Aaron Torres and Jason Martin react to the passing of NFL QB Dwayne Haskins

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Search f s R to listen live. Welcome in everybody,
Fox Sports Saturday. You hear the applause That can only
mean one thing, Aara Torres. Jason Martin here busy Saturday night.

(00:24):
Actually a lot to talk about, Jason, Jason, Jason Martin
down to Nashville. What's going on? Jason? How are you, mam?
Doing pretty well? Doing pretty well? Can't complain it hasn't
been well. You know, you're used to having the Final
Four or NFL playoffs or whatever. At least you get
Saturday at the Masters. Unfortunately, you get some other news
early on Saturday morning. But there is a lot happening,

(00:45):
as always in the world of sports. Baseballs here the
Lakers are not here. You know, there's a lot happening yet.
Masters is here well, obviously talked Deebo Samuel, as you
just reference, major League Baseball is here. JP Morossy will
join us later in the show. Obviously Bernie Friday as well.
Uh and for actually Jason, as you reference, there was
some really really tough news early this morning. Happened before

(01:06):
most of us were even awake, But uh, we find
out that early this morning, Dwayne Haskins, twenty four year
old quarterback most recently of the Pittsburgh Steelers, UH, tragically killed.
He was in Miami working out with some teammates. Uh.
We don't have very many details right now, but he
was crossing a highway very early this morning and he
was unfortunately, you know, he was hit by what we

(01:28):
believe to be a truck. And obviously, I think most
everybody knows at this point. The news has been out
there about twelve thirteen hours now. But we'd be remiss
if we didn't start the show with this news. Uh,
you know, the biggest news not only of the day,
but just a sad, tragic, awful, awful thing to to
start the show. But we'd be remiss if we didn't
mention Dwayne Haskins, UH is no longer with us, passed
away this morning at the age of Yeah. Um, and

(01:51):
really the only thing to say is he was twenty
four years old. Uh. We don't know the full circumstances
around what happened, although we know it's somebody lost their life,
someone tragically lost their life, a family lost a son,
um and somebody had a a lot of life left
to live, and somebody that was also trying to turn
over a new professional leaf as well, working hard, trying

(02:15):
to find his home in the National Football League. I
know Pittsburgh was was very happy with the improvements that
they had seen in him. I talked to my regular
co host on the show I Do in Nashville. Foster
Mon said, Look, I didn't I didn't know him, but
I heard good things and so I didn't get anything
like to earth shattering other than this is a guy

(02:36):
that man, there was a lot of life left to
live for Dwayne Haskins, and it was just a just
such a and you wake up, you see it, just
like really and there's not anything really to say other
than you just the heart goes out to those that
were close with him, those that knew him, certainly his family.

(02:56):
We never got to see what Dwayne Haskins add for
us in the world for the you know, the next
twenty years, the next thirty years, and it was just
it was just incredibly just sobering and saddening that somebody
could pass like that. And it's just again a reminder
of how precious every moment is and every time something

(03:17):
like this happens, you're just reminded how lucky you are
to have the people that you have around you. And
it's always good to tell them that as often as
you possibly can, to make sure that they know it,
because you never know if you're going to have an
opportunity to do it down the road. Well, and that
last point is so important, you know, it was. It
was very interesting even to see, and some people shared it,
but he he posted a video literally yesterday with Naji

(03:40):
Harris on his Instagram page. Of course, Naji Harris his
his you know, teammate with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they
were down there getting workouts in and you know, you
could see the love that they had for each other.
Uh And obviously when that was posted, having no idea
what was to come in the next twenty you know,
twenty four hours or so or twelve hours or whatever,
it ended up being Um and that that is the
sad part, man, because one clearly talented you know, we

(04:03):
know from a football perspective, solely Um was struggling to
live up to those expectations. But there was a reason
that the Pittsburgh Steelers took a chance on him because
the talent was there. Um, and you know, the personality
was there. The one thing that that everybody today spoke
that knew about, that that knew him spoke about was
the infectious personality that he had. And and you know,

(04:23):
there were there was talk of maturity issues. But listen,
like you said, twenty four years old, sometimes it just
takes guys to figure it out a little bit longer.
And I was I was excited to see the next
chapter of his career. I thought being with Mike Tomlin
in a situation where obviously it appears as though Mr.
R Bisky is gonna be the starter going into next year.
But but with the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, having the

(04:44):
opportunity to sit behind Ben Roethlisberger, Um, you know, potentially,
if the maturity issues were a factor, grow up a
little bit learned from a guy that's won super Bowls.
And I was excited to see the next chapter of
his career because I had seen the talented Ohio state
and it was clear that the talent was there, and
it was clear that if he could just find himself
in the right position, Uh, the sky was the limit

(05:06):
for him, and I think that's an important part worth
noting is that obviously the NFL stuff didn't work out,
but this was a guy that, through for it, had
not worked out to this point in his life, I
should say, but this was a guy that through for
fifty touchdowns his one year as a starter Ohio State.
He was so good that he basically forced Joe Burrow
out of Columbus and so um. You know, I know
there's obviously been some talk today and the football stuff

(05:27):
doesn't matter, But obviously, as we reflect on his life,
you can't help but think back to that Ohio State
season and know how much talent was there, how much
talent was untapped, And again I just go back to
I was excited to see what the next chapter of
his career was because I really believe that this was
a guy that, if he could get to the right system,
with the right coach, with the right teammates, could have
a ton of success. And obviously, unfortunately we'll never know that,

(05:50):
with again Dwayne Haskins passing away at the age of
twenty four today earlier this morning in Miami. Yeah, and
you can talk about the football stuff, I don't have
any interest in it. Today, and I know some people
wish they had not talked about the football stuff based
on the reaction to some of the things um that
were said, and and that it that it certainly wasn't

(06:11):
the right time for it. I even saw an article
where it's just like, do we really need to say
that his career QBR was this number. It's like the
average during that time was sixty something and his was
twenty nine or whatever. It's like, I don't care about
twenty nine. What I care about is twenty four. I
care about a twenty four year old human being that
passed away. I don't care how great his completion percentage was,

(06:31):
how many interceptions he threw. I don't care about any
of that. If you want to talk about that in
a couple of days from a sports perspective, you can.
If you want to talk about the backup quarterback situation
in Pittsburgh after this, you know you can do that
in a couple of days. And today, I'm not interested
in his football stats. I remember what he did in
Ohio State. I was a big fan of his going
into that draft. He was a legit Heisman contender that year.

(06:54):
So yeah, that's why we know who Dwayne Haskins is,
but I think it's time to stop being so high minded.
In singular just sports is supposed to be an escape.
Sports is supposed to be fun, and some people end
up taking it so seriously they can't get themselves out
of that headspace. You gotta get yourself out of headspace.
Somebody lost the son, somebody you know, who knows what

(07:17):
this guy could have done that he's not going to
be able to do right now, and has nothing to
do with the fact that his football acumen was this
or was that that? Right there, I was just kind
of like, it's not even about wrong place, wrong time,
It's about why would your mind even go there, Like,
it doesn't matter what he had or had not done
in the National Football League to this point, this is

(07:39):
a guy who passed away. We need to honor the
fact that he passed away, acknowledge that he passed away,
appreciate the life that he had in the life that
he wasn't able to live, and then, you know, kind
of move on and let people breathe and let people
grieve and not immediately start opening our draft notebook to
determine what it is that we liked and didn't like

(08:01):
coming out of Ohio State and what he had and
hadn't shown in the National Football League, because ultimately you
don't get to take any of that with you. None
of that is going where Dwayne Haskins is right now.
Those status mean precisely squat to Dwayne Haskins right now.
I totally agree on everything, Jason Um. And you know, again,
like you said, uh, you know, I think there were

(08:22):
people and and this is unfortunately the world that we
live in is I think there's people that are in
a rush that you gotta have a unique opinion or
an interesting No, it's it's a twenty four year old,
it's a son, it's a brother. Um. You know, I
believe he had a long time girlfriend that you know,
they woke up this morning with him there and now
he's not there anymore. They went to bed with him
last night with him there, and he's not there anymore.

(08:42):
So Dwayne Haskins passes away at just twenty four years old.
So what we'll do, We'll come back. Obviously, it's a
busy day across the sports world. The Master's Round three
is complete. We have Deebo Samuel want to talk about
we have Tom Brady, to talk about all that good stuff.
But we'll come back. We'll talk about all that take
a quick break, obviously, Dwayne Haskins story, the story. We're
thinking about him, We're thinking about his family, twenty four

(09:04):
years old. We'll continue the conversation on golf, football, mb
n B, A, NFL, et cetera. Coming up, aeron towards
Jason Martin. Fox Sports Radio. Hey, it's Ben hosting The
Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor. Would mean a lot to
have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're
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(09:24):
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(09:45):
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Search f s R to listen live. Welcome back everybody,
Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Saturday, Aaron Torres, Jason and
here Busy Saturday Night. Obviously, for those who have not
seen the news, the big story of the day Dwayne Haskins,

(10:07):
just twenty four years old, passing away. Uh. Jason and
I just discussed it a moment to go. If you missed,
you can always download the podcast. But obviously, as Jason
said in the first segment, sports is supposed to be
a distraction from the real world. And while we do
have to discuss real world topics like the Dwayne Haskins situation, Uh,
there was also some stuff that went on in the
world of sports to day, and so let's get to it. Jason.

(10:28):
You know the big story I think right now in sports, uh,
really going on at Augusta National And and you know,
Scotty Scheffler's up after three rounds. For those who didn't
see it today, he is the leader at nine under par.
Cameron Smith three strokes back at six under par over
the first three rounds of this tournament. But to me,
the story still is And by the way, if you

(10:49):
feel like there's a bigger story than what I'm about
to discuss, Jason police, feel free to cut me off
and tell me what you think it is. But Scotti
Scheffler in the lead. But but the story has been
all week the return of Tiger Woods. Uh even, And
we came on air this time last week. We're obviously
on during the final four, but we weren't even sure
if Tiger Woods was going to play this week at all. Uh.
He is there. He has a great opening round, one

(11:10):
under par seventy one on Thursday, can't maintain it on
Friday today, really struggled, shooting six over for the day,
a six over seventy eight. I have a lot of
thoughts on Tiger. To me, just his presence is the
biggest story at Augusta. I'm happy to see him there,
but he's obviously not gonna win this thing as he
is now. I can't even do the math off the
top six. Okay, Well, he's tied for forty first right now.

(11:33):
And according to Jason Martin, who's better at math than
I am, uh he is. Uh he is sixteen strokes
off the lead heading into the final round on Sunday. Yeah.
So I think it's as simple as this. I think
walking the course is gonna be the hardest thing for
him to do. Anyway, It's an incredibly hilly course and
that's gonna take its toll. He's getting older. Yeah, he's
in fantastic shape, but he's getting older, and we all

(11:54):
know what he's going, what he's coming back from or
trying to come back from. This is how I see it.
You tell me where you are on this errand but
Thursday was round one. Played well in round one, Round two,
maybe a little bit more tired. He's walking of course
again for the second time, and it's tough. It's a
tough scoring day for everybody outside of Scheffler basically, and

(12:17):
then today is day three. He's just wearing down. Am
I wrong? Is it? Sometimes it can be more complicated
than that, and I know it's Augustine. It's difficult. Usually
guys that have played well there before continue to play
well there. It's why you see Charles Schwartzel on the
first page of the leader board. You see guys that
have won the tournament they're still sort of a contention,
and guys that haven't, even if there's some of the

(12:38):
best golfers in the world or a lot of them,
are nowhere near the top of this thing. But to me,
the first thing I thought of is just he's wearing
down day by day his game, and you have to
be focused both mentally and physically, and I think it
just takes its toll, and it's taking its toll on him.
It's kind of like he's come back into the NBA

(13:00):
a after being out for thirty games, but he's not
on a minute's restriction because he can't be. He still
has to play eighteen holes every day, just like everybody else.
And I think that that, as much as anything else,
has just gotten to him. So I agree a thousand percent.
And I actually was kind of I was genuinely surprised
by going into Thursday. I felt like there was a

(13:20):
lot of like, you know, whoa quo, Well, how good
can he be? And this and that, and you know,
Bernie frid was gonna join us an hour four, and
Bernie has some great stats on what the betting handle
was on Tiger once it was officially announced that he
was in this tournament, and I just looked at it
as and I think, really, frankly, I kind of look
at the rest of his career like this, Jason, is
that whatever we get from Tiger. I think we just

(13:42):
gotta be grateful for at this point. Um, I'm not
saying that this is a participation trophy sport. I'm not
saying that Tiger or we should just be happy that
he's there over the next twenty years of what we
hope is a long continual career. But this is a
guy that you go back and you look at every
single thing that he's been through. I mean, you have
the major car accident in two thousand nine, you have

(14:05):
stepping away for personal reasons in two thousand nine, you
have all the surgeries through the years and we don't
have to relitigate all of them. But then you have
a near fatal car crash a little over a year ago.
And so to me, I think, one we all just
have to be grateful that we're seeing Tiger Woods at all.
We talked in the first segment. I don't want to
compare one to the other, but the fragility of life,

(14:27):
how quickly everything can be taken away, and this was
in Tiger Woods. Is case uh a situation where he
from what we look, what we know he almost had
his leg amputated, Like he almost had his leg amputated,
and now we don't even know if he's gonna be
healthy enough to play at Augusta, And you have people
talking all sorts of crazy things about what's realistic, what's not,

(14:49):
what's this, what's that? And so again, I don't mean
to be labor the point, and I don't mean to
undersell how great Tiger was in his prime or how
great he even looked on Thursday. But this idea that
we can just expect him at forty six years old,
coming off all these surgeries and a surgery that almost
cost him his leg a little over a year ago,

(15:09):
I think we kind of have to recalibrate what we
expect every time that we see Tiger woodstep on the
course going forward. I agree. I mean, look, I think
it's in I don't think we appreciate enough how difficult
it was for Thursday. Like I was shocked, like just
I thought for sure after this that we may never
see him again on a golf course after the accident.

(15:33):
Not only is to get back out there, but he
gets back out there without having played a tournament to
warm up. Like it's not like he played bay Hill
or something like that to warm up. He just showed
up in a practice round in Augustine, He's like, yeah,
I think I can win this thing. I'm gonna play
Like that's just stupid. And I don't mean stupid like
it's a bad decision. I mean stupid, like ridiculous, Like
what how is that even possible? This dude is a

(15:54):
superhero to be able to do this, And I just
think that this is more were in line with what
you anticipate, and he's still already accomplished more than I
could have ever thought, Like, I don't care where he finishes.
I'm really not interested into in terms of like, oh, well,
he's never gonna be there. I mean, we never really
anticipated that he was the fact that he made it
back and had a round of seventy one on Thursday,

(16:17):
to me, that was a victory in itself. The fact
that he's kind of wearing down as the weekend goes along, Uh,
that just means he's human, folks, And I'm still not
even sure if that's true. He may still be superhuman,
even though it's clear that he's wearing down. The course
is tough. It's tough to walk. It's tough to do
that for eighteen holes in four hours, especially with the

(16:38):
mental taxing on top of everything else, and he's just
kind of he's he's not exactly in in game shape,
I guess, is what you would say. And this is
not really surprising. No, I agree thousand percent. And and
that's exactly what I go back to, is I think
what you said there a minute ago is so important.
He is like, uh, like we literally we didn't know
if he was going to play until Sunday, and then

(17:00):
he plays and he has this incredible round. But it
is grueling, it is taxing, it is uh, you're walking
seventy two holes on a leg that again, I don't
mean to over emphasize the point, but almost got amputated
a little over a year ago. Let me ask you
a different question that that I've kind of just observed
while watching this tournament. Um, you know, over the course
of the last couple of days, do you believe Tiger

(17:20):
Woods right now is the most revered, well liked athlete
we have because you know, you watch, first of all,
just teeing off on Thursday for the first time, seeing
social media, seeing the reaction, UM, I don't know that
I was blown away. Probably isn't the right word, but
I think we forget how darn popular. This guy is

(17:41):
with everybody, and I think part of it is because
of everything that he's overcome. Because of Listen, he's had
personal issues, and we you know there there you go
on social media, people, Oh he's a he's this, he's that,
he's whatever. We've all had some sort of personal issue
in our lives and our relationships. None of us are perfect. Um,
he obviously has had I don't know if substance abuse
issues are the right word, but but you know, he

(18:03):
got arrested for a d U. I that's that's no
laughing matter, that's no joke. He's overcome that. He then
overcame a again near fatal car crash. And so I
don't know whether again and I don't mean to labor
the point, but the fragility of of the human existence.
I don't know if it's because he's just so darn resilient,
but when I want, I don't think I fully appreciated

(18:24):
how much people love this guy until I saw the
first tea box on Thursday afternoon, until I saw the
end of the round on Thursday, and even Friday, even
though the score wasn't as good, he had his moments. Sixteen,
he nearly holds in off the tee. And I don't
think there's any athlete. You know, Patrick Mahomes is maybe
up there. I'm sure there's maybe another quarterbacker to Joe Burrow.

