Astros Fall To Giants, Rockets Vs. Jazz Preview, Joined By Special Guests; Clint Hurdle, Thomas Hill, & Astros GM Dana Brown

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Salsbury old by Salisbury.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Okay, let's do this Sewn Salisbury to usc true longtime
friend Shawn Salisbury.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Dan Matthews. This is the Sean Salisbury Show. Astros lose
last night three to one to the Giants. Try to
salvage a series today, Rockets get the jazz in town tonight.
You're gonna hear it over on news radio seven forty
k TRH. College basketball. The Aggies lose Buzz Williams to

(00:37):
Maryland Sean Wednesday morning. Here, I mean last night we're
watching the Astros game, and it seems like Groundhall day
at this point with the bats. I mean, you've got
a couple of situations to be able to score runs.
The Astros right now two for twenty five with runners
in the scoring position.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, it started worse than it ended with the way
they're playing. Yes, you're what five games in what seven
hits last night? I think six of them singles in
the al two vas home run and once got to
the fourth inning, they didn't score. After the fourth inning
they got shut down by another pitcher the Giants. The
Giants look like they got the two cy young winners

(01:18):
on their staff after and and they're they're an underrated team,
so they're they're they're going to hang around.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
They I don't know what it is. I mean, you watch.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
We can sit here in five games and anybody who
can dissect it, and we'll get Dana Brown on GM
to talk. But I can assure you he'll say, it's early.
We've seen the movie. The problem is that you don't
want to see the same movie you started off seeing
last year. Now they're two and three, But it's it's
how they're two and three that's more bothersome. And the
truth is, even though it was Nesky what walked three,
struck out six, gave you a decent performance. The pitching's

(01:53):
pitching well enough for the most part to give you
an opportunity. But talk about small ball times ten. That's
what they're playing. The problem is they're small ball. They
still can't push runners across. And it's it's a not
alarming yet because it's so early. I'll just keep referring
to you could be you could be Raphael Devers starting

(02:15):
a season, or you're not even touching the baseball. So
it's a it's a hard watch right now. Every time
you look up. Now we're to what now They've scored
what nine runs in five games, and some of them
are becoming insignificant runs with the way they're not able
to close it out offensively.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
It's it's it is.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
It's been the same old story in Groundhog Days, exactly right.
The problem is the Groundhog Days not just from this year.
It's carried over from last year. With the runners in
scoring position, they can't push them across and they're not
exactly loading up with a ton of base runners and
they're so if you're going to play small ball, you
better have guys that are putting the ball in play
and moving runners over. And if that's who you are,
then you better start embracing the sacrifice and doing the

(02:59):
things that old school people love but that new school
don't want to see, like bunting people over and running.
So it's this team's got a lot to work on
and alarming, not yet concerning, because as if this is
who they are, they're going to have to have out
of body experiences by a pitching staff all season long.

(03:20):
But we all have a tendency to overreact. If they
were five and zero and had hit fifteen home runs,
if they were the Yankees start, then we are the Dodgers,
we'd be like, oh my gosh, this a World Series team,
which would be way too premature as well. But I
the frustration of their bats. It's like every single but
everybody took on Bregman's personality. Let's wait till May to

(03:42):
get started. So they're going to have to pick this
up because you'll be in a chase mode if you're not,
and that is a hard position to be in, even early.
That's why I'm a big believer that you've got to
come out in late March and early April and you've
got to jump started at least hang around and show signs.
It's the way they're losing, not the fact that they're losing.
People are gonna lose, but they putting up one and
two runs a game. You're not gonna beat a lot

(04:03):
of people.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
No, you're not.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
And despite I mean you know you touched on how
well the pitching has been. I mean, Sean, that's the
saving grace to this team so far to this point,
because if you don't have that good pitching, you could
have lost on opening Day, could have very easily lost
on opening Day.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
He loaded the bases with nobody out and.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
The fact that you only got out of that giving
up one one run, And I understand people were upset
with Hater, but still he did the job of a closer.
He got out of it, he preserved the win, He
got you the win, and then you went two to
one on Saturday. I mean, Sean, there's a chance we're
talking about an OH to five baseball team right now.
And I understand if some butts would it could have
showed us all those different things.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
But that's how awful the bats have been.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
They're they're two swings away from being oh and five,
and then those optics of oh and five at two
and three, you say, okay, they've salvaged two wins because
really good pitching. But a swing here and a swing there,
and before you know it, even with good pitching, your
oh and five. And if you think people are questioned
now those two losses, people being it would be already

