm not seeing funny thing. I'm
not a music guy, so I don't really don't know.
Go ahead. The great ones are Alreadys Humble, Aaron, You're
good at everything. That's the Commodore's lead singer, Lionel Ritchie,
which was the base for the mashup. So but hey,

(35:00):
it's all good there. We they just channeled that song
that was a huge hit. The Commodore is much better
than the Vanderbilt Commodore is in football or basketball, although
their baseball team is incredible. I think we'll get fired
for talking college baseball. But Al Lighter soun plays there,
and uh, the Kumar kid plays there. They are unbelievable.

(35:21):
But again, we're gonna get fired for talking too much,
talking to sentences of college baseball. So let's transition. We
were talking before the break Masters. You know, we got
the National Championship game tomorrow. It's gonna be awesome. Of course,
the Masters this weekend, and then it's full scale draft
mode and we're kind of at that point now we
we kind of know the order. As I referenced last segment,
the forty have now moved into the third position. We

(35:43):
expect them to take a quarterback. Maybe get into in
a minute which quarterback that will be. But there was
some other kind of news that broke this week. Dan Orlovsky,
who works for another network, went to my school University Connecticut,
played in the league for years. You covered him with
the Detroit Lions. He um, you know, he had some
comments on Justin Fields, and and you know, I personally

(36:03):
have no problem with somebody sharing an opinion, sharing something
that is sourced from a source that he trusted. But
essentially what he said was that Justin Fields, who we
believed was the definitive number two pick coming into this
season behind Trevor Lawrence, that he was told that at
Ohio State, Justin Fields was kind of a last guy
in the building, first guy to leave type guy. And

(36:25):
what I would say is, since then, Ohio State has
come out and said that's the most ridiculous thing that
we've ever heard. Kirk herb Street from ESPN. Joel clatt Our,
voice at Fox Sports Radio, has said the same they've
been around Ohio State. We know Big Neon kickoff a
ton of games on Fox or Ohio State affiliated. And
Joel and Jenny taff Bo said that that was ridiculous.

(36:45):
What did you think, Bernie, when you heard dani Rolovski's
comments on Justin Fields, Well, it bothered me. Uh. He
was merely he implied that he it's something he'd heard,
and he was repeating it. And so if you're gonna
repeat it, you're somewhere endorsing it. And I've never heard
anything of that nature. But let's let's move on, because
I don't think it's very You always hear things around

(37:05):
this time about potential prospects. I don't care if it
was Vince Young or it Justin Herbertter, Josh Allen. It's
always going to be something. The bottom line is, it's
the Scott's job to project. And from what I can see,
Justin Fields is not only a great leader, he has
a character based in spirituality, so I believe he has
probably a very good work ethic. Here's what I do
know about Justin Fields. It may have caused his stock

(37:28):
to drop a little, uh, but I and let's admit,
let's lay out a couple of things. First, he's a
natural playmaker. He's a future franchise QB. He's effortless, he's
got all the tools. He's elusive. He's composed great runner
six three twenty three. What they're telling me though, because
I have NFL context, he just nurse needs to learn
to read. Defense is better, a little bit better decision making.

(37:50):
He sometimes forces plays. His ball placement could be is good,
but it could be better. He's one of those guys.
He he likes to wait till the receiver result before
you throw the ball. He can't do that in the NFL. However,
it's not all his fault. See because the system they
play at Ohio State Aeron, the offensive structure doesn't really
allow require fields to run a variety of NFL passing concepts.

(38:12):
The buck Eyes really play a fairly simplistic offense. Fields read,
you know, he reads his first option. If the pass
isn't there, He's got the autonomy to take off and run.
He's got all the tools and size right now. He's
a bit of a system quarterback. He may drop a
little in the draft. That doesn't mean he won't have
a very good career. Well, and to go back to
the danier Lovsky comments. First of all, you know, I

(38:33):
I thought it was a little much where Kirk herb
Street kind of said you should take that back. If
Danilovsky believes it, it's fine. But what I would say
is we have a pretty good track record to say
that it probably isn't true. And the point I've brought
up here over the last few days on this network
is when we thought that we were not going to
get a college football season, let alone a Big Ten season,

(38:54):
which was canceled for a brief time, Justin Fields was
at the forefront of trying to get this college football
season in in a time when it would have been
easy for him to say what you say. You know
what what I just said a minute ago, I'm gonna
be the number two pick. I don't have to play,
I don't care. But he loved being a Buck guy,
he loved being part of that team, and he fought

(39:15):
for college football as hard as anybody, and I don't
think you can take that away from him. Now to
the point about the offense burn, I think it's such
a fascinating concept, not only with Justin Fields, but didn't
we see a little bit of this a bit, A
little bit of this with twa tonga viola this year.
Um where to uh He's used to throw into Jerry Judy,
Henry Ruggs, Davante Smith, Uh, the other kid, Jalen Waddle.

(39:36):
All of a sudden he gets into the NFL. The
speeds a little bit quicker. The old line isn't as
good as it was at Alabama. So I think that
this is a real thing going forward, not just with
Justin Fields a little bit with mac Jones, but in general,
these elite quarterbacks from these elite programs that play behind
great offensive lines, great wide receivers, things speed up real
quick in the NFL well, which leads me to Mac Jones.

(39:57):
Don't be surprised if Mike Shanahan drafts him. I give
it about uh yeah, thank you. Kyle Shanahan. He's very poised,
he's tremendously smarty, smart, he's patient in the pocket, he
buys time for receivers. He fits the mold of the
successful Shanahan quarterback because he makes all the right passes.
He's very good and accurate on intermediate throws. He shrows

(40:19):
a good deep ball. Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan does not want
an improvisational freelancer. He wants the guy to simply run
his offense, which uses the past to compliment the run
and vice versa. And I'm telling you Kyle Shanahan does
that better than anybody. Look what he did with Matt
Ryan in Atlanta. And Jimmy g as a starter actually
has a very good record. And guess which Guess which

(40:41):
player compared Mac Jones to U. Let me try that
again in English. Guess which Scott I talked to compared
Matt Jones to a certain player in the NFL in
terms of athleticism. Matt Stafford. So he's Stafford has been
around twelve years and done enough to be taken seriously.
So don't be surprised if Matt Owns is a forty Niner.

(41:02):
The bottom line is, no matter who ends up at
that number three spot, that is, you know, it appears
to be where the draft is gonna start. Trevor Lawrence
is going to the Jaguars, I mean Irban Irvian Meyer.
Mr Secrecy basically admitted as much this week. And it
feels like by all accounts, Seck Wilson is going to
be number two more NFL. But also MLB season is here,
rules are changing. We'll be back Fox Sports Radio, errand

(41:24):
Tours and Bernie Fratto, Fox Sports Sunday. That is right,
This is us. This is Fox Sports Sunday. As the
Gentleman told you, Jonas Knox, Bretty Quinn enjoying a very
well deserved Easter Sunday off hope. Everybody driving around, listening
at work, listening in the car, listening at home is
enjoying a great Easter Sunday as well. Bernie Fratto, By

(41:45):
the way, how's your Easter? You do anything special before
we got on air here, Yes, family time, it's a wonderful.
We all coun our blessings, especially Aaron. Look where we
sit today on April four one, you juxtaposed that where
we were as a society on April four and after
one year hiatus, just in the sports world alone, one

(42:06):
are the best stretches on the sports calendars is back
starting last Thursday with Baseball's opening Day. Over the next
eleven days, sports fans and yes, betters, all the baseball games,
the final four, the n c A Championship, the Masters
were It feels like we're back here and so we
count our blessings absolutely, I agree, and I've said it
a lot this month. It has been a busy month

(42:27):
for all of us that love sports. But I will
absolutely take it over March versus March. And it's the
same with April, May, June, July. As your reference, Bernie,
it has been a great stretch. We're gonna get into
some of the baseball stuff momentarily, but of course the
story that has kind of swept the entire sports world

(42:47):
over the last twenty four hours, Gonzaga U C l
A and all time classic Saturday Night Final four. Gonzaga
is undefeated, playing to go to a national championship game
to play Baylor. Year is how the game ended, courtesy
of Westwood One. Here comes Sugs long three for the
way Banks at home. Jalen sugs a deep banked three,

(43:13):
just then Gunn Saga one step close, Sir Ti history,
great finish, great moment, great game. And I'll tell you
this too. I think it was great for Jalen Suggs,
not only because he gets that March moment. There is
now a real conversation about him potentially being the number
one pick. I think it's gonna help with endorsements and
so you know, We don't talk about this enough, but

(43:35):
as much as people like to criticize the n c A,
college basketball, college football, college baseball, whatever, college sports does,
provide a great platform for these athletes. And I believe
that Jalen Suggs really, maybe even more so than Evan
Mobley than Kid cunning him who was at Oklahoma State.
I believe he is going to be the face of
the NFL NBA draft this offseason, thanks in large part

(43:56):
of that shot last night, Bernie Well, I'm an agreement
with you, not that we want to go down that
real tonight, but put the five five on a playground
somewhere without Michigan Jersey's on and tell me that they
have the same notoriety that they would have gotten. But
what last night did was set up tomorrow night, and
I I feel badly for U c l A. And
had U c l A prevailed, I personally would have

(44:17):
watched the game tomorrow night with the same amount of interest.
But we'll never know if Gonzaga would have finished the
job tomorrow night. And what's interesting is the impression that
game left. Because Circuit Sports had Gonzaga projected as a
six point favorite heading into tomorrow night's game, should they
play Baylor until last night happened, so the game opened
it four and a half, leading me to believe that

(44:40):
that sort of influenced Baylor betters that yes, Gonzaga is
absolutely beatable. By the way, so far sixty four check
that sixty sent of the tickets so far are on Gonzaga.
Uh and no, let me try that again in English,
sixties four percent of the tickets around Baylor, seventy around
the over. What's interesting, You've got a number one versus

(45:01):
the number one tomorrow. That's only the fifteen time since
the expansion when they went to sixty four teams that
has happened. The average spread in the championship game it's
four point five. So you've already got pundits out there asking, well,
Benza is four point five? Can you really be the
greatest team ever if you've got an average title game spread?