(18:47):
I can't think of anybody that it feels like people
are universally rooting for to see have success quite like
Tiger Wood. Am I totally off base with that? Not
at all? And I can make it really, really simple.
Apparently that's going to be my theme today. Um there
are and look, outside of college and pro football, golf

(19:09):
is my favorite thing to watch. I watch it constantly.
I love the PGA Tour. I can name you fifty
or sixty guys off the top of my head because
I just enjoy the sports so much. And there has
never been this level of play from this many guys
in the history of golf, in terms of pure quantity

(19:30):
and skill of these dudes. It is outrageous how great
the PGA Tour actually is. And there's only one golf
or anyone cares about. It's as simple as that. There
is no one in the history of American sports, maybe
maybe even global sports, but certainly American sports that has

(19:51):
ever meant more to the sport that he plays, then
Tiger Woods to golf, and it's not even close. Like
I can't even come up with the number with the
second guy. You talk about my home, so I can
talk about a number of other quarterbacks. You talk about Brady,
who's the best to ever play football, And I can
still name a bunch of other quarterbacks that I wanted
to watch and that most people, even if they weren't

(20:12):
die hard NFL fans, could pick out of a lineup.
It's and I saw Wright Thompson write this at ESPN,
and I think it is exactly the truth. Not only
is Tiger Woods the guy that golf nuts like me love,
He's the dude people don't that don't like golf love.
That's the difference. This guy is able to bring everybody

(20:34):
to a television screen united behind him, and yeah, we
know his struggles. There is nothing in the world that
this country likes better than redemption. After the fall, they
will revel in the fall. They will buy the National Enquirer,
they will buy in Touch magazine, They will watch Dateline NBC,

(20:55):
they will watch Headline News, they will do all of
those things. But if you start to get at that
Redemption tour, they will be there for that as well.
That's the story of the country right there. We're there
for the fall, and some people are gonna revel in it,
but most of those people are also gonna be there
cheering you on after you've hit rock bottom, especially if

(21:15):
you're somebody that's been that famous. Like I don't even
understand how to quantify how famous Tiger Woods was before
the original incident with Ellen Nordegren and everything else, that
faithful night on Thanksgiving, but I can tell you that
watching the fall from Grace for somebody that's that high up,
a lot of people do enjoy that. But then once

(21:36):
they've hit rock bottom, you kind of want to see
that person make the step properly in their life, and
you get very behind them. And I think that's what
it is. We loved watching Tiger, but Tiger wasn't approachable.
It's almost like he wasn't human after that happened. Yeah,
this guy's just like us, or maybe he's worse than us.
And here's Perkins waitresses, and here's all these other things

(21:57):
that are out there. But then, man, he fought all
the way back from everything and now he's finding a
way to get back out on tour and it seems
like he's trying to be a better person. Go Tiger,
Go Tiger, Go Tiger, And I think that's made him
more endearing because we've seen the flaws and we've been
able to walk with him through the fire and now

(22:17):
back towards you know what you hope is a Mount
Everest kind of moment. First of all, I agree on
the point about, um, you know, him being the most
uh you know important to his sport. I mean because
I am one of those guys. I am one of
those guys that I'll be honest if if Brooks kepkas
In in contention, or if Rory mclare or whoever, yeah,
I'll have it on the background. But I'm doing some

(22:38):
other stuff when Tiger is playing, and certainly when he's
playing well, but even when he's not playing well, it
makes me want to get to a TV that much more.
And I think I am representative of the audience that
is not a die hard call fan. Um yeah, I
know for a fact I am, and I think there's
a lot of people like that out there. It's no
different than what we were talking about this time last
week with Coach k there's a lot of people who

(22:59):
don't care about college basketball that tune in when coach
k is either winning or when he was losing prior
to his uh to his retirement this week, and then
what I would say quickly, the fall from Grace thing
is so interesting. I want to revisit that later in
the show because I have a thought on that, the
thought on not only the fall from grace, but his
desire to get back, that burning desire, the burning competitiveness

(23:19):
that you know, he brings to the course even if
the skills are eroding, even if his body's eroding. I
think that's the other thing that resonates with you know,
the people that watch sports is that this guy isn't
what he was at eight years old, but man, he
is doing everything that he can. He's pushing his body
beyond physical limits to get back out on the course,

(23:41):
which we thought saw throughout these last couple of days.
This is Fox Sports Radio errant towards Jason Martin here
coming up. Another guy that puts seems to push his
body beyond physical limits. Tom Brady. We're gonna discuss him next,
but first, for the first time, let's get to Steve
to Sega. What's trending to Sega. Hello, gentlemen, And that
was a good analogy about the fame, because you know,
Michael Jordan ridiculously famous. We could certainly assume the general

(24:05):
sports fan name other basketball players. Muhammad Ali probably name
a couple other boxers to Lance Armstrong came to mind,
but then that's another discussion. Ultimately, Uh, Wayne Gretzky who
won the m v P Award eight years in a
row and then went to the l A Kings and
won it again. But yeah, what you're talking about, there's
not I mean, well we just had a co host

(24:26):
on the previous show tonight, so uh, Tiger's not in.
I'm I'm not watching. How many Americans think that way? Uh? Well,
we do have this master's update from Augusta the announcement
that the winner gets not only a green jacket famously
a lifetime invitation back to augusta Sterling Silver Trophy, gold medal,
but now first prize will be two point seven million dollars.

(24:48):
It was about two milli last year, so a big increase. However,
a p says, percentage wise, the bigger jump was when
the first prize check went from sixty four thousand to
ninety thousand dollars in repeat. Tomorrow's winner gets two point
seven million, which is apparently equal to what they offer

(25:08):
the winner of the St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship,
which are the first two stops of the playoffs. Yes,
Tiger Wood shot a third round seventy eight. He's seven overpar,
tied for forty one. On his last three holes, he
had two bogeys and a double bogey. The man who's
ranked number one in the world these days is leading
the Masters by three strokes that Scottie Scheffler. At the

(25:28):
US he's nine under par after seventy one today. Justin
Thomas tied for six eight shots back tied for ninth place,
or Dustin Johnson, who shot seventy five today, Rory McElroy
and Colin Morrikawa. By the way, Olympic figure skater Alyssa
lou has retired at the age of sixteen. She has
retired from the anti Tiger Tigers scratching and clawn to

(25:54):
get back at forty six. She's out at sixteen. Done,
give us some details. What do we need to know?
She got to the Olympics. She's gonna move on with
her life. She was hugely successful even when she was
too young to qualify for the Olympics. So she actually
got to the Olympics, got in the top ten. Good. Okay,
just had another World Championships and we're done. Age six team,

(26:16):
We're done. There's the announcement today. Okay, must be nice,
so on to NASCAR, retire like six not sixteen, but
uh not from life, just from competitive figures. Gary NASCAR's
Cup Series races right now. It's not a Sunday race
this weekend on FS one. They're at Martinsville. They're well
passed the halfway point. Fact, close to three hundred laps

(26:38):
of four hundred, and William Byron is still in the lead.
Joey Logano is now running second, Chase Elliott is down
to fifth. NASCAR has had seven different winners in seven
Cup Series races so far this year. The NBA regular
season ends tomorrow. There is a game going on of
note now. The Golden State Warriors lead four at San
Antonio with under six minutes left. Warriors or third in

(27:00):
the Western Conference, only a half game up on Dallas.
Dallas star Luca Donsitch had a technical foul last night.
It has been rescinded it would have been a one
game suspension on him because that would have been his
sixteenth tee of the year. Denver's Jamal Murray and Michael
Porter Jr. Will be out again tomorrow and, according to
the Athletic, as of now unlikely to return during the

(27:22):
playoffs to Major League Baseball. Arnie is nowhere to be seen,
and the Mets are three and oh coincidence, I think
not five nothing the Mets when at Washington tonight. I'll
also say to Seger, Arizona had their spring game today
in Arizona one, so we know. We know Arnie's not
on air tonight. They'd be the only team to ever
lose their own spring game if Arnie was playing sores.

(27:43):
Please tell me you didn't watch any of the Arizona
spring game. I can't take it if I did not,
I did, you know, we gotta talk. I did watch
about three plays of the A and M Spring game,
and then I was like, I can't do this. I
thank you, Thank Gosh. Because You're like, I'm gonna watch
some of this. I was like, please tell you're not
gonna watch class of all time. I want to see

(28:03):
what an alleged million dollar defensive tackle look like allegedly,
allegedly according to what was his name, Biscuit or something
on the message boards there, I forget jim Bread. It's
bread mread what it was. That was what it was,
the one that Jimbo referenced in a press conference Biscuits.
Biscuit was the linebacker for the Bills. That's a completely
completely separate guy. As we've said before on the show,

(28:27):
this is Arizona basketball and this is Arizona football never
gets old, No it doesn't. Actually, they both kind of
sounded like that when you got to the tournament out
too soon. New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox
played each other on the FS one today. Yankees were
for two winners despite not having much offense. They did

(28:48):
have to two run homers and that was the difference.
Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlos standing with the Long Bowls Cardinals
and Cubs each one. Seattle with two on the top
of the ninth one four to three at Minnesota. Currently,
the Dodgers have hid it up to two at Colorado
top of the eighth. The Braves have just held on
for a home win to one over the Reds. Atlanta
got the World Series rings. Before the game I mentioned

(29:09):
the Mats are three and oh five. Nothing was the
win at Washington, Peter Alonso a grand slam in the fifth,
the wind of Chris Bassett, six innings, eight strikeouts. The
Padres are up four to at Arizona bottom of the
eighth and the late games in Anaheim. This is the
pitching matchup. Noah sinder Guard, former Mets starting for the
Angels the Astros with Justin per Lander back from injury.
It's Halo's one nothing in the bottom of the fifth.

(29:32):
Back to you, Thank you, Steve Sager. This is Fox
Sports Radio, Fox Sports Saturday Errant towards Jason Martin. Here,
Uh A lot a lot going on this week, Jason.
You know, we always kind of get to that post
I guess you would say Super Bowl moment where we're like, oh,
you know, there's no NFL, what are we going to
talk about for the next six months? And then we

(29:52):
always find stuff in the latest one that I really
I want to get your opinion on. Is this wild?
You know my Miami Tom Brady story that that basically
it was rumor, it was innuendo. You know how much
was true? It's in the Brian Flores lawsuit. Well, we
got some pretty much good confirmation this week that that
that it was going to I don't know if going

(30:15):
to definitively be a thing, but but the wheels were
in motion. And for people who kind of missed the story,
I'll kind of set it up, toss it over to Jason.
But Tom Brady, we know, announce his retirement blah blah
blah blah blah. But part of it was the belief
that he was eventually going to retire or at the
very least leave the Bucks and get to the Miami Dolphins,

(30:35):
where he would have a part partial ownership, steak in
the organization, play quarterback obviously, and convinced so by the
way Sean Payton, who obviously stepped away from the New
Orleans Saints to come to Miami and be the head coach.
And so, uh, it got blown up obviously. You know,
the Brian Flores lawsuit, it comes out that Stephen Ross
has has basically tried to convince him to lose games

(30:57):
on purpose to allow them to get Tom Brady anyway,
ba blah blah blah blah. The point is, Tom Brady,
you know you talk about, you know, making chess moves
behind the scenes. This is a wild story, Jason, that
you know again, we continue to get more details as
time goes on. It's wild stuff. It is. America also
loves a conspiracy theory um Brady to Miami. It's very

(31:22):
obvious that Brady didn't want to stop playing football like that.
That's real clear, Like, at no point do I think
he actually wanted to retire. I just don't think he
wanted to play in Tampa Bay any and I didn't
think he wanted to play with Bruce arians anymore. And
you can even look at the weapons and some of
the moves that Miami's making right now, like they're setting

(31:43):
the stage for next year for you know, to ride
off one more time and all this other kind of stuff.
It's just I think it's really fascinating because nothing made
sense regarding Tom Brady's retirement, and the more that you
hear ends, it just feels like that where there's smoke,
there is fire. I don't know what is true and

(32:05):
what is not true, but Tom Brady finding a way
in a universe where players have more control than ever before,
more leverage than ever before, and it seems like more
decision making power than they've ever had before. We've seen
it throughout sports over the last couple of years explode
in that way. Why wouldn't the greatest of all time,

(32:25):
who also would Sup, you know, as cerebral as they come,
not be trying to find a way to end up
where he wanted to end up at his age, he
knows he's not gonna play forever. He doesn't want to
waste another year somewhere. He's not happy, and I don't
think that his wife was all that happy being where
they were either. So that was the other thing, and
I've heard cal heard talk about that before, Like Miami

(32:47):
is different than Tampa. Tampa is a little bit of
a town. Miami is totally different. That's like l A,
New York, all these other places, Tampa and tom they
won that Super Bowl, and then I think it just soured.
I think again, and I think I said this last week.
I think the A B thing really kind of fractured
that relationship with Arians. Whatever Arians wants to say about

(33:08):
them personally, you can get along personally and even text
each other or whatever like Arians claims they're doing, and
still not want to work together. There's a lot of
people that I like in my life that I would
not hire if I had the opportunity to do so.
Like Na, Na, I'm good like hang out, Yeah, watch
a television show, go to a movie or something like that. Yeah,
am I gonna hire you? Absolutely not like that. There

(33:31):
are two separate universes when it comes to personal and professional.
I think they crossed somewhere where professional wasn't gonna work
and personal didn't matter at that point. Tom Brady's all
about football and his family and that's about it. So
you mentioned a conspiracy theory. How America loves a good
conspiracy theory. Our producer Bo brought up a heck of
a conspiracy theory surrounding this Tom Brady, Miami, Sean Pay

(33:56):
and all that stuff. He brought up a incredible conspiracy
theory theory surrounding that. We're going to discuss that next.
Ar tows Jason Martin conspiracy theories coming up to end
the hour. Fox Sports Radio, Welcome back, Everybody, Fox Sports Radio,
Fox Sports Saturday Aara Torres, Jason Martin, Saturday Night Fun Show.

(34:17):
A lot to discuss, and a minute ago, we were
just discussing the Tom Brady story. That came out this
week Miami Dolphins. When he retired, it seemed as though
the plan was, or even prior to the retirement, the
plan was get to Miami, become a partial owner, um

(34:38):
and then from there, oh, I don't know, get Champagne
to leave the New Orleans Saints. And so before the break,
I did say something about conspiracy theory and the idea
that there is a conspiracy theory involved in this whole situation,
which I'm now going to throw to Jason Martin. So, Jason,
as we know Tom Brady, you retired. Shortly after he

(35:02):
announced his retirement, Brian Flores sued the NFL, and that's
a serious topic. We don't need to make light of
a very serious suit there. But why did Brian Flores
sue the NFL. It's because he got a allegedly mistaken
text from Bill Belichick in which Bill Belichick congratulated him

(35:25):
on getting the New York Giants job, in which he
did not get because Bill Belichick claimed that it was
the wrong Brian that he texted. I guess my question is,
as we have great conspiracy theory music in the background, Jason, Yeah, Okay,
you know what I'm talking about your child of the nineties,
like guys did Bill did Bill Belichick purposefully text Brian

(35:50):
Flores knowing that Brian Flores would blow the lid off
this thing to keep Tom Brady and Shampagne out of
the a f C East. That conspiracy theory courtesy of
Older Scully in our producer Bow. What do you think, Jason,
wait a second, how would he have done that? How
would he how would that have blown the lid off
and stopped everything from happening. I think the argument would

(36:10):
be from Bow and from me would be that, as
we discussed last week, you were discussing the NFL Combine,
people that work in the league, they know about They
know stuff that's going to happen before it happens. So
maybe the theory is that Bill Belichick knows that Tom
Brady and Sean Payton are set to come to the division.
Now you would have to assume that Brian Flores would

(36:32):
do something with the information. I don't. I don't really,
I haven't putting all the pieces together yet, Jason Martin, Okay,
I mean I've had twelve hours to do on this.
But if Bill Belichick got wind that Sean Payton and
Tom Brady were coming to his division. Does it not
seem crazy that he would do everything he could to
throw his body in front of it, even if it
meant sacrificing a personal relationship with Brian Flores to pretend

(36:52):
text him claiming that he thought he was Brian Dable.
I mean, like I said, I I knows Belichick cares
a lot about football. That much we know. But I'm
just trying to figure out they that that wouldn't have
changed anything. Brian Flores was was out in Miami anyway,

(37:12):
they were still gonna make a higher Like I'm not sure.
My point is just like I'm all for the conspiracy theory.
I'm down for it. I just need to be able
to connect the dots to be able to make the conspiracy,
Like the conspiracy can't just be out there with with
this giant dangling part of simple where we don't know
exactly what's going on. And my my my thought is,
just how would that move have stopped Miami from doing that?

(37:37):
If they if indeed they were going to bring in
Tom Brady as a part owner with a larger plan
with Sean Payton and everything else, like who ordered the
code red here? Well, because obviously you can't bring in
Tom Brady when Brian Flores is alleging that he met
with Tom Brady and he was being told to to
throw games on purpose so that we could get Tom

(37:57):
Brady or whatever the allegations were. But essentially, you ken
be you know, Tom Brady is not gonna come to
a mess where Steven Ross frankly might have to sell
the team because of this allegation. Um, and Sean Payton
is not gonna come either, and and frankly, just Steven
Ross can't make those moves when he's under um, you know,
under that that kind of you know, uh yeah, I mean,

(38:17):
I guess, except that he's still hired a head coach,
like the stuff still came out and he hired McDaniel.
He had to hire somebody unless he was gonna be
taken completely out in this scenario, which somebody else would
have come in, and who knows, I guess maybe what
would have happened there, just like he's still made to
hire like whatever was gonna go on. Now you're saying,

(38:40):
now you're seeing that maybe there is a you know,
maybe there's a memo where there is a memo apparently
in the NFL's hands. That might give credence to floress
claim about being paid to lose games and all that
kind of thing. If that's true, then Ross might be out,
he might be forced to sell the team. I just
don't know how this would have gotten there fast enough.

(39:01):
They're still gonna have to feel the team in the fall.
It's not like they were gonna freeze and be like,
you're not allowed to have a head coach, you're not
allowed to have a quarterback, you're not allowed to change ownership. Like,
I'm just not sure how you get from first base
to home played on this. That's why I'm a little
skeptical of the conspiracy theory. Now, if both can fill
me in on more details, if he can spend some
kind of web here, I'm down for that. I'm down

(39:23):
for that too. We'll see if we can grab both
here in a minute. But now that that's where to me,
it all falls apart. Because even if Bill, what we're
saying is and I did like the music, thank you
don on on our board there. Uh, even if we're
saying Bill Belichick knew about the possibility, what you still
are assuming is that you are gonna accidentally text Brian Flores,

(39:44):
which is going to inspire him to basically give up
on the process of trying to find a job and
do something with that information. So it's a little bit
half baked. I'm not gonna lie. You know, Bo isn't
expecting father. He's not sleeping very well right now. He's
getting ready for the baby. I mean, I'm just I'm
just throwing it out there. You know, I'm on team
Bow on this one. I think I just need to

(40:05):
know the whole So I just want to know the
whole story. I want to know what the conspiracy theory
is from starting to finish, Like, I have to know
how you get from here to here to here to
hear and why it makes sense at which point I
will believe it immediately. Well, we could continue the conspiracy
theory coming up. We will get you the soup to
nuts conspiracy theory. I should mention, by the way, uh
no conspiracy theory here. JP Morossi coming up to to
talk MLB with us. We are just a couple of

(40:27):
days into this season, already a lot going on. JP
is as plugged in as anybody in Major League Baseball.
JP Morossi coming up MLB coming up. Conspiracy's coming up,
Ara Torres, Jason Martin, this is Fox Sports Red. You
welcome on Everybody, Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Saturday eratoris
Jason Martin here our two about twenty minutes from now.

