#92Noon! 9a Hour 11/12 - Parker Fox/Florio

Parker in studio on some hoops for a long segment, Vikes Bites and Florio make up the opening hour!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Parker Fox Mett Producer, Wednesday nine to noon at Parker
Fox two four via the X machine. How excited was
Parker last night? Kentucky and Louisville A fun Michigan beat
wake Forest by a point and overtime, Tenth rank Florida
edge Florida State by a couple. Big time college basketball

(00:21):
was in the air, and pa Fox assumably enjoyed it,
or did you watch any of it? Or did Taylor
make you snap photos of the Northern Lights for hours?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
And good morning, good morning. Oh what a fun night.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
We got Northern Lights, we got great college basketball, a
little wild action, the unfortunate loss and overtime. But my
night was spent watching a lot of college hoops and
highlighted by that Michigan Wake Forest game. I got a
kid from my high school, will underwo given little shot
out place for Wake Forests. Didn't clock any minutes, unfortunately,
but got to witness that game.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
And what a game that was.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
It's early, right, Like there's mistakes and and there's things
guys won't do, dry the ball over down the stretch,
calling bad time out, it's the whole deal.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
But like that's the fun in it. They're just kids
at the time. They're just kids and and there their
kids on the move right at a time. That's right.
What's that mean? Michigan Wolverine starting five last night? Michigan Wolverines.
I forgot to look up the ranking. They got to
be top ten s. Yeah, they're six squad. So good

(01:28):
Wolverine starting five?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
What a world?

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Four fifths of the starting five is four fifths of
the starting five via the portal, we have y Axel Lindeborg.
That's right. From u A b u A b uab
got good for a little bit last year, right, Well
because of him. He's a he's a first team All
American type of talent. He's he's an NBA player. Okay,

(01:52):
Well he wasn't great last night, poor UAB. I mean,
you find somebody nice. He's like Yexel Lendeberg Lendeborg and
you raised him and he leaves not great last night,
but he's gonna change games.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
How about a Damarra.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, played him at UCLA last year. He's all of
seven to five. He's huge seven five. Oh, he's just
a guest seven to two. No, he is like and
I think he's grown. They say he's growing too so
that's a that's a nightmare in itself. And you know,
and you see these seven five guys, A lot of
them don't move well or they're too skinny, and they
they're not courting enough to block shots.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
I don't know how many like Taco Fall would he have.
He had five block shots last night, probably got the
whole thing in front of me.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Eighteen points, thirteen rebound, six assists and five blocks a day, Mara.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
And I'll tell you he didn't do much at UCLA
last year. I mean when we played against him, he
was out there and he impacted the game around the rim.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
That kind of stuuse, you neutralized him, that's true. Let's yeah,
you know my big body, Billy.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Johnny Christie, Susie, Jamika and Antoine taking in the Michigan
and wake Forest game last night. Get to the arena like, okay, well,
who who's the day Dad?

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Who's the day? Amara?

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Who's Yaxel Lindborg, Billy, Johnny Christie, Susy. To make Antoine
calm down, let me tell you about Morez Johnson junior
one season at Illinois flips to the conference rival.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
Yeah, and my my my ring fingers still messed up
from him. We were trying rings. Taylor and I were
trying wedding bands for me, me down diamonds and U A.
I had the story from Mares Johnson he snapped my
U my ring finger at a ninety degree ango.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
We played Illinois last year. But just a tough dude.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Obviously an incidental type of thing, but such a tough
dude and he's going to impact that game. Their front
court is as good as it gets across college basketball.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Elliott cad Do, Caddo Cado, Elliott Caddeau. He was in
North Carolina guard last year stud and then we have
guard a Namari Bett Burnette. Namari Burnette, He's he's this
old schooler's favorite player on the Michigan Wolverines.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
You know why, why is that it's his third year there.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
But he started at Texas Tech and then went to
Alabama and then came there.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
But at least he didn't be like, Nah, that ain't it.
I think I'm gonna leave. Nah, that ain't it. I
think I'm gonna leave again. Nah, that ain't it.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
I think I'm gonna leave again.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
None of this none of this gets under your skin
at all, does it.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
I mean, I mean, let's just do it again. Lenda Borg.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
Led uab Or's part of it to quasi prominence last
year a day, Mara u c l A last year,
Moriz Johnson junior Illinois last year, Elliott Cado Cadou, North Carolina,
baby Blue last year, my favorite player, Namari Burnett, third
year at Michigan. So four fists of the starting five,

(04:50):
view of the portal, and if if, if it's not
to their liking, guess what, go somewhere else? So leave
again and again and again. So good luck keeping those
mid majors relevant. But nothing to see here, right because
those those are those are the available avenues. Take the
available avenues. I understand it. But Billy Johnny Christie, Suzi,

(05:10):
Tamika Antwine, Derek Nicole, a Vastella and laughing crime Baby,
all they're doing is looking for favorite players. Yeah, who
can last year after year after year? They can get
game warns as a freshman, sophomore, then maybe they leave,
or junior then maybe they leave. But that's just not
the case.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, it's the question.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
It doesn't get under your skin, yack does because you
know I'm old school. You know, Duke and North Carolina
rivalry and you're playing against that team for four years,
the whole deal.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, there's the NBA.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
Draft and so I'm kind of old school in that way,
but you can't fight it anymore.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
It's just it's just is.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
It is what it is, and you have to find
ways as a college coach to win basketball games, to
stay relevant. And when you have if you're a mid
major college coach, yeah, it's becoming there is it's hard.
Why find a blue chipper, you have no chance of
keeping said blue chipper. Well, here's the one thing that

