June 18, 2025 • 43 mins
Colin reacts to a wild night in the WNBA where Caitlin Clark was on the receiving end of hard fouls in the Fever’s win over the Sun and why she is now following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan. He also discusses LeBron James’ comments about NBA fans obsession with “ring culture” and what this tells us about LeBron’s legacy as he enters into the final years of his career. He also talks to former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez about how Aaron Rodgers will fit in with the Steelers culture and what Ben Johnson needs to do in order to get the most out of Caleb Williams.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh here we go, it is O Wednesday. It's a
Caitlin Clark Wednesday. How grateful are we? How lucky are
we in June? You know, this industry is football season
and waiting for football. That Caitlin Clark has become a
leading source of content all we could talk about Aaron Rodgers.
(00:52):
I am for Caitlin Clark. Jmack text me last night,
the gift that keeps on giving. I do think the
media and the media is prone to do this. You know,
the media tends to be very reactionary, and the fans
generally get it more than the media. So I want
to start with this, J Mac. The WNBA has arrived.
(01:13):
Caitlin Clark's gotten really good, really fast. It's like the
end of year one for Michael Jordan or year three
for Michael Jordan. She's gotten really good, really fast, and
you got to put a body on her, or you
got a double teamer, or she's going to embarrass you.
She's shooting thirty three footers and what happened last night's
a byproduct of that. This is what happened to MJ.
(01:34):
She's number one and two in every offensive stet. She's
hitting more threes this season than Steph Curry did in
his first MVP season, and her game embarrasses you. So
like men's basketball, J C. Sheldon had the task of
stopping stopping the latest superstar in her basketball league. And
this thing was chatty. In the second quarter, it was chatty,
(01:56):
they've got history. It was trash talking. And then in
the third quarter, Sheldon poked her in the eye. Again,
this is something we see all the time. They were
on each other, they were talking. It was trashy the
superstar like MJ unstoppable poker in the eye and that's
a flagrant fowl and it should have been a flagrant foul.
(02:16):
And then Marina Maybray this is inappropriate, came over, knocked
her over. Minnie Dugs. She should have been thrown out
of the game. Well, she got it. She didn't get
a technical. It's a little bad boys Pistons with MJ
for the record, Caitlin Clark got up, she wasn't hurt.
She did more trash talking, she hit more threes. She
(02:37):
remained remarkable, just like all the great You know, if
you respect women, stop pandering. She's tough, she's feisty, she
likes to taunt and talk, and nobody quite knows what
the hell to do. I mean when Candace Parker ten
years ago, Candace Parker led this sport WNBA and assists
(02:58):
with six a game. Eitlan Clark's not only the best guard,
the best shooter, hitting thirty three footers. They're flashy and
kind of embarrass you. She's averaging nine assists the game.
She's changed the entire tempo of the sport. Forget the merchandise,
that's another segment. So they don't know what to do.
Hack a shack Mike Dunlavy coach and the Blazers. We
(03:19):
can't stop him, and we have our Venas Sabonis Steph
Curry's first couple of years in the league. Thank God
for Draymond Green and by the way this league, they
knew what they were getting into, right, And I'll get
to this in a second, but they brought Sophie Cunningham
over in a trade for a reason. She's the youngest
black belt in the state of Missouri's history, six years old.
(03:41):
They brought her over to protect Caitlin Clark because they
saw this puppy coming. The league doesn't quite know what
to do, but the fever did. And so again, you
got to put a body on her. You got to
get physical. If you go look at the history of basketball,
high school, college, WNBA, NBA. If there's an offensive player
and there's humiliating you steph shack, MJ. Caitlin, what do
(04:05):
you do. You can't trap her, She'll dribble through it.
You gotta put a body on her. You got a
double teamer. You try to get in her head with
trash talking. It's not working at all. It's the ultimate
compliment in my opinion. But take a deep breath. Caitlin
bounced up the eye. Couldn't have been gouge that violently
(04:27):
because she could see just fine draining jumpers after. Do
I think it crossed a line? Yeah, that's why we
had a flagrant foul and a technicol And do I
think the officials are trying to figure out how quite
the officiator. Yes, I was at the Blazers Lakers series
in Los Angeles. I know where I was sitting behind
the basket when Kobe hit Shack for the slam dunk
(04:50):
and I looked over at Bob What's at the time
the GM of the Blazers, and thought we had our
venus of bonus with the Blazers. We couldn't stop him.
They didn't know how to officiate him. This is what
happens when a superstar emerges and here is the coach
of the fever after. This is what happens, right, This
is what happens.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
You've got competitive women who are the best in the
world at what they do, right, and when you allow
to play physical and you allow these things to happen,
they're going to compete and they're going to have their
teammates backs.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
It's exactly what you expect.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Right out of out of fierce competition.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So I started talking to the officials in the first quarter,
and we knew this was.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Going to happen.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
They got to get control of it. They gotta be better,
They gotta be better.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Can you specifically detail what you mean might get control
of the game, Just to be in your.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Words, get control of the game is called the fouls
that are actually happening.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
On the floor. Okay, So and again let's go to
the next level on this. So everybody's going to be okay.
There was a technical, there was a flagrant, and the
officials of the w A are kind of figuring out,
how do we how do we officiate this thing? Okay,
they've never out of Caitlin Clark. How do we officiate
this thing? How do we officiate Shack? How do we
officiate Curry when they're coming after him? How do we
(06:03):
efficient bad boys tackling? What's legal? Finally the NBA stepped
and said no hand checking, No, no, you know, forearm
in the back. Like this stuff is a work in progress.
And so the first year Caitlin Clark was in the WNBA,
they were Hazinger. They're not Hazinger anymore. They're just trying
to figure out how the hell'll stopper. It's not hazing,
(06:23):
it's all right, traps pressure. So the Fever saw it coming.
They went and got Sophie Cunningham, six year old black belt.
This is what the Bulls did with Charles Oakley to
protect Michael Jordan. And I said this last year several times.
The WNBA is not a vertical league. Their players can't
jump over each other to score like the NBA. It's
a horizontal, chippy league. And you didn't watch the NBA
(06:45):
for the last ten to twelve years. It is always
been physical and always been chippy. They you get into
a lot of collisions because they don't there's no John
Morant here, there's no Aunt Edwards. They don't jump over.
It's a horizontal physical league. And Inland Clark now is
like Kerosene to the physicality flame. So you have physicality
in this league. And now you get this slashy player
(07:07):
and they don't know how to officiate her, they don't
know how to defend her. But I would say when
I hear this, Colin, Colin, Colin the NB the WNBA,
Colin has got to do something. Yes, they do understand.
This is the arc of a new superstar in your league.
It'll start with hazing, it'll go to physicality, it'll go
(07:29):
to flagrants, it may go to technicals. You'll eventually have
to get a Sophie Cunningham er a Charles Oakley. I
mean Wayne Gretzky did this for years. They figured it
out in hockey. How do you stop Gretzky? Oh, we can't.
How do you stop MJ?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
We can't?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
How do you stop Caitlin Clark? You guys understand this
is the worst she'll ever be. She's getting better and
they can't stop her. And so, but I also want
you to watch this because I've always said this, the
media may overreact to stuff the bands in American public
usually doesn't watch the retaliation later by Sophie Cunningham. And again,
(08:06):
this is inappropriate right now, It's what happens in basketball.
But I want you to watch as this scrum's going on.
Watch the fans behind Sophie Cunningham. Watch them. They're smiling,
they're engaged, they're happy, they're not horrified. The Indiana fans
(08:27):
understand what they're seeing. It's part of the process. They
went those people in Indiana, they've gone to the Nick
Games and Spike Lee and Reggie Miller. They watched the heat.
Look at the look at the fans. They're grabbing their phones,
they're taking pictures. I'm thinking the whole night did Nick
Kahn take over the WNBA. We got a little WWE
(08:48):
going on here, and the fans get it. The media,
in my opinion, the media does a disk service sports media,
political media by overreacting to everything. And the Indiana fans
are like, this is fun, this is real. The WNBA.
(09:08):
Now you go to those games. There are nights the
Fever outdrew the Pacers. Facers are in the finals. So
the fans here are not freaking out, They're booing. Honest
to god, it feels like a little You know, sports
isn't terrible if it's got a little WWE in basketball,
Like international soccer has always been personality in star driven
(09:32):
and when new stars emerge. I can remember Christian Poolisic
his first World Cup and some of the quote friendlies,
they were tackling him. And but an American can do that.
He'd play in Mexico, maybe Canada. What do you do
when a star emerges? You can't stop them. Their game
(09:55):
is slashy. It goes from hazing to physicality to flagrance
two ejections. It's part of it. The only good thing
about getting old, and I'm not that old, but I'm
kind of old, is you've seen all this stuff before.
