Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Back on the Rock Pebble Show. Vendornel on your afternoon drive,
joining us from an airport in Dallas somewhere. One of
the best play by play voices in the land, Tim
Brando from Fox Sports joins us. Now talk some sports.
Where are you going? What game you calling for Fox
this weekend?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Greetings from the e Concourse Admirals Club.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I was going to ask you if you're in a club,
of course you are. You got to have frequent flyer.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Miles well and free liquor. Yes, so we got to
have You're gonna fly the mini miles that I have
to fly. Yeah, I'm going to do that for sure.
I'm headed to lax Leave in about an hour and
a half for the gritty little Bruins and corn Huskers
(00:55):
of Nebraska. I Got'll be on at nine o'clock Eastern
time on Big Fox Family. We've got We got rid
of that sport that Beino Cook used to say, I've
but I suffered about baseball. We finally got rid of that.
Oh yeah. It was probably the greatest World Series in
the modern era of baseball. And it wins seven games
and blah blah blah blah blah, and by the way,
(01:16):
Can I just throw up one quick question off you
Rob as much as I, you know, don't particularly care
for the game to the extent that I used to.
I still have a romance with baseball. I do. I
care about it. I watch it. I watch it now
more often for the buddies of mine that are broadcasting
(01:37):
it than I do for the teams, because I really
don't care who wins anymore like I did when I
was a kid, or like I did when I played ball.
But what in the hell was Hoffman thinking throwing a
slider to the ninth place hitter when you got a
ninety eight to ninety nine mile an hour fastball and
(01:58):
he hasn't hit blank for blank yep until coming up
for that for that plate appearance.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Well, if my wife were listening to this, I ran
around the house screaming that how could you throw that pitch? How?
Because Loop, Andel R. P Rose or any of my
managers would have choked me if I had thrown that
pitch to the number nine guy. Yes, I don't know.
They gave up three home runs in the last few
innings there, and it's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
The manager, it's hard to do good of them and
as good of a manager as a guy is. I
really think a lot of the Blue Jays, I do.
It's hardly not gonna like them, you know when you
watch them play. But today's field managers they just and
this is true with Roberts too, Okay in my in
my view, just watching it, and I really only watched
(02:47):
baseball during the playoffs. You know, we get down to
maybe eight teams or fourteens. I really start to watch
and I grind it a little bit because I used
to play, and then I think I know the game.
I think baseball is the easiest game for non athletes
to know because you don't have to be a great
athlete to be a baseball player, but you got to
have to get great instincts and you have to have
(03:10):
some talent, you know, to play the game to to
you know, even a high school or American Legion college level. Okay,
you do so, but but it's a thinking man sport.
How manager? Can I just say to this guy, like
I'm telling you, when Earl Weaver walked out to talk
to Jim Palmer, or when Sparky Anderson went out to
(03:31):
talk to you know, uh, Tom Seaver, it was like
for God's sakes, don't let him beat you on your
second pitch. Make sure he beats you on your best pitch.
You know, it's pretty basic, fundamental.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Stuff it is, and you nailed it. And and that
was but that was stressed to me. I mean, Jim
Cott was my pitching coach in the minor league.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Oh my god. We were a kitty caught on college baseball.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Wayne Garland. I mean, I had nothing but great coach.
And that's you know, I talked about this all the
time on the show. Ed Figueroa showed me my breaking ball,
but Ed Figueroa and that was in Puerto Rico and
winter ball. But he was all about stick with your
best stuff, know what your best, especially the seventy eight
(04:23):
nine guys, because you can't have respect for them. They're
not good. They're not hitting seventy eight nine for a
reason because they stink. It'd be that they'd be hitting two, three,
four if they were better. So yeah, I feel bad
very often because he's gonna have to live with that.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, I mean the guys, the guy that the guy
that goes yard on you, where's the number seventy two?
For Christ's sakes, Jesus, how do you let that happen?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
He's gonna have forever.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That's like insult to injury. It's like having a guy
you're a dodger Town, but you're playing with the class
A team. You can't even get on the field of
Dodger Down for God's sake, You're playing in uh, you know,
on a bad American Legion field and Vero Beach. You
can't even get on the dodger Town field. It just
blew me. It blew me away. It just did Anyway,
(05:11):
I didn't need to digress, No, I know you wanted
to talk about other.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Things college football playoffs.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So one thing we were going to ask you about,
and we just played the cut from Debo Sweeney's latest
press conference where he broke it down for the entire
country of what college football playoffs mean to the coaching
profession now that if you're a team that is not
sniffing a college football playoff, then you might be looking
for another job in the near future. I know your
guy from LSU is facing this fate. Coach Franklin really
(05:38):
wasn't facing this fate, but he lost the big one.