(06:05):
that mid majors do have is now these high majors
they're not taking as many freshmen, right, So you're taking
the five star in the four star these major programs
because you can pay them. But the three star or
the underrated kid, he's sliding into that mid major. But
then that kid turns into Yaxa Londenborg at UAB and
by the time he's a junior, now he's at Michigan.
So you might get him for a couple of years

(06:25):
in his premature state, but then he matures and becomes
a stud player, and now he's at a power for.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
Do you think within Sorry to klomp, but do you
think within like certain robberies. So you mentioned a couple
of those cats. We're at Illinois, now they're at Michigan.
I mean that's in the same conference. It's obnoxious totally,
But would you ever see a blue devil become a
tar heel vice versa?

Speaker 2 (06:50):
They are still like and this is whops.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
But you know what I mean, like helmet school institutions
where that just seems sacrilegious. I just wonder when that
line will be crossed. I don't believe at least like
high enders. No, there might be a bench player or
a student manager that got two minutes in a non
conference game, yeah, for one of these schools, But that

(07:13):
seems impossible that that would ever happen, that the Cameron
crazies would ever accept a player on the other side
of Tobacco Road.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Illinois Michigan ain't Duke North Carolina. No, But I mean
it's a pretty it's a pretty agent rivalry.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah it is.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
And you talk about a guy in Murres Johnson, who
was who was young last year and played sparing minutes
for Illinois. What makes him enter right, like, what is
what tips him off to go somewhere else? Well, he
knows that his coach at Illinois, Brad Underwood, is just
going to go over to Europe and he's going to
find these guys with ivs and c's in the back
of his name and he's going to play over him.

Speaker 5 (07:49):
You know.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
So you got to be aware of that. So then
you at fair so then you enter the portal, so
that that's him protecting himself right entering the portal. Oh,
here's Michigan with one point five million dollars for my name.
I'll go there. So I think it's it's one of those.
But to answer Nortal's question, I don't think so. I
think it's it's that's a unique question because you talk
about has.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
It ever happened? I mean, I don't think so.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Now yeah, now I'm super into at the top of
my head, since the portal has become a thing, have
we ever had in basketball duke North Carolina North Carolina like.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
A Kansas type of situation? I don't think so. I
bet Obama Auburn.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah, you know things like that that that probably is
more more common or could happen more than than basketball,
because you know, you talk about your duke guy like
if he's good enough he's probably going on to the
NBA Draft. If he's not good enough, he's probably going
to like like Cad Tyson, who the Gophers have. He's
averaged twenty five and a half a game. He's the
top twenty in the country and scoring. Played for North
Carolina last year. Like, you don't play at North Carolina,

(08:43):
you play five to ten minutes. Well you got to
probably not say Minnesota's down a level, but it is
in the eyes of college basketball. You moved down a
sort of level. And now he's averaged twenty five and
a half games. Were skill enough? Who was the cat
at North Carolina? I think it was Caleb Love.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
Yeah, when they made that when they made that d
ron he ended up he didn't go to Duke correct. Yeah,
so he could have knocked on the door. But John
Shire's like hands are tied, man total. I mean you
you you were at the cult totally. Now you actually
can't play for a team that is east of the
Mississippi and he has to become a wildcat just ousted
from the entire state.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
It's not allowed.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Well, the fact that it's even like a thing like
it is technically allowed is crazy because like back in
five years ago, you would never have a guy you're
supposed to hate North Carolina if you're Duke, or you're
supposed to vice versa like, you're not supposed to be
friends with those guys And the fact that it could
happen is, I don't know, it's wild, but that's that's
the world we're living in.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Well, I bet you.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
Interestingly, if the minutia was put together from when the
portal opened, and then you know, somebody leaves and then
it's not to their liking, so they can and will
leave again and then leave again. It's the percentage of
players who transfer and and they're doing it for their
best interest, okay, and then somebody's taking them for the

(10:02):
best interest of their team, so that messhes okay, But
the large percentage, the grandee Os massive percentage of these
players leaving are not going to go to the NBA.
So therefore it is okay, my man playing five minutes
of a blue Blood and he was recruited and they

(10:23):
like him, and you're on the squad, you're in Parker's
chat and you're watching the Northern Lights with the Fox
family and everything's cool, man, but you're not playing as
many minutes as you would like. So has it been
eliminated the wherewithal and the work ethic within the covenant
that gave you a chance to win more minutes or

(10:43):
earn more minutes or is it just that ain't it?

Speaker 2 (10:46):
I'm out?

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Yeah, I think that's a really good question because I
think there's the answer of the coach has his eight guys.
He's paid those eight guys, so those are the eight guys.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
He's going to play.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
He doesn't care what you show nine to ten life,
then guys show you in practice. One hundred thousand dollars.
Guys show you in practice. The million dollar guys are
playing because I paid them and my boosters told me
to pay them, And well, that's unfortunate.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
I think there's a lot of politics in it.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
But I you're telling me if you hit on a
kid from Drake and you get him to flip and
he goes to a blue blood and he's getting three
hundred k and nil, and you got somebody in front
of him getting one point one, but he's underachieving that
the transfer would not play over the hire nil guy.
I mean, that's ridiculous.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
That's obviously you know who knows what each coach is doing.
But I do know that there's a lot of there's
a lot of politics behind things, right, like who's giving
you this money? Who's giving the coach the money to
spend that. Yes, it's your money to spend, but hey,
we want you to spend it on this guy, and
we want this guy to play twenty five minutes and oh,
this guy isn't working. Hey can I go to my bench? No,