(05:02):
oh my gosh, what are we doing? And then they're
gonna blame you know, Dana Brown, I don't know what,
but gonna blame it somehow, some way. It's gonna be his.
Somebody's not hit right. Sure, it's just a start that
you don't want, Like I said two and three. You
can survive that, but it's a two and three. That is,

(05:23):
How's the best way to describe it. The way we like, well,
the Texans when they were rolling, even though they were
winning games and challenging for the division, they were a
soft division winner last year because you got great defense,
some big plays from your talented people. But they were
they were fortunate they were in a soft division and

(05:43):
were a soft when they say soft, not soft physically,
just it was put it in that it was more
of a pillow fight for them last year than it
was a physical You know, when it's a pillow fight,
we look at it different, like, okay, they won that,
they won ten games, but man, are they really how
good are they? And you know they win that first
playoff game but just can't get out of that. So

(06:03):
there was something missing from them. Good team, but you're like,
they put your finger on it. You can pretty much
put your finger on what the Astros problem is right now.
But they also it is a they're a two wins,
but you're very fortunate to get away. If you had
average pitching, you you would be zero and five right now.
And you can't live there, man, You just can't just

(06:24):
league high powered and people are going to score runs.
And that's a lot of pressure to put on a
pitching staff that quite frankly, you know, you're asking Blanco
to do what he did last year. You're asking Arraghetti
to take another step, which hopefully he has the front.
The two front dudes got to do their thing, and
then you know with Nesky, So this is a this
is the bats are going to have to show up,
and I anticipate and I know that Steve Sparks would

(06:45):
tell us that they will eventually that they're not working,
and I get it, and I think Dana Brown will
as well, because there's so many bats, you know, bats
in the lineup, but you know you're getting struggle at
second base, you're good.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
I don't think he's got to hit yet. Rogers.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
I don't think he's got yeah, because it was it was,
you know, going into it, he was hitting goose egg right,
and then you know Walker the balls, you know you
would imagine and Jordan's going to be jordone. I think
it's just that they're not able to put it bats
together in string and sustain one, two, three, four five
in a row where you're getting runners in activity and

(07:20):
putting pressure. You're putting minimal pressure on pitching staffs, even
though it's a close game three one, but you're putting
minimal pressure where you're like stressing them out where there's
consistent runners on second third. Right now, if you're an
opposing pitching staff, you think this team doesn't quite know
how to push runners across because they're in the same
rut they were in last year. Guys in position to

(07:40):
score runners on base, they don't push them across, and
one runs not enough.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
You're not gonna win much in this league. No, you're
not at all.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
And the last couple of night sets, I mean, you
got two runs the night before one last night. But
the comparison you made to the Texans, I feel like,
I mean, again, like you said, it's only five games,
but I mean the AFC South last year, it wasn't
necessarily about oh hey, look how good the Texans are.
I think it was to your point, it was more about,

(08:08):
look how soft this division is. Of course they should
win that division.

Speaker 4 (08:11):
They're the best team in it. Yeah, if they're playing
in the North, it's a different story. They're not.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
They don't have ten wins last year. They're not a
playoff team. They would have struggled yet. Oh in the North,
absolutely not. But they're not in the North. They're in
the in the you know, in the South Division, and
it was fairly putrid last year. Tennessee can't beat anybody.
Jacksonville's overrated, and the Colts sometimes show up, sometimes don't.
But you ain't beating anybody when your quarterback throws for
forty seven forty eight percent, at least most of the time.

(08:38):
So they were fortunate. And the Astros are quite frankly
in a tougher division than the Texans are right now
just looking at personnel. I mean, Seattle end up being
good in the Rangers. The Rangers will be better than
they were last year. And they sent a message to
the Red Sox in.

Speaker 4 (08:53):
A first series.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
So I, like I said, I don't read too much
into record wise five games in, but whether they were
if they were five and oh and they were still
scoring these run let's just say you got a one oh,
won to nothing shut out or last night you want
one to nothing and then uh over the weekend if
they're four and one, five and oh, but you're the

(09:14):
one that's coming away with wins. But you're still only
scoring water two runs. I'd have the same concerns because
you can't expect that from a pitching staff all year long.
We know that even if the pitching staff's lights out
and got Maddox, Glavin and Smoltz on the same on
the field, you're not going to be able to sustain
that throughout the season. So I'd still have the same
concerns other than I'll take ugly wins anytime you want
to give them to me, but they ought to be

(09:35):
really ugly if you're only scoring one or two runs
a day, and that's basically well they're scoring less than
two runs. They've got what nine runs now, eight runs
in five games, and it's been kind of smattered around
where it hasn't been a barrage in an inning where
you're like, damn, third inning, get that, get the opposing
pitcher out because he's walked to and we've given a

(09:55):
he gave up a three run job and then they
had three extra base hits in two innings.