I've seen this like eight times. I saw it in
hockey with Gretzky. So listen, if you watch Gordon Ramsay,
(10:19):
the greatest chef in the world right or one of them,
it gets toxic in that kitchen, John Taffer and Bar Rescue,
it gets toxic change. People don't like change, but intensity
and heat creates steel. This will only make Caitlin Clark
a better player. It will only make the fever more
championship ready, and the Indiana fans, good for you. You're going
(10:41):
to have the great watch of the next fifteen years
because they're never trading her. She's the Steph Curry. They're
never trading her. She starts here, college here or near here.
And by the way, that whole scrum and that retaliation
and the delays in the game that everybody's freak it
out over, Caitlin Clark's like, can we get back to playing?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Honestly, the review took too long for me. I wanted
to get playing basketball again, and that's exactly what I did.
At the rest of the third quarter, I made all
three free throws and then I you know, it was
a tough three. I was excited about a three and
you know, honestly, I got to give our crowd a
lot of credit too. I thought they were tremendous. You know,
they're cheering for us, they had our back. And I'm
a passionate player. But at the end of the day,
(11:25):
like I'm here to play basketball and that's what it is,
and my game's going to talk and that's all all
that really matters. And I love this game and I'm
going to give it everything I have. So I think
that's what competitors do. You just step right back up
to the challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
That's what competitors do. That's what they do. Let's not pander,
let's not protect. Let's understand the WNBA. I had been
to a couple WNBA games. The league wasn't nearly as
good or watchable. Fifteen years ago, people could lead the
(12:00):
league and assist with five or six. Now you've got
multiple players at nine to ten. People are shooting thirty
three footers. Watch a WNBA game, if go watch the
highlights on YouTube of this game. Look at the passing,
look at the physicality, look at the shooting. This league
is growing in front of our eyes. Now. Caitlin Clark
(12:20):
is obviously the jet fuel half the audience goes when
she's not there, But that's okay. It took Connor McGregor
to the UFC and John Jones. It sometimes in emerging
leagues it takes a superstar and now and now you know,
America is all into UFC, but it does take sometimes
these special athletes and it can be getting really really bumpy.
(12:45):
But if you really respect all these amazing women's athletes,
then take a deep breath. Nobody got hurt.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
J Mac.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
That was so fun. By the way, if you do
go to the YouTube WNBA highlights, they edit out the
fighting part. Oh well, of course they do, so you
have to go get that separately. But the point is
you're old enough to know. I mean, those Knicks teams
with pat Riley, those were tackling exercises for years. There's
videos of Kurt Rambus being slammed to the floor. Right,
(13:19):
This stuff was and I think fans know this. You
know when that when when Sophie Cunningham comes down and
tackles the girl, it's like, hey, I'm protecting my star.
And my take was, this is the process we want
to make. We're gonna let you know at the end
of the game. You're not getting out of this arena
without us retaliating. That is a message to every other
(13:39):
WNBA team. You're going for a driving layup. You treat
our player like that, This is how we're gonna treat yours.
That may get a technical, but that was a message
and that's okay.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
So the Lakers Kurt Rambus stuff. In the eighties, the
teams didn't like each other. They were rivals, right.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
This colin is different.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
This is many players around the league liking Kaitlyn Clark
or they're jealous of her success. You know, I know
people tried to make this a racial thing. Well what
happened last night was not racial. That's just hate and
just they just don't like Kaitlyn Clark. They don't like
the attention she's getting. I mean, the ipoke was so blatant,
and the announcer as soon as Kaitlin Clark got knocked
over was like, oh, she's gonna get ejected.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
They didn't eject the girl. Can you believe that? I
say this, I wouldn't have been bothered if she was ejected.
I'm not bothered that she wasn't. It's obviously a cheap shot. Yeah,
it's a cheap shot. Kaitlin Clark, by the way, got
right back up. Still, Yeah, I just I think in
the reality of this is yes, obviously that's a cheap shot.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
But what do you think the league wants Colin Kaylyn
Clark's splashing thirty foot three pointers or three scrums in
the sun Fever game.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
They didn't want this. This doesn't lie. I think I
think everybody's figuring out this jigsaw puzzle, and it's it
just takes a while. When Michael Jordan came in, I mean,
you're you're watching this stuff, and David Stern saying, oh
my god, this guy's making our league global. He's selling
more shoes than any player in the history of the world.
(15:11):
And David Stern's like, we have to protect him. But
yet the Pistons tackled him for years and David Stern,
the late David Sterns step back, let it play out,
didn't protect Michael Knew. Eventually they changed some officiating. Michael,
by the way, in year two got hurt, broke his foot,
so we had year one in year three, so again,
(15:33):
we all wantia. The sports can be very similar to politics.
We all want answers today and everything's a process. We
prepare for our show. It's a process.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
You.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Ninety percent of sports is practiced, not games, right, we
only see the games. You didn't see Michael Jordan punch
Steve Kerr. We did see Draymond punch pool because we
have phones now. But there's a lot of stuff that
happens among teams. Teams fight amongst themselves in camp. We
don't see most of that. So we're so shocked when
(16:06):
we see that bump. I got news for you. You can
find scrums in the WNBA ten years ago. They don't
jump over each other. That's not what this look is.
They bang into each other.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
Yeah, by the way, everybody's gonna see this. Taylor Clarks, Oh,
when's the next game? Guess where their game is televised
on Thursday, Amazon Prime, almost.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
The Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, Travis.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
Kelce, Taylor Swift Effect, Taylor Clark on Amazon Prime on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
So exciting. We've got more, plus Lebron being a bit
of a hypocrite. It's the hurt.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and newon Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one, and The iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So I think I'm overwhelmingly positive with Lebron. I think
most of the greats of all time very positive with
But there are times where he kind of plays the victim.
I think he spends too much time on his phone sometimes.
But here's a prime example. So he has a podcast
called Mind the Game with Steve Nash. Now it used
(17:10):
to be with JJ Reddick, and uh, he said something
and it just it's just projecting, and so let's let's
go to the clip.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
I don't know why he's discussed so much in our sport,
and why is the all be all of everything, Like, Okay,
you weren't a great player, if you never won a championship.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
It's like you sit here and you tell me.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
You know, Alan Iverson and Charles Barkley and Steve Nash,
you know, you know, are wasn't unbelievable? Like oh, they
can't be talked about or discussed with these guys.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Is because this guy.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
Won one ring or one two rings or one like
it's just it's just weird to me.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Okay, Nobody says Charles Barkley's not amazing. Nobody says Alan
Iverson's not amazing. No, but He says, Dan Marino's not amazing,
but Barkley is an MJ. And Marino's not Brady, even
though he was more talented. And the reason is the trophies.
And Lebron knows that Lebron has no chance to win
(18:15):
a trophy with the current Laker roster, so now they
don't matter. He spent his entire career pursuing titles. You
think he went to Miami to land the beach. He
went there for Riley and Spolstra and a better owner
and a better roster. He didn't go west. He stayed
in the week East to keep getting the finals. Lebron
(18:37):
pursued finals and Michael six for six For years he's
talked about idolizing Michael. What's the stat? What stat do
we talk about with Michael? If I said to you
how many total points did Michael score? You don't know
how many division titles did Michael win? You don't know
how do you do in the finals? Six for six?
(18:57):
That's his number, right, it's his number and so and
he's been doing this for years, playing this angle. It's
projecting its straw man arguments. And I love Lebron, I
really do. I like the people around Lebron. But let's
go back to years ago. So Lebron's saying the rings
are overrated. No they're not. And nobody's saying you have
(19:18):
to have them to be great, to be the all
time great, you gotta have them. So here's Lebron with
another guy like Rich Paul on More Than an Athlete podcast.
This was after he had won that ring, the only
one in Cleveland.
Speaker 6 (19:38):
That one, right made me the greatest player of all time?
For some off films, I was super super ecstatic to
win one for Cleveland because of the fifty two year drought.
Like I was ecstatic, like obviously I saw that. The
first wave of emotion was when everyone saw me crying,
like that was all for fifty two years, everything the
sports have gone on to Cleveland. And then after I stopped,
(19:58):
I was like, that one right there made you the
greatest player of all time?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well, wait, why would that be? I mean it was
just another game, right, it was just another win. I mean,
why would that take you from great to the greatest
player of all time?
Speaker 6 (20:16):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:18):
The ring? So back when he was he knew he
had a chance to win several more. The ring mattered
because he was still back then, Hey, can he surpass
Michael and get the six seven eight? Now he can't. Now,
rings don't matter. Rings absolutely are the difference. Dan Marino
was bigger, stronger, and more talented than Brady. Brady got
(20:39):
the trophies. That's the difference. Farv was more athletically talented
than Brady. Brady got the trophies. Aaron's probably more gifted.
Josh Allen is Brady's got the trophies. Nobody's saying that
Marino or Josh Allen aren't talented. I think Josh Allen's
the most talented football player in the world. But Mahomes
has the trophies, and we can could textualize it why
(21:01):
they matter. I'm not a huge brock Purty fan, but
if he had two trophies, I'd have to acknowledge he's
a different player. He's just better than I think. So
it does matter, and Michael and Lebron knows it matters.