(11:50):
this guy's gonna work type of situation. Right, So that
could be a specific scenario. But I do agree, Pa,
that's that's the one thing missing is, Hey, let's put
our hard hats on here, let's go to let's go
to work. Let's try to get better, not only for
myself but for my team so I can impact winning.
And that's got to be frustrating for some of those
guys that aren't getting those opportunities.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Do you think this happens or will happen? And let's
say in college football, because I mean, how many people
they got like one hundred people right at least? Yeah,
the rosters are huge. Yeah, I mean there are a
zillion people on the bench dressed or undressed. So the
amount of players and the numbers are markedly more than basketball.
So JOQ whomever, pretty good high school football player, not

(12:33):
good enough to get a scholarship at say a blue
Bloodish D one school, and it happens to be in
that individual's hometown. But dad has or mom they have
seven car dealerships.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
And here's the deal.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
You put my son on the team and we'll start there,
and I will put this into the program. You play
my son X amount of plays, minutes, series, whatever. Yeah,
I increase it to this. Go ahead and tell me
that doesn't happen.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
It probably does. That's just and that's that's so freaking slimy.

Speaker 3 (13:09):
It stinks for the kid the most part, in my opinion, right,
because like, you want to have fun.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
It's the best four years.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
I did it for eight It's had a lot of fun,
But this is the most the most fun years of
your life, you know. And if you're in a situation
where it's only happening because X, Y and B are happening,
you know that, like that's in the back of your head,
you know. So it's like you can't fully kind of
be a part of something that that's bigger than yourself.

Speaker 4 (13:32):
I wonder if that keeps it from happening more often. Yeah,
where the kids the kid's own awareness is, like, I mean,
I'm an l. Like, let's admit it here, height I
should not be played twenty five minutes a game for
this program.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Totally okay.

Speaker 4 (13:44):
Well, my dad's offering a range Rover and a little
duffel of cash every year.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yeah, I'm with you.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
And that is ten of ten from a self awareness standpoint.
Gotta have it the way to look at it. Yes,
it ain't ten of ten happening. No, I mean, because
let's look at it this way. We got joq L
from Tuscaloosa, we got the Crimson Tide, you know, with
all these roster spots looking to bring him in, going
to follow the parameters here of let's say John Lewis's

(14:15):
law firm, and how much money they're.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
Going to put into the program.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
Or the option is I go to this super small school,
probably don't play football, and settle into a scholastic four
years and go get a job. Well it's I'm not
going to say the majority of the kids or whatever
going to say, no, Dad, I would prefer to do this.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
I think they take the easy way out.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yeah, I think, And that's a tough situation, right is
when the parent or the adult wants it more than
the kid wants it, and then it becomes I've seen
that too many times with teammates, especially when I was
at my Division two, where it's like it's clearly your
parents want this more than you. You don't like basketball,
you don't enjoy the sport, Like go do something that
makes you happy, because it's a grind.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Like we worked nine to five.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
I was at the facility every day from at least
nine to five, probably probably more because yeah, I had
a you know, crappy body. I had to work on
my knees and everything. I had to work on my game,
I had to work on film, all that kind of stuff.
But like, this is a full time job and if
if you aren't in it, Like we had a walk
on last year who stopped playing this year. And the
first thing I texted myself is good for you because

(15:23):
you you identified, Hey, this this wasn't for me. I
want to go do what I want to do with
the last two years of college. I want to have fun.
I want to get a good education, the whole deal.
I don't want to spend eight hours and flying to
different cities and the whole deal. So it's like the
kid has to want it, you have to love it,
and that's what.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Was now.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
No, I guess that comes off that way unfortunately, but
it's like, but I but also it comes from a
loving place because I loved the kid. I was with
them for two years. But it's like, hey, this isn't
for you. Go enjoy, Go do something that makes you happy.
So I think there's there's truth in that. I don't know,
maybe there's not.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
You could say too that.

Speaker 4 (15:56):
I mean the way that this could happen at like
an Iona or some of these smaller schools. But you
do get to the point where certain programs, the amount
of money already coming in on the up and up,
combined with the coach's salary like Izzo, can't be bought.
So the kid with the dad and the nepotism, whatever
it is, you do reach a certain level where this

(16:18):
might work at D two school to get his name.
You know, there might be a name on a building
thanks to a dad who owns XYZ Publishing company if
this kid gets the opportunity to play. But you start
trying to play that game with the big time as
they're like no, I mean I get I just go
to the athletic department and they give me blank checks,

(16:40):
like it's pretty sweet.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
I don't need the John Lewis School of Law, right.
I want to win the University of Alabama.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
I want to win games. This is title town here,
come up, win championships.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Okay, well it's gone a little longer than we thought,
so we're gonna make this a marathon segment. Do it
courtesy of Steve's Appliances and Steve's Appliances dot Com. You've
got that cooked up ridge and everything, all install and
everything Nordo.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
We're working on the delivery process right now.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
And that would be free delivery and with the l
related appliances leaving, there would be a free recycling yes,
and guaranteed low prices beer fridge in the garage. Steve's
Appliances dot Com.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
And here they are.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Oklahoma City lost at Portland by two points a week
ago and blew a twenty two point lead in doing so.
Since they've won three by twenty three points per game. Disdroyed,
Steph Draymond, Jimmy the Bulldog and all the right Warriors
last night just destroyed them and absolutely looked like by far,