(40:52):
As good of an MLB insider, as good of an
MLB voice, and frankly just about the nicest guy on
the in it. JP MOROSSI will be joining us for
the first time this year. JP is as plugged in again.
I I don't mean to be labor the point, Jason,
but you know him. I know him. Just a great guy,

(41:12):
just a a wealth of knowledge on baseball, JP Moross.
He will be joining us here in about fifteen twenty minutes.
He is the best. And I'm gonna ask him about
a ConA and Freeman because you got Ronald Acuni saying, hey,
you know what we all miss Freddy for even around here,
we really get along with him. That was a little
saltier than expected. Um with Freeman now is a Dodger,
of course, and mccoon you back with the Brays, and

(41:35):
just the fact that baseball is back, period and they
found a way to get there on Thursday. I don't
know that I'm fully dialed in just yet. It's probably
gonna take a little while. Um, it feels like a
very long season, because it is a very long season.
But Morossi is gonna get me excited. He always does
when it comes to starting to watch these games. But

(41:55):
I'm definitely gonna ask him about that rift. And of
course Aaron Judge and that's sit there. You so you
know I did, I didn't? You know? You mentioned exactly
what I was gonna ask you? Was I understand that
there was the lockout and there was the contentious back
and forth between the players and the owners, and because
of it, there was a truncated spring training. Maybe I

(42:16):
was just so caught up in March madness that I
wasn't paying attention and knowing that the Masters was coming up,
I was like shocked how quickly it came. And I
don't think that I was ready for Major League Baseball.
This past Thursday went, when opening Day for a handful
of teams started. Did it catch you kind of by
surprise how quickly it came up? Because I I, you know,
obviously under a normal season that we would have started
even earlier than we did. But I don't. I just

(42:38):
wasn't like mentally, it kind of caught I guess it
kind of caught me by surprise, snuck up on me,
if you will. Uh. Not a good thing, not a
bad thing. I was just just wasn't ready for it
when it officially started, um, you know, on Thursday of
this week. Yeah, I mean I think everybody's about there.
I mean most people. I mean there's some people that
live and die by it. But I don't know that
it came up quickly. I knew it was coming. It

(42:59):
was is kind of like it was here. I'm not
quite here yet in terms of day to day really
following it to the degree. I'm sure I will be
once we get a little bit further on into the season.
Right now, I'm just kind of box score check in,
tuning in with my braves here and there, and that's
kind of it. But obviously there's a lot of storylines
right now. The Air and Judge storyline is huge, and

(43:21):
we've got to figure out whether or not this is
gonna be his last season in pin stripes, especially with
a lot of people believe and they can win the
World Series, well, they better win it this year if
they're not gonna pay Aaron Judge But what I want
to ask Morossy is does he agree with Cashman that
that's about as much as they should have offered Judge?
Like Judge wanted more money, but is he really worth
more money outside of just the name recognition, Because the

(43:44):
money he looks to be trying to get, that's for
dudes that are better players than he is. He might
be a big time celebrity, but I need you to
be able to produce on the field to be able
to give you the kind of money that I think
he wants. So let me get this straight. Thirty million
over the next seven years for a total of two millions. Yes,

(44:06):
so that that I'm I'm just making sure that I'm
reading this correctly. So Aaron Judge was not satisfied or
believing that it was what he was worth. Uh and
he may walk this offseason. Correct. Wow, it's a lot
of money. I mean, I'll take it. Yeah, let's say
of me that I'll be there. I mean I know
that you know, he's probably a bigger uh name maybe

(44:28):
than he is an absolute superstar. But I mean you
start you start looking thirty million over seven years, that
ain't too shabby. Mike Trout makes twenty seven, Garrett Cole,
excuse me, Mike Trout thirty seven, Garrett Cole thirty six. Uh,
I wanted to quite put my uh Aaron Judge in
the top ten highest paid players in Major League Baseball.

(44:48):
But my goodness, two million dollars two or thirteen million
dollars over seven years a lot of money. So I'm just,
I'm just you know, I saw the headline. You know,
I'm I'm probably admit this on air, but I saw
the headline. Didn't look too much into it. Uh, that
is a lot of money. So would the belief be
that he's going to get more than thirty million over

(45:09):
seven years on the open market? Is that? I mean?
I mean, I guess he will because I would assume, yeah,
I was it only takes one but um, that's pretty crazy.
So it is he felt like that might have might
do it. But hey, if he thinks he can get more,
then we've seen a lot of people leave better situations
for worse situations to make money. What was it that
we've discussed? You know, you don't want to chase money,

(45:32):
You always want to chase management. Maybe I don't know,
Maybe there's more to it than that. Maybe they still
end up getting it worked out. I just think it's
it's hard for me to think turning down thirty million
dollars is a good move in terms of one time,
one big time deal. But if Aaron Judge, if his
agent believes that they can get three millions somewhere, and
then I'll bet you they're gonna take it. Well yeah,

(45:52):
It's it's kind of the you know, Dak Prescott thing
where he you know, he ended up getting his money,
but there was that to three month period after you
got had that serious injury where it's like, hey, and
I probably should have taken the money. I will say,
by the way, again mentioned a minute ago when we
were doing the X Files thing, their child of the nineties.
It's crazy to live in a world where the Yankees

(46:13):
are one, just not the biggest brand in baseball. I
know it's been this way a while. The last World
Series was two thousand nine, last World Series title. Jeeter retires,
a Rod retires, all that good stuff. See's about the etcetera.
But you know, it wasn't that long ago where if
the Yankees had a superstar, they were gonna do whatever
it took to keep them. It just seems crazy that
we're talking about fair market value and we have to

(46:35):
be considerate of this we have. It's just crazy to
if you think about the Yankees of the nineties early
two thousand's the idea that they're gonna let Aaron Judge walk.
And I'm not saying that he necessarily will, but the
idea that it's even in the conversation just seems absolutely
crazy to me. I agree with you, and so we'll
ask Rosy what he thinks is he's much more plugged
in and can explain the finances of it all. Again,

(46:57):
all you need and I wouldn't say that you would
be an idiot to pay Aaron Judge more than two thirteen,
But all you need is one idiot to do it.
And that's all it takes. Like all you need is
the Cleveland Browns to decide they're gonna guarantee your entire contract, right,
Like all you need is the Washington Commanders to say, yeah,
Carson Wentz is gonna make us better. Did you hear
Ron River say that this week? He said they're on
the right track and moving up with Carson Wentz? Like

(47:20):
what what? What? What guy are you talking about? Is
there somebody else is there two Carson Wentz is in
the NFL because the one that I'm familiar with. I
don't think that's a step in the right direction right now.
I get it. I get it. You're not gonna say
Man had to take Carson Wentz. He sucks. We're gonna
win three games. I understand that's what you have to say,
is a head coach. But there's some dumb things coming

(47:41):
out of coaches miles right now that we can see through,
like like Dan Campbell in Detroit saying he doesn't need
an elite quarterback to win when there wasn't a single
division last year in the NFL won by anything but
the best quarterback, and four of the top five rushing
offenses did not make the playoffs. I heard Colins say

(48:04):
that yesterday. Well, I will say back to Judge, Um,
it's just yeah, no, I I get exactly what you're saying,
and just the idea of you know, certain people saying
certain things. And the other thing that's interesting about this too,
is is is the idea of it getting out? You know,
Aaron Judge wasn't very happy about. It's something I felt
was private between my team and the between my team

(48:24):
being his representation, the Yankees. Uh cash has a job
to do. Blah blah blah blah blah. Real quick, give
us the scoop on the Freddie Freeman Ronald Kunia thing
for people who did not see that story earlier. This
just just in short. Acuna was like, yeah, I don't
miss him. He and I clashed like a Kunia of course,
was the young hot shot. They came in, and Freddie
Freeman was the locker room leader, and I'm sure Freddie

(48:47):
wanted to show him, hey, here's what we do things
and try to help him out. And I don't think
akun you really wanted to hear that. And I think
there was a riff there. There was Veteran and there
was new and there was Superstar and there were Superstar,
and think there was Ego in there, and they didn't
communicate particularly well. I don't know whether or not what
a Kunia is saying extends past just a Kunia and

(49:08):
Freeman didn't get along particularly well. That's what I want
to ask Morossi about. Is is that a sentiment that's
been said anywhere else? Because everything else you've always heard
about Freddie Freeman is total class act the locker room
was heartbroken when he left. So was this just a
rift between two mega stars on one roster, one guy

(49:29):
coming from a new generation, one coming potentially or or
not potentially definitely coming from a past generation in terms
of how long he had played and how long he'd
been in the game. And sometimes you offer advice, or
sometimes you're trying to mentor somebody that doesn't want to
be mentor. I mean, you've always heard that, right until
somebody actually wants to change, you can try to change
until you're blue in the face, it's not actually going
to accomplish anything. So I'm fascinated to ask John whether

(49:54):
or not this extends further than a kuna or if
this is really just a limited story to two individuals
within one clubhouse, both very very talented, and they just,
for whatever reason, didn't hit it off really quickly. You
and I wrote the emotional roller coaster together of watching
your Braves win the World Series last season. You lose

(50:15):
an m v P, but obviously there's still plenty of
talent in that locker room. How do you just feel
in the bigger picture about the Braves going into the
year I'm in look the Dodgers have one of the
greatest lineups in the history of baseball, and you look
at a lot of other teams and you'd like them.
At the same time, the Braves made some really key
moves last year the trade deadline. They weren't able to

(50:35):
maintain everything. Obviously, losing Freeman hurts, but they got younger
at least it's a position, and brought somebody in there
that's from the Atlanta area that is a power hitter.
I still feel fairly optimistic. I'm I don't think we're
repeating as a World Series champs. I don't think it's
out of the realm of possibility, but a lot of
things would just have to fall into place, and last

(50:57):
year just felt like it was right place right. I'm
the stars aligned all of the things that worked out.
I'm not arrogant enough to believe we're going back and
running this thing back. It's very difficult to do it
in any team sport, especially one with the amount of
movement that takes place in baseball because no salary cap
means you just see a lot of guys that move.
Because you don't even have to create space to move

(51:19):
guys in all you have to do is either move
somebody out or just pay more money. And so baseball
is a completely different animal than say the NFL or
the NBA, where there's other factors that have to be
taken into consideration. So, you know, ask me again in
a couple of months how I feel about the Braves.
I'm right now, I'm just gonna I'm gonna feel optimistic
about it. And until they're out Right now, they're they're

(51:42):
the defending champions, and somebody will have to tell me
that they're eliminated before I'm willing to say anything else.
I'll tell you what we can ask JP Morossi all
those questions. Next, Fox Sports Radio MLB Insider JP Morossi
joining us eron towards Jason Martin, Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back, everybody,
Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports Saturday erin Torres, Jason Martin

(52:04):
Here Saturday night. We are efforting the Man, the myth,
the legend, John Morossy. JP Morrossi of course busy with
the opening weeks of Major League Baseball, Opening days of
Major League Baseball. As JP Morossy is now joining us,
can you hear us? JP Morossy, I got stone. Good evening.

(52:25):
How's everything going, everything's good. JP. First of all, where
are you? And how excited are you? I believe the
last time that I at least I spoke with you,
JP Morrossy of course Fox Sports Radio, MLB Insider, MLB Network,
Fox Sports, on and on. The list goes on. But JP,
I think the last time I spoke with you personally
was a day or so after we learned that Major

(52:47):
League Baseball is back, So one, where in the world
are you? And then too, how much are you just
loving being in the ballpark again? My man, it's been great,
and uh I'm back at missing in this evening. I
was at yank Adi him yesterday and there were certainly
many moments as I was broadcasting that game working for
MLB Network podcast is Tom Producing and the Boot both

(53:08):
of course elite in our profession, and so to hear
them calling the game, to be able to chime in
here and there and contribute, I felt less to be
that it really was, And honestly, the weather was glorious too.
Red Sox Yankees ex training game Josh Donaldson the hero
when his first game with the Yankees. Of course, the
Yankees approving the tour no here today as well, so

(53:30):
just everything about the scene. They're a real sense of
gratitude for meeting is depart of Opening day once again, John, Um,
what are the chances Aaron Judge is plating somewhere else
next year? And what do you think is worth actually is?
I mean to thirteen sounds like a lot of money,
but in baseball perhaps it's not. What what do you

(53:51):
think about the eron Judge situation right now? You know,
it's a great question, Jason. I think there's a couple
of things that I point at. Number one, they really
weren't that far apart. I don't think from where this
deal could have gotten done, and perhaps they visited later on. Remember,
of course, Judge still has a selling application case that
is outstanding and that has to be resolved here in

(54:13):
the next couple of months, so they will still be
talking at least about that. I think that with gud
when he's healthy, he's one of the five best players
in the sport. And if that's the case, then you
talk about in the A B that's more than the
thirty two thirty three million dollar range. Now, I think
that the Yankees offer was it was fair, was it's

(54:35):
obviously what he wanted to know. I think it was
in the realm of something that wouldn't he said. And
now I really believe that George is going to hit
free agency on whether it was Freddie Flavor, whether it's
Albert Rules, the best day to go. When you don't
have that agreement, it really does start to make you want.
I really believe that Judge I would prefer to stay Yankee.

(54:58):
I also think that if they find a way to
make that deal with the level they expecting, uh, talk
with other teams on the season is over. So j P.
Let me ask you kind of a dumb question. Is
you know I'm of a certain age that in the nineties,
early two thousands, even mid two thousands of the Yankees,
of course the most recent World Series two thousand nine, Um,

(55:20):
this was an organization that was willing to basically spend
whatever it took to put out the best team in baseball. Um.
You know, I know we see it now with the
Dodgers and all that stuff, But uh, why and when
did that kind of culturally within the organization changes. I
know George Steinbrenner passed a long time ago, and obviously
his family has run things since, but it never seemed

(55:41):
to be about dollars and cents when George Steinbrenner was
around again. I know this was a long, long, long
time ago, well over a decade since he's passed, but
it just seems strange to me that the Yankees have
maybe the face of baseball, maybe the most recognizable guy
in the sport, and that they aren't rolling out the
red carpet to do whatever they can to keep them. Well.
I think you're right, and that has been a bit
of a change. You know, it's a very interesting question,

(56:04):
and he certainly is Aaron Jog is their best home
rown player since Derek Keeter, so it really is a
surprise that they haven't been able to find a way
to make that deal work. Um. I think you're right though,
whether it was Alex Rodriguez in two thousand and seven
after he adopted out or two thousand four when that
deal got done, you did see some of that mentality
where where the Yankees, no matter what the deal was,

(56:26):
that they would go there and and get to that number.
I also think that the current economics of the game,
whether it's the luxury tax threshold, uh, the uncertainty about
the future cable TV model and what that looks like
in ten twenty years. I do believe that there are
some more existential questions about the revenue surrounding the game

(56:46):
that that two perhaps come into bear a bit a
bit differently than they would have a generation ago. And
I think it's not just unique to the Yankees either.
I think other teams would have had generational turnover with
with their ownership. Perhaps they have a similar change in philosophy.
So so for me, right now, the Yankees are still
one of the dominant teams in the game from from

(57:07):
the standpoint of the pay scale. But we've seen it
elsewhere too. It's not always a given that you're able
to keep all your high price talent. The Dodgers have
been able to do that with Clayton Kershaw certainly, and
we'll see what happens with Trey Turner. But this is
a very interesting case study, and I think to your point,
how the economics of the game have indeed change. So
you mentioned the Dodgers the last time we had you

(57:27):
on and wanted you to tell me good things about
Freddie Freeman still being a brave and you couldn't then,
and certainly you can't now because he's not there. He's
playing for the Dodgers. But the story that came out
about a Kuna not really caring that Freeman is no
longer there, is it as much? Is there anything more
than just maybe two superstars that weren't on the same

(57:48):
page that we're both excellent, one that's a little bit
older than the other one who maybe didn't want the advice,
or is there more of a rift past to Kunya
as it relates to Freeman in that locker room. That's
a great question. I think that when you consider where
things stand, it did appear to me and I think
to to walk it back to the start, A lot

(58:09):
of the conversation that Freddie had or that a Kuna had,
I should say about what Freeman and or other Brace
veterans it's done, had to do the twenty eight team season.
So that's now four years ago, and clearly, and Freddie
even loosened some of the things and that whether it's
a personal conduct policy that exists or how you were

(58:29):
the uniform, etcetera, that have existed for all the time
with the Braves, and clearly there was a different opinion
between Freddy and a Rottal about what they should be doing.
I think that it's sort of emblemnica of where the
game is right now, about how different players are reacting
to different cultural films in the sports. Uh the notions
of whether it's a Broder flip respecting the game, I

(58:51):
I happen to be someone who asked to plip this
bad after hitting a five minute from home run. Gods,
I've got no issue with that whatsoever. I do think
we have seen the game change a bit. The other
part of it is this the only reason this is
a story is because Freeman left. If Freeman hadn't left,
the question that I would have asked and then would

(59:12):
have come out. And I think, frankly a lot of
players who are younger, and again there's that could be
cultural differences there too. They do have different opinions Dan
the Vesteran leaders and once eventually it is for Ada
that certainly was more lucrative. But when you really get
down to it, California taxes, Georgia taxes, how much is

(59:33):
it really getting there? I think there was a lot
of pride that edited into that on probably both sides
of the equation. So I think it is it's a
note boody story. It's not to me in a flower
story and it's a story that frankly never should have
come out because Freeman never shout place. I really believe
that's where does he never should have left that club?