But talk about just the college football playoff and how
that has really changed things in coaching staffs and athletic departments.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Well, let me begin with this though, if you don't mind,
did you guys watch any of that crap on Tuesday
Night at four? Restates that the host did you watch
any of that? Or did you miss it?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
No, we missed it.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
You probably missed it. For a good idea, what they
need to just eliminate those shows. Just just give give
Doctor Pepper or All State or whoever the hell the
sponsor is, just give him some free advertising on Sports
Center or something, because that show is just an hour
long piece of excrement, and poor Rhues Davis has to
(06:21):
ask questions to a to a gentleman. That's a nice guy.
The Baylor a d who matt roach is a nice
man who has no answers other than talking points. And
then the more he talks, the more he contradicts all
of his talking points. It's just it's just though I
(06:41):
don't I didn't watch it live. I'll be honest, I
did take it, just though I could, you know, excoriate
them because it's such a it's such a joke, and
I will take great pride in poking holes and everything.
This college football Playoff as long as there's a committee
trying to decide who's in the playoff, and they continue
to be as corrupt as ever. And I know that's
(07:06):
a strong word, but it is. It's just a corrupt process.
We all know what these guys eventually are going to do. Okay,
certain schools are going to be in because of their
brand names, despite what their records are or who they've played.
And this year, because you know the SEC, oh my god,
Alabama didn't get in last year with a nine and
(07:27):
three record. Rest assured, Okay, there will be nine and
three teams in this year's playoff. And rest assured, since
only three SEC teams got in last year, they're gonna
get five, maybe double. They may get six in. They
may get six in, Okay, because by God's that's where
it just means more, and that's where they make their
most money in the Southeastern Conference. I mean, it's until
(07:51):
they go to sixteen teams, until they adopt some of
what Tony Pettiti, the former boss that I had at
CBS US and former head of MLB Network and now
the commission of a Big ten, until they go to
some form of play in in other words, having teams
play within the conferences are the right to be in
(08:14):
the playoffs. Okay, and so they've decided on the field
who the sixteen teams are to get into the playoff.
This just arbitrary. Hey, let's go pick twelve teams based
on our metrics. I mean, they actually put Heather Denish
out on the air this past week saying things like, well,
you know, the committee puts a lot of value in
(08:36):
strength of schedule, and they have now adopted the same
metrics form that we at ESPN use, So I suspect
that this first playoff pole will look very similar to
the ap pole. Like really, they're no kidding. So it's
a metrics poll that they've adopted that looks exactly like
what you use. And this is a television show that
(08:58):
you have to do every Tuesday day the entire month
of November, because you know, you're obligated to do it,
and we're not supposed to think that you don't have
incredible influence on who's in and who's not. You know,
I mean, think about that for just a second. Okay,
and listen, I have great admiration and I have a
(09:24):
lot of Listen, when they did this I was really
honored that when they said goodbye to Leek Orso and
they did that wonderful documentary on them, they asked me
to be a part of it. Frankly, I was surprised
that they did, because so much of what they do
with the playoffs I have trashed, but they really do
a great job in so many other areas. I got
a lot of friends there, a lot of people I
care about there. But it's hard not to just absolutely
(09:50):
newt the whole playoff system and the way they go
about doing this when it's pretty clear to any objective
mind that's watching any of this that whatever makes the
best TV is going to be the way they decide
to go. I mean, b Yu is playing Utah and
(10:11):
hardly anybody even knew they were playing. They might as
well could have been in the Witness Protection program. Now
now BYU's undefeated, they're going to play Texas Tech this
week and oh, by the way, oh, it's just this
unbelievable celebration because Game Day is going to be there,
and isn't this wonderful and isn't it great? And like
we're supposed to just throw bocats their way because they
(10:33):
finally decided that a Big twelve game actually matters. I mean,
enjoy your day in the sun, Big twelve, because next
week we're going back to the SEC or we're going
back to you know, the teams and the games that
we care about, because we don't particularly care about, you know,
any of those teams that don't bring us big numbers.