(45:22):
The other thing, I do think we canna expect fireworks
tomorrow night. The total of one fifty nine and a
half is the second highest total ever for a championship game.
Only two thousand one Duke Arizona was higher. If you're
looking for an edge tomorrow night, it's not gonna be easy.
The history of over runner in the title game in
the last twenty two years exactly five hundred eleven one

(45:44):
under eleven one over the average total since forty two.
And by the way, in the last thirty four years,
favorites are exactly five hundred seventeen and seventeen against the spread.
I guess that's my way of saying, would surprised me
if Canzaga wants something like eighty two to eighty, No,
it wouldn't surprise me. Tomorrow is gonna be a tough

(46:04):
game to bet really quick burn. Yeah. I remember about
probably four or five weeks ago, because I was in
Vegas and somebody asked me about this. There was a
very popular prop of Baylor Gonzaga versus the field, and
ironically I said, I would actually take Baylor Gonzaga because
even at the time I believed there unless there was

(46:25):
some kind of weird COVID something or whatever, that there
was basically four teams Baylor, Gonzaga, Michigan, and Illinois that
I thought could win it all, and I did think
Baylor and Gonzaga were cut above those other two. Did
we ever get a final tally on about you know,
how much action that prop because I remember being a
big story about four or five weeks ago. It really
didn't get a lot of action because it was basically

(46:45):
even money and if you already had Gonzaga, you could
get Gonzaga at plus money. Uh, meaning you know, three
weeks ago they were probably two to one now, so
you wouldn't you wouldn't make that bet necessarily, even though
you're getting two team instead of one. What's interesting, Aaron
um is Gonzaga heading into the Final four was minus

(47:06):
two twenty is the favorite to win the whole thing.
That's the highest favorite since the Duke Blue Devils and
what happened in erin your Yukon Husky has got him, so, uh,
tomorrow night is gonna be interesting. But to your point,
there were a lot of props. That was one particular
one Duke Gonzaga. Check that, uh Gonzaga Baylor versus the field.

(47:28):
I don't think you got a lot of action. Bernie
Fratto of course host Straight out of Vegas every Saturday
night eleven pm Pacific time. If you want more good
gambling inside. Of course, Bernie has covered Major League Baseball.
The NFL was in Detroit for about ten fifteen years,
has done it all. Make sure you're following Bernie on
Twitter at Bernie Fratto. I am at Aaron underscore Torres

(47:49):
and I did just mention a minute ago. Uh. Major
League baseball started last week. Obviously not without some hiccups.
Some games have already been canceled because of COVID. But
I think as we get out of a n c
A tournament, we are going to see a lot of
our attention focus turn our attention to baseball. So much
stuff going on, There's so many crazy things, and I
should mention, by the way, in about ten twelve minutes,

(48:11):
John Paul Morossi, great Fox Sports Baseball Insider, will join us.
But in the meantime, Burn, as we look ahead to
this baseball season, I'm not asking you to break down
the Yankees bullpen, but what are you excited about? What
intrigues you about what is to come these next six
months in Major League baseball. I'm just excited that we
are going to have a full season. Aaron, you work
with Arnie every Saturday night. It's a great show. You know.

(48:33):
I listen, And what has Arnie always said? The one
constant through the years, Aaron has been baseball. Hey stile
that from field of dreams. So they still didn't he say,
America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's
been erased by a blackboard, be built and raced again. Yes,
but it reminds all of us that once was good,
that could be good again. So I'm glad baseball is back.
But I'll tell you I'm a little dubious is some

(48:55):
of these real changes, Aaron. Because they're gonna have seven
inning double ters this year. You're gonna have a three
batter minimum for pitchers or they must finish the inning.
They got twenty six man rosters. That's not bad. Not
a particular fan of starting a run around second base
to start extra innings. And by the way, no universal
d H this year, and uh no expanded postseason, just

(49:17):
five playoff teams instead of seven. We'll talk to John
Paul about a lot of this stuff. But I think
what it means to me, Aaron, is that what is
looming as a new c b A. And we'll ask
JP about this as well. Everybody forgets what happened last year.
It was a debacle. They were hoping to get baseball
started by July four, and they didn't, So the season
to me is still under the cloud of whether or

(49:39):
not the c b A can be negotiated or could
we be looking at another strike. But I'm glad to
see fans in the stands. I'm glad to see baseball
being played. I don't like some of these COVID issues
too bad. The Washington Nationals haven't been able to play
a game yet, but you play the hand you're dealt,
and somehow they got a World Series. Last year, the
Dodgers got it done. I don't give anybody any asterisks

(50:01):
because everybody had the same degree of difficulty. But Aaron,
I guess what I'm looking for to most is the
hope of a full season, not just a sixty game season. Absolutely,
and for people who have not been monitoring as closely,
the Texas Rangers, most notably in Texas, can have a
hundred percent capacity. They opened on the road this weekend
in Kansas City. They will be back to upwards of

(50:23):
a hundred percent capacity in Dallas tomorrow Arlington area. Here
in Los Angeles where I live, all we're already up
to thirty three percent capacity for Dodgers and Angels, so
it's an exciting time. It's an exciting time and there's
so much to get into, but it does sound like
there's a little bit of concern from your perspective, Bernie,
that there may be a workstop it's going forward, because
you reference it was a crazy lead up to last

(50:45):
year's Major League Baseball season, and for people who forget,
I'm not no one can remember everybody. I don't think
even John Paul Morossi or Ken Rosenthal could remember every detail.
But you know, the players were proposing this, the owners
were proposing this, and finally it got to the absolute
drop dead deadline and they had to get a season in.
They had to get some games in. They did. It

(51:06):
was a shortened season, no fans, But it sounds to
me like when this thing ends at the end of
this season, you're worried about what and beyond to look like. Well,
and I'll tell you why, Aaron, because the players Union
has been pretty vocal about the fact that the owners
are have been using the luxury attacks really as a
de facto salary cap. If you look at aggregate salaries,

(51:28):
they've been going down steadily down the next the last
few years, even though baseball revenues have gone steadily up
and the percentage of player revenue has dropped, which led
to the ninety four strike. Those were the same elements
of the ninety four strike. See Baseball reached its UH
peak in terms of player um revenue percentage in the fifties. Okay,

(51:51):
they were getting about the revenue, but when TV money
came in, the owners didn't share it. By the time
they got to that revenue had dropped all the way
to seventeen percent. That's why there was a strike, and
that's why the players were able to negotiate a much
better deal. We're seeing a little bit of that now
in that the owners are using again I'm repeating myself,

(52:13):
but they're using the salary the luxury text as a
de facto salary cap. They want to put it into
that and uh, I think I'm not gonna get into
the details of mechanics. We don't have time, but I
would say this, I think they're far apart. They're just
not talking about it right now. It's kind of like
the elephant in the room over in the corner that
no one wants to look at because we want to enjoy,

(52:33):
you know, a hot dog and a sunny day at
a baseball game right now is supposed to worry about that,
but the day of reckoning is coming. Does it worry
you as a consumer or the people that you talk to?
And again, you you cover baseball, You had a press
pass forever with the Detroit Tiger. Okay, I'm sorry, my
my apologies. Uh so does it work? You know? I
look at listen. I live in l A. I am

(52:54):
a Dodgers I want to call myself a fan, but
I like going to the ballpark, as you said, grab
a beer, grab hot dog, get out on a nice night.
Does it concern baseball at all that you have a
team like the Tampa Bay Rays trading a Cy Young
Award caliber picture and Blake Snell. On the flip side,
you have the Dodgers adding a twenty second Cy Young

(53:15):
Award winner to their rotation. Uh, you know, you can't.
You can't throw a rock at Dodger Stadium without hitting
a Cy Young Award winner. Is that part of the
concern going forward in terms of the disparity between the
halves and the have nots. It's a good question, but
given the limits of that statement, not necessarily or and
I'll tell you why, because there's always been the haves
and have nots in baseball, and the highest spending teams

(53:37):
still don't win it every year. There have been plenty
of teams who spent a ton of money, they don't
make the playoffs. Still comes down to scouting and development.
Tampa Bay. I think there is going to be a
point in time where they're gonna look for an alternative city,
alternative city, and it might be a good idea. I
know is that Tom Brady April Fools joke, but I
think it might be a good idea to take a
look at Montreal again as a great baseball city and

(53:59):
to their it in as far as the Blake Snell thing,
that was much more nuanced. They took him out of
the game when he was leading, and he looked over
with the Dodger the dug out, and they all breathed
the collective side reliefs that said, we've had about enough
of that guy. And I remember when we had Larry
Sarnson on his show, I call her, I said, he
will be there next year. He's already got a red
ass and he's not gonna put up with that. And
I realized that metrics got them where they were, and

(54:20):
analytics got them where they were. But I've always said
that analytics they're not to be all into all. They're
not an inflexible blank or they're a guideline, and I
think when you overdo it, we'll never know what would
have happened. So I know I kind of answered your
question and roundabout way there. Bit, There's always going to
be baseball. It is America's pastime, all right. There are
more popular and tan sports like the NFL and maybe

(54:42):
even the NBA, but baseball will still always be there.
The attendance bears that out, the revenues bear that out.
The game is not in trouble. I don't buy it.
As our buddy Collin Cowherd says, there's analytics and there's analytics,
and sometimes you just got to give a guy a
ball and let him, you know, let him throw until
his arm falls off. And so uh crazy start to
the baseball season. I should mention the Sunday night game, Angels,

(55:04):
excuse me, up to nothing on the White Sox. That
is the last game going in Major League Baseball. More
baseball talk coming up. One of the best in I
take that back, the best insider in the business. JP
Morossi will join US. This is Fox Sports Sunday. I'm
Aaron Torres. He's Bernie Fratto, filling in for Jonas Knox,
Brady Quinn. Fox Sports Radio d J Ryan on the

(55:27):
one two's this is his Fox Sports Sunday. I am
Aaron Torres, he is Bernie Fratto. By the way, I
have never sounded more lame than when I just said that.
So I apologize to America. But we are filling in
for Jonas Knox and Brady Quinn. This is, of course
Fox Sports Sunday. A lot more to get into from
the football perspective, from the college basketball perspective, but we

(55:48):
were just talking Major League baseball, and there is literally
not a single person on the planet better to talk
baseball with thin Fox Sports Baseball insider MLB insider John
Paul Morosi JP joining us. JP. How you doing, my man,
You're all celebrating and certainly on a very special day.