(59:55):
And so I think that's something where you look at
the fency. Okay, when we don't get this scissors four
or five years down the line, study dude, or has
he wanted the championships and MVP and in Los Angeles
and perhaps that would change things a little bit? Kind
of staying in Los Angeles, JP astros in Anaheim right now?
Was just curious. You know, Shohyotani had such an incredible

(01:00:18):
season last year. Um, is there anything Major League Baseball
can do to to spotlight him more? I mean, I
know that he's kind of a reticent person by nature.
That's part of the reason he chose the Angels. I
know there's obviously a language barrier and all that stuff.
Is there is there anything Major League Baseball can do?
Do they want to market him more? I just find
I mean, I don't even find him. He is one
of the most unique talents that we've ever seen in

(01:00:39):
this sport, uh, and I'm sure that MLB wants to
showcase him as much as they can, right, it's a
fair question. I think that this baseball has done a
pretty good job of it. I mean's he's done the
cut in the Time magazine, He's in the cover of
the video game. Uh, there's a lot of conversation about
him right now. I think in many ways has been
marketing as uniquely as as almost any other baseball athlete

(01:01:04):
in recent years. So we know as much about him
as the field that if you compare how much we
know about his personal journey to tam Brady, it's not
even the same universe, of course, But I think with
with the circumstances as they are in baseball, I think
the league has done a pretty good job. I think
the Angels at the at then it as well. It's
just to me speaks to the challenge that we've got

(01:01:27):
in baseball to make any player a truly national So
it talks about town in this conversation, and as well,
I think those are two of the brightest lets that
we've gotten in the sport. And and you have to
wonder if you were gonna put them in a top
ten list of most popular athletes in this country and
at least in team sports and you compare to basketball football,

(01:01:48):
where would they fall in that top ten or top
twenty if you want to go uh that far. And
I think it just illuminates where baseball is at, I
think from the sampoint of national recognition. And you know what,
for me, I'm to the point where, yes, you need
to have national stars to but I worry much more
about the local team, the local relationship. Teams like the

(01:02:10):
A's for example, uncertain stadium future, a lot of trades
in the offseason. If I'm an East fan, if I'm
a fan in the East Bay right now, I'm I'm
much more concerned about my hometown team than I am
or about the grandeur of what showey Otani is doing.
So I think it's still it's core a local, regional sport,

(01:02:31):
and I think baseball, when you think about opening day,
your opening day attendance is dependent upon the excitement in
your market, and so I think the more places that
we can have excitement truly in in individual markets, I
think will really serve the game's both comporting. It's a
great question that you're asking. I just think that while
Otani has been marketed well, we have to market our

(01:02:52):
own teams in our own markets to the guest. Must
all totally fair. JP Morossi. Of course, make sure you
follow him on Twitter at on Morossi. Of course our
Fox Sports Radio, Fox MLB Inside or MLB Network, etcetera. Jp,
I know you're you gotta get to a ballpark, probably
first thing in the morning, man, So we appreciate your time.
As always, we'll be talking to a lot throughout the season.

(01:03:13):
It's great to have this. The game's back, man. We
appreciate you. You bet he can't wait. My friends, Thanks
for the conversation, and have a wonderful weekend. Baseball is back.
Happy opening week, and my friends, thanks so much. Baseball
is back. That is JP Morossi. We got he can't get.
He can't he can't say goodbye without for thank you.
He literally is the kindest gentleman on planet Earth. Like

(01:03:34):
every time I've ever dealt with John Morosi, like he
couldn't possibly be a more affable human being. Well, and
here's the good part. The knowledge is second to none
as well. Oh yeah, there's a lot of nice guys
in this business that can't hold their own weight. JP Morossi,
Marcus Mariotta, Yeah, well I was gonna say JP Morossi swing.
You know he's got info like Sho Heyo Tani on

(01:03:55):
the mound and at the plates. So we love JP
Morossi again. Follow him on Twitter at John Morrossi. Another
just absolute titan of sports media, Steve de Seger, what's
trending to Sager? Hello, gentlemen. The NASCAR Cup Series races
just ended on FS one at Martinsville. William Byron. The winner,
Joey Logano finished second forty five degree temperatures with a

(01:04:16):
little rain at the start, So things, after a delay,
finally began at eight five pm Easter and they were
again in Virginia, about three hours drive from Richmond, where
the last hometown. Congratulations They literally is like, my last
name is Martin I'm not joking, Like Martinsville is literally
my hometown. I'm a Virginia. You have not brought this
up before. The town. No, it's not everything. That's the man,

(01:04:41):
that's that was the walking Joe my entire childhood. I
lived there until I was in sixth grade is when
I moved to North Carolina. But I literally am from there.
I've been to that track about a trillion times. Well,
they will be racing next weekend, which is news for
Eastern weekend, but they're gonna make it in the evening
race on Fox, so they no race tomorrow. This was
the Cup Series race tonight, and NASCAR has had seven

(01:05:02):
different winners in seven Cup Series races so far this
year with the new next gen cars. But William Byron
takes it tonight. He had already won at Atlanta last month.
Scottie Scheffler leads the Masters by three strokes. Tiger Woods
shot a third round seventy eight. He's tied for forty
first place seven overpar. Tiger Woods had four three puts

(01:05:23):
today and a rare four pot on one of the holes.
First time in Wood's career he's had five holes in
the same round with three puts or more. To Major
League Baseball. The late games in Anaheim, we knew would
be a Pictures dual. Angels one nothing over Houston in
the bottom of the seventh. Noah Syndergard, the former Met,
was the Halo starter five and a third inning scoreless,

(01:05:43):
only one strikeout but eleven groundouts. Justin Verlander, back from injury,
was the Houston starter. He went five innings, allowed the
one run, seven strikeouts Houston for the moment too and
oh on the season. The Mets are three and oh
after shutting out Washington in d C five nothing, Pete
Alonso with a grand slam, Atlanta and San Diego with
wins Colorado homeward in the eighth to beat the Dodgers

(01:06:04):
three to Kansas City and ten innings down the Cleveland
Guardians one nothing. Get used to it. Yankees for to
over Boston, Cubs and Cardinals each one in the late
game in the NBA, and there are only four games tonight.
Clippers apparently will win at home under five minutes to go.
Clippers lead one oh one to eighty six against Sacramento.
Clippers record for the moment is forty and forty. Everybody's

(01:06:27):
playing tomorrow night, including the Clippers in the final night
of the regular season. Clippers are eighth in the West.
Golden State is third in the Western Conference. Warriors got
to win at San Antonio one ninety four, so good
news for Golden State. The team's now one game up
on Dallas for the three seed with one game to
go home wins from Memphis and Philadelphia. For Memphis, John

(01:06:48):
Morant returned had twenty one points nine assists at Philly
in a win over Indiana Joel Embad forty one points
and twenty rebounds. And you guys talked about it earlier. Still,
Hler's quarterback Dwayne Haskins died at the age of twenty four.
He was hit by a truck near Fort Lauderdale while
trying to cross I five. At Ohio State in Haskins

(01:07:10):
through fifty touchdown passes. He was also the Rose Bowl
m VP that season. He had beaten out Joe Burrow
first starting quarterback. Haskins was drafted by Washington in the
first round. He had been a high school star in Maryland.
Back to you, thanks Steve Seger. This is Fox Sports Radio,
Fox Sports Saturday Er tourist Jason Martin here Saturday Night.
Of course, as the SEGA reference. The big story in

(01:07:32):
sports the passing of Dwayne Haskins at just twenty four
years old. UH So, you know, we talked about Dwayne
Haskins earlier, but just tragic, tragic, tragic news. And thanks
to SAGA for keeping us updated on that. Uh kind
of staying in the NFL and and obviously we do
have to talk sports here that you know, we are
a distraction from uh, from the serious nature of life.
And and you know, Jason, I didn't want to hit

(01:07:53):
you with another NFL topic. Uh. The story this week
what is quickly becoming, uh the latest ad in sports.
Deebo Samuel just dropping anything forty Niners related from his
Instagram page. Uh. He is, of course, in contract negotiations
with the San Francisco forty Niners on a potential extension
coming up in the last year of his rookie deal. Uh.

(01:08:15):
We can talk about the football stuff from in a second.
First of all, I'm not gonna lie. Maybe I'm just
an old man that's grumpy and you gotta take this
mic away from me. I'm kind of over the whole
I'm taking everything off my Instagram page thing. Like, I
understand negotiations are contentious. I understand you want your money.
I understand you've worked hard. Am I being a grumpy

(01:08:36):
old man? Like, I'm just like, what does one thing
have to do with the other. You don't hate them,
you want your money. It's not going to impact one
way or another what the forty Niners do or how
much you get. I don't know. I'm kind of over
this whole thing. Obviously. Kyler Murray did it a few
weeks ago. We've seen other instances, uh, and we can
talk about the football element of it in a minute,
but I'm kind of over the whole pulling everything off

(01:08:58):
your Instagram thing. I'm not gonna lie. Look, they're somebody's
telling them to do it. It's part of whatever the
tactic is Tory Dandy, who represents Deebo Samuel. He also
represents DK Metcalf. He also represents A. J. Brown. All
three of those guys right now are being discussed left
and right about being resigned giant extensions, especially after Davonte

(01:09:20):
Adams and Tyreek Hill, Chris Godwin, Mike Williams, those two
last to also represented by Tory Dandy. He pretty much
represents all the wide receivers. It seems like this is
just this is the new hotness. I think it's kind
of lame personally, because I don't think Devo necessarily wants
to leave. I know he's a little frustrated with the
forty niners because they are trying to get away with

(01:09:43):
hybrid classification when they talk about him, because if they
can say, hey, half the time you're running back, well,
running backs don't make the same kind of money. Wide
receivers do, especially not in two and a passers leak.
Deebo wants to be classified and seen and paid like
a wide receiver, not as a hybrid player. So it

(01:10:04):
might be a little bit more contentious negotiations than you
might think. But at the same time, and we saw
Kyler do it, the agents or someone representing these guys
is telling him to do it as part of the tactic.
I just kind of look the other way because it
doesn't mean anything, because social media is not real life.
And so if you take a bunch of stuff off

(01:10:24):
off your social media, I don't care if you tweet
every five minutes. I also don't care. See you say
something dumb, We're gonna care. If you say everything dumb,
We're gonna care you tweet every five minutes. I care.
I'm I'm either on following you or meeting you, because
that's um no. I agree, And it's probably not that
big of a deal. And and I guess it is
somehow a weird leverage play, as if the public knows that, uh,

(01:10:47):
you are not happy with your current deal. But I
don't think it impacts anything one way or the other.
I do think it's interesting, though, um, you know, I
understand the value that he brought to the table this year,
and there's probably nobody quite anybody in the league quite
like him. It is worth noting, though, I mean, for
all his frustration. I mean, this was a guy that
missed an entire year of his college career because of injury,

(01:11:10):
played seven games, missed a game in twenty nineteen his
rookie year. So I get that you have to capitalize
on the moment. We just talked about it with Aaron Judge.
We talk you know, I referenced, uh before that, a
couple other instances that were similar Dak Prescott. You know,
he's trying to wait out, you know, and then there's
the opposite of Dak Prescott, who just tried to wait
as long as he could. Aaron Judge is trying to
wait Deebo Samuels trying to capitalize right now. I also

(01:11:32):
understand the forty niner is a little bit of hesitancy.
I mean, they're going to pay him. He is one
of the most unique players in the league. But to
your point, he does carry the football a lot. Sixty
carries this year. You know, you extrapolate that out over
the course of a sixteen game season, that's you know,
four or five carries a game. Um, you know you
mentioned Colin cow Heard earlier. I heard cow Heard say
this yesterday. Is you know, the running backs are that's

(01:11:54):
the one position you're still allowed to get hit pretty
hard when you get when you get the ball. And
so I guess I see from the football perspective and
from the negotiation perspective, I guess I do see it
both ways. Kind of from the perspective of he wants
his money, he needs to capitalize right now, coming off
a season where he was one of the most dynamic
players in the league. I also understand the forty Niners

(01:12:16):
perspective of, hey, can we can can we give it
a little bit before we pay you crazy money? Can
we see a stay on the field for sixteen weeks
consistently after playing sixteen out of seventeen games this year. Yeah,
And look, he's on his rookie deal. And if it
were you and you were going into your last year
and you're seeing the money being thrown at wide receivers
right now, and you know you've got to go play

(01:12:38):
for three point nine million this year, now, you kind
of want to try to get that extension done right now,
you want to go ahead and fix it. You don't
wanna You don't want to look at a franchise tag
a year from now, even if it might be a
lucrative franchise tag. You want to try and control things.
You want to see how far you can push things.
You don't want to have to wait until next year

(01:12:58):
and look if you're deep. Oh, same thing with Lamar.
Lamar can do what he wants, and I'm glad we
live in a country where he could make this decision
for himself. If it's me, I don't want to wait
too long if I'm Lamar Jackson because I feel like
the risk of injury is higher because of the way
I approached the game. And the same thing is true
with Deebo Samuel. And to Calherd's point, a running back

(01:13:21):
literally gets hit every time he either doesn't go out
of bounds or doesn't score. That's the only time that
he does not hit the ground when he touches the football.
It is a very high risk, very wear and tear
kind of job to have compared to even some of
the other teammates on the field that you see that

(01:13:42):
are out there as many snaps as you are, but
aren't at the same risk that you are. If Deebo
Samuel's classified is running back one, he's gonna get less money.
But if he knows that he's gonna be asked to
run the football a lot, I might want to get
paid pretty quick too, especially if I've already been injured.
I mean, look, a j. Brown has missed time. DK
is the only one that's really been particularly healthy. Of

(01:14:03):
the three next guys that are getting paid. But here's
the other thing. Since they're all represented by the same guy,
they're probably all gonna get similar deals, but they also
might escalate just a little bit from one another. Every
these guys are These guys have to be in communication
to some degree, so there is some kind of cohesion
behind what's happening. They're in it for themselves, but they're

(01:14:26):
also in it for the larger market. They are responsible
for the next crop of receivers after them, and that's
gonna be what Justin Jefferson and Jamaar Chase and DeVante
Smith and all the names that are still to come,
Jalen Waddle and the guys that are coming out of
the draft this year. That's what it is. That's why
you're seeing it just seems like there's more urgency right
now because wide receivers have never had the level of

(01:14:48):
value that they do. And so Debo doing this while
it's kind of lame and kind of tacky and who
cares because your social media is not that important, it's
just a here's the thing. It gets the public to
notice the Deebo Samuel wants an extension and that he
is putting a spotlight on that situation, because that can
create public outcry for urgency to get the job done,

(01:15:11):
because you want Deebo Samuel happy, because if you're a
Niners fan, you love Deebo Samuel. This is Fox Sports Radio,
Aeron towards Jason Martin. Busy Saturday night Deebo Samuel story
something that we will continue to monitor here over these
next couple of weeks. Coming up, one quick college story, Jason,
some college football saw some comments this week. I want

(01:15:31):
your opinion on. We'll see if this uh, you know,
we we got some interesting things going on with Diebo Samuel.
There are some interesting things going on with one SEC program.
Aeron towards Jason Martin, Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back, everybody,
Fox Sports Radio Aeron towards Jason Martin Saturday Night. Um
so we are Jason. You know, some may say the

(01:15:53):
voice and the face of college football here at Fox
Sports Radio. We of course hosts this time slot from
ten pm Eastern to two a m. Eastern all year long,
but obviously college football takes our priority for most of
late August through probably early January. I want to ask you,
so Davo Sweeney had a lot to say this week. Um, yeah, lots.

(01:16:15):
He has a lots say every week, and and I'm curious.
He said a few different things. He talked about kind
of the future of the n c a A It's
not feasible to keep going with this model. But he
also had some stuff to say about the things that
he always has to say about n i L. Which
I don't think his comments were that interesting because he
seems in favor of the n i L. But he
has been the one coach, as best I can tell,

(01:16:37):
in any major college sport that just still holds out
on the transfer portal. And he was asked about the
transfer portal, and he said, my transfer portal is right
there in that locker room, because if I'm constantly going
out every year and adding guys from the transfer portal.
I'm telling all those guys in that locker room that
I don't believe in them, that I don't think they
can play. UM. And so I put out, actually put

(01:16:58):
out a tweet this morning. I actually deleted it because
was kind of during the time that I realized that
there were more important things in the world going on
and so whatever. But the point I'm trying to get
to Dabbo Sweeney. And by the way, this was all
because Clemson spring game was today, blah blah blah blah blah,
this and that. Um. Dabbo Sweeney to me seems to
be a guy from a different generation that refuses to

(01:17:20):
acknowledge the current climate of college sports. And I put
out a thought, and I want your opinion on it
over the next ten years. Knowing what we know about Dabbo,
I think the only transfer that he's ever taken is
a quarterback who transferred out of his program and then
transferred back in. Would you rather have a guy like
Dabbo Sweeney that no doubt has an incredible track record,
but last year they took a major step back ten

(01:17:42):
and three and he very clearly doesn't seem to want
to adapt to the modern era of college football, or
would you rather have a guy like melt Tucker who
is certainly not as accomplished, but has jumped two feet
into the transfer portal, has been willing to adjust, has
been willing to do what it takes under the new
climate of college football. Because to me, Dabbo Sweeney, man,

(01:18:03):
I don't dislike him as much as a lot of people,
but man, he seems like he just is stuck in
a different era that doesn't exist, isn't coming back, and
he refuses to acknowledge it. And the problem is if
he doesn't evolve, he may perish in terms of his
football prowess, because look, coach k didn't want to mess
with one and dunce he had to evolve. Nick Saban

(01:18:27):
used to win on defense, and then all of a sudden,
it's laying Kiffen, and it's Steve Sarkisian, and it's Mike Locksley,
and it's unlocking the passing game with quarterback after quarterback
and wide receiver. University springs up at Alabama. You have
to evolve with the sport because you can stay where

(01:18:47):
you are, but if everyone else is moving in a
in a different direction. I say this all the time.
It's impossible to stay where you are. You're either gonna
fall behind or you're going to be moving ahead, cause
everybody else is moving. They're moving in some direction. If
everybody gets better at the same rate, then you're all
going to be the same, even if you're all better

(01:19:09):
in the process. If he sits there and everybody else
takes advantage of the transfer portal, well that's gonna be
a problem for him. Now. Is he gonna get superstars
out of the transfer portal. I don't know there's a
reason they're in the transfer portal. But you can find depths,
you can find guys to plug holes, you can find
the kinds of things that can help you deal with injuries,

(01:19:30):
which last year didn't really help. Clempson shout very much.
Let me jump in. Though you can find superstars in
the transport Alabama doesn't make the National Championship Game without
Jamison Williams, who came out of the transfer portal. Kyler
Murray came out of transport, Joe Burrow came out of
the transferportal, Baker Mayfield came out of transport. So it
can be done, and it's it seems and and at

(01:19:51):
this point it is a detriment to his program. He
has paid nine million dollars a year not to do
what he thinks is right, but to do what is
best for the program. Am And at this point you
can't find superstars, and he's just unwilling to go get him.
I mean, yeah, that's right now. I just I think
that it's it's easier to do it, for example, in
basketball than football because you have to feel more guys.