(17:42):
by far the best team in the game, and they
don't even have two way stud Jalen Williams for another
couple of weeks, still out with the wrist injury. Is
it hyperbolic or hyper accurate to say everyone in the
NBA is running for second and it shouldn't even be disputed.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, I think it is a h It stinks to
say as an unbelieved year, they're so good. And I
like that you highlighted that Portland game because I watched
that game on League Pass and it was one of
those situations where it's like, hey, we're in control and
we got comfortable, right like we got Cozy Shaden attack
like he was he was being unselfish, which is great,

(18:21):
but hey, sometimes you need to take over games, you
need to put the nail on the coffin. But I
think sometimes some of those situations they help you too,
because you remember back is, hey, what do we do
in Portland a week ago and we had a twenty
two point lead. We blew it because we didn't put
the nail on the coffin. So now you go and
you play Golden State and you hold Curry to eleven points,
Jimmy Butler to twelve, Draymond Green to three, and you

(18:42):
just absolutely obliterate a really good Warriors team. Steph Curry
with his first flagrant foul of his career. That's something
to note as well. Wow, with the Zaza Pachulia close
out that they patented at the guy Land right, we're
sp protecting ankles here. But I think you're right, pa
Is this This Thunder team is on believable. They have
some competitors in the West, but I think in a

(19:03):
seven game series, Shay is just.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
Way too much. He's looking to win the MVP again.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
The Detroit Pistons are nine and two and tops in
the East.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
Kate Cunningham's November goes a little something like this. Thirty
one point eight points per game, eleven assists a game,
five rebounds a game, and he's averaging eight free throw attempts,
making seven of them on average.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
I don't think this will last in years.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Why. A couple of weeks ago, speaking a league pass,
I caught Cleveland beating them by twenty one and Detroit
had its top seven with Isaiah Stewart and the Ronald
Holland trick on the bench and the Cavaliers just like,
all right, well, you know what, this is ridiculous. Let's
beat him and they just killed him. How about your Pacers?
Now you're Indiana Pacers. They go to the NBA Finals

(19:50):
last season, the loose the Thunder, They lose Halliburton for
the year due to injury. Miles Turner scoots to Milwaukee.
The Pacers are one in t They're terrible. The Hoosier
State can't be happy about all this. They are like
atrociously bad. I'm not you know, I'm an NBA League
past guy, so so I'll flip them on. Hey, this
team was in the finals last year. Let's let's see

(20:12):
what they're made of. They think they're still really upset
about the Miles Turner deal. And I don't think anybody's
publicly coming out and saying it, but you just went
to the finals.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Yes, I understand Tyreese's.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
Is out for the year and he's hurt, but like,
let's let's let's try to run this thing back. Let's
try to get back to the playoffs. Let's try to
you know, we have a tough, gritty team. We have
some good bench players in Nemhart and Mee Smith and
a couple of these other guys like, can't we figure
it out somehow, Benedict Mathern, But but no, and they
look completely out of sorts.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
If there's one player on the Pacers, Yeah, who was
frustrated Miles Turner didn't get the what he felt requisite
contract offer from the Pacers, got more from the Bucks
and got a chance to play with Gianness with tyres down.
If one person voices an opinion or or privately, even
as the source is like sucks, you shouldn't have done that.

(21:01):
And they actually transferred when they were in college, they're frauds. Yeah,
three years ago you went from UA B to West Virginia,
the West Virginia to Michigan. I mean, you know, so
you got to kind of call them the kettle black, right,
lastly a minute and a half and you get it all.
That's the last time we'll see you until Monday. Bears

(21:22):
are Vikings? Who wins them?

Speaker 3 (21:23):
Why?

Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (21:23):
I think I'm really excited for this game. I'm really
excited for Jju in this game. Just an opportunity again
for him to go out and uh and to lead
a team pretty healthy Vikings roster. From my understanding, you
can correct me if I'm wrong. But defense is healthy,
offensive line is healthy. I loved your bit yesterday with
KOs talking about the penalties and and hey, were the

(21:44):
Ravens doing some things? Were they running some shifts on
the defensive line. Yes, but we just have to be
better playing and simple. I think that's kind of how
Chaos answered that question. This is a Bears team you
beat once, they're gonna want to, you know, come to
your place and beat you because because you beat him
at their place. I think Caleb Williams is playing awesome
football right now. I think some of the stuff he
is doing is going underrated. They have a pretty good

(22:05):
receiving corps. I love Roma Dunza. I love what he does.
I love that backup running back too. I'm missing the
name Mangami something like that, right, you got that?

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yeah guy an guy? Yeah, he runs so hard.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
They got a good one two punch now with with
with Swift and him.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
So I think this is a good Bears team. But
I think we can I think we can win.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
I think it's gonna be the attitude, and then you're
gonna see it right away in the first quarters. What
kind of attitude are we coming out with? As a
Vikings team, are we here to just settle and say, hey,
we're gonna let JJ get comfortable for the rest of
the year.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
And it is what it is.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
We don't care about a record or hey we're gonna
put the we're gonna put the hammer down. We're trying
to win football games. And I think that's, uh, that's
the kind of coach Kevin O'Connell is.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
So I'm excited to see it.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
Del Taylor, I say, hi, thanks for the contribution, and
we'll see you on Monday.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
Big ten Network Saturday night, my first, my first Big
ten Network national broadcast. Hey, oh yeah, great to eight pm.
It's a doubleheader. Nebraska plays Oklahoma at the Sanford Pen.
I got at six and then I am on the
call as color commentator as Green Bay comes to Williams
Arena and plays the Gofers.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
So Gottlieb though, Doug Gottlieb. Eight o'clock Network, Proud of you,
Thank you, We'll see you Monday.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
I love you. I love you too.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Parker Fox at Parker Fox two four via x TimberTech.
Timber Tech dot com provides the What's on Deck nine
to noon that includes a bike spikes around the corner,
Florio and pft. After that, the great Courtney Cronin, who
covers the Bears for ESPN, joins us at ten o'clock
and there's much much more during the course of the
radio show today. So thank you very much for listening

(23:37):
to nine to noon. Your cash Thing Leader the Fan, along.