(56:08):
How about show Otani already tonight somebody great stories around
Major League Baseball this weekend, and as always, really excited
to talk with both of you. So J P lay
that out for us, because so for people don't know
White Sox are playing the Angels Sunday Night Baseball, Otani,
there's some cork with the Angels throwing him in the
batting line up in addition to pitching right right of course,

(56:29):
Uh first picture. I believe ESPN at this note earlier
tonight first pitcher in an American League game to bat
second when pitching was his primary position of course in
the d H mode since the nineteen o three, so
obviously he is pitching. They have they have not used

(56:49):
the d H tonight, that they're basically going totally opposite
of what baseball was last year, where he had universal
d H. Here is just universal Otani. He is his
own rule, and he is batting second as the picture,
And yes, the Angels are really the first a L
team to have the picture batting second not using the
d H. Uh since the d H came into being

(57:12):
And obviously go even further back according to with ESPN's research,
wasn't headed tonight's game so remarkable that it's basically something
we haven't seen in more than a century. And oh,
by the way, otany Homer's in the first hting so
pretty remarkable that the circumstances reminding us that there is
really and truly no baseball player on the planet like

(57:32):
Showy O Tony, John, Happy Easter. I hope you celebrated
with some Buddy's pizza and better made potato chips. There
you go, Bertie, but Bertie a great detroitter. Thank you
for for mentioning that. Yeah, we had a little bit
of a just a small family gathering, a lot of
outside time here in Michigan. Beautiful day, gorgeous day here
in Michigan. So thank you so much of those wishes
as well. And by the way, good observation on Otani.

(57:55):
Clearly Joe Madden wants to get him that extra back.
But we're seeing a lot of things out John, that
we haven't seen a baseball I just talked about some
of the year the rule changes for seven inning double
headers and so on and so forth. How many of
those rule changes, John, do you expect to survive when
the new c b A is uh negotiated after this

(58:16):
year runs out? Well, Bernie, I think a number of
them will, I think. First of all, Now, of course,
in the n L this year, you do you do
still have pictures batting, so we've kind of lost the
universal DG this year. I do think come two we
will see universal d H. The extra inning rule which starts,
of course with a man on second base and extra

(58:39):
innings with nobody out, that I believe will stay, and
it's going to stay, I think, because it eliminates these
marathon games during the course of a regular season that
really interrupts your pitching for days after that. And one
of my biggest pet peeves about the way the rules
used to be, where of course you can see unlimited

(58:59):
extra inning games go on for forever, um, is that
sometimes you'd have a young pitcher come into the game
and the tenth inning throw four scoreless innings, and then
his team loses it in the seventeen and he gets
sent down to the minor leagues after the game was
over because they need a fresh arm. And I always
believe that that was unfair to that kid who would

(59:19):
come up and do a good job and be sent
out just because of a roster fluke, if you will.
And so I think that we're going to see that
rule stay in place. Uh. And I think maybe some
other things as well about the way the game is played,
and we'll see, of course, uh, these different changes happening
now through the minor leagues where the bases are increasing
in in with UH to allow for potentially fewer collisions.

(59:44):
We'll see what becomes the shifting rules happening at the
minor league level. But the seven ning doubleheaders I think
worked well Bernie at the major league level too. So really,
when you consider the changes that came into being out
of necessity last year, many of them I believe will
be by choice in the years to go. By the way,
I was at the longest Angels game in history. We

(01:00:04):
had a great time, but yeah, I get it. I
guess well, it's certainly aaron and there are certain unique parts.
I still remember years later. It was two thousand seven,
Jamie Burke, the Mariners backup catcher, was pitching in the
game at then Safeco Field against the Detroit Tigers. It
was a memorable day and and it sticks on me

(01:00:25):
all these years later. But I still feel for the
guys to lose their jobs because of an ext training
game that I understand both ways. I think this is
actually the better job of keeping the schedule, integrity and
competitive integrity in place. Another quick question for me, not
related to long games, but long contracts, big contracts. Francisco
Lindor last week was obviously the big story, the huge

(01:00:47):
contract um And obviously, look, you know we understand that
that you know, it's a new era with Mets baseball.
Is this just a sign that under the new ownership
Steve Cohen, they are ready, maybe not to compete this year,
but they are not going to back down from anybody. Well,
I think it was a huge message. And Aaron, I'm
gonna credit Lindor's negotiating team for doing an exceptional job

(01:01:08):
on that deal. That was a player friendly contract at
the end, And I think it happened largely in part
because Lindoor knew that after the trade happened, that Steve
Cohen had a certain responsibility or obligation or pressure, however
you want to describe it, to sign up long term
and really validate the wisdom of that trade. So from

(01:01:31):
that standpoint, Lindor knew that the number had to be huge.
The number was huge. Anytime you see a shortstop getting
paid more than thirty million dollars a year up until
his age thirty six and thirty seven season, that's a
player friendly deal because it's an incredibly rare day and
a rare player in this game who is able to

(01:01:52):
play shortstop at a high level on both sides of
the ball into his mid to late thirties, and so
from that standpoint, the deal looks great, sounds great, the
press release reads great. It should be great from a
standpoint of the Mets and what they're going to be
for the next five to six years. But of course
the back end of that deal is likely to be problematic,
as most ten year deals are in almost any walk

(01:02:16):
of life, but especially baseball. And so from that standpoint,
it's a win for the player and in the near
term has just to be a win for the Mets too.
But there's no question that was a very player friendly
deal because Lynn Door's representation correctly discerned just how much
pressure was on Skip Cohen and the Mets to get
that deal done. John, I hate to break up the party,

(01:02:36):
but I'm old enough to remember the strike. It was
the first year I was on the radio. I remember
when Sparky refused to manage the replacement players, which led
to the ultimate downfall with Mike Killitchen never really made up.
Here's my point. The cb A expiration is looming, and
I've been told that the players feel that the owners
have been using the luxury tax as a de facto

(01:02:56):
salary camp. I think they're farther apart, further apart, and
people want to admit, are we going to have a
work stoppage, John Bernie, I don't think we will. And
one of the reasons is this that last year, for
reasons that obviously transcended baseball, we already had one due
to COVID nineteen and so owners missed out on revenue,

(01:03:17):
players missed out on salaries, sponsorships, every revenue stream of
the game was interrupted last year. And at the end
of the day, while real divisions exist, and Bernie, you're
correct about that, real divisions exist between the two sides
after missing so much revenue last year in the overall

(01:03:39):
business of baseball, I really don't think that we're going
to see these two sides have another work stoppage after
what happened last year and further affect the game's ability
to be a strong, thriving sport in our country for
years to come. I just I don't see that happening.
While there are it admit grievances maybe on either side

(01:04:02):
about the way the rules exist at the moment, I
believe that they are they are grievances that can be
dealt with if there's a different structure to the sport.
For example, if you tie free agency to or at
least the first free agency to the age at which
the player was when his first contract was signed. Basically, say, okay,

(01:04:22):
if you're signing your first deal at nineteen or younger,
you're a free agent at twenty five. If it's after that,
you're a free agent at twenty seven. Whatever those numbers are,
you can move them up and down. But that alleviates
a lot of the conversation that we heard again this
spring from the union about service time manipulation, et cetera.
Those concerns go away if you simplify the pay structure

(01:04:45):
and make it age based as opposed to service time based. JP.
We got about one minute left, just real quick. I understand,
we're just a handful of games in some teams haven't
even played yet. Uh is there anything, one storyline to
storylines that stands out that you weren't expecting their team? Uh,
starting well, not playing well, bullpen, whatever it could be.

(01:05:06):
What is one thing just through these handful of games
that we've gotten that stood out to you, Aaron, I
have to say, to our listeners in Maryland. The undefeated
Baltimore Orioles. They are three and oh, the Red Sox
oh and three on the full range of outcomes. I
did not think that we'd be talking right now about
the Oriols being undefeated. And also, by the way, the

(01:05:27):
Houston Astros a four game sweep over the Oakland Athletics.
That the A's of course, the reigning division champs there.
I thought they were going to be back and win
in the division this year too, But my goodness, the
Astros looked tremendous. And even I would say this. The
Philadelphia Phillies three and oh, a three game sweep of
the Atlanta Braves. That's surprising. So again, it's early. All

(01:05:50):
those qualifiers exist. It's early, of course, but I love
these storylines. Cedric Mullins a five hit game for the
Baltimore Orioles. I love these early season storyline. Just get
excited about it. I know it's early, but it's baseball.
It's back. Let's let's overreact and over analyze, my friends,
because major League Baseball is back this weekend. I will
tell you this. My stepdad is the biggest Orioles fan

(01:06:11):
I know, great fan base great baseball city, so listen,
let them have their couple of days. Great story. JP Morosy,
Fox Sports Radio, MLB Insider, JP. We love having you man.
Thank you for the time. Thanks John and Bernie really
had the conversations always my friends. You've both been friends
of mine for a while, so it's a great treat
to be with you here on this Easter three evening.

(01:06:32):
Thank you so much. We love having you, JP. That
is JP Morosy, Fox Sports Radio, MLB Insider as good
as there is, if not better than everybody else. I
know he wouldn't want me to say it, but he
is fantastic. So much baseball knowledge. More baseball coming up,
but first let's see what's trending with Steve de Seger.
He mentioned that the Orioles are three and oh. They

(01:06:52):
pounded Boston eleven to three today. The Phillies are three
and o on the young season, got a run in
the bottom of the eighth to edge Atlanta two to one.
Houston in four and oh so far after a nine
to victory at Oakland. Although yesterday in the Bay Area,
while introducing the Astros starting lineup, they played the song
before He Cheats Carrie Underwood, and then while introducing today's

(01:07:12):
Astro's lineup, they played the song the sign Ace of Base.
So it's gonna be that all season long. I'm guessing.
Dodgers are three and one after winning at Colorado four
to two. Julio Reas to win seven plus innings of
work on the hill, one run, allowed six strikeouts, and
yes that game in Anaheim tonight. Now to the top
of the third, Angels to nothing. Over the White Sox

(01:07:34):
show Hey Otani pitching and batting second top of the first,
he threw a hundred miles an hour, actually over that
three times. And then bottom of the first he homeward
and it went one fifteen off the bat That is
miles per hour. It was testivated at about four hundred
fifty feet. The home run and the Angels lead to nothing.
Top of the third. By the way short step Tim

(01:07:54):
Anderson left first inning for the White Sox with a
leg injury. Tomorrow's Nationals Brave game has been postponed due
to COVID. According to our Ken Rosenthal, that ads opening
series against the Mets was postponed for Washington players had
tested positive for COVID nineteen and the NHL the Vancouver
Canucks are still off to to massive COVID issues. More
than twenty players and coaches have tested positive there something couger.