Speaker 4 (09:59):
That hasn't happen.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
This team's this team is real, and so I would
have the same concerns even if they were winning the
way they're swinging the bat, but you're you're gonna run
into some problems. And I think they know this, and
that's why in this first talk with Dana Brown, the
panic of it sets in so early.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
You can't and he can't.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
He'll tell us this a million times this year it's early,
and then when is the time when it's when it's
not early? Right, but they're two and three. He'll be
encouraged by the pitching. But they have got to get
more clutch hitting.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
They just do.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
And this is the same it is groundhog Day. It
is the same story.

Speaker 4 (10:35):
You could have.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
It's like a soap opera. You could have closed your
eyes at the end of last year, went to bed,
hibernated for the winner. Woke up today five games in
and said, I bet you here's the deal. Pitching is
going pretty well. We're not driving in runs and leaving
runners in scoring position, and average in less than two
runs a game, and every game's been at home.

Speaker 4 (10:57):
That would that would be.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
Like, oh, yeah, I saw that movie last year. We
don't need a sequel to that this year. This team's
better than this.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
They should be at least, I mean, and I mean
it really looks like right now that there's one of
four outcomes that comes from the plate. When the Astros
are hitting. It's either a single, a solo home run.
Those are the good ones, a groundouts, or a strikeout,
and it doesn't seem like there's really much in between.
I know that early on in these five games, it
seemed like they were a patient approach.

Speaker 4 (11:24):
I mean, Joe A.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
Spotta, I think after the Friday loss had talked about, well,
nine walks drawn in the first couple of games.

Speaker 4 (11:30):
I like that.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
But then last night he's talking about he's starting to
see guys expanding, so the frustration is boiling over. I
don't think there's any doubt about that. Speaking of the concern,
we'll get to that here in just a second. With
the Astros, we are heavy guest intensive today here on
the show. Coming up in about twenty minutes, we're gonna
have former Major league manager Clint Hurdle on with us,
so look forward to.

Speaker 4 (11:51):
Hearing from him.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Former Duke guard Thomas Hill going to join us at
nine o'clock. And then you mentioned it Sean nine point thirty,
Dana Brown going to join us GM for his weekly
visit here on the Sean Salisbury Show. Someone two five,
seven ninety is the number to get in on the
phone lines. We're just just getting started here on the
Sean Salisbury Show Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
Listen to you and emotionally tied to the team.

Speaker 6 (12:17):
The Sean Salisbury Show continues.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
Hi, let's know, but.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
Let's get fired up on the phone lines this morning
with Ronnie here on the Sean Salisbury Show. Ronnie, what's up?

Speaker 7 (12:30):
Good morning guys. What's happening?

Speaker 8 (12:34):
You know, the only five or whatever the record is.
It doesn't bother me as much as the way it's happening.
And something is already happening this year that happened last year.
I don't see any action on the basis now they
don't have a bunch of speed merchants on this team,
like the Nationals are even San Francisco the other night

(12:54):
where they stole three bases. But let's get some action.
Let's have when somebody gets on first do a hit
and run. Last night when McCormick, I think it was
in the sixth inning he got on base, and now
Tuve immediately hits into a double play. They're not sending
runners when they get somebody on first base. Don't just
play station to station. Let's try to make some things happen.

(13:16):
I mean, because you can't depend on the home run
all the time, because they haven't gotten but two of
them so far, so I just think they need to
They're a little bit too lethargic right now.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Appreciate the call, Ronnie. I'm trying to figure out, and
he's He's right. I'm trying to figure out how in
the world you're lethargic five games end of the season.

Speaker 4 (13:40):
I don't get it.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
I understand the maybe it's maybe it's just our optics
and the way they're playing that makes us feel like
they are And I get what Ronnie's saying one and
I then my counter to that would be I get it,
but I don't get how in the world you start
off at home after how it ended last year getting
swept by Detroit, and that should fester and loom large

(14:03):
in your mind, that they waltz into your building and
beat you and then you come back in the same
things you needed to get done you didn't get done
in the first five games, and that means leaving Runners
with an opportunity to push them across whatever it is
that you need. If it's a lineup change if it
is a batting order change. Like I said, you don't
want it to show signs of pan where we've played

(14:24):
five friggin games, but it is the optics of the
way they're doing It looks all too familiar, and I've
just never understood That'd be like me saying that a
playoff team or in football or in basketball comes in
the next year after the way they got beat and
you've got something to prove. You lost two stars in

(14:45):
the offseason, got you know, three brand new players in
a lineup, one playing a fourth one play in a
different well. I take that back four your second baseman
when he's Aaron Rodgers, your first baseman, your third baseman,
your right fielder, and then your left field a new position.
So you start to roll through the bodies and you
lost some stars. It would seem to me that enthusiasm,

(15:08):
energy and playing like you're twenty two years old with
your first opportunity in pro sports, like the right fielder,
that you would there'd be a different energy at home.
It's and like I said, we question it from afar,
who knows what goes on in the club house. I'm
sure they have the same approach they have in Game fifteen,

(15:28):
But optics wise, it just looks blah.