Speaker 4 (23:41):
With two men in a junk truck want to give
you a shot at some bonus bucks with the National
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bills well, walking around money with the keyword bills and
all you gotta do enter it in at KFA dot com.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Nine to Dune, it is time.

Speaker 4 (24:03):
For bikes Bites, Vikes Bites always brought to you by
Thousand Hills Lifetime Grays, grass Fed beach Er Von Dexter Senior.
You can shop online, boxing meat shows up at your
doorstep or go to Coburn's and co Ops Kolalski's locations.
Why can't I say that this morning proud sponsors Gophers Athletics, Clearwater,
Minnesota's finest. Thousand Hills A little coordinator's corner here for

(24:26):
you as we get vikings and some NFL wide bits
with Florio around the corner.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
But Wes Phillips Brian Flores.

Speaker 4 (24:32):
Talking to the media yesterday, here is Wes Phillips on
the combination of developing the kid QB but also trying
to win games.

Speaker 6 (24:41):
Yeah. I don't think we ever go into a game saying, hey,
this is about JJ's development in this game. We're going
into the game to win the football game and to
set up a plan in a way that helps him
as much as possible, like we would with any quarterback
that we've been with.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
But you know, it wouldn't be.

Speaker 6 (25:01):
Fair to the other guys to kind of hold back
per se. We're trying to set up the best plan
for the guys we have, and JJ included, but wouldn't
be fair to anyone else on our football team to
kind of hold back on anything that we felt we
needed to go win a football game.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
I like your NFL oddities idea for the final hour. Yeah,
I told you i'd have one or two.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
I have four. I'm going to burn one right now.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
Speaking of JJ McCarthy, an NFL oddity, JJ McCarthy had
forty seven dropbacks versus Baltimore since two thousand quarterbacks twenty
two years of age or younger. Since two thousand, quarterbacks
twenty two years of age or younger have won eleven

(25:49):
and lost seventy seven when they have at least forty
five dropbacks in a game. The most recent winner was
a twenty two year old Justin Herbert in twenty twenty.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Wow, that's an NFL adity.

Speaker 4 (26:06):
Mike bite Vices Bites continue. We'll jump back and forth.
We hated my audity, Well, I hate what it implies. Oh,
I see what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
That's what I But it complimented you some throwaway lines
you've had the last couple of days, just in a
normal hot takes it happy hour. Why I put this
in was because, like if we were having hot takes
at happy Hour with Isaac and like not you know,
reading from the toll Stoy or crafting, you know, crafting
analytical bits that have context and you build up to something.

(26:38):
We're just chatting back and forth. No fewer than three
times if you have you said, like, JJ can't throw
that much, you you can't throw in that much? Yeah, yeah,
something like that. So you said that, I remembered it,
and we found that. So it compliments and or amplifies
what the con has said in the last couple of days.

Speaker 4 (26:56):
No, I love it, but it's it's it again, and
I think it kind of continues to reinforce the complementary
nature of how these games need to be one with
the roster we have while trying to develop. That's why
I included that audio, because I think it's a very
very difficult path that this team chose to go down.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Look here, I wouldn't have shared the oddity if you weren't,
if you were going to try to get the head
coach fired.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
I hope honestly, I just.

Speaker 1 (27:24):
You said, let's put some oddities in you like the
ones you have. So I found four that I like.

Speaker 4 (27:28):
Now I have three, oh, mikes, bikes, complementary nature of things,
you know.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Speaking of that, it includes takeaways.

Speaker 4 (27:36):
Here's Brian Flores well, thus far in twenty twenty five,
a lack of takeaway.

Speaker 7 (27:40):
Yeah, you know, we always work on it. Work on
it every week, We talk about it every day. It's
obviously a major emphasis on it. And you know, it's
funny the balls, it bounces it, you know, it's an
odd shape ball that bounces funny. I think we had,
you know, several tip balls last you know Sunday that
you know, in other games they fall right into your

(28:02):
hands and this game is just out of our reach.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
And that's happened a few times this year.

Speaker 7 (28:08):
You know, some of those tip balls, you know, if
they're not tip, you know, it looks like a corner's
right in position to maybe steal one.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
But yeah, we'll continue to emphasize it.

Speaker 4 (28:20):
That's uh So, it kind of got me thinking, and
I'm shooting from the from the lip slash hip here
because I don't I haven't tracked whether it's time of possession,
how much the Vikings have let in games versus trailed,
but I can tell you this based on game flow
in twenty twenty five, the Vikings haven't had the lead
as much as they did a year ago. And I'm

(28:42):
just curious in terms of there's the opportunistic nature of it.
You think about the pick six by Isaiah Rodgers. We
two even that in itself was a little bit of well,
it's not shaped ball, it bounces around and just the
way b Flow said that kind of made me laugh.
But in that that's a tip from Hitman that falls
right into the bread basket of Isaiah Rodgers.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
I think he goes eighty seven to the house.