(01:08:17):
Players were reportedly very ill and the outbreak has extended
some players families. So the NHL regular season will likely
not end on May eleventh. That schedule, at least not
for the Canadian teams. Florida one at sixth straight, shutting
out Columbus three nothing wins for Washington and Detroit as well.
Hurricanes have just won one nothing over the Stars. The
women's national title game in college hoops went to Stanford

(01:08:39):
fifty four fifty three over Arizona, which missed the final shot.
Wildcats shot twenty nine percent from the floor seventeen of
fifty nine in the title game. Stanford had defeated Arizona
twice in the regular season, beat him in a close
one tonight. What a story is Stanford was on the
road for nearly ten weeks due to the virus, eighty
six nights in hotels, and they cap it offen at

(01:09:00):
Antonio with a one point when in the national championship.
The men's title game is tomorrow. Number one ranked and
undefeated Gonzaga against Baylor in the NBA. Memphis has just
one at Philadelphia. E fact led by twenty six after
three quarters beat Philly one as Joel Embiad was out
tonight for Rest he just came back from injury last night.
Golden State is trailing at Atlanta with eight and a

(01:09:23):
half minutes ago. Steph Curry does have thirty points wins
for Boston. The Clippers in Chicago. Milwaukee gave Drew Holiday
a four year extension and Jordan's space when the Texas
opened by two strokes in San Antonio. The Masters starts Thursday,
chance of rain there by Friday and guys. John Rom's
wife gave birth this weekend. He had said he would
leave the Masters this week if she went into labor.

(01:09:45):
Then that's been taken care of. Back to you, Thank you,
Steve Segger. This is Fox Sports Sunday. I am Area Taures.
He is Bernie Freddo, of course, filling in for Jonas
Knox and Brady Quinn, who will be back in this
time slot next week. They're just enjoying little bit of
time off here on an Easter Sunday. Bernie, of course,
you can follow him on Twitter at Bernie Fratto. I

(01:10:06):
am at Aaron underscore Torres, Bernie, you can hear eleven
pm Pacific time straight out of Vegas again. The guys
will be back next week, Bernie. We have no shortage
of things to talk about. And I was gonna say
we should, of course thank JP Morrossi, who was incredible,
but go ahead, what we're gonna say, ma Man, Well,
one of the things we didn't get to is the

(01:10:27):
All Star Game situation in Atlanta, and they could should
come to. No one's surprised that politics and sports once
again intersect. Just four years ago, the NBA All Star
Game was moved out of Charlotte over the bathroom bill situation,
and the NFL took the Super Bowl out of Phoenix
for their refusal to recognize the Martin Luther King Holiday.

(01:10:49):
Even back when Jimmy Carter was president in nineteen seventy nine,
when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter boycotted the Night
Olympics which were to be held in Moscow. Four years later,
when the Olympics were held in Los Angeles, four the
Russians paid back the favor had bothered me. I lived
in Orange County at the time, went to a lot

(01:11:10):
of Olympic events. Didn't get to see the Russians. But
I digress. Politics, sports nothing new, So let me let
me jump in here, Burnie, And you know, I want
to make sure that people driving around kind of understand
the context. Will get back to what you were saying momentarily.
But MLB All Star Game was set for this summer
in Atlanta, like any other major sporting event, um, you know,

(01:11:31):
set up two, three, four, five years in advance, and
there is this new voting policy that some deemed to
be unfair, unfair to minorities, unfair to low income people, um.
And basically Major League Baseball in the Players Association said
we do not want our event in your state unless
the rules get changed. Obviously, the state of Georgia was
not going to do that, and so on Friday, Major

(01:11:53):
League Baseball did, in fact announced that the All Star
Game will not be in Atlanta this year. They're looking
for a new home for it. It appears as though
Colorado is going to be the next spot. But go
ahead and continue, But I just want to make sure
people had the baseline understanding. No, I thank you for
giving it that context. I guess I automatically assume because
it's been in the news and the forefront, people would

(01:12:13):
understand their reference. But you thanks you are for clarifying
where I was going with that is. And I'm not
going to debate the merits either side. What I am
going to say is this, it's a shame because even
the Atlanta Mayor has not come out and said it
will cost your city about a hundred million dollars on revenue.
And they were going to honor the great Hank Aaron
uh at the All Star Game that year, and people

(01:12:36):
are saying, well, you know, Hank would have wanted it
this way. You know, I'm not so sure, because Hank
was such a dignified man. He proved he could overcome
just about anything in his you know, very decorated career.
And I have I believe I'm qualified making a statement
because I spent a day with Hank Aaron at the
National Sports Collector's Convention. My boss, Mike Burgers was the promoter.

(01:12:58):
I was right in the middle of it and I
worked the green room. And Hank is one of the nicest,
most dignified people you will ever meet. You wish you
had his affability in his charisma, and you wish you
had his risk because he could turn on a fastball
like nobody's business. But Hank told me his story, an
I never forgot. I asked him once about some of
the dignities he suffered, and the worst one was in

(01:13:19):
the minor leagues. And brace yourself for this story, because
while he was traveling in the minor leagues in the
southern city and the black players were allowed to eat
at a certain restaurant, but they had to sit in
the back in their own room. And as they finished
their mail and excited to go back on the bus,
they heard the restaurant employees smashing dishes against the wall.

(01:13:41):
And Hank Karen told me, he said, you know that hurt.
If dogs would have eaten off those plates, they would
have watched the plates. When a man suffers that indignity
and spends the next thirty years becoming a Hall of
Famer first ballot, beating Babe Ruce record. Despite of all
the hate mail, he proved he could overcome. And so
it's unfortunate that one of the greatest players, certainly in

(01:14:02):
my lifetime and in the history of the game, will
not be celebrated that day in Atlanta. And that's my
two cents well and really quick. I think we have
to understand not only um, you know this law and everything,
but also Hank Aaron's history. He is a player who
started his career in the Negro leagues in you know,
a time when baseball was sort of coming out of integration,
but they weren't quite all the way there yet. And

(01:14:25):
you know, for me, I guess my issue with this
whole situation is, I don't believe the answer to anything
is picking up you know, your your bags and leaving town.
I think there was a way to have the All
Star Game, but but force political pressure to meet with
people that matter. Um, you know, the players are gonna
be there. There's obviously the players Union, everything like that. Um,

(01:14:45):
you know, I even look back to the NBA bubble
when everything happened with Jacob Blake and things like that.
They got on the phone with you know, Wisconsin lawmakers
and there were things that were done behind the scenes.
I just wasn't a fan personally of just saying well,
we're just not gonna comp wish there had been a
way not only to honor Hank Aaron, but you know,
you talk about him being dignified, all of those things

(01:15:06):
I suspect he would have wanted to bring both sides
to the table and kind of have an adult conversation
about the whole thing. I'm not saying the law is okay,
I'm not saying there are things that can't be changed.
But just saying we're not coming doesn't solve anything. It
doesn't get anything fixed. And I just I don't like
this trend in society where we're at right now, where
when I don't like something, I just don't show up.
I don't I don't want to be involved. The way

(01:15:27):
we get stuff done, the way we move forward as
a society is by sitting down with people we disagree with,
hearing both sides. And I do believe that what you've
said and what I've read about Hank Aaron, he would
have pushed for that really hard right. I know we've
got we're up against it, but I would just say
this that there are the law of unintended consequences and
a lot of local businesses that might have been kind
of on that revenue, including many minority owned, will not

(01:15:50):
be able to partake. And I feel, you know, while
baseball takes his victory lap, it's a little disingenuous. It
was really corporate money that threatened to pull out. But
let's not go down that road. Air in the bottom
line is this is an event that's taken place, and
I think we've put our two cents in and it's
a matter of allowing to see where this goes if
its own volition. Absolutely, uh plenty more to get to.

(01:16:10):
This is Fox Sports Sunday. I am Aaron Torres. He
is Bernie Fratto. Coming up, we've talked baseball. We gotta
go back to the NFL, as we talked about earlier,
the NFL three hundred sixty five day a year sport.
And unfortunately there is more news onto Shaun Watson that
has come out of late. This is Fox Sports Sunday,
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back, everybody. This is Fox Sports Radio,

(01:16:33):
Fox Sports Sunday on Fox Sports Radio. I am Aaron Torres.
He is Bernie Fratto, And I'm sorry, miss Jackson, who
who who originated this one? Bernie Fratto? This couldn't have
been outcast that that started this, Andre I don't know.
I oh is it? I thought it was outcast? Well,
hello Oka late singer. Oh my god, here's so much

(01:16:57):
timber than me. My goodness, I don't know. I just
know ootcasts as songs fifteen years old. I'm sorry, I'm
getting old. I got man. You're all right, man, You're
all right, all right. Here's here's listen. You're more hip
than I am. You know more music than I I do.
You obviously know more sports than I do. So let's
get back to sports, where I know a little bit.
And unfortunately, you know, sometimes we get to do really

(01:17:17):
fun stuff. We talked about games like in Zaga u
c L A coaching child like. We get to talk
fun sports stuff, but there are obviously serious topics in
the world of sports, and one of them continues to
evolve in the NFL where de Shaun Watson. You know,
we've kind of monitored this from a distance. I don't
know how much you've talked about on Straight out of Vegas,
but Arnie Spanning and I of course talked about it
UH Saturday nights from eight to eleven Pacific. It's been

(01:17:39):
a topic that we've hit on a few times, but
there's been some new twists. UM Houston Police Department is
officially launched investigation into Deshaun Watson. We now have a
new allegation not related to those brought by Tony buzz Me,
who of course has all of the women that have
worked with him on the civil case and so Burn.

(01:18:01):
You know again, you're you're so well versed in so
many different topics, and I know this topic really, UH
is something that you've had a lot of thoughts on.
Saul open the floor to you. I think the most
important thing here is we're not going to convict uh,
Deshaun Watson and the media, and right now it's just
a civil matter. I wouldn't want to be in isshoes,
but it's a civil matter. The Houston Police will take
a look at this complaint. Whether or not the complainant

(01:18:24):
is successful in having the District Attorney file actual criminal
charges remains to be seen. I'm a betting man. I
would bet against it. But what you keep hearing are
words like personal conduct code, the exempt list, suspension. Roger Goodell,
I want to unpack some of this so people can
understand what's really taking place, because the draft is twenty
five days away and we're heading towards a day of reckoning.