He himself is saying, yeah, when I won that that final,
that took me from best player in the league, maybe
(21:24):
greatest of all time, too, greatest of all time, just
that ring, So that that let's not create straw man arguments.
We all know the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and
a couple of them have no Super Bowls or won,
right right, But you talk the all time greatest, it's Peyton,
(21:45):
and it's Brady, and it's Montana. Montana was a third
round pick, third or fourth. He wasn't the most talented guy.
Some of it was Bill Walsh and Jerry Rice. It
doesn't matter. You get him. I mean, Eli Manning was
never a good regular season quarterback. He's going to get
into the Hall of Fame. Could you beat Brady and
Belichick twice in Super Bowls and made two of the
most iconic throws otherwise? How many Pro Bowls? How many
(22:07):
great regulars? See the difference between Philip Rivers a really
good regular season quarterback and Eli Manning not so hot?
But two rings is the trophies, so it obviously matters.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 1 (22:24):
All right, here we go. It is our two first hour,
a lot of Caitlyn Clark live in Chicago. It's the Herd.
Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks
for making us part of your day. So in order
to have, in my opinion, a great rivalry. Both teams
have to win. Ohio State Purdue is not a great rivalry.
(22:45):
Ohio State wins too many of them. When Michigan starts
beating Ohio State regularly, it takes a great rivalry and
makes it even better. So you got to go back
and forth. Yankees Red Sox. It's I mean, come on,
the Red Sox keep trading away all their best players
to the National League West. That that's not Nobody cares
about the Red Sox anymore, Okay except people in Boston.
(23:06):
The best rivalry in baseball is Dodgers Podreys. Since Otani arrived,
they've played twenty three games. The Dodgers have won twelve,
the Podreys of one eleven the eras. The runs are
almost identical. The Dodgers have twenty six home runs, the
Podreys have twenty seven. Both are star studded teams. The
difference is the Dodgers have trophies. The Dodgers have more
big superstars. The Dodgers are a wealthier, richer franchise and
(23:31):
more iconic. But when these two teams meet, and last
night's another example, they cannot stand each other. Some of
it's proximity, big brother, little brother. But last night the
Dodgers hit Tatise, a great player in the back, and
then you know, you'll see the tape and then eventually,
you know, the Podreys go after Otani, throwing it at
(23:53):
his leg. And the Dodgers have so many stars, have
the lineups a star. There's a lot of big dogs
to go after. And this gets Dave Roberts all worked up. Roberts.
Last year, Manny Machado, the former Dodger now a Podre
uh threw a baseball in the direction of the you know,
the Dodgers dug out. So this is an incredibly intense rivalry.
I don't want to hear. The Cowboys and the Giants
(24:13):
are a rivalry. They both stink Chiefs, Bills, Chiefs Ravens.
Bill's Ravens. That's a rivalry. Uh. And so that this
is baseball's best. They are star studded lineups. The National League,
along with the Mets, is stacked. And you can see
the animosity. Podre fans will buy tickets and go up
(24:34):
to Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium. Dodger Stadium, Dodger fans will
drive down I five and you know, flood the Podres Ballpark.
It is absolutely fantastic, and a lot of it's just proximity,
but one franchise has so much young talent. Not a
lot of them rich yet, but a lot of young talent.
(24:55):
And the Dodgers they're gonna go out and just they're
gonna They're gonna buy monkey bets and pay ready for
Freeman and go buy I mean, the Dodgers have so
much money they'll go trade for pitchers who they know
have arm injury history. They just want them for big
spots in September and October. So there's a ton of
animosity in this series. Last night, once again it's cats
(25:19):
and dogs living together. And here's Dave Roberts.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
Absolutely, I mean, this guy, he hasn't come close. And
for me, it's like if they feel that's warranted on
their side, part of baseball, that's what they feel.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
And I give them.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
Credit because they hit him in the leg, own it
and we move on. But it's not a misfire. I
do feel those intentional and again that's part of baseball,
which we all understand.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah, three of the last five years they have met
in the postseason, and we said this last year the
National League playoffs last year were crazy. You could not
turn it off. It was palpable. The Phillies, the Dodgers,
the Mets. The pot National League right now is like
the NBA's Western Conference. It's insanely good and deep and rich,
(26:06):
and this is the best rivalry. It is really intense,
and uh, you know, Manny Machado said after the game,
He's like, man, they got a lot of big dogs.
They got a lot of guys you can throw out.
If you want to get into you thow at us.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
We throw at you.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
We got a lot, we got a lot of young guys.
They got a lot of stars. They got a lot
of Hall of Fame guys we can throw at. So
if you want to play that game, we're ready to
play that game. But it's amazing. Twenty three times they
have met since Ataani arrived. Twenty three times, Dodgers twelve wins,
Podres eleven, Dodgers twenty seven home runs, Padres twenty six.
(26:42):
The runs are like one twelve to one, away Eer
four to four to four two. It's incredible how close
the series is. But at the end of the year,
the Dodgers have had just a little more maybe bullpen
depth or middle bottom of the order depth and have
prevailed in really fascinating series with that Mark Sanchez, who
knows all about this rivalry in southern California. It's crazy this.
(27:05):
I mean, it used to be Giants Dodgers when you
and I, you know, ten fifteen years ago. Now it's
now it's Dodgers Padre. So let's start with this congratulations.
First of all, you just had twins, your lovely wife,
you are a dad. You are now you're probably sleeping
a little less, but I want to start and say
congratulations to you and your family. Yeah, I can see
(27:25):
that little bit, buddy. Congratulations, Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
She she's a superstar and I'm glad she did the
delivery portion. I was there to catch and you know,
throw them in that little incubator whatever you bake them
back to normal with. And it was it was intense.
But it's been a great couple of months, and suffice
(27:50):
to say, I'm ready for a little football. Maybe a
road trip, go call a game or something might be
good right about now.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
So well, congratulations, you know I was, I was. We
talked about Aaron Rodgers. Aaron didn't need this move for
the money, the fame, or the legacy. He's a Hall
of Famer first ballot and he's rich. He didn't need
it for anything. My take is he loves football and
he wants to play football, and he respected Mike Tomlin
and that's okay. I don't see him as a super
(28:16):
Bowl team, but if you can, I mean to me,
I don't see why you'd play you've had a major injury.
I think it just comes down to sometimes Aaron gives
off the vibe that he doesn't need football, but I
think he loves football and I think he likes playing
it and he's good at it. What is your take
on him playing maybe just one more year.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I think there's two real things he got to look
at and dissect when you're talking about Aaron Rodgers and
the Steelers. I think there's the performance side, which we
can circle back to, But then there's also like this
cultural fit in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is one of those iconic brands,
and the only way I can kind of relate that
(28:56):
way is the way USC is. You know, there's this
iconic global brand that everybody recognizes, and you're either one
of them or you're not. It's us or them mentality
Phillies kind of like that. You know, there's some iconic
places that have this mentality and this give off this vibe. Well,
(29:16):
Aaron's a little different, and he's technically an outsider, you know,
he's not Steelers like they breed their own talent. We
don't go higher and acquire mercenaries to help us win games.
We get our talent, We draft our talent, We scalt
our talent. That's what we do. You're one of us
or you're not. So he's battling against that in the
(29:36):
public eye because he's an outspoken guy. You know, he
was villainized, whether right, wrong or a different during the
whole COVID thing and immunization, et cetera. Whatever, regardless, the
circumstances are what they are. And so there's some of that.
And when we circle back to performance, is this is
this blue collar city going to accept Aaron Rodgers who's outspoken,
(30:00):
a little brash at times, you know, a little counterculture,
a little against the grain for good or for bad.
I'm not opining on those things. Whatever he wants to do,
will they accept him? Now we circle back to performance.
If he puts up his same stat line that he
had last year, especially the ten games of the year.
He went on a heater and kept the Jets alive
(30:21):
for a lot of the end of the season. Last
year with very little help from the defense and especially
special teams, they lost at least three games just with
field goal kicking alone. So they're really really struggling, and
he was kind of keeping them afloat. If he can
post those same numbers, that's a contender right there. All
you got to do is make the tournament. Just ask me.
(30:42):
I did it. We did it at nine and seven
my rookie year. At oh nine, We back into the
playoffs and we go on a run. That's all he
needs to do. And that sounds easy, But the guy
threw for almost four thousand yards coming off in Achilles.
Last year. He threw for sixty three percent completion percentage,
I mean, twenty eight touchdowns eleven. The guy has plenty
left in the tank. That's after an Achilles. So you
(31:04):
tell me, he's got a defense and some sort of
a running game, some weapons like a dk metcalp. I mean,
there's pieces there. He's got to go through a tough division.
That's a tough road to hope, but he knows how
to play in the cold. He's done this a million times.
I like the move. I think it has a real chance.
It's got legs. And you know, whether we're talking about
(31:27):
the acceptance of the city of Pittsburgh or his performance,
I think they will be tethered together. And the performance.