(10:54):
It's just it's just so farcical to me. And again,
like I said, I I have no Astra grind with
Greece status is a wonderful guy. I can't believe that
they should give him hazard pay. They should give him
Hazard pay for having to host that that garbage I mean,
and I mean it's just terrible to watch it and
(11:14):
know that he has to ask the questions he has
to ask and then not laugh. He should. Most of
us would just laugh at some of the answers that
mac Rohach gave him. We'd be like, wait a minute,
didn't you just say something else thirty seconds ago. It's
just unbelievable to me. But anyway, I had to. I
had to get into that because you know, they started
(11:36):
this thing. We don't need to see, we don't need
to see a show like that until the next to
last week. You know, they like, have two shows and
then give them pre advertising. Whoever's sponsoring one thing, just
give them pre advertising for theirs. It's not like they
they don't have plenty of shows where they can plug
ins to make good commercials. They can do that anyway
(11:58):
anyway they like. But back your original question about the coaches.
This whole thing started when you know, James Franklin was
number two in the country and then fifteen days later
he was out of a job. And so there's no
doubt that everybody got the memo. Now the fact that
(12:18):
it was Dabo that said it. Dabo's been you know,
Dabo's been running hot for the last few weeks because
his team is sucked out loud, and for whatever reason,
he's decided that in every press conference he's got to go,
he's got to go big picture and go national and
talk about how crazy the business is, simply because his
(12:40):
team is not achieving what it used to achieve and
they have been a real disappointment this year. You know,
until Brian Kelly got fired at LSU, he was sending
thank you notes in bouquets to Dabbo for having his
team suck more than his did Kelly finally got the
EVO after the poor performances that he had the last
(13:03):
two weeks. But the business, that part of the business
fellas is, I think, just a reality that everyone has
to understand when the stakes become this high and now
the donors are in control, not necessarily the lunatic fringe donors,
but donors the people that you know, pony up so
(13:26):
that the schools legislature doesn't doesn't have to okay, the
incredible funds that it would take to keep them with
contracts to the state university. This is all being done privately,
but when those people are in charge, it's like having
eighteen to twenty Jerry Joneses, you know, in charge of
(13:47):
your football program, Okay, because wouldn't you really rather have one,
you know, have one mega bazillionaire taking care of all
of it, which is kind of what happened at Texas Tech.
You know. One of the reasons why Texas Tech is
doing so well is because Campbell from the Double Eagle
Oil and Gas company is a billionaire, not a millionaire,
a billionaire and he put twenty seven million dollars worth
(14:11):
of his cash into that program. And you see what
it's done for the Texas Tech okay. And of course
every game Texas Tech plays and you watch it, they'll
do this on Saturday. I don't know who's doing the game,
might be Kirk and Chris whomever, but they'll talk about
with this inordinate amount of money that Texas Tech has
spent on his football program. Well wait a minute, Ohio
(14:33):
State spent twenty three million last year, LSU spent more
than that. Nobody made a big deal out of it.
Well yeah, but that's because their brand name and they're
a traditional power and Texas Tech is not. So it's
almost like a condescending view of any school that would say, Okay,
we're now going to spend this amount of money on
college football. Well you've opened the door for that. So
(14:55):
why is Texas Tech all all of a sudden having
to answer for the incredible amount money spent when Ohio
State hasn't, LSU hasn't, Alabama hasn't, Georgia hasn't. You know what,
because they're not a brand Okay. And it's just a
lazy ass approach to college football where media pretends to
(15:15):
think that they're being objective when in fact they're not.
They just want those teams that they know something about
that they know fans are more inclined to watch because
of their history and tradition. And be damned if a
team like Texas Tech or BYU playing in the Mountain
time zone feels like they can compete.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Talking to Tim Brando from Fox Sports ACC, you got
some that are looking in on the college football playoff?
In your mind, which one of those ACC teams Virginia, Vanderbilt,
Georgia Tech, not Vanderbilt, Louisville, you know that are that
are just you know, fourteen fifteen, just just looking in
(15:56):
on twelve and in your in your mind, which one
of those teams has maybe a shot to get into
the playoffs?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well either, you know, doesn't Louisville have a reason to stay?
Why is Notre Dame right where they?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Oh? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Uh, I mean, I mean I would think that they did. Again,
there's so many yeah, there's so many questions about Mobile.
You know, Louisville's got more of a case, I think
because Miami just spit the bit, uh, you know, in
their last game and have two losses. But but Louisville,
I mean, my guy, they certainly do even with their
(16:30):
loss in the big twelve last week on the road Cincinnati.