(01:18:46):
So when I hear people that are actually on the
radio get paid to do this, say well, I I
thought they put them on the example US by now
example from what there are no games, there are no
mini camps, there are no O t s, there are
no practices. The example has to do with a clause
that the commissioner created where there's special player status and
involving unusual circumstances. And Roger Goodell has it his discretion

(01:19:11):
the ability to put any player on the example list
if it's warranted. They're not there yet. Where Deshaun Watson
has run a follow the NFL law because let's face it,
the NFL is his sovereign entity. They can do what
they want. They've proven that he has probably violated the
Personal Conduct Code because his actions it could be perceived

(01:19:31):
as having violated the integrity of the NFL or the
public trust in terms of how people view the NFL.
You see, the Personal Conduct Code is rooted in pr
g'ts rooted in image. Roger Goodell wants the NFL image
to be pristine, the shield to be pristine. Look what
happened to Ezekiel Elliott. He got a six game suspension,

(01:19:52):
which is what I'm expecting Deshaun Watson is probably going
to get because Roger Goodell right now, it's my understanding
and his group, and they have more resources in the
state of Texas. Isn't is conducting your own internal investigation
right now? So I I think that coming down the

(01:20:12):
road here you're going to see some sort of statement,
but they're gathering information. Having said that, the irony is,
and I look, I hope they can get this thing solved.
But should criminal charges be filed against the Shawn Watson
and he ends up on the example list, the irony
is he'll still be paid when you go on the

(01:20:34):
example list of the NFL. Again, you can't go to practices,
you can't go to many camp, you can't go to
o t age, you can't play in games, you don't
count on the fifty three man roster. But while you
are exempt from playing, you are paid your salary. Would
that not be the ultimate irony. We've got to watch
what's gonna happen here now in the next three to
four weeks because after the draft, these official at these

(01:20:54):
official team activities are going to start so really quick
because we got just limited time left. What is the
next step? Do you believe from the NFL's perspective, we're
not lawyers none of that, but what just to put
him on that exempleate for a time being. Not yet,
I don't think we're near that yet to this point.
I first of all, Deshaun Watson has already said he's

(01:21:15):
not gonna show up and never play for him again,
So Roger Goodoll doesn't have to do anything right now.
I would say the next step is the NFL gathers
more information and should Deshaun Rodson elect to return this
year to to any team, I think he's looking at
a six games suspension, because that's the baseline when you're suspended. Well,
I do think it's probably pretty safe to say that

(01:21:35):
he will not be playing for anyone other than Texas
this year. I have to imagine it's gonna be very,
very very hard to trade forward Deshaun Watson at this
moment in time, with everything going on on the field
off the field, and as you said, Bernie, I mean,
it's an important time in the NFL calendar. It feels weird.
April does not feel like it should be an important
time for the NFL, But NFL Draft is coming up.

(01:21:57):
Teams want to set their boards and frankly, uh, this
is probably part of the reason the forty Niners made
the trade that they did to three weeks ago, maybe
they would maybe considered training for Shaun Watson. Not now
more football coming up, but more college basketball. This is
Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Sunday, Aaron Torres and Bernie Fratto.
That's right, this is us Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Sunday.

(01:22:19):
I am Aaron Torres. He is Bernie Fratto, coming to
you live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Obviously it
goes without saying Brady Quinn, Jonas Knox taking a very
deserved Easter Sunday off. We hope everybody listening across the country,
whether you're at home, whether you're in the car coming
back from Grandma, Grandpa's, wherever you were, wherever you are

(01:22:39):
on Easter Sunday, we hope you had a great holiday. Bernie,
I know I asked you, but you have a good
Easter Sunday. Before we we came into studio here, this
evening absolutely terrific. I had a little brunch with my
wife is you know, my kids live in other states
and my parents live in California. But yeah, I spent
the day Connie my blessing today. He was looking forward
to doing the show, and I, like I said earlier, Aaron,

(01:23:00):
when you juxtapose where we are today is to where
we were a year ago. And I think it's reflective
by the fact that sports are returning, and I think
that's a metaphor for society is coming out with this
fog we've been in. So I spent Easter Sunday, Economy,
my blessings, fantastic. Jonas and Brady will be back. Of
course you can hear who will be back next week,
I should say next Sunday back in this regular time slot.

(01:23:23):
You can, of course hear Bernie every Saturday night eleven
pm Pacific, straight out of Vegas. Uh. You can hear
me with Arnie span R eight to eleven leading Indus
straight out of Vegas. Make sure to follow Bernie on
Twitter at Bernie Fratto. I am at Aaron Underscore Tours
and we have bounced around a ton today, Bernie. Make
sure everybody to go back listen to the podcast. You

(01:23:44):
can download it off of Fox Sports Radio dot Com.
UH later after this show, but we gotta get back
to the story of the week, the story of the
weekend for sure, and that is the Gonzaga u c
l A game and unbelievable finish and unbelievable UH game.
On Saturday night, Gonzaga beats U c l A on
a buzzer beater. Here is how it sounded on Westwood One.

(01:24:07):
Here comes sucks long three for the way, thanks at home,
Banks at home, Jalen sugs deep banked three. Just then
Gonzaga one step close ser to history. There was Westwood
one and all time classic game again U c l

(01:24:28):
A at the buzzer falls to Gonzaga ninety three to
ninety Just an absolutely iconic game. I cannot emphasize it
enough and insanely high level of play as Gonzaga finishes
the game shooting fifty eight percent from the field, U
c l A fifty seven. Obviously, over the last twenty
four hours, Bernie Fratto, a lot of people have spent
a lot of time comparing it to the Duke Kentucky

(01:24:50):
game of ninety two Villanova North Carolina, that title game
from a few years ago. Last thought on on last
night before we get into tomorrow night, as gonzag it
will play Baylor for the national championship. Closing thoughts on
what was one of the great games that I certainly
believe I've ever seen in college basketball. You know my
closing thought, I want to piggyback on something you said

(01:25:10):
a couple of weeks ago, spot on, can you believe
what Scott Drew has done with this team? Since he
took over a Baylor program in two thousand three that
had to do with a murder, improper payments, severe n
c A sanctions. Since then, Baylor has been a perennial contender.
Last year Bailor won three in a row, three a
significant stretch, and this season they've had the COVID issues.

(01:25:34):
But this is an incredible team that can make history
by knocking off an undefeated team. We've been waiting for
this since nineteen seventy six, Bobby Knights Indiana team obviously
U and l V. We're gonna talk about them in
a second. I happen to believe they're the greatest undefeated
team who didn't go undefeated. To work with me for
two thousand and fourteen, which a top state was undefeated.

(01:25:55):
They're losing around to thirty two to Kentucky. And in
two thousand fifty neck great Can Tuckie team that looked
invincible loses to Wisconsin in the Final Four. So tomorrow night,
one of two things is going to happen. An undefeated
team will do the first thing hasn't been done since
nineteen seventy six, when you're not only go undefeated, but
you win the national championship, or they'll be upset. It's

(01:26:17):
an upset technically because Baylor is the underdog by a
school who fifteen years ago that couldn't get the couldn't
get the program out of the ditch. Well, and to
to your point, and we've spent so much time talking
Gonzaga U c l A. As we should have, what
Baylor has done is so incredible. And the point that
you brought up is so important, Bernie, is they went
twenty six and four last year. And I've actually made

(01:26:38):
the point on you know podcast my own podcast Radio
with Arnie Spanier, Fox Sports Radio, eight pm Saturday nights.
One of the things that I've said, I actually think,
in some ways, as weird as it sounds, there was
as much pressure for Baylor to get to the Final
four this year as there was Gonzaga. Now Gonzaga, once

(01:26:59):
they entered the tournament their undefeated, it's a different deal.
But Baylor was really built to win last year, it
didn't happen. We'll never know. Actually, ironically, when the season
was canceled on a Thursday, I filled in on Fox
Sports Sunday with Dan Buyer. We had Scott Drew on
our show that day. We talked to coach a lot about,
you know, what it was like to have such an

(01:27:20):
abrupt ending. He handled it with complete class. But that
team was built for last year and they did not
expect to have everybody back. The pandemic guys couldn't work out,
and so for that team to come back intact, for
a couple of guys to decide not to pursue professional options,
including their star player Jared Butler, they came back with
a final four or bust kind of mentality this year,

(01:27:41):
and so I just want to give them a little
bit of credit and we will talk a little bit
more about them next segment. But I do want to
bounce back to Gonzaga because, as you reference, Bernie, we
have not had an undefeated national champion since uh since
nineteen seventy six with Indiana, and I think most people
do remember that. Of course, iconic Kentucky team with Devin Booker,
Carl Anthony Towns uh, the Harrison Twins, Willie Calliste. Not

(01:28:04):
as many people driving around. Maybe remember that U n
l V team from one They of course won the
championship in ninety beat you beat Duke by thirty in Denver.
Come back the following year and they get Duke in
the final four. Could not finish that season undefeated. You
saw him in person, you know, coach Tark before he passed. Well,

(01:28:25):
where where are you at with this Gonzaga team were
at the very least just what U n l V
tried to do thirty years ago versus what you Gonzaga
is doing right now. Well, and I am a little
biased because, first of all, I saw that team, the
ninety team and the ninety one team play five times
in person, including at the Brent Center against U c
I when coach Bill Mulligan was there, and here at

(01:28:46):
the Thomas and MACKI, even Southern play Jimmy Valvano's North
Carolina State team. There was nothing like that un LV
team at ninety one. First of all, not only were
the undefeated heading into the final four and burying teams,
they were the defending champions. The under feedd uh V
six Hoosiers were not the defending champions. You and l
V was Now it's been surmised that the pressure of

(01:29:10):
being undefeated got to them. Not true. If anything, the
Rebels were Frankly, they were over over confident. Even in practice.
Two days before the game, Jerry Tarkanian intimated as much,
concerned that his team felt they already had Duke beaten.
They were a little too relaxed. As a matter of fact,
before the game, one of Duke's guards were starting to
guard Thomas Hill. He stared at the Rebels during their
pregame warm ups and it really got ticked off. And

(01:29:32):
later in an interview he said, You and l V.
They were so cool and enchalant like that, where this
is gonna be a cake walk. We're gonna go back
to back, We're gonna go and defeated. Hill looked at
his teammate Brian Davidson said quote, we got these mo fos.
We got these dudes because they take us lightly. They
don't think we can beat them. Well, I'm gonna tell
you something, and that that Duke team, that Duke team
was better. Even though You and l V he had

(01:29:53):
beaten him one oh three to seventy three the year before,
Bobby Hurley and Grant uh and Christian Late and they
were a year older and they had some young freshman
sensation named Grant Hill. And I will tell you that
Duke train specifically for their length and athleticism. And Coach
k will say you to this day, Douke hatch something
to prove well. You and V lead at halftime and

(01:30:14):
they were leading seventy seventy with four minutes to go.
Greg Anthony filed out at that time again you and
l V led by six. The dynamic changed. The Blue
Devils would go on to prevail. You've got to give
due credit because that became a pivotal moment in their history.
Even Grant Hill said that legitimized them as a serious program. Now,

(01:30:36):
Coach tark died in February, and I was at the
funeral and I talked to Stacy Ogman and he said,
twenty five years later, he admitted that game still hurt.
That was an incredible team. That team would have beat
Niskenzaga team. I'm not gonna go into the Amiba defense
how good they were. And there will never be a
Jerry Tarkanian again. There just never will be. He was

(01:30:57):
not only one of the most engaging and entertaining coaches
in history on the level he obviously one had him
out on our radio show in he was way ahead
of his time and I asked him, coach, you revolutionized
recruiting junior college players. He said, yeah, I love JC players.
Their cars are already paid for. It was good. And
then and then, and then Aaron You correctly pointed out

(01:31:19):
that that game in the Final Four, the year they
wanted was played in McNicol Arena in Denver where there
was elevation, and the media said, well that U and
l V would have trouble with the elevation be they
wouldn't be able to play as aggressively, and reporters got
into some players heads before the game. Jerry Tarcadian said,
don't worry about it, boys, the game's being played indoors.