Once you perform, people's tolerance seems to skyrocket.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
So I want to ask you about Caleb Williams. So
I have had this belief that if you go look
at his first year at USC, he played with an
a system, and the first six games of his second
year he played within a system, and then Mark, starting
with that blowout loss at South Bend his last six
USC game into his first year with Chicago, it's not
(32:03):
been good. So my take has been is that USC's
O line at the end of his final year at USC,
he didn't trust, and Lincoln didn't trust, and he got
into some bad habits of hero ball. He knew he
was going to be the number one pick. To protect himself.
I would have done the same thing, and I don't
think Lincoln trusted the offensive line, so he let him
(32:25):
do that to kind of survive. He goes to Chicago,
massive chaos and the coaching staff. They can't help him
or protect him again kind of bad habits. So I
think Ben Johnson's primary job is, hey, gott to clean
this kid up. I love this kid, but I do
think it's fair that he's had about a year and
a half between USC's O line and the Bears, that
(32:47):
it's survival mode, and none of us grow during survival mode.
We're just trying to get through it. So I see
him as a brilliant quarterback who it's more of a
he needs a cleaning, an elevation. You tell me, as
a guy who played in this league, does that make
sense at all?
Speaker 4 (33:05):
I think you're You're really on the right track, and
with somebody that talented the trick for somebody as talented
as Ben Johnson has shown to be, and efficient and
successful as Ben Johnson has shown to be, he's got
to find a way to separate. You know, those impulsive
decisions where the ball goes into harm's way, where you're
(33:28):
holding the ball in one hand and don't see the
defensive end running behind you when it's time to just
operate within the system and keep the car in the
center lane, fifty five miles an hour, right down the
center of the highway, punt on fourth and six, you know,
gain yards on third and fifteen, backed up in your
own territory, not trying to play hero ball and throw
(33:50):
the pick six from your own twenty those kind of plays.
I think he's had a chance to try and work
out of his system. And Ben Johnson's job is to
separate when it's time to be Superman and go throw
on the cape, and when it's time to be Clark
Kent and just operate the offense, call the place, and
execute the plays that I'm I'm calling. Whatever I say
(34:12):
in the helmet. I'm gonna give you two options. Just
pick the best option and one. Sometimes both of those
options suck. Pick the one that sucks less. That's it.
That's all I need you to do right now. Now
on fourth and nine in the you know divisional round
on the road, when you got to make a play.
Hell yeah, dude, let's go. This is the play. This
(34:34):
is where we're starting. It's like an essay prompt, right,
this is how this is the starting point. But you're
gonna take this essay and this play wherever the heck
you want. We need a big play. You're our guy.
We trust you. So it's figuring out how to connect
with him and get him to operate in those modes.
And it's one of the most exhausting things to do
as a quarterback because you have to keep all of
(34:57):
those numbers in your head down in distance, time of
the game, situation, score, the play clock. You know, we're
not just out here running plays for people's health. We
have an objective. There's a purpose when the play caller
calls a play, So the sooner he can get him
to understanding the purpose of each play in that specific
(35:19):
situation of that specific game, this kid, the talent will
take over for everything else. Look at a guy like
Matthew Stafford. He plays a lot different today than he
did when he threw the ball to Calvin Johnson into
double coverage his first five years in the league. It's
just a different mentality. Now he's an extension of the
coaching staff on the field. That's where they're trying to
(35:42):
get Caleb Williams because he's got on talent, like dripping
off out of his whole body. I mean, he's got
the talent you want from any of your quarterbacks. Now
it's about getting him to understand how to play, when
to make to make the risky throw, when to cut
it loose, and when to cut bait. Move on with
your life, punt the ball. All right, let's regroup. We'll
(36:03):
get them next drive. And that's really one of the
hardest things to accomplish as a quarterback, that impulse control,
because you have all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
I want to end with this. One of the things
about being a great team like Oklahoma City Thunder, they
have prioritized the right stuff. Defense, get the ball to
SGA and defense. Everybody's on the same page. We need
a shot. Defense, And I think prioritizing in business, in sports,
(36:34):
in life, it could be a political campaign. What are
we prioritizing. So when Jen Cohen and before her, USC prioritized,
we're making thirty million dollars a year from the PAC twelve.
We can't compete with the big dogs and the big
ten in the SEC or that are making eighty million
dollars a year. So USC prioritized we're going to change conferences.
(36:56):
It worked. Everybody in the building knew guys can't compete.
We get on thirty million dollar TV contracts. Okay, Then
the second thing they're in the conference, here comes Jen
Cohen takes over for Mike Bone and then Jen prioritizes Lincoln.
We got to get the nil up and we got
to get to the playoffs. And so now there's potential
(37:18):
games in Oregon, in Washington at Penn State, at Michigan
Ohio State. No more Washington states in Oregon states. So
USC is saying we don't want a South Bend game
after a Penn State Ohio State game. We may play it,
but on our terms. We're in a conference, you're not
early in the year. And so I am defending USC.
(37:41):
We're all the tradition. Your entire conference ended. Stop with
a tradition talk you could pay high school football players.
Stop that. I do defend USC saying we are prioritizing
getting into the Big ten, get the NIL up and
get to the playoffs. Well, guess what a fourth cold
weather game hurt your chances to get into the playoffs.
(38:05):
Do you defend USC saying, hey, Notre Dame's history, it's
not the end of the world, or are you old school?
You gotta play the Irish annually?
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Well, the whole idea was to bring the country together, right,
to make the country smaller, you know, in the inception
of this game and have this rivalry kind of almost
cross country, if you will.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Right, and.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
I think it served that purpose. I think it's been
a beautiful tradition. The issue there is my understanding at least,
was we'd always play at Notre Dame in like September
October latest was October, and we'd always play them at
home that was in South Bend. We'd always play them
at home in Los Angeles and the Coliseum right around
(38:58):
Thanksgiving ish because of the And that was just kind
of set up forever ago, because that's the way it is.
We want beautiful weather, we'd like to have a competitive game.
We probably don't want the three nothing snow game in
a blizzard that doesn't, you know, attract viewers. That doesn't
make this game fun and exciting. So I understand all
of those points. I think it would there would be
(39:22):
something missing if you don't see UCLA and Notre Dame
on the schedule. I think that's a little strange as
a USC former USC player, but it's not the end
of the world, because you might end up finding them
in the playoffs. Anyway. That sounds like it's just it's
it's a tough one. To just kind of sever ties,
(39:45):
you know what I mean, There's like that one takes
a while to to to really rebound from. I guess emotionally,
you know, you just kind of you're gonna miss that.
There's something to it. It's a beautiful tradition. I enjoyed
being a part of it, and it meant something to
sides and that's what made it fun. On a totally
separate note, I think what you said about Gen Cohen
(40:06):
is spot on. I think the position that US season
this year, especially with Chad Bowden. I don't know if
you've had a chance to talk to him, but the
GM there now, yeah, is lights out and it's really
you're getting the same messaging from Jen, Chad Bowden and
coach Riley and everybody's rolling that boat in the same direction.
(40:30):
It feels good, it sounds right. That twenty six class
looks incredible. This is going in a way that gets me,
as a former player, really excited. And I think Chad Bowden,
after the success he's had it notre dame, I think
he's going to want to play those guys, you know,
I think he would miss playing those guys. And he's
the one who really started to turn that thing around.
(40:51):
There got the right players with the right attitude that
wanted to be a part of that Notre Dame tradition.
Now he's getting those guys that want to be a
part of this sc tradition in so this is going
to take a lot off of Lincoln's plate and let
him be that play caller. Let him hyper focus and
singularly focus on third downs, red zone, get these guys
(41:14):
in the right position, and let our athletes take over.
Chad's going to get you the athletes. Chad Allen's going
to get all the players. He's got the connects with everybody.
He's going to lock down California and none of the
good players should be leaving this state. You play for
the SEC interlock on your chest and on your helmet.
That's a big deal. And so he's reminding the people
(41:35):
of that. So there's been a revitalization, it feels like,
and hopefully Notre Dame is still a part of the schedule.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Mark Sanchez, great seeing you get rest, congratus on on
the on the on the twins and your life and
the next chapter of a great life so far. Good luck, buddy,
Appreciate you man, Thank you Yeah, it is interesting if
you look at the playoffs going to be extended, is
it fourteen teams?
Speaker 6 (42:03):
Now?
Speaker 1 (42:03):
If you look at Notre dame schedule because they're not
a full member of a conference USC, excuse me, Notre
Dame is going to get into that tournament a lot.
If Marcus Freeman's the coach, he's you know, when Brian
Kelly left, were like, we think he'll be good. He's
a great recruiter. Is he a good coach? Yeah, he's
a good coach. So Notre Dame's getting into that thing.
I don't worry about Notre Dame getting into the playoff
(42:23):
USC out of the big ten, I don't know, but
the idea they wouldn't meet, they could meet regularly. Notre
Dame is going to be getting into that playoff. The
more it gets expanded, the more it ensures that because
of all these big teams, the Bamas Georgia's Notre Dame
controls their schedule to a higher degree. That's why they
signed a twelve year contract with Clemson. They need big games.