Is that a really good season and nobody's really talking
about them. Yeah. What's really funny about it is when
you hear names like those being brought up. Di you're
hearing this, Well, you know, tenches or Oklahoma certainly should
(16:51):
be in, but you know they got to put Memphis
in from the American because you know, the group of
five gets a team or group of four now gets
a team, and jeez, I mean, I guess an ACC
team has to get in. So we got to give
Louisville or you know, somebody like that gets in, and
that's going to cost Texas Oklahoma. Oh my god, just
(17:13):
the end of the world. Two more SEC teams don't
get in. That's the only way these teams get mentioned anymore. Okay,
it's blasphemous to me. If someone that were a professor
of journalism that really cared about sports went in and
(17:35):
just took a look at everything in print media and
everything in electronic media and looked at the way college
football is covered in this country, they would say, you guys,
if there were licenses that had to be doled out
for people to participate in national media for college football
you guys would lose your licenses because there's so many
(17:56):
teams that are really, really good that no one could
name you even the starting quarterback for YEP. It's really unbelievable.
And it's not because the games aren't on well, they're
all televised. The games are all televised. It's just the
people that choose to create the narrative. The pundits choose
only to talk about what they want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
One I haven't seen yet is Texas A and M.
And I see their scores and even though they win
all their games, sometimes they give up about forty points.
You probably saw them up close and personally against your
LSU tires.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Teach me how who this team is.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
They're as good as Marcel Reid plays on a given night,
and he played great at Notre Dame. It's funny because
that's the game that gives them the national reputation to
be ranked ahead of Alabama. Some of these same pundits,
by the way, you think Alabama should be ranked ahead
of Texas A and M even though they're undefeated. Now,
why do you suppose that is because Alabama has been
(18:53):
there before and and M hasn't. Marcel Reid is in
my view, should be number one for the high schan
and yet the Fundance have the kid from Alabama probably
and the kids from Alabama's playing great. In fact, he's
carrying that team because they don't run the ball particularly well,
they don't defend the way they used to defend, and
(19:15):
they've not been burying people like Indiana buries people. Fellow's.
The best team in the country is Indiana and the
only reason they're not number one is because they're not
the same brand that Ohio State is. This brand thing
isn't just about SDC, It's about Big ten two. Okay,
Indiana is not supposed to be on the same page
(19:35):
as Ohio State, and yet not only are they on
the same page, they're beating the hell out of people
in Ohio States just winning by you know, nominal margins,
you know, by a name. Ohio State's biggest win to
this point is in Texas fourteen to seven at the
beginning of the year. What's their biggest win? Think about it.
(19:56):
I can tell you Indiana went to Oregon and won,
and that's not an easy thing to do. And I
can tell you the Indiana everybody every time they play
somebody that is supposed to give them a good game,
they beat them by forty and yet well they're Indiana,
you know. So. Uh. That's That's the thing that jumps
(20:17):
up to me across the board whenever we're whenever I
get into these conversations about college football. I love the sport,
as you guys know, I care about it more than anything,
and it just pains me to see how it's not
covered at the level that it needs to be covered
by that there's not enough conversation on a daily basis
(20:38):
everywhere on the networks that I include FS one in
that group all the Embrace Debate shows. I mean, when
they're talking about NBA, for Christ's sake, is there anything
worse right now than an NBA regular season game to
watch out television and they're and they're losing the Here's
(20:58):
here's the offense. Every NBA team got four guys line
up at the three point line, and they wait to
see the point guard drive to the basket. Will will
he either get fouled or will he drive? As Dicky
V would say, to draw a dish, baby, and the
drive drawn dish and kick it out. That's your offense
in the NBA. It is just it's really kind of
(21:19):
a shame Hurley didn't take the Lakers job because at
least he'd run an offense, because at least he'd run
an offense that looked a little bit unique to that league,
that god awful league.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
You are the best, sir, have a great call eight
o'clock on Fox Nebraska versus UCLA. Tim Brando, you are
a gem. I love you, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That will it'll be nothing. It's not entertaining, that's for sure.
And by the way, get ready Big East Basketball. I
crank it up December sixth. We've got Michigan State and
Duke to start. I get in for Saint John's and
Providence in Saint John's and Yukon fall in December. Some
good games coming up, so see you then.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
All right, meanwhile, my friends, safe travel.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Thank you, Tim, you got it, buddy. Bye bye,
Back on the Rock Pebble Show. Vendornel on your afternoon drive,
joining us from an airport in Dallas somewhere. One of
the best play by play voices in the land, Tim
Brando from Fox Sports joins us. Now talk some sports.