(01:31:39):
And then one of well, real quick burn. But I
just want to I want to bring it back to
Gonzaga for a second, because I do think that was
an important point that came out of last night, and
it was something already spanning. And I talked a little
bit about By the way, you can hear Arnie and
Chris Plank at the top of the hour here as
they recapped the day in Sports look Ahead as well.
Gonzaga last night, there was no thing about overlooking Fluke.

(01:32:03):
U c l A just played the game of their lives.
And I think we have to give them credit, and
so I'll throw it back to you talk a little
bit about, you know, Gonzaga if you want more on
U n l V. But this was not Gonzaga overlooking
U c l A. This was U c l A
playing the game of their lives. And credit to Gonzaga overcome.
And it's really funny because that final play one eighty
one Johnny Jusang block charge with a few seconds to go,

(01:32:27):
that felt like the Greg Anthony play where Greg Anthony
followed out it. It would have been on Drew Timmy.
If it was called a block, it was called a charge.
Gonzaga comes back to him. But I just want to
point that out. Is that Gonzaga one last night? But
had they not one? It was not because they overlooked anybody.
It was because played the game of their lives. Well again,
this is we're living in a different era right now.

(01:32:47):
There's a totally different dynamic and spokan than there certainly
would be in here in Las Vegas. You had to
be there to see the running rebels. There rose a gucciro.
Frank Sinatra went to the game for crying out loud,
there was there was nothing like it. You've got to
give Gonzaga lot of credit. You've got to give U. C.
L A. A A lout of credit which you saw were
two incredible performances last night. One team shot, one team
shot fifty eight percent. The losing team scored ninety points. Now,

(01:33:10):
the Bulldogs have been favored in every single game this year,
but they're always going to be expensive. They're only sixteen
and fourteen six two against the spread so far this year,
so it's not like they're, you know, killing teams in
the sense that the spread is so high they automatically cover. Now,
they cover when the spread is less than twenty one
points pretty handily. But they've been heavily favored in most

(01:33:34):
of their games. Tomorrow. It's interesting because Baylor is twenty
six and fifteen is a dog since and they've won
those games. Are right, They're live, You are right, Aaron.
Gonzaga is much more of a humble, workman like team
than the showman uh unw runner Rebels who actually Jerry
Buss tried to hire Jerry Tarkanian to coach the Lakers

(01:33:55):
at one point, you simply can't compare those eras. You
can't compare the dynamic of the two teams in any way,
shape or form. I would just say this, Gonzaga, they
wouldn't be human if they didn't feel the pressure or
knowing that there's history. However, you gotta give them credit
also because they're not only in their second national championship game.
They did lose to North Carolina back in but they

(01:34:18):
could have won that game. They took it right to
the wire. So tomorrow when these two teams take the floor,
either team could win, could win. I think there's more
pressure on Gonzaga, and they wouldn't be human if they
didn't know it. Yeah. I think we're just at the
point now where it's a national championship game. I actually
believe it, or not thought there was. If they were
gonna get upset, it would be in a national semifinal,

(01:34:38):
it would be an Elite eight. I think at this
point they're just gonna be fired up to go, But
there are variables that could lead them to lose, simply
because Baylor is a fantastic team. We're gonna talk about that.
Come up. This is Fox Sports Sunday, Fox Sports Radio.
I'mara Torres. He's Bernie Fretto. We're filling in for Jonas Knox,
Freddie Quinn, Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back everybody, Fox Sports Radio,

(01:35:00):
Fox Sports Sunday. Here on Fox Sports Radio. He is
Bernie Fratto. I am Aaron tore As. We're filling in
for Jonas Knox and Brady Quinn burn the shows flying
by my man, Why don't we do three or four
more hours? I'm not sure Chris Blank and Arnie will
like that, but we're ready to go. America would be
thrilled if they did not have to hear Arnie span
here at the top of the hour. But on four,

(01:35:20):
come on, come on, listen. It's thankfully he is. Thankfully
he has two great radio partners to keep him in Lyne.
Chris Blank does an incredible job on Sunday nights. Arnie,
I know you're listening, buddy, so Arnie of course, and
and Chris Blank will follow. I am on with with
Arnie eleven to two am Eastern, eight to eleven Pacific.

(01:35:41):
On Saturdays. Bernie follows us straight out of Vegas. Make
sure to follow Bernie on Twitter at Bernie Fratto. I
am at Aaron Underscore Torres. Last segment, we gave a
little bit of a historical kind of context to tomorrow
night's game Gonzaga Baylor. It is the national championship game,
and Zack is about a four and a half point
favor going in and Gonzaga's favor. They're they're going for history,

(01:36:03):
they're going for the first undefeated seasons this nineteen seventy six.
And we've danced around it. We talked about last night's game,
we've talked about all the different stuff around it. When
when those two teams actually step on the floor to marrow, Bernie,
what do you believe will be keys of the game.
It's an excellent point and I'm very well prepared to
answer it. You know, one of the takeaways last night
eron was Gonzaga had fifty six points in the paint

(01:36:26):
versus U c l A a pretty good interior defensive team.
Gonzaga also had forty six points in the paint versus USC.
Part of that, the Trojans in their big time low
post defense, well they hadn't allowed more than thirty six
points in the low post in any game all season,
so I do believe Gonzaga has a significant low post presence.

(01:36:46):
So the ultimate key for Gonzaga is for Drew Timmy
to get busy early and for the rest of the
Zaggs to use the energy from his dunks and big
shots to chip and see Timmy can be the difference
because Bailey really doesn't have anyone who can stop this guy.
He's six tan, he's crafty, he's got amazing footwork, He's
got great moves around the basket. He's a phenomenal passer.

(01:37:08):
Once teams start to double him or collapse on him,
or they become undisciplined on defense, He's got a great
supporting cash. I mean, he's teammates Juela g i A
Andrew Nembar. They came up big against U c. L
A on offense, and Gonzaga's defense could be the most
pivotal against Baylor's guards. Now, how can Baylor cut down
the nets? They gotta make their threes, Aaron, The Bears

(01:37:32):
are there there twenty seven and two on the year
for a reason, because they're that good. They might have been.
You know, my buddy Jay ship who's listening texting me
said take covid away, they might have been undefeated. I
agree with that. And now Baylor looked really solid in
their first three or four tournament wins, but they looked
invincible against Houston when they came them yesterday. So here's

(01:37:52):
the way you gotta look at it. When Baylor is
connecting on the three pointers, there's really not a defense
that can get in the way. Scott Drew, He's got
a team with multiple exceptional guards. You've got Jared Butler,
he's an All American Dabian Mitchell. But it's not just them,
it's their supporting cast MA c O, t Adam Flagler,
Matthew Mayer. They make this team an incredible dynamic offense,

(01:38:15):
and all of Baylor's guards can penetrate to keep defenses honest.
So preparing for Baylor's perimeter game it's a lot harder
than it looks. Well, and let me jump in here
really quick. You mentioned the three point shooting. Baylor is
the best three point shooting team in college basketball. Forty
one eight percent is a team and of their five
key leading scores, four of them shoot over and the

(01:38:39):
fifth guy is Macot who said, a Bailor single game
record with ten threes in a game. So it speaks
to how incredible they are. The thing that jumps out
to me, Bernie, and I want your opinion on this,
the thing that would scare me a little bit if
I'm a Bailor fan going against Gonzaga. The blueprint was
established last night. It took thirty games, but the blueprint
is you have to play slow. You cannot try to

(01:39:04):
run with Gonzaga because that is how they play, that
is what they do. You know, I talked to somebody
at usc UH, you know, kind of around the program,
and and they said, until you get on the floor
with them, you don't realize how fast they are, how
quickly they turn even sometimes your own baskets into layups
on the other end. And so I guess that is
my concern a little bit from Baylor's perspective, U c

(01:39:27):
l A did everything right last night, and they made
sure even when they could fast break, they pulled it out,
ran twenty eight seconds off the clock, and as we know,
they basically made every shot they took. Does it concern
you at all that Baylor is going to be willing
to play a little bit faster, because thirty teams have
tried to play that way, uh and none of them
had success. Only when you ce l A slowed things

(01:39:48):
down didn't work out well for Well. I'm looking at
a couple of matchups here, Jalen Sugs and Davean Mitchell.
Mitchell's the Nay Smith defensive player of the Year and
he's kind of got a wide body who can be
very disruptive on the perimeter. That's an interesting matchup. Look
the Zags, you nailed it, Aaron. They played toward pace.
They ranked seventh in the country and Ken Palm's adjusted tempo,

(01:40:08):
and they do a very good job of sucking slow
paced teams into the run and gun style. Actually, even
though u c l A tried to slow things down,
they eventually got caught up in the pace as well.
And when you look at teams that are efficient at
shooting and teams that gave them a little trouble like
Oklahoma and even Kansas for a bit of time, they
shot well. U c l A pushed cons ocutative the

(01:40:29):
brink by making fifty from the floor. That was the
highest field goal percentage against the Bulldogs all season. Baylor
is going to have to do that. Now, there's one
other thing. There's one other thing, gun to my head.
You could be argued that Baylor does have better depth
because when they destroyed Houston, they displayed how deep Scott

(01:40:50):
Drew's team can go. Now, in the overtime game versus
U c l A last night, coach Mark, you only
used two players, Anton Watson and Aaron Cook off the
bench for a total of nineteen minutes. Nineteen minutes. Might
that be a factor tomorrow night? I'm not sure. Well,
let me jump in there, because I think that's another

(01:41:10):
important key. It is a concern for me from Gonzaga's perspective.
I gave you my my concern for Baylor as I
smacked the mic here, I apologize for anybody driving around
your car. Um, you know, my concern for Baylor is
playing at that pace. But on the flip side, Burn,
that's my concern for Gonzaga. Do you worry at all
about emotional game ninety three points overtime buzzer beater? You

(01:41:33):
know you were a young kid once we were all young.
I mean whatever, I'm not saying you're younger or whatever.
They probably didn't come down from the emotional high of
that game until two thirty three o'clock three thirty four
am this morning. Now they have to turn around less
than forty eight hours later. And to your point, Bernie,
they really basically only play five guys. Does that concern
you're going into tomorrow night? You know what concerns me

(01:41:55):
more is who gets off to a fast start? Aaron,
you and are you always ask great questions on Saturday
Night about bets and prop bets. One of the interesting
prop bets for tomorrow night's game is which team will
get to fifteen points first. It's called the first to
fifteen prop, and Baylor is a slight underdog at plus
one oh five because Gonzaga is always known for his
fast starts. I mean, they they average forty six points

(01:42:18):
and came in the opening half. But what's interesting is
the Zags lost that race last night's u c l A.
And if they if Gonza check that, if Baylor gets
out and scores the first fifteen and they've been actually
a little bit more consistent this year of being the
team that gets to fifteen points before their opponent. They've

(01:42:38):
actually done it last eight games in a row. That
is where you start to become a little concerned because
the longer Baylor becomes confident, as U c. L a
Did last night, the game becomes more about will and
less about skill, even though both teams have plenty of skill.
I think Baylor's playing with a little bit of house money.
Everybody expects Gonzaga to win. I shouldn't say that's not fair.