Speaker 4 (29:04):
Hey, there's an opportunistic side of it, there's an unpredictable
side of it. But I just wonder how much gameflow
plays into this, where when you're not in the lead
as often as you were a year ago, teams aren't
taking chances, Teams aren't trying to stretch, Teams aren't maybe
trying to push as hard as they would have had

(29:25):
to a year ago while chasing the Vikings, the vikings
now doing the chasing. I just wonder the five or
six different variables go into it. But in the vein
of being complementary, that's something that is noticeably absent in
twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
And it's tough to predict.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
It's tough to say, do better defense, as he says,
they work on it every day. But that's something we need, man,
We need some big takes in spots as we raise
the kid QB, putting him and the offense with better
opportunities to put points on the board.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
Why I asked the head coach yesterday about the tip
path says he calls block shots the tip pass terrorism
is How to frame it up is that is it
incumbent upon the offensive? Linemen to make sure they're not
in a position to tip those passes or does most
of it fall on the quarterback? And you know, he
said it's both, and then he kind of he kind

(30:17):
of explained, but you know, then I followed it up with, well,
there might be things you can do off that, right,
all right, I didn't ask it right and we didn't
have enough time. But here's what i'man when I watch
these games back, Uh, the Vikings do get a fair
amount of passes, fairmouse too strong. Every team tips passes
at the line of scrimmage. But when I watch when

(30:39):
I watch McCarthy games back, it's I swear defensive linemen
are just there absolutely jettisoning part of their rush and
trying to set up the perfect leap to tip a pass.
So that's why I asked, is there something you can

(31:00):
do off of it? Because if you see guys just
just shooting in hard, stopping and then like looking and
then they think they're going to get the timing right
to tip a pass, yeah, that's by scheme. So therefore
there has to be something you can do off that.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
But like I was.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
Thinking, like pump fake or hitch or something like that.
But then you hold the ball a second and half louder,
and that the longer, and that sounds like a stripsack.

Speaker 4 (31:23):
Well, and how how can you predict that internal because
you you would have to call the right play, the
right answer to that moment.

Speaker 2 (31:30):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (31:31):
And now you got JJ potentially in their second guessing
he has a hitch.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
Somebody comes around the backside, and well, disaster ensues. Boxbox box.
Here's what I'll do. We'll pause.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
I will include maybe a couple more from one from
west one from b flow during news to nord. But
but that's Vike Spiker, brought to you by Thousand Hills,
Lifetime Graves, grass fed.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
Mike florioprofootball talk dot Com. He joins nine to noon next.
Mike glorioprofootball talk dot com, author of a book called
Father of Mine and also Big Shield. It has a
sports gambling and persuasion bent to it. PFT dot comprofootball
talk dot com to support the cause.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Mike joins us now.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
And there are some super compelling games this weekend, and
your NBC Football Night in America Tilt might be the
glitsiest of them all. Detroit and Dan Campbell calling the
plays against the champions at Lincoln Financial. So tell me
this is an on site, full blown Football Night in

(32:37):
America presentation and good morning.

Speaker 5 (32:39):
Yeah, it is for the third time during the season.
We're usually there for the Week one game, and we
were there those started between the Cowboys and the Eagles,
but we were at Packers Cowboys. We were at Packers Steelers,
and we're going to go to Philadelphia for Sunday Night's game.
And the other thing that makes it you've got really

(33:01):
the four best teams right now in the NFC playing
in a fairly short time period. On Sunday, Seahawks RAMS
is tucked into the late afternoon four h five ET
window regional broadcast because Chiefs Broncos have the four to
twenty five big tent, Big Top CBS game. Seahawks RANS

(33:22):
is consequential because they're both seven and two. So one
of those teams is going to be eight and two,
and the winner of that game and the winner of
Lions equals. Those are the two teams that are going
to at least for now be the potential one seed
with the all important loan by. And let me just
say this. We talked about it earlier today on PFT Live.
But if they're going to do this flexing thing, the

(33:44):
most important windows in prime time to program when you're
making the schedule in April and may primetime standalone games
in November because it's late enough in the season that
the bad teams will have declared themselves. But it's too
early to flex. Raiders Cowboys. Is the turd in the

(34:09):
punch bowl this weekend that we get on Monday Night
with all these other great games, and whether it was
Seahawks Rams, whether it's one of these other games, Bears, Vikings,
I mean there are Jaguars, Chargers, is even more compelling
than Raiders Cowboys. So they really need to look at
that because those games in November, you got to get
those right. We can't have the Raiders in back to

(34:29):
back primetime weeks in November when everyone had reason to
believe that the Raiders were not going to be a contender,
not in that division. So the league needs to do
a better job of guessing which games are going to
be compelling in primetime in November because there's nothing they
can do about it. They can't flex that one out
because if they could, I guarantee you they.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
Would brilliant with the Eagles, and you watch as much
as you can Monday night. How about that Jalen Phillips,
the new Eagle. I mean, nobody cared when he played
for Miami night at LAMBA.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
He was a menacing presence. Jalen Phillips.