(01:20:12):
Generally speaking, recruiting is still how you win. But the
transfer portal is just icing on the cake. And why
do you want cake without icing? If icing is available,
there's no reason to be stubborn here, there's no benefit
to it. Coming up, we return to the Lynx. Tiger
Woods is back, what's next for his future? Eron Torres
Jason Fox Sports, Welcome in Everybody, Fox Sports Radio, Fox

(01:20:35):
Sports Saturday, Aaron Torres, Jason Martin Here Saturday Night, Busy Night. Obviously,
the big story of the day the unfortunate, tragic passing
of Dwayne Haskins, twenty four years old in Florida. Jason,
we already touched on it earlier in the show. There
isn't anything to add. There's no context, there's nothing other

(01:20:56):
than our thoughts and prayers are with Jase Uh, with
Wayne haskins family, with the people that knew him, with
the people that loved him. Um. You know, we can
just touch on it very briefly, but but we'd be
remiss if we didn't mention Dwayne Haskins passes away at
the age of twenty four. Obviously the former Washington Now
Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Yeah. Um, And that's really

(01:21:20):
all that anyone should be concerned with today. And there's
no reason to necessarily call anybody on the carpet. But
there is a universe in which you shouldn't even think
about how good a football player he was or wasn't

(01:21:42):
or whatever it is that professionally you want to try
and talk about related to Dwayne Haskins on a day
like today, because the last thing that his family or
those that knew him and loved him needs to see
is anything about his career. And that really you don't
even have talked about him being in Ohio State standout.

(01:22:03):
You know, it doesn't matter like all that today it
was Dwayne Haskins. I didn't know him. I never got
a chance to meet him. Maybe I would have down
the line, who knows, But I do know that he
touched some people's lives. He was involved in some people's lives.
Some people lost someone incredibly close to them today, And
I hate that we are in an industry that oftentimes

(01:22:25):
cannot separate one from the other, like there's no need
to go any further than here's the twenty four year
old young man who lost his life, and that is tragic,
and we can appreciate, you know, the moments. We can
appreciate the moments that we were able to see, but

(01:22:46):
think about the moments we never saw with the people
that were closest to him. And I think that there
is such there's this there's this feeling out there that
you just have to say something. And I don't think
that anything today was said out of pure malice or
being mean spirited or anything like that. But I think

(01:23:07):
that sometimes we are caught in the wrong headspace because
we're so single minded, and we have to remember there's
more to life than our job. There's more to life
than what we cover, There's more to life than what
we do. There's more to life than screens and devices
and two characters and all this and the only thing
that matters today is that a twenty four year old

(01:23:28):
young man no longer is going to be able to
be around those that knew and cared about him and
loved him most, and that is a tragedy. Whether or
not he played football and to what degree he played
football is irrelevant. The reason we know and are talking
about it on this show is because he was a

(01:23:49):
professional athlete. And that's true. There are you know, twenty
four year olds that that passed away that we will
never know about. We do know about him because he
had a level of notoriety created by what he did
in athletics. But today shouldn't be about trying to pick
those things apart, positively or negatively. It should just be
a point, just be the fact that this guy, who

(01:24:10):
yes is in the NFL died tragically and that sucks,
and that should be the end of it. This is
Fox Sports Radio eron Torrest, Jason Martin. Dwayne Haskins passes
away at the age of twenty four years old. Of course,
there is some sports news that we need to get
to um outside of Dwayne Haskins. The most notable thing,
of course, what happened today at the Master Scottie Scheffler

(01:24:33):
takes the lead. He has nine under par through three rounds.
Tiger Woods unfortunately has fallen off. He is in tied
for forty forty first place at plus seven. You know,
but Jason, I was asking about this earlier in the show,
and if anybody missed it, you could go back down
with the podcast which will be which will be available
shortly after the show. But um, something that I realized

(01:24:55):
and I knew it, but I don't think that I
knew it really until I saw over the last couple
of days. Is is truly how revered Tiger Woods is.
And and you know, we talked about the seriousness of
tragedy and everything that happened with Dwayne Haskins. Um, there
isn't you know there there's a scenario where Tiger woods

(01:25:16):
car crash that he got into a little over a
year ago ends up a lot worse than it did.
I I talked about in a minute ago, or I
talked about it earlier in the show. The fact that
you know, Tiger Woods or people close to him at
least have have publicly said like he could have had
to have his leg amputated if he didn't have access
to some incredible doctors that you know not only necessarily
saved his life, but but saved his ability to walk. Um.

(01:25:38):
And so why I bring it up is is a
few reasons, and I want to take it in a
different direction in a minute. But the one thing that
I continue to be amazed by with Tiger Woods and
why I believe he is so revered is because of
the fact, um, that this is a guy. It isn't
about the fact that he is by far the most
dominant golfer in the world. It is the fact that
he wants to compete, that he has pushing his body

(01:26:01):
beyond uh any logical limit that any human could possibly expect. Um.
And I think that's why we love him now. I
think it's beyond we expect magic every time he steps
on the course. I think we just love his resilience,
We love his toughness. Um. And I have some thoughts
on some other comments that that came out in a
different sport this week, But is that fair to say?

(01:26:22):
Is that why you believe that everybody reveres Tiger with
the way that he that they do because of the
things that he's overcome, both self inflicted and non self inflicted,
and also just the resiliency that he shows every time
he's the fact that he's even on the course this weekend.
I think it's that, But I also think it's all
time greatness. I think we remember that stretch, which was

(01:26:42):
as dominant a stretch as an individual could have in
a sport that was that maybe a sport that used
to be a joke about people wearing ugly pants into
the thing. We were all huddled around our television watching
for the red Nike Polo on sun Day. We were
watching him and Rocko. On a Monday at Tory Pines,

(01:27:06):
We're watching the ball fall in. At Augusta, we were
watching to come back against Bob May at the p
G A Championship. We watched greatness on the level we
had never seen before. And yeah, there was a unique
quality to Tiger Woods that was a new audience. What
I'm saying is it doesn't it doesn't matter what he
has overcome if first he was not that great, because

(01:27:30):
he was that great. There was actually a fall from
grace from a very high tree. That's the difference. He
fell from a very high level down to the very
bottom in terms of what happened in his personal life.
Then he was on the front of every tabloid. But
this is after all the greatness, This is after we
you know, we had seen a complete generation of kids

(01:27:52):
decided to pick up golf clubs across the country, regardless
of where they lived, because Tiger Woods touched them in
a different way, and they wanted to be Tiger Woods
in the same way they wanted to be Joe Montana
or Michael Jordan whatever else. But it was a sport
where you just didn't see that. So he was great
and then he fell, and then he found a way

(01:28:12):
to come back, and there was attempted contrition there, and
then he fell again sort of right and almost lost
a limb. And then he comes back again, and everybody
remembers the greatness and wants to see it because after
the humbling comes redemption. And once he was humbled, and

(01:28:35):
originally it wasn't you know, it's not like he found humility.
Humility found him. It punched him right in the face. Basically,
he was forced into humility in front of the world, embarrassed,
humiliated in front of everybody. After that, everybody was ready
for the redemption. Because we all love the greatness and

(01:28:56):
now this robot that it never really talked in public
in terms of we all just thought he was almost
a cyboard. You would you would come to find out
that golfers behind the scenes liked him better than they
liked Phil because they believed that Phil was phony and
Tiger was legit and you could actually have a beer
with the guy. But the public persona was so careful

(01:29:17):
that we just never got to know him. And when
the walls came down, we just knew this dude has
driven to do this one thing. We absolutely love watching
him do this one thing, and we've seen him fall,
so now we can cheer for him because we've all
been at a low moment and we can relate to
this guy. I agree, And I think the other thing

(01:29:37):
to add to is I think not only with age
and not only with um you know his personal stuff,
but I think you know him evolving as a man,
and I don't know what he's like in in a
personal relationship as as relative to ten twelve years ago
when his marriage kind of blew up. But you know
his son being out there with him when he won
the last Masters, and his son obviously taking up golf

(01:29:58):
in what appears to be you know, following in his
father's footsteps and all that stuff. So now I agree
with you a d percent. And I do think there
is some weird um you know, like like relatability to him.
As strange as it sounds, he's worth probably close to
a billion dollars at this point. Um. You know, he's
done things and had access to things and people and
monetary things that none of us ever will. But like

(01:30:21):
you said, it's all those things, Um, you know, it's
all those things that he has gone through that I
think makes him what is what makes him relatable to
the rest of us. Uh. You know, we talked about
it earlier. But but is it fair to say that
while look, he's not going to take the course, if
he isn't competing to win every single time he steps
on that course, is it fair to say that, like

(01:30:43):
I do think at this point, um, I believe personally,
I think it should just be grateful that he's one
out there. Um, but that too. At this point, anything
we get out of the guy, he's forty six years old. Uh,
he's around the same age of the last time that
Jack Nicholas ever won a major tournament, and that was
without all of the physical things that Tiger Woods has

(01:31:03):
been through, the emotional things off the course the Tiger
Woods has been through. I feel like, to me, I'm
happy that he's out there. I don't have this wild
notion that you know, he's gonna recreate the magic of
ninety seven or oh one, all the things that you
were referencing a minute ago. I think we as fans
have to recalibrate that while we would love that moment,
even the moment that we had three years ago at

(01:31:25):
the Masters in Uh, those moments may still come, but
they're gonna be very rare, very fleeting. And the reality
is that that he's a forty six year old playing
a sport that is now dominated by guys much younger
than him. Yes, that's right. And I would say this
again to the to the idea to following the redemption.
I think the story is greater because of what had

(01:31:45):
to be overcome, and that makes it easier to root for.
Like what's more memorable Virginia winning the national championship over
Texas Tech. Well, Virginia winning the National championship a year
after being the first number one seed to lose to
a sixteen. There's two sides of this. That first story
is memorable forever, but then to come back from that

(01:32:08):
is an incredible testament and it's something that's easy to watch,
get behind and understand. And I think there's also not
to get to philosophical, but I also think that it's
built into us. It's wired into us that if that
guy can fall that far and still come back from that,
then maybe there's hope for me and whatever my situation is.

(01:32:29):
I think there is a relatability factor to the highs
and the lows, to the mountaintops and the plateaus that
extends beyond that, and we're watching real life superheroes. I
will always believe that in a world where superheroes don't
truly exist in terms of being able to be invisible
and fly and all this, the closest thing we have
are our professional athletes, are our elite level athletes, where

(01:32:53):
you know less than one percent of the population can
do the kinds of things that they can do, and
it seems almost easy, almost effortless to them in that
moment right there. There's a there's an idolization that comes
with that, and sometimes there's also some bitterness just like,
why why can't I be that good? I do think
that there is something built into the psyche of watching

(01:33:15):
that level of greatness tumbled down that not only just
makes them relatable, but also gives hope and one and
it's so easy to root for hope. I think in
the same way you're rooting for somebody like Tiger Woods,
or if you're rooting for Tony Bennett and the Virginia
Cavaliers the year that they came back or whatever your
comeback story is, I think that in effect, you're rooting

(01:33:40):
for hope, and then you can actually personalize it to
your own life, and that makes it even easier. If
any of that makes sense, it does make sense. And
we are going to continue the conversation coming up about
Tiger Woods because I saw something that somebody in the
NBA said earlier this week and it actually made me
think of Tiger Woods and what we've seen over the
last couple of days. Aeron Torres, Jason Martin, this is

(01:34:02):
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back, everybody, Fox Sports Saturday. Aaron Torrest,
Jason Martin Here Saturday night, about ten minutes from now.
An NBA player call me a name that I cannot
repeat on air. Hopefully we got the dump button ready
that isn't about ten minutes from now. But Jason, you know,
I I saw something NBA related that actually made me

(01:34:25):
think a lot about Tiger Woods. We just talked about
Tiger Woods. He is way off the lead now at Augusta.
But the thing about Tiger and I believe the reason
that he resonates as well as all the things that
you talked about, the redemption and all that, the reason
I believe he resonates is because the American sports fan,
the international supports fan, whoever, they don't have to ever

(01:34:46):
question how bad he wants it. You can question if
his body's gonna hold up, you can question if physically
he's he can handle playing uh seventy two holes over
the course of the weekend. But if he can physically
be there and he can physically compete, he is going
to be there. And the story, of course is that
he was in bed for three months after that car

(01:35:08):
accident where he nearly got his leg amputated, and worked
out every single day to get to this point, uh
to be able to play in the Masters. And so
I bring it up because earlier this week I saw
Adam Silver had something interesting to say about NBA players
taking time off. He said, I'm not saying standing here
saying I have a great solution talking about the trend

(01:35:31):
of stars not participating in the full complement of games.
Those were his exact words. So basically, he was asked
about it, and he's claiming he he doesn't have a solution.
He's thinking about all these different conferences. He's basically talking
about all these different things, um that the league is
trying to do to get guys to participate, but it
doesn't change the fundamental fact that way too many guys

(01:35:52):
are sitting out way too many regular season games when
essentially they can play, but they just don't. And obviously
the last week or so it was heightened by Lebron
James the Lakers. They obviously missed the playoffs, but in
the lead up to that, I had some guys sit
out when maybe they could have played to try and
get into that playing game. So I bring all this
up to say, I think the NBA a league that listen.

(01:36:12):
Everything's ratings are up right now, NFL college football, college
basketball for the n c A Tournament, the NBA ratings
still aren't great. And I think part of it is, um,
I think the NBA has a real problem with pr
and with the perception of their players that are sitting
out all these games. And I couldn't help but draw
the parallel. You got one league where these guys think that, uh,

(01:36:35):
you know, playing is optional as you're paid twenty five
thirty thirty five million dollars a year. And it's not everybody,
but it's a fair enough number of superstars that it's
worth noting that Adam Silver had to address it publicly
earlier this week. And then on the other end, you
have Tiger Woods, who is literally forcing himself out of
a hospital bed doing everything he can to get onto

(01:36:56):
the course this week. I believe there's a parallel there.
I believe some of these NBA guys learn a lot
from Tiger Woods. You may disagree, but I thought there
was an interesting parallel there. Yeah. Um hm. I think
that Silver's concerns are certainly well founded, because it would
be easy to create a story or create a narrative

(01:37:21):
in your own brain that a lot of these guys
are just trying to get paid and they don't really care.
I don't think that's honestly true. But I also see
a lot of guys taking a lot of games off,
and what are you supposed to do about that? What
do they care about? What can you drill down into
that's going to make them more dedicated to playing more games?

(01:37:45):
Now playing a D two, that's a lot of games,
first of all, and as you get older, you don't
want to play as much. You have to be a
little bit more selective. I understand the idea of load
management to a degree, but I also understand and the
family of four whose costs of living her up gases up.

(01:38:06):
Everything's up because the grocery store it used to be
fifty bucks, now it's or whatever it might be for
your situation, and wherever you happen to be in the
country listening to us on a fine Fox Sports radio affiliate,
everything's changing. You go to the game and superstars aren't
playing now they're doing what they think they have to do.
But you're screwed because that was the one game you

(01:38:27):
could go to. That was the one time. And what's
even more fun, And I'm speaking very sarcastically when I
say that is when, for example, Memphis, right here in
the state where I do the show in in Nashville,
the Grizzlies before Morant and before like. You could go
see them against the Magic for five bucks. I'm not

(01:38:49):
kidding you. You can go and get a ticket for
five dollars on a secondary market, or sometimes just get
a ticket for five bucks, get in the building. That'd
be fairly affordable. But if it was the Lakers and
Lebron was coming to town, then all of a sudden,
the tickets are over a hundred dollars a piece just
because it's Lebron. Imagine going there and then that guy
doesn't play on the road. Like at home, you have

(01:39:11):
opportunities where you're gonna have many chances to see them.
But if they're just coming to Memphis one time and
Lebron sits out, it's hard to explain to my kid
why his favorite player decided not to play in the
game that he would you know that my son was
psyched up for for six months. That's tough. You don't
get that in Gulf Like because because of the way

(01:39:34):
the sport is and because it's individual based and these
guys are gonna play. Would you just agree though that
I think a big part of what makes tiger Woods
tiger Woods and what makes him so revered is that
nobody questions the heart, the soul, the competitiveness, the will.
And I think part of the reason the NBA is

(01:39:55):
struggling is because a lot of people, as you said, listen,
I think the biggest problem that the NBA has right now,
I don't believe that a lot of their stars are relatable.
I do not believe that the average person. And this
isn't you know, We're gonna get the comments on social
media that we always do, but this isn't about this.
It's not about that. I don't believe that the average
person that's working their butt off to keep food on

(01:40:19):
their table and to keep lights on in the house
can relate to a guy that's making thirty million dollars
a year and just shows up to the arena and decides,
you know what, I don't want to play. I don't
believe that the guy that's struggling and foot food on
the table can relate to the guy that's that is
making thirty million dollars a year to be the face
of a franchise and decides one day, I don't want
that anymore. Trade me. I do believe that everybody can

(01:40:42):
relate to Tiger Woods who woke up in a hospital
bed needing major surgery just to be able to walk again.
That is scratching and clawing and fighting to get back
on that course no matter what, because that's how much
his job, his career, his passion means to him. I
get that. I don't really subscribe to it to the

(01:41:05):
degree that you do, because Tiger has always been really
selective about what he plays and what he doesn't play.
It's not like he plays every tournament in the PGA Tour.
Golf is different in that regard as well. You could
be in a small town and your event is not
going to get you know, five of the top one
hundred players in it, potentially Tiger and his schedule became

(01:41:28):
even more limited over this last hanful of years. He's
incredibly careful about what he plays and what he doesn't
play because he has to protect his body, similar to
the n b A. So I don't know that it's that.
I mean, when he's there, you know he's giving it
as all. But this was the first Tournam he's played
in Ages, and before that point it's not like he

(01:41:48):
was playing everything. In the lead up to the Masters,
he wasn't playing for months at a time. When he plays,
he gives it as all. I don't know that it's
fair to to actually question in the will of the
guys in the n b A. I get the point,
and yeah, it is very hard to relate to somebody
that makes that kind of money. It just is it's

(01:42:08):
a totally different universe. Like the salaries, the job. It's
so different you can't compare it to anything else in
the world. Basically any other job in the world. It's
so unique. But I feel like Tiger Woods is relatable.
I feel like Joe Burrow is relatable. I don't know that.