Where are you going? What game you calling for Fox
this weekend?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Greetings from the e Concourse Admirals Club.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I was going to ask you if you're in a club,
of course you are. You got to have frequent flyer.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Miles well and free liquor. Yes, so we got to
have You're gonna fly the mini miles that I have
to fly. Yeah, I'm going to do that for sure.
I'm headed to lax Leave in about an hour and
a half for the gritty little Bruins and corn Huskers
(00:55):
of Nebraska. I Got'll be on at nine o'clock Eastern
time on Big Fox Family. We've got We got rid
of that sport that Beino Cook used to say, I've
but I suffered about baseball. We finally got rid of that.
Oh yeah. It was probably the greatest World Series in
the modern era of baseball. And it wins seven games
and blah blah blah blah blah, and by the way,
(01:16):
Can I just throw up one quick question off you
Rob as much as I, you know, don't particularly care
for the game to the extent that I used to.
I still have a romance with baseball. I do. I
care about it. I watch it. I watch it now
more often for the buddies of mine that are broadcasting
(01:37):
it than I do for the teams, because I really
don't care who wins anymore like I did when I
was a kid, or like I did when I played ball.
But what in the hell was Hoffman thinking throwing a
slider to the ninth place hitter when you got a
ninety eight to ninety nine mile an hour fastball and
(01:58):
he hasn't hit blank for blank yep until coming up
for that for that plate appearance.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Well, if my wife were listening to this, I ran
around the house screaming that how could you throw that pitch? How?
Because Loop, Andel R. P Rose or any of my
managers would have choked me if I had thrown that
pitch to the number nine guy. Yes, I don't know.
They gave up three home runs in the last few
innings there, and it's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
The manager, it's hard to do good of them and
as good of a manager as a guy is. I
really think a lot of the Blue Jays, I do.
It's hardly not gonna like them, you know when you
watch them play. But today's field managers they just and
this is true with Roberts too, Okay in my in
my view, just watching it, and I really only watched
(02:47):
baseball during the playoffs. You know, we get down to
maybe eight teams or fourteens. I really start to watch
and I grind it a little bit because I used
to play, and then I think I know the game.
I think baseball is the easiest game for non athletes
to know because you don't have to be a great
athlete to be a baseball player, but you got to
have to get great instincts and you have to have
(03:10):
some talent, you know, to play the game to to
you know, even a high school or American Legion college level. Okay,
you do so, but but it's a thinking man sport.
How manager? Can I just say to this guy, like
I'm telling you, when Earl Weaver walked out to talk
to Jim Palmer, or when Sparky Anderson went out to
(03:31):
talk to you know, uh, Tom Seaver, it was like
for God's sakes, don't let him beat you on your
second pitch. Make sure he beats you on your best pitch.
You know, it's pretty basic, fundamental.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Stuff it is, and you nailed it. And and that
was but that was stressed to me. I mean, Jim
Cott was my pitching coach in the minor league.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Oh my god. We were a kitty caught on college baseball.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Wayne Garland. I mean, I had nothing but great coach.
And that's you know, I talked about this all the
time on the show. Ed Figueroa showed me my breaking ball,
but Ed Figueroa and that was in Puerto Rico and
winter ball. But he was all about stick with your
best stuff, know what your best, especially the seventy eight
(04:23):
nine guys, because you can't have respect for them. They're
not good. They're not hitting seventy eight nine for a
reason because they stink. It'd be that they'd be hitting two, three,
four if they were better. So yeah, I feel bad
very often because he's gonna have to live with that.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, I mean the guys, the guy that the guy
that goes yard on you, where's the number seventy two?
For Christ's sakes, Jesus, how do you let that happen?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
He's gonna have forever.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
That's like insult to injury. It's like having a guy
you're a dodger Town, but you're playing with the class
A team. You can't even get on the field of
Dodger Down for God's sake, You're playing in uh, you know,
on a bad American Legion field and Vero Beach. You
can't even get on the dodger Town field. It just
blew me. It blew me away. It just did Anyway,
(05:11):
I didn't need to digress, No, I know you wanted
to talk about other.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Things college football playoffs.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So one thing we were going to ask you about,
and we just played the cut from Debo Sweeney's latest
press conference where he broke it down for the entire
country of what college football playoffs mean to the coaching
profession now that if you're a team that is not
sniffing a college football playoff, then you might be looking
for another job in the near future. I know your
guy from LSU is facing this fate. Coach Franklin really
(05:38):
wasn't facing this fate, but he lost the big one.