(01:43:00):
A lot of people believe that if Gonzaga doesn't win,
what they've done for the past three months goes out
the window and they're gonna be a bridesmaid, even though
they've gone to twenty two straight tournaments, six straight Sweet
sixteen and almost beating North Carolina four years ago. So
I think the way of the world is a little
bit more on Gonzaga. It doesn't worry me that they
only play five. They've been doing it. They can do it.

(01:43:20):
The concern might be a slow start because Baylor could
put their foot on the gas absolutely and it was funny.
I think Arnie and I talked about it uh Saturday night.
We were, of course on air when that Jalen Suggs
buzzer beater hit. I encourage everybody go download our podcast,
by the way, as the reaction that he and I
both had was insane and of course download straight out
of Vegas Bernie Frado's podcast from Saturday Night as well.

(01:43:44):
But you know, that was one of the things that
we talked about, is if we were betting the game,
what angles would we take? I actually like Baylor in
the first half, I would probably lean over. Here's the
good thing you are, among many things a Vegas insider,
you are gonna have some incredib doable gambling knowledge on
this game. We're gonna get to that momentarily, but first

(01:44:05):
let's get to Steve to Seger with what's trending. I
know when Aaron Torres yukon fed it was a great
moment for you ten years ago tonight, but this is
the anniversary of maybe the worst final. You know, let
me say something about this right now because this bothers me.
When I was at that game, uh and it did

(01:44:25):
feel a little boring, but I celebrate. I had a
good time, sure, but remember U c l A. Memphis
Regional Final was at least as bad. But any U
c l A will if you can't tell you that
was great. Here is the thing that nobody remembers. That
year was the year that the Lakers played the Celtics
in a game seven and what did Kobe shoot to say,
or something like four for twenty four or something like

(01:44:46):
that because he put off knee surgery. But yeah, well
yeah whatever, what semantics. The point is the Lakers shot
a lower percentage in game seven of an NBA Finals
and one the NBA Finals the same year. Then Yukon
did that night. Let at fact never be underappreciated, which
goes back to my first sentence, good night for you,

(01:45:07):
and it was a good night for Lakers fans. It
doesn't mean that, you know, I just everybody always tries
to tear down that championship game, and it's not. It
was an awful game. It's not the first or last
time there will be bad basketball played. Congratulations to coach
Calhoun on his third national championship. Kemba Walker, Shabaz Napier,
Jeremy Lamb. Listen, how about this eleven straight neutral court

(01:45:29):
games to end that season they won. I've talked to
Jim Calhoun about it. He said the winning the Big
East Tournament five games in five days was tougher than
winning the n c A Tournament, which is the swaggiest
Jim Calhoun thing that he could possibly say, and Bernie,
do you recall that game ten years ago tonight? Very much?
I played the under, honest to God, hand to hand
to God, like they say in New Jersey. I played

(01:45:49):
the under and I loved every minute. I was gonna say,
that was probably the easiest ticket you ever killed. Oh
my goodness, yes, I looked it up. I did not remember.
Yukon was actually down three at the half. The final
score was fifty three one over Butler. Butler shot nine
from the floor in the national title game with about
six minutes to go. Butler had twenty eight points. You know,

(01:46:10):
it was sad about that game. It was Kentucky VC.
You were the other two teams that year, and it
was Kentucky's first Final four since Tubby Smith. And there
were more Kentucky fans that just had tickets for that
game that we're in the arena for that game than
there were you Kinter Butler fans. But I don't blame them.
They stuck around. It was their first Final four and
thirteen years. They were excited to be there. College basketball fans, yes,

(01:46:33):
but but that was one thing among many that stands
out to me. I also don't really remember much after
the game, which is another conversation, we'll have an hour
number four. I couldn't find as bad a game as
that in a final in the couple of decades. Before
that game, there was when Duke wound up eating the
Fab five of Michigan by twenty but looking it up,
Duke was down one at the half. So sure Michigan
had twenty turnovers that night, but that was nothing like

(01:46:55):
a team with twenty eight points with six minutes left.
You didn't have fun that night to say, let's move on.
Is there anything else going on in sports? I'm got
a news desk. That was news. That was man bites dog.
That was bad. Well, tomorrow night we've got the men's
title game, number one ranked and undefeated Gonzaga against Baylor.
And speaking of poor shooting, we had the women's national
championship game tonight. Arnie's Arizona Wildcats shot from the floor

(01:47:19):
seventeen of fifty nine, including missing the final shot, essentially
triple teamed on the last possession. Stanford wins the national
title fifty three over Arizona. There have now been four
different national champs on the women's side in the last
four years, since Yukon won four in a row. In
the NBA. Milwaukee gave Drew Holiday a four year extension.

(01:47:39):
The Clippers will give to Marcus Cousins a ten day
contract this week. According to The Athletic, Philadelphia sat Joel
and beat and lost at home to Memphis. Tonight Atlanta
beat Golden State Steph Curry thirty seven points, eight turnovers.
New Orleans has picked up a win at Houston. The
Rockets record thirteen and thirty six for New Orleans. No

(01:48:00):
Zion Williamson or Brandon Ingram again due to injuries. So
who picked up the slack Alonzo ball with twenty seven
points and nine assists and from three point range. This
is alonzo ball with three pointers. People. He was eight
of fifteen in this New Orleans road win. Boston and
the Clippers each one Chicago as well. In the NHL

(01:48:20):
wins for Detroit's and Washington. Jordan's speed took the Texas
opened by two strokes and that show hey Otani game
is continuing. He's still on the mound in Anaheim. Angels
lead three one over the White Sox top of the fifth.
It's his game because he's not only pitching, he's batting
second in the lineup, and he homered on his first
at bat. It went about four hundred fifty feet. Tonight,
Dodgers in Houston, each one again, Baltimore in Philadelphia, each

(01:48:43):
one again. But Tomorrow's National's Braves game has been postponed
due to covid Becka, Aaron Taurres, Burdie Freda. That is
Steve de Sager. Thank you very much to Sagar. This
is Fox Sports Sunday. I am Aria Taurus. He is
Bernie Freddo were of course filling in for Brady Quinn
and Jonas and Box. The fellows will be back next
week enjoying an Easter Sunday with their families. Bertie, you

(01:49:06):
had the under a Yukon Butler ten years ago. I
had Baylor whatever it was minus whatever last night. I
think it was five is what it closed at Easy Cashes.
But you are Mr Vegas. You live in Vegas. Uh.
You might be doing it from one of the sports
but we might be doing the show from a sports
book right now. I don't know where you're at, but

(01:49:27):
this will be, I believe, probably the most bet on
National Championship game ever, as we get as obviously legalized
sports gambling is becoming more and more prevalent and popular
and just in general, there's more people that want the
information that you provide every Saturday night straight out of Vegas.
Of course you can hear straight out of Vegas Monday
through Friday with Jonas Knox and with the Gang there,

(01:49:48):
and so I bring it. R J bel of course,
is the other host there. But what I bring up
a lot of people want to bet. A lot of
people need information. You and r J have the best
information in the business. What do people need to know
going into tomorrow night? I'm gonna watch the handle just
piggybacking on what you said, because it is Baylor and Gonzaga,
not Duke in Kentucky or Duke in North Carolina. There's

(01:50:09):
a little bit of an issue on how interested the
casual better will be. That said, I think their hand
will be huge tomorrow night. Let's take a look at
the over under, which is one fifty nine and a
half and the side currently Baylor catching four and a
half points. For the record, I haven't fired on either
side yet, but when you consider the Bulldogs are the
number one offensive team the nation. They're averaging just under

(01:50:31):
ninety two points a game and that's I mean coal
Gate average five, but the Bulldogs and Gonzaga Bulldogs are
number one and Gonzaga was fourth. They average eighty three
points in the game, and as you said earlier, they
lead the country in three point percentage. I love Baylor's guards.
The Zags played a toward paced the ranks seventh in

(01:50:52):
the country and Ken Palm's adjusted temple. They do an
incredibly excellent job of making people play at their temple.
But I gotta tell you, and by the way, when
they played Kansas earlier in the year, they both teams
combined for a hundred and ninety two points. So the
bottom line, both of these teams are very efficient when
it comes to shooting. Gonzaga leads the country. They've got

(01:51:12):
an effective field goal percentage of almost sixty Baylor's fourth
at When you combine that efficiency with a speedy temple
that the Zags play, you've got all the ingredients for
a shootout. It's hard for me to see this game
not going over. So if I play it, it will
be on the over. Can't back the under. You got

(01:51:33):
anything you want to respond to that? They I'll get
to the side. Uh No, I mean the over feels
right to me. Um, you know, too, great offenses and
to efficient offenses. Baylor, of course, is a better defensive team.
I think some of Gonzaga's numbers are a little bit
skewed because they play so fast and they get up
so big. But no, the under the over excuse me,

(01:51:54):
feels about right to me. Curious what you have to
say about the side. Well, Aaron, if you look at
the teams that came the closest to beat in the
Zags this season, U C l A West Virginia. That
was two game. Although Jalen Suggs got hurt that game
and Kansas hung with him for a while, they didn't
try to slow down the Zags. They went blow for

(01:52:16):
blow because the numbers bear that out. Now, Gonzaga is
more than capable of going blow for blow with the
Gonzaga Bulldogs as well, because the Bears are the best
three point shooting team in the country, and they can
pressure the eggs ball handlers and the turnovers, and if
they get live ball turnovers that typically that's not going

(01:52:38):
to allow a team to get into its defensive set.
They've got the athletes to run the floor and transition.
Baylor is very good. I think this is gonna be
a very close national title battle between clearly the two
best teams in the country, Eileen, Baylor plus the points.
I'm not a fish better. Meaning if I think Gonzaga
is gonna win but not cover the spread, well I

(01:53:00):
don't bet that way. If you like Baylor, you take
the points. I do. However, do think it wouldn't be surprised,
wouldn't surprise me at all if Baylor want to check that.
If Gonzago won but Baylor hung the number, so lean
Baylor points, lean over. I'll have my final analysis tomorrow.
I've just got to study this game further. And I

(01:53:20):
gotta tell you sometimes when you wake up game day,
you look at things just a little bit differently, really curious.
Where can people find the latest information you need to
put it out on Twitter? Or where can they get
your final if you decide to play aside, well, I think, well,
you know what I'll tweet on Twitter. Oh so you're
asking me if I make a bet on the game.
I mean people are gonna want your analysis tomorrow, Burne.