(01:42:28):
I feel like Lebron James sitting in sunglasses on a
day that he can play when his season is on
the line is relatable. Well, I'm not necessarily saying that,
but I don't think he's relatable if he plays either,
Like I don't know that the heart necessarily plays into
whether or not you'd like it or not. Like these
dudes aren't relatable. They're all mega millionaires. Like you don't

(01:42:49):
understand their universe, Like nothing would make sense that they
do in many cases that you would do because you
just don't even you can't fathom the difference between the two.
I don't. I can understand on the surface what you're saying,
But Joe Burrow has to play sixteen seventeen games, and
if he's healthy, he's gonna play. Lebron James has played

(01:43:12):
how many seasons now, how many how many years has
he been in the league. I have much more leeway
for a guy like Lebron who's gone as hard as
he has for as long as he has and carried
as many teams as he has through the years, that
right now is trying to preserve himself for a future
because the president ain't going anywhere. And I don't like

(01:43:34):
I get I don't fully disagree with you, but I
also know Lebron James knows in his heart they're going nowhere.
I don't want to see him in the playoffs. I don't.
I don't need to see that. Like at this point,
I would have shut that thing down a couple of
weeks ago if I had been Lebron James. The mistake
he made was the dumb April fools Joe and again,
and some of the things where he's put his foot

(01:43:55):
in his mouth, and the selfishness at times, and all
this other kind of stuff it. It's just hard for
me to blame him because I've seen that dude go
hard for a very very long time. There are other
guys where we can have this discussion. I don't know
if Lebron is is one where I think it would
be particularly fair. Yeah, and I think Lebron is a

(01:44:16):
metaphor for a league wide problem that Adam Silver addressed
earlier this week. Uh, it's an interesting conversation. Is something
I was chewing on throughout the day. Coming up more
n B A as one former NBA star. Hope he
doesn't kiss his his mom with that mouth, will tell
you why. Next, first to Sega. What's trending? My man?
How you doing? Hello? And you guys are right that

(01:44:37):
golfers talking about that sport specifically, including the stars. They
don't not just Tiger, they don't start every event. In fact,
even the Texas Open, which was last week right before
the Masters. Your big names on the leaderboard where j
J spawn Adam hadwin bow Hostler. This is not some
small event either. At San Antonio the winner got over

(01:44:58):
one point five million dollars and even a tie for
eighth got you almost a quarter million dollars. But golfers
just don't play every event. And then there's the Masters.
Even Tiger Woods, Yes, is playing this Masters, his first
official tournament since his single car accident in February of one,
which damaged his right leg. It was not a memorable day.

(01:45:19):
He's seven over par for the tournament, shot a third
round seventy eight. Woods needed thirty six total potts today,
his most in around there at the Masters since the
third round, when he also had thirty six. The defending
champion at Augusta, Heideki matsu Yama, shot seventy seven. He's
two overpartied for fourteenth place. John ram is seven over par,

(01:45:41):
Bubba Watson shot seventy eight, eight over par. And then
there's the leader, the number one rank golfer in the world,
Scottie Scheffler, is up by three strokes. And by the way,
I did read that at the start of this year's
Masters there was a lack of the Georgia peach ice
cream at Augusta supply chain issues apparently. And then some
journalists noted that with the weather today, nobody would have

(01:46:03):
been eating ice cream because the windshill was forty three
degrees by the time in the afternoon, League. I love
I love ice cream in a cold man, am I alone.
I like ice cream like maybe not outside with the
snow falling, but ice cream on a cold day. I'm
good to go, man. I like it. I like it anytime.
I don't care. The only highlight from the Leader all

(01:46:25):
day was him putting his jacket on constantly before and
after every shot. Literally day long. He shot a seventy one,
so therefore about seventy times he put his jacket on
and then took it off with the shot and then
put it right back on. That was the day at Augusta.
It's gonna be good weather, they say for it tomorrow,
just for the record, and we've got the Leader up

(01:46:45):
by three. It certainly could have been more. He could
have shot a lot better than seventy one today. That's
how his round went. Everything is final in Major League Baseball.
The Angels shot out Houston to nothing. Astros had one
the first two of this season opening series. It was
justin Verlain during and s Noah Synderguard, the pitching matchup
of former Tommy John's surgery guys. That was and they're

(01:47:06):
both backed by the way, but that was the story
going in and they were both great. Synderguard gets the
win five and a third scoreless innings. Meanwhile, Justin Verlander
tagged with the loss, but five innings just one run,
allowed seven strikeouts. The Houston offense went two for twenty
nine In Anaheim, Mike Trout with a solo homer in
the eighth. Shohyotani went over four three strikeouts in the

(01:47:27):
victory Colorado homer in the eighth to beat the Dodgers
three to San Diego was tied too to going to
the eighth, but Padres wound up five two winners at Arizona.
Atlanta got its World Series rings before the game and
then beat Cincinnati two to one. The Mets are three
and oh after shutting out Washington five nothing, Pete Alonzo
a Grand Slam, Cubs and Cardinals each one. Seattle scored

(01:47:48):
two in the ninth to win at Minnesota four to three.
Yankees for two over Boston. The NBA regular season ends tomorrow.
Clippers in Golden State each one. Tonight, Memphis and Philadelphia
got home wins. For Philly Joel Embiid with the first
fort twenty game in the league this season forty one points,
twenty rebounds, and bead was fourteen of seventeen shooting from

(01:48:09):
the floor. He leads the league in scoring at thirty
points six points per game. More on that in about
ten minutes. James Harden had fourteen assists in the victory.
So Philadelphia is tied for third in the East, but
Boston owns the tiebreaker. Philadelphia led this game against lumping
Indiana by twenty one points in the first half. In
the NHL, Toronto won to clinch a playoffs spot, Rangers

(01:48:30):
one to clinch a playoff spot. And NASCAR's Cup Series
race was tonight's on FS one. William Byron the winner.
Joey Logano finished second. Back to you, thank you to Sager,
say you'll be back in about ten minutes or so,
maybe eight to nine. What he got for us well,
aside from the NBA scoring race, and yes, final night
of the season is tomorrow, we'll talk about Masters ratings

(01:48:51):
predictably pretty good, but how do they compare with the
other great cable ratings that usually come around. We've also
got a final in the end CIA and it's not
college hoops, but it was tonight. More in ten minutes.
Excited to say, you're excited speaking of excited at first
of all Fox Sports Radio errant towards Jason Martin here
on Saturday night. So, Jason, I don't know how much

(01:49:13):
you remember about I think it was two weekends ago,
but you know, I was talking college hoops and I
put to give you credit real quick to go ahead.
What's up. You picked Georgia preseason in college football, in
Kansas preseason in college basketball. You may have wavered on
both of those during the course of the year, but
your original instincts in both cases were correct, and that

(01:49:36):
deserves praise because that's It's not like you took giant leaps.
It's not like you picked George Mason to win college
basketball and they won, or Lester City back in the day.
But still, there's a lot of ways you could have
been wrong, and it turned out you ended up being
right from your initial instincts. Well, it's funny because the
Kansas thing, um, the Georgia thing, like whatever, was awesome.

(01:49:57):
Then they lose to Alabama. The Kansas thing was wild
because I picked them because the team that we saw
at the end of the year. I basically said, Okay,
they got a bunch of returning guys that I like,
and then they're gonna add this spark plug, Remy Martin
from Arizona State. Uh, and he's gonna be awesome, and
he's gonna give him like fourteen to sixteen off the
bench or as a fifth man, and they're gonna be awesome.
And he literally didn't do that until the n c

(01:50:20):
A tournament and all of a sudden they took off.
So I can't really take too much credit, but I mean,
I guess I can because they turned out how I thought.
But the fact that they won the championship in the
road that they took where um, you know, I was
even talking about Buddy con Cooward this week, and you
know he said on his show and we were talking,
is like, He's like, I don't think that's one of

(01:50:40):
the five best Kansas teams that I've ever seen. I said,
I don't disagree. I think you're right. I think you're right.
And so Kansas wins the National Championship. But uh, after
the championship was played, So I'm I'm sitting around on Wednesday, Okay,
And if you remember about two weeks ago, I got
a little dust up with JJ Reddick on social media, Okay,
and the rucks of it was I was watching a

(01:51:02):
very bad Houston Villanova Elite eight game that we all
agree was bad. The final score was fifty to forty four.
It was not an exciting game. And essentially what I
said was, I tweeted out something I saw the typical
NBA uh social media people that are NBA fans tuning
in saying I could never watch college basketball the quality
of play is so bad. And while I will readily

(01:51:23):
admit that the quality of play was bad, I also
kind of just put out some kind of, you know,
half baked tweet that I wasn't really paying that much
attention when I put it out, saying that essentially, if
NBA players were allowed to play defense the way that
Villanova and Houston did um that we'd see a lot
of low scoring games. It didn't feel controversial to me
at the time, but JJ Reddick chirped at me after

(01:51:46):
the Elite Eight that that Saturday two weeks ago, so
two weeks ago from today. Then I got so under
his skin that on his podcast earlier this week he
said this. The other day, some knucklehead said, if NBA
teams played defense as hard as college kids, I bet

(01:52:07):
you the scores would be in the seventies and eighties
to First of all, I mean, it's just math. First
of all, the shot clocks longer, so there's gonna be
more possessions in NBA game, and there's eight more minutes
of basketball, so that's not possible. But secondly, what he
doesn't understand is you watch college basketball. Man. I'm like,
these guys have not evolved their philosophy since the nineteen
eighties or nineteen nineties. It's ridiculous. Same sets, same sets

(01:52:31):
that I used to run, that I used to watch
growing up, that Kansas used to run. Like, Bro, do
you know why it's so hard to play defense in
the NBA. It's not because we can't, and it's not
because we don't try. It's because there's space and the
players are so good, right, it doesn't matter what we're doing.
Him athletes, And you think somebody's gonna guard up and

(01:52:53):
hold a team is seventy points that has a thirty
points score, Like, come on, man, that was the pull
up pod JJ Reddick with a special guest Kevin Durant. Indirectly,
I'm getting some I thought that was k D's voice
that between him saying you needed to have every jersey
he's ever played and retired. Uh, that was after that

(01:53:15):
was a separate conversation. First of all, I'll explain myself
in a minute. I mean, first of all, did you
get called it you know what by any NBA players
this week or what? What do you think when you
heard that? Was this the first time you heard the
audio or did you see it previously? No, it's that's
the first time. That's pretty good, right, Look, apparently you
are living rent free and JJ Reddick's head two weeks
after it wasn't. It was two weeks after Reddick's point.

(01:53:39):
I mean, you can agree with or disagreement. I cann
understand where he's coming from on firstly all of that.
But the thing is like, I got this tweet, but no,
you didn't, Like you didn't send him the tweet directly.
They have found that someone else may have given him
the tweet, but he's not like you were like, hey, J. J. Reddick,
listen up, Paul, Like it wasn't. There was none of

(01:54:01):
that in there. You just sent out an observation that
somehow got to J. J. Reddick at which point, like,
I just disagree with the phrasing of I got this
tweet from this knuckleheads like, no, you really didn't. He
didn't slide in your d M j J like you
you somehow caught wind of this take, but that's not

(01:54:21):
exactly him reaching out to you to challenge you on
your basketball acumen. Well, and the other thing, too, really quick,
is that he said the beginning, he said, if NBA
players played as hardest college kids. I never said that
they don't play as hard at college kids. I said
if they were allowed to play defense like college kids.
The the NBA defensive rules have changed over the last

(01:54:44):
fifteen years, much like the NFL, where every single rule
favors the favors the offensive player. And so I I
used this reference all the time. But you go back,
remember that famous Byron Russell, You know, Michael Jordan's pushed
off game. Do you remember that game, Jason, the greatest
game on Yeah, it was ninety eight finals. You know

(01:55:06):
what the final score of that game was, Jason, Do
you know what the final score of that game was
or something like that? It was eighties seven, eighties six,
by the way, Game five of that same series eight
three eighty one. By the way, Game four of that
same series eight six eighty two the NBA Finals before
they changed the hand check rules. Three wins were in

(01:55:28):
the eighties, one win was in the nineties and overtime.
So JJ Reddick, I can't call you what you called me.
You say, it's a simple mathic question. You know what
is JJ Reddick. It's a simple Google search. Just go
back and look at the rules before. And oh, by
the way, read my tweet correctly since you misread it,
do a little mat do a little homework. Okay. I
know you think the NBA started when you got there,

(01:55:49):
J J Reddick, but no it did not. This is
Fox Sports Radio Air towards Jason Martin coming up. The
Sayer's gonna have to take over next segment. I'm fired
up Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back everybody, Fox Sports Radio,
Fox Sports Saturday or towards Jay Martin Saturday nights. Like
we do every time at this this time every Saturday,
we'll bring it in Steve to Seger, what do you

(01:56:10):
got to saga? Good evening to you once again, And
can I mention these three things briefly that a Clayton
Kershaw in the baseball season won the World Series. He's
from Highland Park High School in Dallas b Matthew Stafford
one football season won the Super Bowl. He's from Highland
Park High School in Dallas. See Scottie Scheffler could win

(01:56:30):
the two Masters tomorrow. Yes, he's from Highland Park High
School in Dalla. Two quick things. One, I just saw
Scottie Scheffler. That guy. Google tells me he's twenty five
years old. He looks like he's about forty. That's one. Yeah, disaga,
I was gonna say, do we know? I tried to
google it really quick during the break. Was he ever

(01:56:51):
a college teammate of Jordan's Speace. I don't know that
he was. There's there three years apart in age, so
there's a possibility that Speed had already left. But I
was trying to look it up and I couldn't find
I don't know if you knew off the top of
your head, I did not look that up. I do
know he's going to join Speech on the list. It
appears as the tenth textan ever to win the Masters.
That already is the record for most for many state

(01:57:12):
nine in the old days Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and others.
More recently, Speech and Patrick read and I can't you
know he's only got a three stroke lead. Has mentioned
earlier he could have shot better than seventy one and
really put the rest of the field out of its misery.
So it's not like this is over. I don't mean
to say that, by the way. Also from that high
school in Dallas many years ago, Doke Walker. The award

(01:57:33):
for college football's top running back is the Dope Walker Award.
As for the ratings, predictably a little better than recent years.
Thursday and Friday ratings for the Masters on ESPN a
four year high average three point three million viewers. Yesterday's
second round was three point five million, even much higher
than that in the final minutes of Tiger Woods second round.

(01:57:57):
But to average three point three million for a cable
TV show, that's right around what the best cable TV
shows get in prime time for Fox News or some
of the others. So that's very impressive. Meanwhile, the NBA
Thursday Night about one and a half million the average
for its TNT doubleheader. The NBA does end its regular

(01:58:18):
season tomorrow night. I mentioned that Philadelphia One today Joel
Embiad had forty one points. It looks like he's going
to wrap up a scoring title. Tomorrow. Now everyone's playing
tomorrow night, and I assume Embiid personally will play in
the Philadelphia game because Boston and Philly are tied for
third in the Eastern Conference standings. Yes, Boston owns the tiebreaker,

(01:58:40):
but they're due to start the games at the same time.
And how about this bit of meth. If Embiid plays
just a little bit and doesn't score much at all
Tomorrow night, what would his scoring average be? I mean,
how much would Janice have to score to pass him?
The answers about fifty points, So I don't know that's
gonna happen. Could happen. But if Embiid thinks he's got

(01:59:04):
it locked up and the team doesn't care if he
plays and he doesn't want to ruin his scoring average,
you Honice would need seventy seven points tomorrow night to
pass him. So there's that. Joel Embiid with another bit
of history. On offense, He's guaranteed to be averaging thirty
points a game this year, regardless of tomorrow, and that
makes him the first center in forty years to average

(01:59:26):
thirty points a game in a season. Chat came close,
Patrick Ewing, David Robinson came close no one since Moses
Malone forty years ago as a center as average thirty
points per game. As we look toward the possible playoff matchups,
keep in mind the top six in each conference avoid
the play in. But the Brooklyn Nets kind of healthy now.

(01:59:48):
Could be getting the seven seed. Remember they get two
chances to win a play in. First round. Could be
Brooklyn against Milwaukee, seven seed against two seed in the East.
Thank you, Steve Sager. This is Fox Sports Radio, Aaron Torres,
Jason Martin here Saturday night. Coming up our number four.
Bernie Frido joins us. We got more on the NBA,
Major League Baseball, NFL plenty more coming up. This is

(02:00:10):
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back everybody, Fox Sports Radio. Aeron Torres,
Jason Martin Here Saturday night, about twenty minutes from now.
Bernie Frado straight out of Vegas. He will be joining
us uh to discuss all sorts of things, including, by
the way, the crazy, crazy crazy money that they took

(02:00:32):
in Vegas on Tiger Woods throughout this week. Bernie Frido
joining us here in just a few minutes. By the way,
before we get back to the show, got a couple
of comments on my you know my back and forth
with JJ Reddick, Terry Williams says, you go guy, awesome
hot job on j J spoke about you as if
he is the basketball oracle, and Rabbit ears durant giggling

(02:00:53):
like a schoolgirl can shove it too. Thank you, Terry Williams.
I appreciate your support. M L Time has also said
Aaron Torres spitting fire with a real fire emoji right
now on Fox Sports Radio with Jason Martin Ready the
tweet right j j mL Times, thank you. I agree,
Duke guy should be able to read properly. But hey,

(02:01:14):
we all know asked Don. I'm sure they don't take
real classes over there in North Carolina is not the
only one where the kids don't take real classes. Anyway.
If you missed me going off on JJ Reddy because
j J Ready called me some inappropriate names, you can
download the podcast. Speaking of which, by the way, Jason
uh As the saker just told us here a minute ago,
we're down to one day left of the NBA regular
season and then the playoffs start. Playing games start on Tuesday, normal.