But talk about just the college football playoff and how
that has really changed things in coaching staffs and athletic departments.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Well, let me begin with this though, if you don't mind,
did you guys watch any of that crap on Tuesday
Night at four? Restates that the host did you watch
any of that? Or did you miss it?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
No, we missed it.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
You probably missed it. For a good idea, what they
need to just eliminate those shows. Just just give give
Doctor Pepper or All State or whoever the hell the
sponsor is, just give him some free advertising on Sports
Center or something, because that show is just an hour
long piece of excrement, and poor Rhues Davis has to
(06:21):
ask questions to a to a gentleman. That's a nice guy.
The Baylor a d who matt roach is a nice
man who has no answers other than talking points. And
then the more he talks, the more he contradicts all
of his talking points. It's just it's just though I
(06:41):
don't I didn't watch it live. I'll be honest, I
did take it, just though I could, you know, excoriate
them because it's such a it's such a joke, and
I will take great pride in poking holes and everything.
This college football Playoff as long as there's a committee
trying to decide who's in the playoff, and they continue
to be as corrupt as ever. And I know that's
(07:06):
a strong word, but it is. It's just a corrupt process.
We all know what these guys eventually are going to do. Okay,
certain schools are going to be in because of their
brand names, despite what their records are or who they've played.
And this year, because you know the SEC, oh my god,
Alabama didn't get in last year with a nine and
(07:27):
three record. Rest assured, Okay, there will be nine and
three teams in this year's playoff. And rest assured, since
only three SEC teams got in last year, they're gonna
get five, maybe double. They may get six in. They
may get six in, Okay, because by God's that's where
it just means more, and that's where they make their
most money in the Southeastern Conference. I mean, it's until
(07:51):
they go to sixteen teams, until they adopt some of
what Tony Pettiti, the former boss that I had at
CBS US and former head of MLB Network and now
the commission of a Big ten, until they go to
some form of play in in other words, having teams
play within the conferences are the right to be in
(08:14):
the playoffs. Okay, and so they've decided on the field
who the sixteen teams are to get into the playoff.
This just arbitrary. Hey, let's go pick twelve teams based
on our metrics. I mean, they actually put Heather Denish
out on the air this past week saying things like, well,
you know, the committee puts a lot of value in
(08:36):
strength of schedule, and they have now adopted the same
metrics form that we at ESPN use, So I suspect
that this first playoff pole will look very similar to
the ap pole. Like really, they're no kidding. So it's
a metrics poll that they've adopted that looks exactly like
what you use. And this is a television show that
(08:58):
you have to do every Tuesday day the entire month
of November, because you know, you're obligated to do it,
and we're not supposed to think that you don't have
incredible influence on who's in and who's not. You know,
I mean, think about that for just a second. Okay,
and listen, I have great admiration and I have a
(09:24):
lot of Listen, when they did this I was really
honored that when they said goodbye to Leek Orso and
they did that wonderful documentary on them, they asked me
to be a part of it. Frankly, I was surprised
that they did, because so much of what they do
with the playoffs I have trashed, but they really do
a great job in so many other areas. I got
a lot of friends there, a lot of people I
care about there. But it's hard not to just absolutely
(09:50):
newt the whole playoff system and the way they go
about doing this when it's pretty clear to any objective
mind that's watching any of this that whatever makes the
best TV is going to be the way they decide
to go. I mean, b Yu is playing Utah and
(10:11):
hardly anybody even knew they were playing. They might as
well could have been in the Witness Protection program. Now
now BYU's undefeated, they're going to play Texas Tech this
week and oh, by the way, oh, it's just this
unbelievable celebration because Game Day is going to be there,
and isn't this wonderful and isn't it great? And like
we're supposed to just throw bocats their way because they
(10:33):
finally decided that a Big twelve game actually matters. I mean,
enjoy your day in the sun, Big twelve, because next
week we're going back to the SEC or we're going
back to you know, the teams and the games that
we care about, because we don't particularly care about, you know,
any of those teams that don't bring us big numbers.