Speaker 5 (35:04):
He had six and a half sacks in eight games
in twenty twenty three when Vic Fangio, now the Eagles
defensive coordinator, was working for the Dolphins, popped the Achilles
tendon on the Black Friday game against the Jets. And
you know, it's weird. And I haven't watched a lot
of Dolphins this year. I haven't seen Jalen Phillips in action,
but just on the sideline. You take him out of
the Dolphins uniform, you put in the Eagles uniform, and

(35:25):
he looks different, right, He just looks different, and he's
going to play different in the perception of many because
we haven't paid much attention to him. And you put
him in a defense that has a Jalen Carter that
commands extra attention, all of a sudden, Jalen Phillips is
able to run free. So as Jihad Campbell, the Eagles
first round pick, said when they traded up one spot

(35:48):
to get him at number thirty one. This year, the
richer get rich.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
The Vikings get the Bears this weekend and are favored
by three and will win because that's what they do.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Off losses, they a losses.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
They have unexplainable phenomena to them, like eight ball starts.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
How do you see it?

Speaker 5 (36:07):
I like the factually correct pluralization of phenomenon, not phenomenons, phenomena, phenomena, phenomena. Okay,
so here's my beef. Here's my beef. This is my concern.
I feel like some weeks Kevin O'Connell is designing a

(36:30):
game plan that is aimed at suiting the skills and
abilities and minimizing the limitations of JJ McCarthy. Other weeks,
I feel like he's trying to cram the square peg
into the round hole of the Kevin O'Connell system. Too
many passes against the Ravens. Gotta run, gotta stick to
the run. The run was working early when you look

(36:52):
at what they did the lines. Balance. They need balance
in the offense, running and passing. He can't just be
throw ball down the field. And when you get third
and one, like I understand, there's a temptation to take
a shot. It's a great spot to take a shot,
but they did it twice and it didn't work out
interceptions both times. I don't like that part of it.
I don't like when the offense strays from what JJ

(37:16):
McCarthy needs. And I know that this is part of
a broader effort to maybe try to coax him to
a level where he can be plugged into the O'Connell offense.
I know this is a longer term play, but they
did what they had to do to beat the Lions,
and then I feel like they got away from just
doing what you have to do. I think each week
the challenge is what do we have to do to
outscore this team? And with JJ McCarthy, I think it's

(37:38):
imperative to tailor the offense to get the most out
of what he does. And if I'm wrong, feel free
to disagree with me.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
Well, now I understand what you're saying, and in fact,
having a twenty two year old through forty seven times
over the course of time is not preferred.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
They just don't win games.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
But nevertheless, it's there's so much work in progress here
when you have a core back at that age and
you're getting guys back from injury, like they should get
Josh Oliver back this week. But the dramatic swings they
just have to stop. I mean, it's are you going
to be bad or are you going to be good?
And they weren't.

Speaker 5 (38:14):
Well it's a microcosm of what the Vikings have been
the last twenty years. It's goodyear bad. You're good year bad.
You're good year bad. You you can set your clock
to it for crying out loud.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
See, they were bad against the Chargers. They to a
certain extent, were bad against the Falcons. They weren't bad
against the Ravens. There were just some moments where the
game got away and I think the Ravens are about
to rattle off a bunch of wins, by the way,
but it's there.

Speaker 5 (38:35):
Are three games this year the Vikings have lost that
they could have won. And it actually helped. My son
and I during the Monday night game were doing the
mic and the mad Dog that's a win, that's a loss,
and I hate doing that, but I was just curious, like,
is their hope? Is their hope? And when you go
through the balance of the season and when you consider
the rest of the conference, and it's going to be
at the end of the day, Packers, Bears, Vikings, maybe

(38:59):
the pa Anthers forty nine Ers and whoever doesn't win
the division in the West, between the Seahawks and the Rams,
those teams are going to be jockeying for the three
wildcard spots. That's how it's shaking out.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
Okay, well it's I mean what I say, you know,
unless unless they lose this week and it looks different.
But they've been so ferocious and dominating off sketchy losses.
So yes, O'Connell six and one against the Bears, I
are something like that. I expect them to beat the Bears.
Jordan Love has yet to show it doesn't take him

(39:32):
ninety minutes to figure out a Flores defense. I mean,
we're at Lambeau last year and the Vikings are up
twenty eight zero in three seconds, you know, and it
just took a while to get back and then they
eventually got swept by the Vikings. So not saying I'm
not worried about those two, of course, of course people
should be. I mean, it's fifty to fifty equation. But
if they win both, I wouldn't be surprised. The next

(39:53):
one at Seattle. You go to Seattle against this valley
who team, against your former quarterback who helped you win
four team games. That's where the rubber meets the road
for me. With with what happens there, I think it's
going to dictate some things in the future.

Speaker 5 (40:10):
I think that when you look at the next three games,
they need to win two of them to be alive
down the stretch. Whichever to pick any two, it's always
better to win the division. And if they would win
the next two weeks and then lose to Seattle, that
would be acceptable from the standpoint of staying alive for
tiebreakers and whatnot. Because right now two to zero in
the division, they can double that to four and zero

(40:30):
over the course of the next week and a half.
That will put them in good position for tiebreakers and whatnot.
Especially if they just if they sweep everyone in the division,
they're likely going to be the second place team. So
it's just vexing, and you're right. One week they look
like they could beat anybody, and the next week they

(40:50):
look like they would lose to anybody. And there are
just these various and look, here's the reality with football.
You've got and this is what I said in the
aftermath of the Thursday Night ten to seven. What a
weird bookend for week ten. It starts with a ten
to seven game, it ends with a ten to seven game,
and both were generally ugly to watch offensively, and you

(41:13):
never know is it because of the defense of the offense.
But that's the point. You got eleven guys out there
that have a plan, and you've got eleven other guys
that have an opposite plan, and you can't always expect
the offenses to click. Now at times like Monday night,
you watch the Packers and the Eagles and it's like,
do they have a strategy? Do they have a plan?
Is this just a random play generator? Like what are

(41:35):
these teams doing? So I think it's important to have
a strategy. You have to stick to it, you can't
stray from it. And I think that's the challenge for
the Vikings offensively. They need to design a game plan
every week that takes into account the opponent, but also
takes into account where JJ McCarthy currently is in his
overall developmental arc. And some weeks they get it just right.