(42:44):
They don't have enough of them on their schedule. USC, Georgia, LSU,
Ohio State. Those teams. You want some breathers you want
to lay up occasionally. Notre Dame's got plenty of those.
They have to schedule up. Sometimes, the big boys schedule
down in the major conferences
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh here we go, it is O Wednesday. It's a
Caitlin Clark Wednesday. How grateful are we? How lucky are
we in June? You know, this industry is football season
and waiting for football. That Caitlin Clark has become a
leading source of content all we could talk about Aaron Rodgers.
(00:52):
I am for Caitlin Clark. Jmack text me last night,
the gift that keeps on giving. I do think the
media and the media is prone to do this. You know,
the media tends to be very reactionary, and the fans
generally get it more than the media. So I want
to start with this, J Mac. The WNBA has arrived.
(01:13):
Caitlin Clark's gotten really good, really fast. It's like the
end of year one for Michael Jordan or year three
for Michael Jordan. She's gotten really good, really fast, and
you got to put a body on her, or you
got a double teamer, or she's going to embarrass you.
She's shooting thirty three footers and what happened last night's
a byproduct of that. This is what happened to MJ.
(01:34):
She's number one and two in every offensive stet. She's
hitting more threes this season than Steph Curry did in
his first MVP season, and her game embarrasses you. So
like men's basketball, J C. Sheldon had the task of
stopping stopping the latest superstar in her basketball league. And
this thing was chatty. In the second quarter, it was chatty,
(01:56):
they've got history. It was trash talking. And then in
the third quarter, Sheldon poked her in the eye. Again,
this is something we see all the time. They were
on each other, they were talking. It was trashy the
superstar like MJ unstoppable poker in the eye and that's
a flagrant fowl and it should have been a flagrant foul.
(02:16):
And then Marina Maybray this is inappropriate, came over, knocked
her over. Minnie Dugs. She should have been thrown out
of the game. Well, she got it. She didn't get
a technical. It's a little bad boys Pistons with MJ
for the record, Caitlin Clark got up, she wasn't hurt.
She did more trash talking, she hit more threes. She
(02:37):
remained remarkable, just like all the great You know, if
you respect women, stop pandering. She's tough, she's feisty, she
likes to taunt and talk, and nobody quite knows what
the hell to do. I mean when Candace Parker ten
years ago, Candace Parker led this sport WNBA and assists
(02:58):
with six a game. Eitlan Clark's not only the best guard,
the best shooter, hitting thirty three footers. They're flashy and
kind of embarrass you. She's averaging nine assists the game.
She's changed the entire tempo of the sport. Forget the merchandise,
that's another segment. So they don't know what to do.
Hack a shack Mike Dunlavy coach and the Blazers. We
(03:19):
can't stop him, and we have our Venas Sabonis Steph
Curry's first couple of years in the league. Thank God
for Draymond Green and by the way this league, they
knew what they were getting into, right, And I'll get
to this in a second, but they brought Sophie Cunningham
over in a trade for a reason. She's the youngest
black belt in the state of Missouri's history, six years old.
(03:41):
They brought her over to protect Caitlin Clark because they
saw this puppy coming. The league doesn't quite know what
to do, but the fever did. And so again, you
got to put a body on her. You got to
get physical. If you go look at the history of basketball,
high school, college, WNBA, NBA. If there's an offensive player
and there's humiliating you steph shack, MJ. Caitlin, what do
(04:05):
you do. You can't trap her, She'll dribble through it.
You gotta put a body on her. You got a
double teamer. You try to get in her head with
trash talking. It's not working at all. It's the ultimate
compliment in my opinion. But take a deep breath. Caitlin
bounced up the eye. Couldn't have been gouge that violently
(04:27):
because she could see just fine draining jumpers after. Do
I think it crossed a line? Yeah, that's why we
had a flagrant foul and a technicol And do I
think the officials are trying to figure out how quite
the officiator. Yes, I was at the Blazers Lakers series
in Los Angeles. I know where I was sitting behind
the basket when Kobe hit Shack for the slam dunk
(04:50):
and I looked over at Bob What's at the time
the GM of the Blazers, and thought we had our
venus of bonus with the Blazers. We couldn't stop him.
They didn't know how to officiate him. This is what
happens when a superstar emerges and here is the coach
of the fever after. This is what happens, right, This
is what happens.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
You've got competitive women who are the best in the
world at what they do, right, and when you allow
to play physical and you allow these things to happen,
they're going to compete and they're going to have their
teammates backs.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
It's exactly what you expect.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Right out of out of fierce competition.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
So I started talking to the officials in the first quarter,
and we knew this was.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Going to happen.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
They got to get control of it. They gotta be better,
They gotta be better.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Can you specifically detail what you mean might get control
of the game, Just to be in your.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Words, get control of the game is called the fouls
that are actually happening.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
On the floor. Okay, So and again let's go to
the next level on this. So everybody's going to be okay.
There was a technical, there was a flagrant, and the
officials of the w A are kind of figuring out,
how do we how do we officiate this thing? Okay,
they've never out of Caitlin Clark. How do we officiate
this thing? How do we officiate Shack? How do we
officiate Curry when they're coming after him? How do we
(06:03):
efficient bad boys tackling? What's legal? Finally the NBA stepped
and said no hand checking, No, no, you know, forearm
in the back. Like this stuff is a work in progress.
And so the first year Caitlin Clark was in the WNBA,
they were Hazinger. They're not Hazinger anymore. They're just trying
to figure out how the hell'll stopper. It's not hazing,
(06:23):
it's all right, traps pressure. So the Fever saw it coming.
They went and got Sophie Cunningham, six year old black belt.
This is what the Bulls did with Charles Oakley to
protect Michael Jordan. And I said this last year several times.
The WNBA is not a vertical league. Their players can't
jump over each other to score like the NBA. It's
a horizontal, chippy league. And you didn't watch the NBA
(06:45):
for the last ten to twelve years. It is always
been physical and always been chippy. They you get into
a lot of collisions because they don't there's no John
Morant here, there's no Aunt Edwards. They don't jump over.
It's a horizontal physical league. And Inland Clark now is
like Kerosene to the physicality flame. So you have physicality
in this league. And now you get this slashy player
(07:07):
and they don't know how to officiate her, they don't
know how to defend her. But I would say when
I hear this, Colin, Colin, Colin the NB the WNBA,
Colin has got to do something. Yes, they do understand.
This is the arc of a new superstar in your league.
It'll start with hazing, it'll go to physicality, it'll go
(07:29):
to flagrants, it may go to technicals. You'll eventually have
to get a Sophie Cunningham er a Charles Oakley. I
mean Wayne Gretzky did this for years. They figured it
out in hockey. How do you stop Gretzky? Oh, we can't.
How do you stop MJ?
Speaker 4 (07:45):
We can't?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
How do you stop Caitlin Clark? You guys understand this
is the worst she'll ever be. She's getting better and
they can't stop her. And so, but I also want
you to watch this because I've always said this, the
media may overreact to stuff the bands in American public
usually doesn't watch the retaliation later by Sophie Cunningham. And again,
(08:06):
this is inappropriate right now, It's what happens in basketball.
But I want you to watch as this scrum's going on.
Watch the fans behind Sophie Cunningham. Watch them. They're smiling,
they're engaged, they're happy, they're not horrified. The Indiana fans
(08:27):
understand what they're seeing. It's part of the process. They
went those people in Indiana, they've gone to the Nick
Games and Spike Lee and Reggie Miller. They watched the heat.
Look at the look at the fans. They're grabbing their phones,
they're taking pictures. I'm thinking the whole night did Nick
Kahn take over the WNBA. We got a little WWE
(08:48):
going on here, and the fans get it. The media,
in my opinion, the media does a disk service sports media,
political media by overreacting to everything. And the Indiana fans
are like, this is fun, this is real. The WNBA.
(09:08):
Now you go to those games. There are nights the
Fever outdrew the Pacers. Facers are in the finals. So
the fans here are not freaking out, They're booing. Honest
to god, it feels like a little You know, sports
isn't terrible if it's got a little WWE in basketball,
Like international soccer has always been personality in star driven
(09:32):
and when new stars emerge. I can remember Christian Poolisic
his first World Cup and some of the quote friendlies,
they were tackling him. And but an American can do that.
He'd play in Mexico, maybe Canada. What do you do
when a star emerges? You can't stop them. Their game
(09:55):
is slashy. It goes from hazing to physicality to flagrance
two ejections. It's part of it. The only good thing
about getting old, and I'm not that old, but I'm
kind of old, is you've seen all this stuff before.
I've seen this like eight times. I saw it in
hockey with Gretzky. So listen, if you watch Gordon Ramsay,
(10:19):
the greatest chef in the world right or one of them,
it gets toxic in that kitchen, John Taffer and Bar Rescue,
it gets toxic change. People don't like change, but intensity
and heat creates steel. This will only make Caitlin Clark
a better player. It will only make the fever more
championship ready, and the Indiana fans, good for you. You're going
(10:41):
to have the great watch of the next fifteen years
because they're never trading her. She's the Steph Curry. They're
never trading her. She starts here, college here or near here.