(10:54):
It's just it's just so farcical to me. And again,
like I said, I I have no Astra grind with
Greece status is a wonderful guy. I can't believe that
they should give him hazard pay. They should give him
Hazard pay for having to host that that garbage I mean,
and I mean it's just terrible to watch it and
(11:14):
know that he has to ask the questions he has
to ask and then not laugh. He should. Most of
us would just laugh at some of the answers that
mac Rohach gave him. We'd be like, wait a minute,
didn't you just say something else thirty seconds ago. It's
just unbelievable to me. But anyway, I had to. I
had to get into that because you know, they started
(11:36):
this thing. We don't need to see, we don't need
to see a show like that until the next to
last week. You know, they like, have two shows and
then give them pre advertising. Whoever's sponsoring one thing, just
give them pre advertising for theirs. It's not like they
they don't have plenty of shows where they can plug
ins to make good commercials. They can do that anyway
(11:58):
anyway they like. But back your original question about the coaches.
This whole thing started when you know, James Franklin was
number two in the country and then fifteen days later
he was out of a job. And so there's no
doubt that everybody got the memo. Now the fact that
(12:18):
it was Dabo that said it. Dabo's been you know,
Dabo's been running hot for the last few weeks because
his team is sucked out loud, and for whatever reason,
he's decided that in every press conference he's got to go,
he's got to go big picture and go national and
talk about how crazy the business is, simply because his
(12:40):
team is not achieving what it used to achieve and
they have been a real disappointment this year. You know,
until Brian Kelly got fired at LSU, he was sending
thank you notes in bouquets to Dabbo for having his
team suck more than his did Kelly finally got the
EVO after the poor performances that he had the last
(13:03):
two weeks. But the business, that part of the business
fellas is, I think, just a reality that everyone has
to understand when the stakes become this high and now
the donors are in control, not necessarily the lunatic fringe donors,
but donors the people that you know, pony up so
(13:26):
that the schools legislature doesn't doesn't have to okay, the
incredible funds that it would take to keep them with
contracts to the state university. This is all being done privately,
but when those people are in charge, it's like having
eighteen to twenty Jerry Joneses, you know, in charge of
(13:47):
your football program, Okay, because wouldn't you really rather have one,
you know, have one mega bazillionaire taking care of all
of it, which is kind of what happened at Texas Tech.
You know. One of the reasons why Texas Tech is
doing so well is because Campbell from the Double Eagle
Oil and Gas company is a billionaire, not a millionaire,
a billionaire and he put twenty seven million dollars worth
(14:11):
of his cash into that program. And you see what
it's done for the Texas Tech okay. And of course
every game Texas Tech plays and you watch it, they'll
do this on Saturday. I don't know who's doing the game,
might be Kirk and Chris whomever, but they'll talk about
with this inordinate amount of money that Texas Tech has
spent on his football program. Well wait a minute, Ohio
(14:33):
State spent twenty three million last year, LSU spent more
than that. Nobody made a big deal out of it.
Well yeah, but that's because their brand name and they're
a traditional power and Texas Tech is not. So it's
almost like a condescending view of any school that would say, Okay,
we're now going to spend this amount of money on
college football. Well you've opened the door for that. So
(14:55):
why is Texas Tech all all of a sudden having
to answer for the incredible amount money spent when Ohio
State hasn't, LSU hasn't, Alabama hasn't, Georgia hasn't. You know what,
because they're not a brand Okay. And it's just a
lazy ass approach to college football where media pretends to
(15:15):
think that they're being objective when in fact they're not.
They just want those teams that they know something about
that they know fans are more inclined to watch because
of their history and tradition. And be damned if a
team like Texas Tech or BYU playing in the Mountain
time zone feels like they can compete.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Talking to Tim Brando from Fox Sports ACC, you got
some that are looking in on the college football playoff?
In your mind, which one of those ACC teams Virginia, Vanderbilt,
Georgia Tech, not Vanderbilt, Louisville, you know that are that
are just you know, fourteen fifteen, just just looking in
(15:56):
on twelve and in your in your mind, which one
of those teams has maybe a shot to get into
the playoffs?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well either, you know, doesn't Louisville have a reason to stay?
Why is Notre Dame right where they?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Oh? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Uh, I mean, I mean I would think that they did. Again,
there's so many yeah, there's so many questions about Mobile.
You know, Louisville's got more of a case, I think
because Miami just spit the bit, uh, you know, in
their last game and have two losses. But but Louisville,
I mean, my guy, they certainly do even with their
(16:30):
loss in the big twelve last week on the road Cincinnati.