(02:01:38):
Rest of the playoffs start later in the week. Real quick.
Uh you know, well, I mean well, what are we
thinking here? I mean, obviously the big stories the Lakers,
they are not going to be in the playoffs. Uh,
you know, we don't. We we haven't talked a ton
of NBA, just because there's been so much NFL over
the last couple of weeks with the Tom Brady, Deshaun Watson,
all that good stuff, March madness of course as well.

(02:01:58):
Uh we are now, what seventy two hours away from
playoff basketball? Uh? Well, what are the Jason Martin hot
takes going into the playoffs this year? Or about the
teams like the Lakers that aren't gonna be there. I
don't know if it's really hot takes. It's just I
don't really happened. I mean, the Lakers aren't going to
be in it, and I don't think anybody really wanted

(02:02:19):
to watch that. So I'm kind of glad that they
wouldn't head and bowed out so we don't have to
watch that. Um, that story is gonna dwarf anything that
actually happens in the playoffs. Believe me. That's what they're
gonna talk about, is whose fault was it? What do
you do about it? Can you get out from underneath
a forty eight million dollar or whatever the number is
for Westbrook's contract. Can you trade Anthony Davis? Can you

(02:02:42):
take control of the team back from the star player
and do what you actually want to do if you're
Genie Buss, Like, there's a lot there. I think the
story that's most underreported is the one that's most interesting
to me, and that's just that Phoenix is just quietly
dominating the West, just dominating like the East. There's a

(02:03:03):
lot of talent in the East. There's a lot of
stars in the East. It's gonna be a fun playoffs
to watch, especially in the East. But Phoenix doing this, like, yeah,
that was a nice story last year, but you could
always point to We'll look at the injuries and look
who they didn't have to face and all this this
year they've just been killing people, Like Devin Booker is
not going to be the league MVP, but he could be,

(02:03:25):
and maybe he should be. He should certainly be in
a conversation, They've done an outstanding job. It wasn't just
a fluke last year. Turns out there just really good
and they've been built well over the last couple of years.
And Chris Paul was the leader that they needed, and
they've got a superstar in Devin Booker, and you've got
eight and who's really stepped up. I think that's the

(02:03:46):
most intriguing thing. The thing that I have said for
years when it relates to the West in particular, is
that you had these teams like Utah and Denver and
for a time you thought maybe Portlands until you realize
the Lillard McCollum thing is not going to be good enough.
Lillard can't be your best player without a really really

(02:04:07):
close second if you're intending to win. And of course
Golden State and everything else, But like outside of the Warriors,
all those teams were great stories and you got to
the playoffs and they lost. Well, Phoenix got to the finals.
Yeah they lost to Milwaukee, but losing to Janice, there's
no shame in that. But the fact that they're gonna
that they're gonna walk in here with what a seven

(02:04:29):
game lead on the rest of the West, going in
and looking like the best team in the NBA right now,
that to me is fascinating. I want to see whether
or not they can actually cash this thing. I know
the town in the East, I know how difficult it's
gonna be. To get out of the West when everything
ramps up in the playoffs and the bench is shortened
and all of those things get to put in there.

(02:04:51):
But for me, that's what I'm most intrigued by, outside
of the obvious, which is what's Brooklyn gonna do, what's
Philadelphia gonna do? Because you've got the hardened story and
you've got whatever is going on with the Nets. So
I mean, there's the tabloid side of things, but I
think what we really need to pay attention to is
the greatness in Phoenix because this kind of came from
nowhere over the last two years. I agree on all

(02:05:13):
of that. Um, I do think though, and and it's
it's cliche, but it's the truth is that the most
interesting element of this is the team that isn't gonna
be there, which is the Lakers. Um and and you know,
and and I think you're right. I think too often
we spend time focusing on the wrong things and we
don't just appreciate, you know, the greatness in front of

(02:05:34):
us all that stuff. But with the Lakers, I mean,
there's been a lot of stuff discussed this week. I
mean all sorts of things, right, I mean, who's to blame.
What's the reaction? How do you move off? How do
you blow this up? Are you somebody I mean again,
I hate to keep referencing colincount heard, but he's, you know,
probably one of the faces of our networks. He is
one of the faces of our network and he's been
pretty adamant. I hear it during the breaks every time

(02:05:56):
we go to break that he believes they should basically
trade everybody but Lebron James, is that what you see
as the answer? And then by the way, uh one,
it's obviously easier said than done. The fact that you know,
you're gonna have to figure out somebody to take on
Russell Westbrook's terrible contract. You're gonna have to find somebody
to take Anthony Davis, who's banged up. There's the clutch
element of it where I'm guessing they're not gonna be
very happy about the idea of wanting to move off

(02:06:17):
Anthony Davis. But are are you somebody that believes that, uh,
it needs to be completely blown up? Are you somebody
that believes that maybe uh, you know, you run it
back with Anthony Davis but without Russell Westbrook? Where do
we go if if we're the Lakers. I don't think
that any team that's reliant on Anthony Davis to be

(02:06:39):
available as the second option is one in which I
would buy into. I I didn't like that move when
it happened. They want a title in a bubble, so
there's an asterisk for a lot of people as it
relates to that title as a whole. Anthony Davis was
great in the bubble. He was great in those final

(02:07:00):
he was outstanding. But he's been hurt his whole career.
He was hurt with the Pelicans, he's been hurt with
the Lakers. And I know he came out and said,
these are not tiki tack injuries. Well, nobody's assuming that
you're out here jaking in and you're not trying and
you just don't want to play. We know you're hurt
all the time, but I don't care how serious the
injury is. If you can't play, you can't play. I

(02:07:21):
do not think that that guy can be a corner
stone of your franchise and aging Lebron James, things got
to be right around that guy, and he has to
step back enough to at least let whoever is making
personnel decisions make those decisions. The rest of the Westbrook
story and everything came out about DeMar de Rosen and
Buddy Healed and and all of that. That's something Lebron's

(02:07:45):
got our own because a lot of the reason why
Westbrook is there is because Lebron and Rich Paul made
a decision that they wanted Westbrook and they were able
to get that done. However it went down behind the scenes.
Know that they're the reason why that got done. I agree,
you wouldn't want to trade Lebron if you can help it, obviously,
but Anthony Davis and I don't necessarily think they are

(02:08:08):
going to move on from Anthony Davis. But personally, I
think that dude is injured next year, if he's back,
I think he's injured. Two years from now. If he's back,
I think he's injured three years from now. If he's
still there, I just think that's gonna continue to be
a problem for him. And I'm not even making light
of it. It's just sad at this point. Sucks. Dude
can't stay healthy. His body's betrayed him, and his betrayed

(02:08:31):
him since he got in the NBA. This is not
a last two years kind of problem. Go back and
look at his stats and the Pelicans. That's all you
need to know. That's why I was kind of wary
of what they were offering up to get him in
the first place. The Lakers are gonna have to do
some serious wheeling and dealing here. There are a couple
of their young players that I do like. But who
they lost, who they were, who they could have gotten,

(02:08:52):
who they ended up getting. The biggest things, what the
heck are you gonna do with Westbrook? Like at his money?
Who the hell is taken on that deal? And why
what are you getting out of Westbrook at this point
in time? That dude's broken, he shattered. If you read
the Ramona Shelburne long form piece did she put up?
I think yesterday. I read it yesterday afternoon about the

(02:09:13):
Westbrook era from the very beginning in l a and
how it went south and the movie premiere with the
projector breaking and all of this kind of stuff like
that's toxic. Westbrook felt like everybody quit on him and
abandoned him. That's not gonna make for the best Russell Westbrook.
At the same time, his skills have diminished. That right

(02:09:33):
there is a huge problem for the Lakers going forward,
because they've got to find a way to get that
guy out of there. And I don't know who exactly
is gonna be there to take them, take them up
and take him off their hands. No, that's the part
that to me, Um, it all sounds great on paper. Um,
you know one, I think you can talk yourself into
you know, figuring out a way. And by the way,
Anthony Davis isn't going anywhere. Obviously he has the same

(02:09:55):
agent as Lebron. There's there's no way, but um, the
Westbrook thing, I you know, it just it sounds great
on paper. Get rid of him, start over. I don't
know who takes him. I mean, we even heard the
rumors this week about the Charlotte Hornets, and like, even
if you're the Charlotte Hornets, I mean, you've got to
think about a young, talented roster headlined by LaMelo Ball.
Do you want to bring in a guy that to

(02:10:16):
use about you know, to use the bad pun like
needs the ball in his hands in Russell Westbrook. And
so it's been interesting. You know, I will say this,
and this is very rare. I will give people in
our space credit because I think in the past people
have been hesitant to criticize Lebron, and I think I
think he has been more to blame on a lot
of things than he's gotten blame for every organization he's left,

(02:10:40):
it's been in worse shape. I made the analogy earlier
this year that the four years with Lebron in l
A are almost identical to the four years that he
played in Cleveland the second time around, where championship year two,
year three, you get back to the final, you get
back to the playoffs, but you don't win, and then
the year four is when it completely falls apart. I mean, uh,

(02:11:00):
don't forget that last year in Cleveland, Kyrie Irving demands
a trade. You got Dwyane Wade on the roster for
half a second, you got Isaiah Thomas, You've got uh
Derrick Rose, and the place was just such a mess
by the time that he left. And it's the exact
same thing going on in l A right now. And
so I give credit to people in our in our
space saying, you know, and part of it was prompted

(02:11:21):
by the magic Johnson comments. I get that, but saying hey, Lebron,
you you can try to play done with us, but
we all know that you were the guy that wanted
Westbrook here, you were the guy that pushed for it.
You were the guy that created this mess. And then
you were the guy that at the All Star break
was also floating out all these rumors about, you know,
he gotta get John Wall, you gotta do this, you

(02:11:41):
gotta do that. And then oh, by the way, he's
throwing Rob Polinka under the bus, talking about how great
Sam Presty is. He's throwing the coaching staff under the bus.
So you know, there's a lot of questions to be
had about the Lakers and and what's gonna happen this offseason.
But I will give credit to people in our space
because I think for the first time people sometimes people
would say it or dance around it. Whatever people are saying. Look,

(02:12:02):
g M. Lebron, let down the Lakers. This is a
mess that he has created um and he should be
held responsible for it. It was more than ever I
felt like I heard that this week. Yeah, I mean,
and now it's again. Magic went on ESPN and basically
spoke for the organization and the four years that you

(02:12:24):
mentioned with Cleveland and the four with the Lakers. I
think it's Brian Windhorse that said a few weeks ago,
or wrote that that's how Lebron's whole career has been.
It's been in four year cycles. Four years in Cleveland,
he's able to bring some people in, some veterans that
he wants to come in. They run out of draft
picks and he leaves. He goes down to Miami, he
sets up the team that he wants. He gets veteran

(02:12:46):
guys to come in less money, you know, the Udonis
Haslems of the world, those kind of folks that come
in and then they run out of draft picks. Four
years later, he leaves, he goes back to Cleveland. He
goes to Cleveland with a number one pick in Kyrie
Irving that's already in house. He's able to bring Kevin Love.
It's the veterans that he wants. They have mild success,
and then they win a championship, and then four years

(02:13:06):
now he's out in l a and he's done the
exact same thing, except he created the oldest team on
planet Earth this past year, and we all knew that
that wasn't gonna work. Like in my heart of hearts,
I can first guess this because the night that it happened.
The night that it was all set in motion. I
was on Fox Sports Radio and I said, this is
going to be a disaster, and it was. So it's

(02:13:29):
very interesting that it has worked this way for Lebron
his entire career when it comes to these kind of
four year increments or quadrants or brackets, whatever it is.
But he has to do soul searching the same way
Michael Jordan, the general manager, did the same way that. Look,
I'm a Broncos fan. I'm glad always not making personnel

(02:13:49):
decisions for us, especially at the quarterback position. Love Elway
maybe my favorite player of all time, actually is my
favorite player of all time. But at the same time,
that didn't necessarily expec end out. He's a wonderful player.
Lebron is a wonderful player. But even this week he's
on HBO talking about how he wants to play with
step and that would be a that would be awesome
and all this other kind of stuff. It's just like, dude,

(02:14:11):
like just stop, just stop with all of this. Like,
there were a few guys on the Lakers teams that
I like to watch, but everything that happened this year,
because it's your team and because so much of the
it's basically you're the quarterback. Everything falls on the quarterback
and the head coach. Well, Vogel was taking a lot

(02:14:33):
of this, but Lebron is finally getting criticized because he's
the one, and we all know it. We all knew
it before Magic said it, but Magic just made it
more obvious. Lebron put this team together. He put a
team together that he thought it was just as good
as it would have been five years ago. I guess
I don't. I mean, he thought it was gonna be
a basketball fit. It wasn't a basketball fit. These pieces

(02:14:55):
didn't work together. Lebron is responsible for this. Lebron and
his people made this happen. And that's why the trade deadline,
when he wanted John Wall, they basically said, no, screw you.
This is a team that you wanted. This is a
team that you got. We're not bringing in another asset
that we know is not going to be with us
long term, at least not gonna be good for us
a long term. I don't care if he wants out

(02:15:16):
of Houston or not. They basically told Lebron, this is yours,
and now we see what it is. And now he
shut it down and we'll see what happens next year.
But this is fair to critique Lebron James because this
is his team all the way to the end, because
he said it all in motion. Two quick thoughts to
wrap up, you know. One, I think, first of all,

(02:15:38):
the big difference as well is that the organization is
actually pushing back. Um. You know, he had all the
leverage in Miami sort of, but certainly in Cleveland. Um.
And this time the Lakers are like, Nope, as you
just said, Jason, this is your mess. Figure it out. Two,
there's nowhere to go. He's not going back to Cleveland.
He's not going to Houston, he's not going to Dallas,
he's not going to uh wherever. Uh. He wants to

(02:16:01):
be in l A. His family wants to be in
l A. And now this is a mess that he
has to help clean up because it is in fact
a mess. Guy who's never a mess. Terrible transition there.
But Bernie Frido's coming up straight out of Vegas. Love
having Bernie on. He will get us caught up on
everything that happened in Vegas. Some really interesting stuff betting
wise with Tiger Woods this week Aeron towards Jason Martin,

(02:16:22):
Fox Sports Radio. Welcome back everybody, Fox Sports Radio. Aeron
towards Jason Martin. Here busy Saturday night. I tell you
all the time about eastern one twenty eastern. When you
hear big pimpin, you can only mean one thing. Bernie
Frado straight out of Vegas, joins us, Bernie, what's going on? Man? Well, gentlemen,
what do you Jordan's Feet, Bryson, Dshambo, and Brooks Kaprica

(02:16:44):
have in common. None of them made the cut, but
Tiger Woods did. So go ahead and lay it on us. Burne.
I know you know you and I spoke by phone
earlier this week. Um I I know that the betting windows.
When Tiger officially was announced as a participant in the
Masters this week, the betting windows were a fire. Am
I correct? Absolutely correct? Money was pouring in on Tiger

(02:17:07):
Woods NonStop. By Wednesday, at Caesars alone, they'd written over
a thousand tickets on Tiger Woods. Draft kings indicated that
all the Tiger tickets out numbered the rest of the
field three to one, uh basically fourteen percent of the
entire handle, twelve percent of the tickets The biggest liability
was on Tiger Hood. Tiger Woods, he was a hundred

(02:17:28):
of one, went to forty to one. Uh and after
he uh came out Thursday and shot a good round,
he actually got his lows thirty to one heading into Friday. UH.
It's circled back. He was eighty to one today and
he's a hundred to one to win it tomorrow. But
he was even money to make the cut, remember that,
And that was a pretty good bet because fifty golfers

(02:17:49):
plus ties make the cut. There were only nineties six
in the field, so if you had Tiger Woods to
make the cut, it was plus one oh eight. And
by the way, there's still some action out there. He's
tired for forty one right now. Will Tiger finish in
the top ten, Yes, it is seven to one I
I by my estimation, he'd have to shoot a sixty
six tomorrow to do that, but it's gonna be really

(02:18:10):
good conditions. Will Tiger finish in the top twenty, yes,
plus three twenty. I think if he sees sixty eight
he can end up in the top twenty. So there's
still some things to watch tomorrow. Well, sixty eight will
be nice. Um Bernie. What I said earlier was Thursday
he played like a guy that was in his first

(02:18:31):
round Friday, like the course was getting to him a
little bit. Obviously it was a tougher scoring day, but
also I just think physically walking the course, and he
didn't have a warm up tournament. He just showed up,
played a practice raulity. Yeah, I'm gonna play the Masters,
and then today struggling with a seventy eight. To me,
this is just an indicator of somebody that's just sort
of deteriorating a little bit physically. More than anything else,

(02:18:54):
I just think this is kind of what should be expected.
So I look at that sixty eight and I'm like,
that seems with in his realm. But I think we
need to go back and just appreciate the fact as
you set off the top, dude made the cut. That's
preposterous for anybody to assume you could just step back
on the course without any tournaments to set it up

(02:19:14):
at Augusta and make the cut when the likes of
Kepta Speak and so many others did not make the cut. Yeah,
I think we all have to temper expectations the minute
he tied off Thursday morning, he'd already won in my opinion,
by the time he got to Thursday morning. Clearly he
was fatigued. He had six bogies in his first twelve holes.
When you're physically fatigued like that, you're you can't make

(02:19:37):
your hands do what you wanted to do. I see
that in baseball he had played Riviera. The big test
was walking up that huge hill. He passed it. He
played some rounds at Augusta earlier in the week and
it's a very undulating course. I was there once in
and uh, it doesn't capture that on TV, how truly
hilly it is. And so there's no question physically he's

(02:19:57):
very fatigued. He spent four months in a hospit for
crying out loud, and I'm gonna talk about that later
to night and compare He's injury to Ben Hogan's back
in the forties, and it's incredible the fact that he's
in his position. By the way, not for nothing. The
books are gonna really have a I think a party
tomorrow night, barring something odd, but the Westgate took a

(02:20:17):
bet on Louis Oustas and at fifty two one for
five thousand dollars. He ended up withdrawing and the biggest
single liability on any one bet Uh. You and l
V has a freshman named Aaron Jarvis who qualified and
somebody put a hundred dollars on him at five thousand
and one. Fortunately he was plus nine and missed the cut.
So I think the books are going to uh have

(02:20:38):
a really good uh ledger when this is all added up.
By the way, a couple of other things. Will there
be a hole in one? Still alive? It was minus
one sixty before the tournament, and I'd watched this too,
because there's only a three stroke lead between Scottie Scheffler
and Cameron Smith. Will there be a playoff plus three
seventy five? You can't rule that out? So Burn, you
are in Vegas. The show is straight out of Vegas.