And by the way, that whole scrum and that retaliation
and the delays in the game that everybody's freak it
out over, Caitlin Clark's like, can we get back to playing?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Honestly, the review took too long for me. I wanted
to get playing basketball again, and that's exactly what I did.
At the rest of the third quarter, I made all
three free throws and then I you know, it was
a tough three. I was excited about a three and
you know, honestly, I got to give our crowd a
lot of credit too. I thought they were tremendous. You know,
they're cheering for us, they had our back. And I'm
a passionate player. But at the end of the day,
(11:25):
like I'm here to play basketball and that's what it is,
and my game's going to talk and that's all all
that really matters. And I love this game and I'm
going to give it everything I have. So I think
that's what competitors do. You just step right back up
to the challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
That's what competitors do. That's what they do. Let's not pander,
let's not protect. Let's understand the WNBA. I had been
to a couple WNBA games. The league wasn't nearly as
good or watchable. Fifteen years ago, people could lead the
(12:00):
league and assist with five or six. Now you've got
multiple players at nine to ten. People are shooting thirty
three footers. Watch a WNBA game, if go watch the
highlights on YouTube of this game. Look at the passing,
look at the physicality, look at the shooting. This league
is growing in front of our eyes. Now. Caitlin Clark
(12:20):
is obviously the jet fuel half the audience goes when
she's not there, But that's okay. It took Connor McGregor
to the UFC and John Jones. It sometimes in emerging
leagues it takes a superstar and now and now you know,
America is all into UFC, but it does take sometimes
these special athletes and it can be getting really really bumpy.
(12:45):
But if you really respect all these amazing women's athletes,
then take a deep breath. Nobody got hurt.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
J Mac.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
That was so fun. By the way, if you do
go to the YouTube WNBA highlights, they edit out the
fighting part. Oh well, of course they do, so you
have to go get that separately. But the point is
you're old enough to know. I mean, those Knicks teams
with pat Riley, those were tackling exercises for years. There's
videos of Kurt Rambus being slammed to the floor. Right,
(13:19):
This stuff was and I think fans know this. You
know when that when when Sophie Cunningham comes down and
tackles the girl, it's like, hey, I'm protecting my star.
And my take was, this is the process we want
to make. We're gonna let you know at the end
of the game. You're not getting out of this arena
without us retaliating. That is a message to every other
(13:39):
WNBA team. You're going for a driving layup. You treat
our player like that, This is how we're gonna treat yours.
That may get a technical, but that was a message
and that's okay.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
So the Lakers Kurt Rambus stuff. In the eighties, the
teams didn't like each other. They were rivals, right.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
This colin is different.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
This is many players around the league liking Kaitlyn Clark
or they're jealous of her success. You know, I know
people tried to make this a racial thing. Well what
happened last night was not racial. That's just hate and
just they just don't like Kaitlyn Clark. They don't like
the attention she's getting. I mean, the ipoke was so blatant,
and the announcer as soon as Kaitlin Clark got knocked
over was like, oh, she's gonna get ejected.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
They didn't eject the girl. Can you believe that? I
say this, I wouldn't have been bothered if she was ejected.
I'm not bothered that she wasn't. It's obviously a cheap shot. Yeah,
it's a cheap shot. Kaitlin Clark, by the way, got
right back up. Still, Yeah, I just I think in
the reality of this is yes, obviously that's a cheap shot.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
But what do you think the league wants Colin Kaylyn
Clark's splashing thirty foot three pointers or three scrums in
the sun Fever game.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
They didn't want this. This doesn't lie. I think I
think everybody's figuring out this jigsaw puzzle, and it's it
just takes a while. When Michael Jordan came in, I mean,
you're you're watching this stuff, and David Stern saying, oh
my god, this guy's making our league global. He's selling
more shoes than any player in the history of the world.
(15:11):
And David Stern's like, we have to protect him. But
yet the Pistons tackled him for years and David Stern,
the late David Sterns step back, let it play out,
didn't protect Michael Knew. Eventually they changed some officiating. Michael,
by the way, in year two got hurt, broke his foot,
so we had year one in year three, so again,
(15:33):
we all wantia. The sports can be very similar to politics.
We all want answers today and everything's a process. We
prepare for our show. It's a process.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
You.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Ninety percent of sports is practiced, not games, right, we
only see the games. You didn't see Michael Jordan punch
Steve Kerr. We did see Draymond punch pool because we
have phones now. But there's a lot of stuff that
happens among teams. Teams fight amongst themselves in camp. We
don't see most of that. So we're so shocked when
(16:06):
we see that bump. I got news for you. You can
find scrums in the WNBA ten years ago. They don't
jump over each other. That's not what this look is.
They bang into each other.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
Yeah, by the way, everybody's gonna see this. Taylor Clarks, Oh,
when's the next game? Guess where their game is televised
on Thursday, Amazon Prime, almost.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
The Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, Travis.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
Kelce, Taylor Swift Effect, Taylor Clark on Amazon Prime on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
So exciting. We've got more, plus Lebron being a bit
of a hypocrite. It's the hurt.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and newon Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one, and The iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
So I think I'm overwhelmingly positive with Lebron. I think
most of the greats of all time very positive with
But there are times where he kind of plays the victim.
I think he spends too much time on his phone sometimes.
But here's a prime example. So he has a podcast
called Mind the Game with Steve Nash. Now it used
(17:10):
to be with JJ Reddick, and uh, he said something
and it just it's just projecting, and so let's let's
go to the clip.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
I don't know why he's discussed so much in our sport,
and why is the all be all of everything, Like, Okay,
you weren't a great player, if you never won a championship.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
It's like you sit here and you tell me.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
You know, Alan Iverson and Charles Barkley and Steve Nash,
you know, you know, are wasn't unbelievable? Like oh, they
can't be talked about or discussed with these guys.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Is because this guy.
Speaker 6 (17:46):
Won one ring or one two rings or one like
it's just it's just weird to me.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Okay, Nobody says Charles Barkley's not amazing. Nobody says Alan
Iverson's not amazing. No, but He says, Dan Marino's not amazing,
but Barkley is an MJ. And Marino's not Brady, even
though he was more talented. And the reason is the trophies.
And Lebron knows that Lebron has no chance to win
(18:15):
a trophy with the current Laker roster, so now they
don't matter. He spent his entire career pursuing titles. You
think he went to Miami to land the beach. He
went there for Riley and Spolstra and a better owner
and a better roster. He didn't go west. He stayed
in the week East to keep getting the finals. Lebron
(18:37):
pursued finals and Michael six for six For years he's
talked about idolizing Michael. What's the stat? What stat do
we talk about with Michael? If I said to you
how many total points did Michael score? You don't know
how many division titles did Michael win? You don't know
how do you do in the finals? Six for six?
(18:57):
That's his number, right, it's his number and so and
he's been doing this for years, playing this angle. It's
projecting its straw man arguments. And I love Lebron, I
really do. I like the people around Lebron. But let's
go back to years ago. So Lebron's saying the rings
are overrated. No they're not. And nobody's saying you have
(19:18):
to have them to be great, to be the all
time great, you gotta have them. So here's Lebron with
another guy like Rich Paul on More Than an Athlete podcast.
This was after he had won that ring, the only
one in Cleveland.
Speaker 6 (19:38):
That one, right made me the greatest player of all time?
For some off films, I was super super ecstatic to
win one for Cleveland because of the fifty two year drought.
Like I was ecstatic, like obviously I saw that. The
first wave of emotion was when everyone saw me crying,
like that was all for fifty two years, everything the
sports have gone on to Cleveland. And then after I stopped,
(19:58):
I was like, that one right there made you the
greatest player of all time?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well, wait, why would that be? I mean it was
just another game, right, it was just another win. I mean,
why would that take you from great to the greatest
player of all time?
Speaker 6 (20:16):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (20:18):
The ring? So back when he was he knew he
had a chance to win several more. The ring mattered
because he was still back then, Hey, can he surpass
Michael and get the six seven eight? Now he can't. Now,
rings don't matter. Rings absolutely are the difference. Dan Marino
was bigger, stronger, and more talented than Brady. Brady got
(20:39):
the trophies. That's the difference. Farv was more athletically talented
than Brady. Brady got the trophies. Aaron's probably more gifted.
Josh Allen is Brady's got the trophies. Nobody's saying that
Marino or Josh Allen aren't talented. I think Josh Allen's
the most talented football player in the world. But Mahomes
has the trophies, and we can could textualize it why
(21:01):
they matter. I'm not a huge brock Purty fan, but
if he had two trophies, I'd have to acknowledge he's
a different player. He's just better than I think. So
it does matter, and Michael and Lebron knows it matters.
He himself is saying, yeah, when I won that that final,
that took me from best player in the league, maybe
(21:24):
greatest of all time, too, greatest of all time, just
that ring, So that that let's not create straw man arguments.