Is that a really good season and nobody's really talking
about them. Yeah. What's really funny about it is when
you hear names like those being brought up. Di you're
hearing this, Well, you know, tenches or Oklahoma certainly should
(16:51):
be in, but you know they got to put Memphis
in from the American because you know, the group of
five gets a team or group of four now gets
a team, and jeez, I mean, I guess an ACC
team has to get in. So we got to give
Louisville or you know, somebody like that gets in, and
that's going to cost Texas Oklahoma. Oh my god, just
(17:13):
the end of the world. Two more SEC teams don't
get in. That's the only way these teams get mentioned anymore. Okay,
it's blasphemous to me. If someone that were a professor
of journalism that really cared about sports went in and
(17:35):
just took a look at everything in print media and
everything in electronic media and looked at the way college
football is covered in this country, they would say, you guys,
if there were licenses that had to be doled out
for people to participate in national media for college football
you guys would lose your licenses because there's so many
(17:56):
teams that are really, really good that no one could
name you even the starting quarterback for YEP. It's really unbelievable.
And it's not because the games aren't on well, they're
all televised. The games are all televised. It's just the
people that choose to create the narrative. The pundits choose
only to talk about what they want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
One I haven't seen yet is Texas A and M.
And I see their scores and even though they win
all their games, sometimes they give up about forty points.
You probably saw them up close and personally against your
LSU tires.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Teach me how who this team is.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
They're as good as Marcel Reid plays on a given night,
and he played great at Notre Dame. It's funny because
that's the game that gives them the national reputation to
be ranked ahead of Alabama. Some of these same pundits,
by the way, you think Alabama should be ranked ahead
of Texas A and M even though they're undefeated. Now,
why do you suppose that is because Alabama has been
(18:53):
there before and and M hasn't. Marcel Reid is in
my view, should be number one for the high schan
and yet the Fundance have the kid from Alabama probably
and the kids from Alabama's playing great. In fact, he's
carrying that team because they don't run the ball particularly well,
they don't defend the way they used to defend, and
(19:15):
they've not been burying people like Indiana buries people. Fellow's.
The best team in the country is Indiana and the
only reason they're not number one is because they're not
the same brand that Ohio State is. This brand thing
isn't just about SDC, It's about Big ten two. Okay,
Indiana is not supposed to be on the same page
(19:35):
as Ohio State, and yet not only are they on
the same page, they're beating the hell out of people
in Ohio States just winning by you know, nominal margins,
you know, by a name. Ohio State's biggest win to
this point is in Texas fourteen to seven at the
beginning of the year. What's their biggest win? Think about it.
(19:56):
I can tell you Indiana went to Oregon and won,
and that's not an easy thing to do. And I
can tell you the Indiana everybody every time they play
somebody that is supposed to give them a good game,
they beat them by forty and yet well they're Indiana,
you know. So. Uh. That's That's the thing that jumps
(20:17):
up to me across the board whenever we're whenever I
get into these conversations about college football. I love the sport,
as you guys know, I care about it more than anything,
and it just pains me to see how it's not
covered at the level that it needs to be covered
by that there's not enough conversation on a daily basis
(20:38):
everywhere on the networks that I include FS one in
that group all the Embrace Debate shows. I mean, when
they're talking about NBA, for Christ's sake, is there anything
worse right now than an NBA regular season game to
watch out television and they're and they're losing the Here's
(20:58):
here's the offense. Every NBA team got four guys line
up at the three point line, and they wait to
see the point guard drive to the basket. Will will
he either get fouled or will he drive? As Dicky
V would say, to draw a dish, baby, and the
drive drawn dish and kick it out. That's your offense
in the NBA. It is just it's really kind of
(21:19):
a shame Hurley didn't take the Lakers job because at
least he'd run an offense, because at least he'd run
an offense that looked a little bit unique to that league,
that god awful league.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
You are the best, sir, have a great call eight
o'clock on Fox Nebraska versus UCLA. Tim Brando, you are
a gem. I love you, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That will it'll be nothing. It's not entertaining, that's for sure.
And by the way, get ready Big East Basketball. I
crank it up December sixth. We've got Michigan State and
Duke to start. I get in for Saint John's and
Providence in Saint John's and Yukon fall in December. Some
good games coming up, so see you then.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
All right, meanwhile, my friends, safe travel.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Thank you, Tim, you got it, buddy. Bye bye,
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