(02:20:59):
It's at the top of the hour. Uh and Vegas
has been in conversation for a while now. Uh. They
seem to be flirting with the a's. I don't know
how serious it is. Was there some sort of update
this week? Burn? Yeah, I don't know if you guys
saw this, but it didn't make national news. The two
mayors it started out the mayor of Oakland, Libby chaff.

(02:21:19):
She started to take some shots at Vegas and said,
why would the A's want to move there? Vegas is
a gross desert. It's basically got tacky architecture. And our
mayor haarenly Good says, why don't you become one of
the forty two million people to come visit us every year.
The bottom line is this the I've said it from
day one. I don't think locally A's are moving. I
always thought this was a leverage play, and I'll say exactly.

(02:21:41):
I talked to somebody Friday to get some low down.
Number one, the environmental study in Oakland continues, so I
think they're planning on keeping the A's with that waterfront deal.
Oakland is giving the A's a much better deal than Vegas.
Every will and I'll tell you why if they move here.
They want public money like the Raiders got there. Zero appetite.
There is zero and center for anyone here to provide

(02:22:03):
the Oakland A's public money to build their stadium. Here
we have what's called the Strip contingent. When you look
up and down the strip, all the properties, all the
major corporations and casinos that really formulate the heart of
Las Vegas, if they're not on board with something, it's
probably not gonna happen. They're not on board with the
AIDS coming to Vegas. They don't really want forty thousand
people every night sitting in a ballpark when they could

(02:22:24):
be sitting in a casino. How did the Final Four
and the National Title do when it comes to Vegas?
In the way the tickets played out on Monday, particularly
with Carolina and Kansas. Yeah, there was no real liability
there because the money had been spread out quite a bit,
and when when you got to those two, they neither

(02:22:46):
one of those teams, frankly, had been very heavily bet
so it ended up pretty even. I think that a
lot of sharp money was on Kansas money night minus four,
and you saw how that inbound play changed things. So
I know there was one particular are Better at the
MGM who lost a million dollar bed had Kansas minds four,
and I'm sure he was crying in his beard when

(02:23:06):
they didn't in mount play didn't work out. Yeah, you know,
it's so funny. I was watching the game knowing that
the spread was about four four and a half. Kansas
was up three, I believe when that play happened. Uh So. Anyway,
Bernie with so much good information is all he is
as always he is, of course, Bernie Fratto straight out
of Vegas. Can listen to him at the top of

(02:23:26):
the hour. A lot more good stuff from Bernie. Make
sure to follow him on Twitter as well. Bernie, we
will be listening to you a little bit later this evening.
Have a great night. We'll speak to you sume my man.
Thanks so much, guys. Remind the singer that is part
of the Highland Park alumni uh class. Bobby Lane, the
last quarterback of the Detroit the Detroit Lions to win
a championship, also went to Island Park High School. There

(02:23:49):
you go, Bernie Fratto. Thank you, Bernie, listen to you soon.
Take care of that was Bernie Fratto straight out of
Vegas again top of the hour, Bernie Fratto will have
all sorts of good stuff on the Master's college basketball
and much much much more. Final time tonight, though, let's
get over to Steve to say with what's trinity. There
you go, Bobby Lane. I also read Angie Harmon and

(02:24:10):
Jane Mansfield, but I left those out of the segment.
One thing that we who either of those people are
law and order. Yes, okay, I know Angie Harmon. I'm
sorry I thought she was an pop The question on
the Tonight Show right in front of Jay Leno's desk
as Eric, do you know who Jay Leno is? Eric? Yeah,

(02:24:31):
he's the car guy, right. He was one of the
early rolles A Texas, A and M that you watched
in the spring game. No, they make the same amount
of money. But no, it's uh he No. I know,
of course I know Jay Leno, but he does do
car He does do a car show. Now I think, yeah,
well that's true to say the least a car enthusiast
from Boston late night. I know, of course I know

(02:24:53):
j len He owns an entire warehouse of his cars
here in the valley, not far from our studios. By
the way, I didn't time last hour. But congratulations to
the University of Denver and c double A hockey champs
with five goals in the third period tonight five one
over Minnesota State. Notable because they tie the all time
record of nine college hockey titles with Michigan, and a

(02:25:16):
couple of nights ago, it was Denver that eliminated Michigan
in the frozen four semifinal and with everything final in baseball,
they added up the runs at stats inc. And it
turns out in the MLB games and there were fifteen
games for this Saturday average of only about five and
a half runs total per game, the NHL had six
goals per game total, making it the first time in

(02:25:39):
over thirty years that the NHL games were actually higher
scoring on average than the MLB games on any given day.
The NBA's regular season ends tomorrow night. Next week is
the NBA's G League Best of three finals. The top
seeds the Toronto Raptors G League affiliate oddly called the Raptors.
They had their East Final against Delaware. How did the

(02:26:01):
Aqua Kali Intake Clippers do this year? Was it a
good year? They just lost the West Finals. They had
beaten the Lakers team to get there and then lost
to Rio Grand Valley. So there's your update. Rio Grand.
You could see on paper that they were gonna be
really good coming into the stop was stopped. NASCAR's Cup
Series race was on FS one tonight. I don't think
you can get to him, he tried. William Bran comes off,

(02:26:23):
turned four to win. Joey Legato finished in second and
the NHL Toronto want to clinch the playoffs spot. Rangers
want to clinch the playoffs spot. Just four NBA games,
but that included Philadelphia beating an Indiana team that's lost
nine in a row, Joel and beat forty one points
twenty rebounds. Good news from Memphis guard Ja Morant returned
from the sore nee tonight, twenty one points and a

(02:26:45):
dominant win over New Orleans. In fact, the Grizzly scored
fifty five points in the third quarter final score against
the Pelicans one forty one to one. Fourteen Clippers in
Golden State each one. We do know some of the
playing game matchups. They're set Tuesday night, for example, Clippers
at Minnesota. Before that in the East the seven eight
game maybe Cleveland at Brooklyn, and then two more play

(02:27:07):
ins on Wednesday, that includes San Antonio at New Orleans
and in the East Wednesday the nine versus ten game,
maybe Charlotte Atlanta. The first round of the NBA Playoffs
starts next Saturday, April. Regular season ends tomorrow night, with
six games in the West being played at the same time,
but there are at seven pm Eastern time tomorrow the
Boston game at Memphis, for example, while it's Philadelphia hosting Detroit,

(02:27:32):
and Philly and Boston are tied for third in the East,
Boston does own the tiebreaker. Scottie Scheffler leads the Masters
by three strokes. He's nine under par. Tiger Wood shot
a third round seventy eight. He's seven over par. To Baseball,
the Mets are three and oh Pete Alonso hit a
grand slam. Chris Bassett the win five nothing Mets at
Washington Atlanta to one over Cincinnati. Braves got their World

(02:27:54):
Series rings before the game, each with a hundred fifty
diamonds in the a on it for a hundred fifty
years as a franchise, they say, and forty four diamonds
on the side for number forty four Hank Aaron, and
twenty three diamonds on the other side for twenty three
postseason home runs they hit last year. Colorado and San
Diego with wins. Angels and Noah Synderguard beat Houston and

(02:28:16):
Justin Verlander two to nothing. Yankees over the Red Sox
on FS one to two. And finally, US women's soccer
has an incredible home unbeaten streak. It was not going
to be threatened tonight. It's sixty six straight matches without
a loss on US soil in Columbus, Ohio. Tonight's opponent
was dreaded Uzbekistan. Yeah, you know US women nine to

(02:28:39):
one the final US rights number one in the world.
Uzbekistan not only not in the top twenty, they're not
in the top forty. I looked it up. They are
ranked forty eight in the world, just ahead of number
forty nine Papua New Guinea, which I was unaware had
a women's soccer team. But there you go back to you.
Now I know who's forty nights in the world. Thank

(02:29:00):
Steve to say, this is five Sports radio eron towards
Jason Martin. Here a couple of segments left Jason. First
of all, you know you said you're a golf guy,
so what kind of so as the saker just told
us Scotty Scheffler up three strokes going into tomorrow. Obviously
we spent a lot of the show today talking about
Tiger Woods, not in contention, great story. What do you

(02:29:20):
expect from Sunday at Augusta? Do you believe the field
can close the gap? On Scotti Scheffler and make things compelling.
I don't know about making making a compelling on their side,
but Scheffler not somebody had truly been in this position before.
And we've seen what the back nine can do, and
we saw what it did to Rory McElroy years ago

(02:29:42):
on ten when he just hit it so far left
and was never able to recover from it, and I'm
not sure he was ever the same golfer after that point.
It just seemed to just kind of really change his mentality.
I need to see it. Like Shuffler has looked fantastic,
but Sunday at Augusta is a completely different animal. Weird

(02:30:03):
piece of trivia because I was talking to my my
golf coach and my good friend. We got a coach
earlier this Yeah, I'm taking lessons, and so he and
a guy that we were potentially gonna have on the
show that that works for the p g A and
has played on the PJA. I was talking to them
about how frustrating it is that you can't watch the
entire Master's tournament. And I've done this for years. It

(02:30:24):
drives me insane. It's like it's two. You should be
able to see every stroke of every golfer, but you
have to go to ESPN Plus to be able to
see Tiger's first round and all this other kind of
stuff because these antiquated rules. And so my coach said, hey,
do you know why they say that the tournament begins
on the back nine on Sunday? And I said, I don't,

(02:30:46):
but I have a feeling has to do with TV coverage.
And he said, yeah, because for years that's all you saw.
You didn't see any of the first three rounds. And
the year if you've seen the famous shot and I'm
sure you have of Arneld Palmer throwing advisor in the
air when he wanted Augusta. That year, you only saw sixteen, seventeen,

(02:31:06):
and eighteen on Sunday. That was it. That's the only
thing you saw. And then they backed it from there.
It's like, okay, now you get to see fifteen. Now
you can see fourteen. But for a while all you
saw was a back No, that was the only coverage
that was allowed Augusta. Then it was okay, we'll show eight,
then we'll show seven, and now you actually get to
see most of Saturday and Sunday. But that's why they

(02:31:28):
say the tournament begins on the back nine on Sunday
because for the people watching, that's literally when it started,
because you had to follow through a newspaper up until
that point in time. I thought that was very interesting.
I had no idea, and it is, you know, but
I will also say, well, that is very interesting. It
doesn't disprove the point that you made about the idea

(02:31:50):
of like how hard it is to find some of
that early round coverage. And I know it's cliche, and
I know it's something that every sports talk radio host
whatever anybody in the media talks about every single year. Um,
but it is still frustrating, right, It's like, you know,
I don't know, I just feel like it's maddening. It's
it's absolutely mad. I mean, he wasn't saying that it
wasn't maddening. It was interesting, though, he it was just like,

(02:32:14):
I had no idea. But it is dumb, Like it's
insanely dumb that that's like it's like the daytone of
five hundreds, but you only get to see the last
hundred laps. It's the biggest event in the sport. You
should be able to see it from seventeen different angles.
It has always and will always until it completely changes

(02:32:36):
bother the ever loving crap out of me, and then
people are like, oh no, it's tradition, and I was like, true, well,
there are a lot of traditions in this country that
needed to go somewhere. There are a lot of things
that were traditional that needed to be changed when technology changed.
That's just ignorant. That's like Dabbo talking about the Transfer portal,
like things have changed, you need to change with it.

(02:32:57):
The Masters needs to I don't know, show all the
holes from all the players playing in it because it's
the premier event in the hole Dagon sport well. And
the other thing too is, you know, we live in
a world where you know, everybody knows that live sports
you know trump anything. You know, we you and I
and everybody that does our job. We love sharing our opinions,

(02:33:17):
but live sports Trump's literally every sports talk TV show
on air, and it just it's it's good business sense
at a certain point because it's what people want, and
especially you know golf, it starts early in the day,
Like that's my thing is you know, we're talking about
what one o'clock Eastern time during the week that these
that this this doesn't tee off till or that you

(02:33:38):
can't see it. You can't see Meanwhile, guys are teeing
off at seven thirty and sometimes they're done with their
round or uh, you know, in their final few holes.
That that's the part that drives me crazy. So this
is Fox Sports Radio. Aeron towards Jason Martin coming up.
One segment left, wrap the show, plenty more left Fox
Sports Radio. Welcome back, everybody, Fox Sports Radio. Final segment

(02:34:01):
of the show, erin towards Jason Martin. Top of the hour,
Straight out of Vegas, Bernie Fratto, so much good stuff
for you on the Masters, the n c A tournament,
all sorts of stuff going on in Vegas. Bernie's got
you covered really quick. Jason, I I saw something we did,
the Dabbo thing earlier, and I wanted to get your
opinion on, uh, some stuff that Jimbo Fisher said earlier

(02:34:24):
this week and again mostly because we talked college football
for four or five months, so we got a few
weeks here where spring games are going on and all
that kind of stuff. UM, and essentially Texas A and
M I think, you know, I don't know if the
average person know, but they signed the number one recruiting
class in the country, and there's been some major allegations
that have not been proven UM that they have basically

(02:34:46):
paid their way to the number one recruiting class n
i L. The rumor on the internet was that it
was a million dollars per recruit UM and and and
even some coaches including Lane Kiffin and and really Nick
Saban kind of danced around at Aane Kiffin went full
speed ahead UM. But Jimbo Fisher basically came out in
defense of his program. But there was kind of a

(02:35:07):
narrative in college football kind of in the media this
week that Texas A and M has sort of become
the villain that everybody views them, whether it's totally accurate
or not, as trying to essentially pay their way to
a national championship, pay money in an i L that
no one else is willing to pay. And these are
still all allegations. But Jimbo Fisher was asked about it.

(02:35:27):
He said he doesn't believe he's a villain, but he whatever,
do you believe Jimbo Fisher Texas A and M are
a villain? Do you believe they're on their way to
being a villain? What what do you make of some
of the comments that kind of came out this week
throughout the college football world. I don't think you're a
villain toil you win something. That's where I kind of
am on it, Like I think they become a villain
if they win, because it's gonna be like, well, you

(02:35:48):
bought your way to a championship. If that's if that's
gonna be the narrative now, that's gonna be the narrative
for a lot of programs going forward. That's gonna be
the thing like, yeah, you can do this now, but
you might want to watch your house because it might
be glass too, Like, be careful about throwing stones right
now because things are going to change. Everybody's gonna have
to step into this world or they're gonna fall behind.

(02:36:12):
So I don't know if they're villain us yet because
right now they haven't one squat like until that changes.
I don't think you can be the villain. You can
side I them and maybe even wish them ill, but
they're not villainous simply because they have a great recruiting
class or whatever. You actually have to cash in that

(02:36:33):
recruiting class and win with it, at which point everybody
then can express the victory all towards you. But again,
like it's Texas A and IN and this is Alabama. Yeah,
we can have that conversation, but you can't have that
conversation about Texas A and M right now. Yeah, it's
interesting because you know, I do think you can kind
of be a villain, um, but you do have to

(02:36:55):
win something at some point. I think, you know, we're
kind of dancing to the point where Jimbo Fisher, I
think they went eight and four this year. Um, you
can't go in and four again next year, and I
know that, you know whatever, Like like they came off
obviously two years ago they finished fifth in the College
Football Playoffs standings. Um, they and you know they were
really on the brink. They take a step back this

(02:37:16):
past year. They do go eight and four overall. Um Uh,
they did not play in a bowl game because of COVID,
So it'll be really interesting. But but I I saw
some of those comments. I thought it was really interesting.
I wanted to to kind of run them by you
before we got out of here today really quickly. Masters
tomorrow final round. We just talked about a minute ago.
By the way, if you missed any of today's show,

(02:37:36):
go back and download the podcast. Do you believe Scotty
Scheffler will be putting on that green jacket hopefully a
little bit better than he put on his jacket today
on the course where it was forty three degrees as
the cigarette told us? Do you believe when when the
final eighteen holes are completed tomorrow, Scotti Scheffler will be
your Master's Champion? Yeah? I mean I feel reasonably confident
about it. A three shot lead is pretty solid. Like,

(02:37:58):
who do you look at that goes before the tournament?
I picked Justin Thomas to win it, and Justin Thomas
is eight off the eight off the pace, tied for
sixth right now, could he go low tomorrow? He shot
a sixty seven on day two after a rough day one,
so he put himself in bad shape. He was shot
a seventy six on Thursday, but then he's had a
sixty seven and seventy two. Could he go sixty seven

(02:38:21):
again tomorrow and be in front of Scottie Shuffler by
a couple of holes and put some pressure on him, potentially,
Danny Will it's won this tournament before, anybody that's won
it before understands the course, and you never count them out,
will it? Mourakwa. Some of these guys that you see
that you don't see sometimes pop up anywhere else are
popping up. DJ's too far out of it. More Cole

(02:38:43):
was probably too far out of it. Rory's probably too
far out of it. Charles Schwartzel's tied for fourth, He's
won the thing before. Cameron Smith is who my golf
coach told me to watch on Thursday before the tournament started.
He told me that he's in second right now, three
shots off the lead. It maybe one of the two
of them. I don't know if anybody's coming from anything

(02:39:03):
below three shots down with the way Scheffler is playing,
but I'll go ahead and say Shuffler is gonna hang
onto this that he's He's been playing rock solid. Even
with the seventy one and kind of limping home. I
think maybe you get that out of the way and
you still got a three shot lead. He should be
able to play with some degree of freedom tomorrow. Scotty

(02:39:25):
Scheffler three shot lead on the field, Cameron Smith in
second place at minus six. We gotta get out of here.
I want to thank the crew uh board op don
We appreciate your help. Producer Bow. Producer Eric Bow by
the way, real quick, Jason and I on behalf of
our staff. Bo will be out for a few weeks
as he is expecting his first born, so congratulations producer Bo. Yeah,

(02:39:49):
he ain't gonna be in the club anytime soon. That's right.
Thank you to Seger Bow. Enjoy your time off. We'll
be back on Saturday. Bernie Frido coming up straight out
of Vegas.

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