(42:00):
This past week they were off and there were too
many throws not enough runs and that was that. And
you know you throw in the turnovers and the kick
return fumble. I mean, there's stuff that's going to happen.
You have to be able to overcome that the defense
played well but the offense didn't. And you know that's Hey,
every game has a winner and a loser. And you

(42:20):
know a lot of these teams are just kind of
clustered around five hundred in most years, there's a team
that's right around five hundred at Thanksgiving that figures it out.
And that's going to be the challenge, because, as Bill
Belichick says, football season begins at Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
P FT Seahawks rams incredibly compelling. How about the Chiefs
that the Broncos Chiefs favored by four and the mile
get High City Denver is one in seventeen against the
Chiefs back to twenty fifteen. What stimulate your brilliant mind
with this one, mister big Shield.

Speaker 5 (42:51):
Must win game for the Kansas City Chiefs. If they
lose this game and fall to five and five, they
may not make the playoffs. And when you can. Since
Patrick Mahonmes came the starting quarterback in the twenty eighteen season,
their worst outcome in any season since twenty eighteen is
losing in overtime of the AFC Championship. That's their floor

(43:13):
and the game that could come back to haunt them
when it's time to tally up the standing. And they
were very fortunate that the Jaguars bungled a nineteen point
lead in the fourth quarter. That Jaguars game could be
the thing that puts them on the outside looking in,
because the Jaguars are going to have the head to
head tiebreaker if it comes down to one team or
the other, and they got the same record when it's
all said and done. Jaguars in Chiefs out all because

(43:35):
of that fall down, go boom, flip six, whatever you
want to call that play where Trevor Lawrence managed to
turn the disaster into a game winner. But the Chiefs,
if they lose this one, they may not make it
to the playoffs, and I think that adds extra intensity
for them and for the Broncos. They've won seven in
a row and some of those wins are kind of

(43:57):
fraudulent against lesser teams. Look at the Thursday night game
to get against the Jets. They should have lost to
the Giants. The only convincing when they've had in recent weeks,
unless I'm missing one was against the Cowboys, So I
think that the Chiefs with extra time to get ready,
and look at Andy Reid's record coming off of a bye,
this is a very tough spot for the Denver Broncluse,

(44:17):
who still have some cushion and who still very well
may win that division. But this is desperation time for
the Kansas City Chiefs, and so we know how they
play in the playoffs. This game for them has playoff
caliber implications because they may not even get there if
they don't win this one.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Last one a minute fifteen, you get it all. And
of course with the Giants open will take less than
Courtney cronin the ESPN follows you to talk about the Bears.
So now the Giants have an opening day ball out.
So of course there are many times Belichick to it.
I mean, no chance he gets back into the NFL
as a head coach, given let's say the whole aura

(44:54):
that is Bill right now, right.

Speaker 5 (44:57):
My initial reaction was, there is no chance. There is
no way he's gotten one interview in two cycles. He
took the job at Chapel Hill last year after he
had done the back channel stuff to figure out whether
or not someone would hold a job for him and
hire him. And then the attitude that was conveyed by
his consiglieri mich Lombardi, basically, there's no good job, the

(45:20):
NFL stinks, college football is better, and you sprinkle in
the whole creative mus girlfriend handler all of that that's
going to come to town. And the fact that you know,
late in Belichick's career, you could make the argument he
lost his fastball or his mind when he made Matt
Patricia his offensive coordinator. That's what spelled his doom in

(45:41):
New England. There were reports that Robert Kraft wanted to
fire him after that season and not given the one
last year that he had. But but never underestimate the
power of nostalgia. And you look at what the Giants
have done since they won Super Bowl forty six. Their
record is abysmal. They've been to the playoffs twice, done
a lot worse than what having the best game day

(46:03):
coach in NFL history could do for them. And if
Bill Belichick can convince John Mahra and GM Joe Shane,
who's going to run the search, that he's not going
to come in and try to take over, that he's
not going to try to bring Lombardi with him, that
he's not going to fire everybody and hire this person,
this person, this person and try to run the whole operation.
If he truly is committed to just being the coach,

(46:23):
and he can sell that he will be trustworthy, that
he will live up to his word, that he won't
try to undermine Joe Shane. You know, Joe Shane drafts
a guy in the fourth round that Belichick doesn't want,
He'll accept it and he'll properly coach and develop the guy.
He won't be passive aggressive and try to prove that
Shane was wrong. If he just focuses on coaching the
team that he has. There's a way that Mara, who

(46:45):
I think has an extra special appreciation for nostalgia, and
he's dealing with some health challenges now, which will typically
make someone more reflective. There's a there's a needle to
thread there, but I still think it's a situation where
that thread is too thick.

Speaker 2 (47:01):
Call you next week, mister Big Shield.

Speaker 1 (47:03):
See you, buddy, See you, Mike Florioprofootball Talk dot Com,
Courtney Cronin, VSPN, neckt