We all know the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and
a couple of them have no Super Bowls or won,
right right, But you talk the all time greatest, it's Peyton,
(21:45):
and it's Brady, and it's Montana. Montana was a third
round pick, third or fourth. He wasn't the most talented guy.
Some of it was Bill Walsh and Jerry Rice. It
doesn't matter. You get him. I mean, Eli Manning was
never a good regular season quarterback. He's going to get
into the Hall of Fame. Could you beat Brady and
Belichick twice in Super Bowls and made two of the
most iconic throws otherwise? How many Pro Bowls? How many
(22:07):
great regulars? See the difference between Philip Rivers a really
good regular season quarterback and Eli Manning not so hot?
But two rings is the trophies, so it obviously matters.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
All right, here we go. It is our two first hour,
a lot of Caitlyn Clark live in Chicago. It's the Herd.
Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks
for making us part of your day. So in order
to have, in my opinion, a great rivalry. Both teams
have to win. Ohio State Purdue is not a great rivalry.
(22:45):
Ohio State wins too many of them. When Michigan starts
beating Ohio State regularly, it takes a great rivalry and
makes it even better. So you got to go back
and forth. Yankees Red Sox. It's I mean, come on,
the Red Sox keep trading away all their best players
to the National League West. That that's not Nobody cares
about the Red Sox anymore, Okay except people in Boston.
(23:06):
The best rivalry in baseball is Dodgers Podreys. Since Otani arrived,
they've played twenty three games. The Dodgers have won twelve,
the Podreys of one eleven the eras. The runs are
almost identical. The Dodgers have twenty six home runs, the
Podreys have twenty seven. Both are star studded teams. The
difference is the Dodgers have trophies. The Dodgers have more
big superstars. The Dodgers are a wealthier, richer franchise and
(23:31):
more iconic. But when these two teams meet, and last
night's another example, they cannot stand each other. Some of
it's proximity, big brother, little brother. But last night the
Dodgers hit Tatise, a great player in the back, and
then you know, you'll see the tape and then eventually,
you know, the Podreys go after Otani, throwing it at
(23:53):
his leg. And the Dodgers have so many stars, have
the lineups a star. There's a lot of big dogs
to go after. And this gets Dave Roberts all worked up. Roberts.
Last year, Manny Machado, the former Dodger now a Podre
uh threw a baseball in the direction of the you know,
the Dodgers dug out. So this is an incredibly intense rivalry.
I don't want to hear. The Cowboys and the Giants
(24:13):
are a rivalry. They both stink Chiefs, Bills, Chiefs Ravens.
Bill's Ravens. That's a rivalry. Uh. And so that this
is baseball's best. They are star studded lineups. The National League,
along with the Mets, is stacked. And you can see
the animosity. Podre fans will buy tickets and go up
(24:34):
to Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium. Dodger Stadium, Dodger fans will
drive down I five and you know, flood the Podres Ballpark.
It is absolutely fantastic, and a lot of it's just proximity,
but one franchise has so much young talent. Not a
lot of them rich yet, but a lot of young talent.
(24:55):
And the Dodgers they're gonna go out and just they're
gonna They're gonna buy monkey bets and pay ready for
Freeman and go buy I mean, the Dodgers have so
much money they'll go trade for pitchers who they know
have arm injury history. They just want them for big
spots in September and October. So there's a ton of
animosity in this series. Last night, once again it's cats
(25:19):
and dogs living together. And here's Dave Roberts.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
Absolutely, I mean, this guy, he hasn't come close. And
for me, it's like if they feel that's warranted on
their side, part of baseball, that's what they feel.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
And I give them.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
Credit because they hit him in the leg, own it
and we move on. But it's not a misfire. I
do feel those intentional and again that's part of baseball,
which we all understand.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah, three of the last five years they have met
in the postseason, and we said this last year the
National League playoffs last year were crazy. You could not
turn it off. It was palpable. The Phillies, the Dodgers,
the Mets. The pot National League right now is like
the NBA's Western Conference. It's insanely good and deep and rich,
(26:06):
and this is the best rivalry. It is really intense,
and uh, you know, Manny Machado said after the game,
He's like, man, they got a lot of big dogs.
They got a lot of guys you can throw out.
If you want to get into you thow at us.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
We throw at you.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
We got a lot, we got a lot of young guys.
They got a lot of stars. They got a lot
of Hall of Fame guys we can throw at. So
if you want to play that game, we're ready to
play that game. But it's amazing. Twenty three times they
have met since Ataani arrived. Twenty three times, Dodgers twelve wins,
Podres eleven, Dodgers twenty seven home runs, Padres twenty six.
(26:42):
The runs are like one twelve to one, away Eer
four to four to four two. It's incredible how close
the series is. But at the end of the year,
the Dodgers have had just a little more maybe bullpen
depth or middle bottom of the order depth and have
prevailed in really fascinating series with that Mark Sanchez, who
knows all about this rivalry in southern California. It's crazy this.
(27:05):
I mean, it used to be Giants Dodgers when you
and I, you know, ten fifteen years ago. Now it's
now it's Dodgers Padre. So let's start with this congratulations.
First of all, you just had twins, your lovely wife,
you are a dad. You are now you're probably sleeping
a little less, but I want to start and say
congratulations to you and your family. Yeah, I can see
(27:25):
that little bit, buddy. Congratulations, Thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
She she's a superstar and I'm glad she did the
delivery portion. I was there to catch and you know,
throw them in that little incubator whatever you bake them
back to normal with. And it was it was intense.
But it's been a great couple of months, and suffice
(27:50):
to say, I'm ready for a little football. Maybe a
road trip, go call a game or something might be
good right about now.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
So well, congratulations, you know I was, I was. We
talked about Aaron Rodgers. Aaron didn't need this move for
the money, the fame, or the legacy. He's a Hall
of Famer first ballot and he's rich. He didn't need
it for anything. My take is he loves football and
he wants to play football, and he respected Mike Tomlin
and that's okay. I don't see him as a super
(28:16):
Bowl team, but if you can, I mean to me,
I don't see why you'd play you've had a major injury.
I think it just comes down to sometimes Aaron gives
off the vibe that he doesn't need football, but I
think he loves football and I think he likes playing
it and he's good at it. What is your take
on him playing maybe just one more year.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I think there's two real things he got to look
at and dissect when you're talking about Aaron Rodgers and
the Steelers. I think there's the performance side, which we
can circle back to, But then there's also like this
cultural fit in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is one of those iconic brands,
and the only way I can kind of relate that
(28:56):
way is the way USC is. You know, there's this
iconic global brand that everybody recognizes, and you're either one
of them or you're not. It's us or them mentality
Phillies kind of like that. You know, there's some iconic
places that have this mentality and this give off this vibe. Well,
(29:16):
Aaron's a little different, and he's technically an outsider, you know,
he's not Steelers like they breed their own talent. We
don't go higher and acquire mercenaries to help us win games.
We get our talent, We draft our talent, We scalt
our talent. That's what we do. You're one of us
or you're not. So he's battling against that in the
(29:36):
public eye because he's an outspoken guy. You know, he
was villainized, whether right, wrong or a different during the
whole COVID thing and immunization, et cetera. Whatever, regardless, the
circumstances are what they are. And so there's some of that.
And when we circle back to performance, is this is
this blue collar city going to accept Aaron Rodgers who's outspoken,
(30:00):
a little brash at times, you know, a little counterculture,
a little against the grain for good or for bad.
I'm not opining on those things. Whatever he wants to do,
will they accept him? Now we circle back to performance.
If he puts up his same stat line that he
had last year, especially the ten games of the year.
He went on a heater and kept the Jets alive
(30:21):
for a lot of the end of the season. Last
year with very little help from the defense and especially
special teams, they lost at least three games just with
field goal kicking alone. So they're really really struggling, and
he was kind of keeping them afloat. If he can
post those same numbers, that's a contender right there. All
you got to do is make the tournament. Just ask me.
(30:42):
I did it. We did it at nine and seven
my rookie year. At oh nine, We back into the
playoffs and we go on a run. That's all he
needs to do. And that sounds easy, But the guy
threw for almost four thousand yards coming off in Achilles.
Last year. He threw for sixty three percent completion percentage,
I mean, twenty eight touchdowns eleven. The guy has plenty
left in the tank. That's after an Achilles. So you
(31:04):
tell me, he's got a defense and some sort of
a running game, some weapons like a dk metcalp. I mean,
there's pieces there. He's got to go through a tough division.
That's a tough road to hope, but he knows how
to play in the cold. He's done this a million times.
I like the move. I think it has a real chance.
It's got legs. And you know, whether we're talking about
(31:27):
the acceptance of the city of Pittsburgh or his performance,
I think they will be tethered together. And the performance.
Once you perform, people's tolerance seems to skyrocket.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
So I want to ask you about Caleb Williams. So
I have had this belief that if you go look
at his first year at USC, he played with an
a system, and the first six games of his second
year he played within a system, and then Mark, starting
with that blowout loss at South Bend his last six
USC game into his first year with Chicago, it's not
(32:03):
been good. So my take has been is that USC's
O line at the end of his final year at USC,
he didn't trust, and Lincoln didn't trust, and he got
into some bad habits of hero ball. He knew he
was going to be the number one pick. To protect himself.