(01:53:40):
I'm just I want to send people to the right place.
That's I encourage everybody on Twitter. This this will be
tweeted out. I'll tweet it out the UH the podcast
to this and will encourage people to listen and UH
and they can pick it up right there because I
got a little long winded, but I will probably tweet
it out if I do play aside tomorrow. I would
say this, folks, just becomes the games on TV. Doesn't
mean you have to bet it. And I would say

(01:54:01):
also that you always want to manage your bankroll. You
don't want to do anything silly. You know, if you
want to put pizza money on the game, fine, because
I do know that betting a game the viewing it.
It enhances the viewing participation of a game. It certainly
feeds the competitive nature of most betters. So maybe do
something like that. This is a tough one to handicap.
I really mean that this is really easy. And what's

(01:54:23):
interesting is which you saw last night. Baylor was supposed
to have a grinder against Houston and they blew them out.
Gonzaga was supposed to I say this in quotes blowout
U c l A. You know, Aaron, we talked about
this last night with you and Arnie. The history of
double digit seeds in the Final four hasn't been good.
In two thousand six, Florida blew out George Mason. In

(01:54:44):
two thousand eleven, you and sere just talking about that
Butler team. They hammered VCU in the final four by eight,
or well, they did hammer him, but they beat him
by eight. North Carolina beat a pretty good, good Jim
Beeheim Syracuse team in by seventeen, and then Michigan beat
loyalist sister Geane by twelve. U c. L A broke
that mold last night. So the history of double digit

(01:55:07):
seeds in the final four, they gave Gonzaga a real
scare and they faced their maker. By the way, also,
there have been fourteen upsets in this tournament, which set
a new March Madness record. The previous record was thirteen
in two thousand and fourteen, and that tid would happen
in So if anybody thinks they're really confident going into
this game, when you lay the wood tomorrow, you got

(01:55:28):
one on me because I'm really not confident on either side.
Really quickly. Sometimes people do like to see where the
public is betting and fade the public. You said the
majority of tickets are on Baylor early on, Yes, sixty
percent of the tickets currently are on Baylor plus the
points se the tickets are on the over. But you know,
I don't treat that any different. I think we're kind

(01:55:49):
of past to fade the public. Uh narrative and square
versus sharp. There's so much accessible information out there. There
are very a lot of very sharp public bettors out there,
and information, accurate information is so much more readily available now.
And the statistics in the metrics are you know, can
anybody can get their hands on them, So the book
doesn't have the edge over the player as much as

(01:56:10):
they used to do on the past. And I saw
many games this year where I'll give you an example.
I went on your show with Arnie a week and
a half ago, a couple of weeks ago, and my
favorite play in round the round of thirty two, or
it's checked that the round of sixty four, uh was
Ohio plus seven in their game and they went out
right and the tickets ron Ohio that day. And that

(01:56:32):
doesn't mean you say, well, I can't do that now.
I gotta fade the public because everybody's the other way.
There are times you do that, but I will tell
you what you do there's art and science, Aaron, and
the science involves the number, and the art is the
interpretation of the number because when the game is played
that day, you want to see if the numbers line
up with what's likely to happen that day. Because if
one team is a favorite over the other and the
numbers don't line up all of a sudden their quarterbacks out,

(01:56:54):
then the art becomes the interpretation of the science. More
information from Bernie Fratto tomorrow on his Twitter Eat at
Bernie Freddo. I am at Aaron Underscore Tores. One segment left.
We make our official picks for the National Championship Game.
This is Fox Sports Sunday on Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back, everybody.
This is Fox Sports Sunday. I am Aaron Torres. He

(01:57:17):
is Bernie Freddo. We're filling in for Jonas Knox and
Brady Quinn. The Fellas will be back next week. I
should mention Arnie Spaniard and Chris Plank will follow us
here at the top of the hour. This segment brought
to you by Navy and for hot water that never
runs out, goes tank go tankless with Navy and Navy
and tankless water heaters provide endless hot water for spotlight comfort.

(01:57:39):
Visit Tankless made Simple dot Com and save hundreds with
ree with local rebates. Tankless made Simple dot Com. Alright, Bernie, Uh,
national championship games? Okay, so Deshaun Watson and maybe now
I'm just kidding, Let's stick with basketball. Uh. But people
should go back and listen to to the podcast if

(01:58:00):
you're just tuning in. We talked to Shaun Watson earlier.
Major League Baseball had J P. MORROSSI fun show, love
working with you, Bernie. But there is a a signature
event on our sports calendar. We didn't get it last year.
Of course, the college basketball National Championship Game. You gave
us some great betting Vegas stuff in the last segment.
Who are you picking tomorrow? All right, I'm gonna answer

(01:58:21):
the question directly because I never like it when people equivocate.
You know, you asked him. You have a hard time
make it up your mind. Oh yeah, well yes and no.
Al Right, So this is my prediction for tomorrow. I've
said the whole night that this is a situation where
the Baylor Bears have to make their threes to win
this game. If they make their threes, it's a close game.

(01:58:42):
If they don't make their threes, the Bulldogs, the Gonzaga Bulldogs,
they'll beat them and they'll cover the spread. So I
think it's gonna be a hard fought game. And I
talked about the team a destiny, I talked about the
miracle on ice, team, talked about the Georgetown team that
didn't win earlier on the show. I'm gonna call it
Gonzaga the modestiny. Love it high scoring game. You're obviously

(01:59:06):
for people who missed the last segment, you're taking the over.
And I will say this, uh I did. I did
call about a four or five point game on yesterday's
show when I filled in or not filled in when
I did my normal show with Arnie Spanier. I'll say this,
I've thought about this game, as you just referenced a
minute ago in the last segment. The idea of you
think one way in real time and then you sleep
on it in your opinion changes. And I look at

(01:59:29):
this game, Baylor is definitely the best team that Gonzaga
has played at this point in the season, like this
is this will be the best team that they've played
all year. I also, however, think that U c l
A they laid out the blueprint on how to beat him.
You gotta slow it down. You can't try to run
with them. Gonzaga's best offense is sometimes off your own
made baskets where they punch you and then just like that,

(01:59:50):
they go on an eight, ten, twelve run. Not saying
that it will happen against Baylor, but what I am
saying is there's a lot of good teams that have
not made it a priority to low down Gonzaga. A
lot of good teams that thought they could go shot
for shot with them, and it didn't work out. Uh.
USC we talked about earlier in the show. You know,
I know some people over at USC. I think they
really believe that they had a great game plan going

(02:00:11):
into that game. They were down nineteen and a half Creighton.
I know some folks over at Creighton. They believed they
had the right game plan. They were down double figures
at the half, were never close in the second half.
And so to me, I worry about Baylor. I worry
about the fact that they are not going to be
willing to slow things down. I think they can go
shot for shot early. I think it is close early.

(02:00:32):
But if I was on a side. I would take
Gonzaga minus four and a half. I think it'll be
close to that number. So I will say something in
the neighborhood of eighty six to eighty. Gonzaga is your
national champion, first undefeated national champion in forty five years.
I think you make a lot of really great points
here and and and part of the sub text there
is Gonzaga does have more margin of air than Baylor does. Gonzaga,

(02:00:56):
It's for real. People have doubted this team in this
program for years, even last night when I talked about
them being ironically the greatest Cinderella of all time because
you give me a little Catholic school in Splican, Washington
without a football program and enrollment of about six thousand,
and look what they've done the last twenty years. Still
people don't give them the respect they need. I think

(02:01:17):
they know this. I also think they're brilliantly coached by
Mark Few, and I'm sure that they're gonna know what
to do when they hit the floor, everything will be calculated.
To me, the most important player in the game is
Drew Timmy. This guy is incredible with his footwork, his
his commander on the basket. I don't think anybody can
guard him on Baylor. And I think the bottom line is,
once the game starts, it's gonna be a situation you're

(02:01:40):
gonna know fairly quickly which team has sort of their
best stuff. Nola Ryan used to say, the mark of
a great pitcher is when you can win when you
don't have your best stuff. That's not gonna be the
case tomorrow. You're gonna have to bring your a game.
But if Gonzaga brings their best and Baylor brings their best, Gonzaga,
I believe, is four points better. I would just say this, Aaron,
after last night's game and all the retrospective and all

(02:02:02):
the shows today at Fox people talking about was just
the greatest game. It already compared to the games in history.
Last night is gonna be a tough act to follow.
So I hope tomorrow night is a great game. As
I said about last night's game, it needs to be
framed and hung on the wall to Louve, right next
to the Mona Lisa, because it was that good of
a game. Well, you know what else needs to be
framed and hung on the frame, The Mona Lisa, the

(02:02:24):
Louve whatever you just said, it is the last three
hours of what we just did. Bernie Fratto, we gotta run, man,
Thank you so much. Jonas and Brady will be back
next week. But I loved working with you, my man.
Right back at you. Thanks to Scotch and Bureau for
giving us the opportunity. Happy Easter, everybody, Jonas and Brady,
You'll be back next Sunday. We'll be listening absolutely. Coming up,

(02:02:44):
Arnie Spanier, Chris Plank. They will have a full recap
of the women's tournament, a preview of the men's tournament.
Fox Sports Sunday. I'm Aaron Torres, He's Bernie Fratto, Arnie
and Chris Plank coming up next

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