I would have done the same thing, and I don't
think Lincoln trusted the offensive line, so he let him
(32:25):
do that to kind of survive. He goes to Chicago,
massive chaos and the coaching staff. They can't help him
or protect him again kind of bad habits. So I
think Ben Johnson's primary job is, hey, gott to clean
this kid up. I love this kid, but I do
think it's fair that he's had about a year and
a half between USC's O line and the Bears, that
(32:47):
it's survival mode, and none of us grow during survival mode.
We're just trying to get through it. So I see
him as a brilliant quarterback who it's more of a
he needs a cleaning, an elevation. You tell me, as
a guy who played in this league, does that make
sense at all?
Speaker 4 (33:05):
I think you're You're really on the right track, and
with somebody that talented the trick for somebody as talented
as Ben Johnson has shown to be, and efficient and
successful as Ben Johnson has shown to be, he's got
to find a way to separate. You know, those impulsive
decisions where the ball goes into harm's way, where you're
(33:28):
holding the ball in one hand and don't see the
defensive end running behind you when it's time to just
operate within the system and keep the car in the
center lane, fifty five miles an hour, right down the
center of the highway, punt on fourth and six, you know,
gain yards on third and fifteen, backed up in your
own territory, not trying to play hero ball and throw
(33:50):
the pick six from your own twenty those kind of plays.
I think he's had a chance to try and work
out of his system. And Ben Johnson's job is to
separate when it's time to be Superman and go throw
on the cape, and when it's time to be Clark
Kent and just operate the offense, call the place, and
execute the plays that I'm I'm calling. Whatever I say
(34:12):
in the helmet. I'm gonna give you two options. Just
pick the best option and one. Sometimes both of those
options suck. Pick the one that sucks less. That's it.
That's all I need you to do right now. Now
on fourth and nine in the you know divisional round
on the road, when you got to make a play.
Hell yeah, dude, let's go. This is the play. This
(34:34):
is where we're starting. It's like an essay prompt, right,
this is how this is the starting point. But you're
gonna take this essay and this play wherever the heck
you want. We need a big play. You're our guy.
We trust you. So it's figuring out how to connect
with him and get him to operate in those modes.
And it's one of the most exhausting things to do
as a quarterback because you have to keep all of
(34:57):
those numbers in your head down in distance, time of
the game, situation, score, the play clock. You know, we're
not just out here running plays for people's health. We
have an objective. There's a purpose when the play caller
calls a play, So the sooner he can get him
to understanding the purpose of each play in that specific
(35:19):
situation of that specific game, this kid, the talent will
take over for everything else. Look at a guy like
Matthew Stafford. He plays a lot different today than he
did when he threw the ball to Calvin Johnson into
double coverage his first five years in the league. It's
just a different mentality. Now he's an extension of the
coaching staff on the field. That's where they're trying to
(35:42):
get Caleb Williams because he's got on talent, like dripping
off out of his whole body. I mean, he's got
the talent you want from any of your quarterbacks. Now
it's about getting him to understand how to play, when
to make to make the risky throw, when to cut
it loose, and when to cut bait. Move on with
your life, punt the ball. All right, let's regroup. We'll
(36:03):
get them next drive. And that's really one of the
hardest things to accomplish as a quarterback, that impulse control,
because you have all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
I want to end with this. One of the things
about being a great team like Oklahoma City Thunder, they
have prioritized the right stuff. Defense, get the ball to
SGA and defense. Everybody's on the same page. We need
a shot. Defense, And I think prioritizing in business, in sports,
(36:34):
in life, it could be a political campaign. What are
we prioritizing. So when Jen Cohen and before her, USC prioritized,
we're making thirty million dollars a year from the PAC twelve.
We can't compete with the big dogs and the big
ten in the SEC or that are making eighty million
dollars a year. So USC prioritized we're going to change conferences.
(36:56):
It worked. Everybody in the building knew guys can't compete.
We get on thirty million dollar TV contracts. Okay, Then
the second thing they're in the conference, here comes Jen
Cohen takes over for Mike Bone and then Jen prioritizes Lincoln.
We got to get the nil up and we got
to get to the playoffs. And so now there's potential
(37:18):
games in Oregon, in Washington at Penn State, at Michigan
Ohio State. No more Washington states in Oregon states. So
USC is saying we don't want a South Bend game
after a Penn State Ohio State game. We may play it,
but on our terms. We're in a conference, you're not
early in the year. And so I am defending USC.
(37:41):
We're all the tradition. Your entire conference ended. Stop with
a tradition talk you could pay high school football players.
Stop that. I do defend USC saying we are prioritizing
getting into the Big ten, get the NIL up and
get to the playoffs. Well, guess what a fourth cold
weather game hurt your chances to get into the playoffs.
(38:05):
Do you defend USC saying, hey, Notre Dame's history, it's
not the end of the world, or are you old school?
You gotta play the Irish annually?
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Well, the whole idea was to bring the country together, right,
to make the country smaller, you know, in the inception
of this game and have this rivalry kind of almost
cross country, if you will.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Right, and.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
I think it served that purpose. I think it's been
a beautiful tradition. The issue there is my understanding at least,
was we'd always play at Notre Dame in like September
October latest was October, and we'd always play them at
home that was in South Bend. We'd always play them
at home in Los Angeles and the Coliseum right around
(38:58):
Thanksgiving ish because of the And that was just kind
of set up forever ago, because that's the way it is.
We want beautiful weather, we'd like to have a competitive game.
We probably don't want the three nothing snow game in
a blizzard that doesn't, you know, attract viewers. That doesn't
make this game fun and exciting. So I understand all
of those points. I think it would there would be
(39:22):
something missing if you don't see UCLA and Notre Dame
on the schedule. I think that's a little strange as
a USC former USC player, but it's not the end
of the world, because you might end up finding them
in the playoffs. Anyway. That sounds like it's just it's
it's a tough one. To just kind of sever ties,
(39:45):
you know what I mean, There's like that one takes
a while to to to really rebound from. I guess emotionally,
you know, you just kind of you're gonna miss that.
There's something to it. It's a beautiful tradition. I enjoyed
being a part of it, and it meant something to
sides and that's what made it fun. On a totally
separate note, I think what you said about Gen Cohen
(40:06):
is spot on. I think the position that US season
this year, especially with Chad Bowden. I don't know if
you've had a chance to talk to him, but the
GM there now, yeah, is lights out and it's really
you're getting the same messaging from Jen, Chad Bowden and
coach Riley and everybody's rolling that boat in the same direction.
(40:30):
It feels good, it sounds right. That twenty six class
looks incredible. This is going in a way that gets me,
as a former player, really excited. And I think Chad Bowden,
after the success he's had it notre dame, I think
he's going to want to play those guys, you know,
I think he would miss playing those guys. And he's
the one who really started to turn that thing around.
(40:51):
There got the right players with the right attitude that
wanted to be a part of that Notre Dame tradition.
Now he's getting those guys that want to be a
part of this sc tradition in so this is going
to take a lot off of Lincoln's plate and let
him be that play caller. Let him hyper focus and
singularly focus on third downs, red zone, get these guys
(41:14):
in the right position, and let our athletes take over.
Chad's going to get you the athletes. Chad Allen's going
to get all the players. He's got the connects with everybody.
He's going to lock down California and none of the
good players should be leaving this state. You play for
the SEC interlock on your chest and on your helmet.
That's a big deal. And so he's reminding the people
(41:35):
of that. So there's been a revitalization, it feels like,
and hopefully Notre Dame is still a part of the schedule.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Mark Sanchez, great seeing you get rest, congratus on on
the on the on the twins and your life and
the next chapter of a great life so far. Good luck, buddy,
Appreciate you man, Thank you Yeah, it is interesting if
you look at the playoffs going to be extended, is
it fourteen teams?
Speaker 6 (42:03):
Now?
Speaker 1 (42:03):
If you look at Notre dame schedule because they're not
a full member of a conference USC, excuse me, Notre
Dame is going to get into that tournament a lot.
If Marcus Freeman's the coach, he's you know, when Brian
Kelly left, were like, we think he'll be good. He's
a great recruiter. Is he a good coach? Yeah, he's
a good coach. So Notre Dame's getting into that thing.
I don't worry about Notre Dame getting into the playoff
(42:23):
USC out of the big ten, I don't know, but
the idea they wouldn't meet, they could meet regularly. Notre
Dame is going to be getting into that playoff. The
more it gets expanded, the more it ensures that because
of all these big teams, the Bamas Georgia's Notre Dame
controls their schedule to a higher degree. That's why they
signed a twelve year contract with Clemson. They need big games.
(42:44):
They don't have enough of them on their schedule. USC, Georgia, LSU,
Ohio State. Those teams. You want some breathers you want
to lay up occasionally. Notre Dame's got plenty of those.
They have to schedule up. Sometimes, the big boys schedule
down in the major conferences
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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