Speaker 4 (15:31):
And that goes with.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
Not you know, when people are scoring runs, even if
the pitching staff is giving stuff up, there's there's a
different excitement. When you're not scoring runs and you're getting
beat or winning close games, We're like, yeah, yeah, we
love pitching, but man, we're the runs.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
So it's always something.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
That's the way we are built as fans and media,
And like I said, to question if they're going to
be around or eliminated by June is silly. But we
only got five games to judge, and in the five
games to judge, this looks like a lineup that's that's
quite frankly, very olive oil like, and anybody who doesn't
watch Popeye in olive oil and brutus just the optics

(16:10):
of you know, just that you're kind of you got
warning track power and this team we know that's not
the case. So whatever energy it is, they got to
gather up, whether it's getting started on the base pass
so you you know, get the third base first, steal
a base and move them across, or a sacrifice fly,
whatever it is, or just let this thing happen, which

(16:31):
I'm sure Dana Brown's positivity will be on the pitching staff.
But if you don't have energy to start a baseball season,
I don't know what the hell you when you're going
to get it because it doesn't get shorter.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
I assure you with that.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
And then you go on the road and you know,
maybe they'll be road warriors and go take care of
their business. But the bats have got to liven up
and they've got to sustain it. It just can't be one.
They've got to go in a series of they're hammering
somebody and the balls flying out. It's just disappointing with
the optics of the offense. But we should not, you know,
bury it team yet they're two and three. They're gonna
be all right. Grounded into three double plays last night,

(17:04):
which is which is a specialty of this team. They've
they've done that a lot in the last three years.
Or maybe maybe I'm not giving him enough credit, but
it feels to me like the last two or three
years that grounded into double plays and pop ups to
the right side of the infield last year happened way
too often with runners in position to score. And you

(17:24):
know what, the best friend we already know strikeouts one
of them. But the best friend of a pitcher is
a simple ground ball. When a run around first and
a six to four to three double play, let's move on.

Speaker 3 (17:34):
And it's also too to the points. I mean, they
have decent enough speed on this team, Jose al Tuov,
he gets on base, he should be a candidate to
be able to move up a base or at least
try to take a base, either if it's a stolen
base or I mean, to Ronnie's point, you know you've
got a moving and that ground ball all of a sudden,
you know you you know, field it by a shortstop
and it's a can't get him at second?

Speaker 1 (17:53):
All right, go over to first. I mean last night,
first can run, camp Smith can run, right it just
you have a pain, you can run? Yeah, so once
you I mean you can't. You've got to find a
way to manufacture it, if you just if your lineup's
just not producing it themselves, something's got to go different.
Five games in its way early and I don't want

(18:14):
to keep saying that, but we almost have to qualify it.

Speaker 4 (18:16):
We don't.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
But still, if they were winning, our optics would say,
if they're winning and kicking ass. We'd be saying yeah,
and then we'd have to temper people say it's only.

Speaker 4 (18:24):
Five games in.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Slow down there, they're not. The World Series isn't tomorrow.
But it's just it looks all too familiar. And I
think that also makes people cringe worthy, because like, am
I seeing this again this year? And that's that that
becomes a problem, and and rightfully so. And five games in,
everybody gets judged, So five games in with them, they're
gonna get judged. And it's got to get fixed, and

(18:45):
it's got to get fixed in a huge way offensively,
because they're nowhere near what they went out and got
and they're nowhere near the expectations that we all have
and they have for themselves that they're going to rake
far better than this. And after Payinia spring training, he's
got to get rolling.

Speaker 3 (19:03):
Well, I mean, and that's the thing too, Sean is
I mean, we talked about this a little bit yesterday.
With spring training. It wasn't like they were gamebusters during
spring training. And I understand, you know, you want to
put the qualifiers on what that time of the year is.
But jord On was not great, Altuve was not great.
He's been good now. But I mean pretty much the
only hitters we were talking about were Cam Smith and
Jeremy Pania. Everybody else was pedestrian at best, so.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
And both of them were off to a slow start, right,
I mean, I mean I get Cam Smith's but Painia,
you don't you want Paynia to take that discipline that
you saw in spring training and applied to the regular season.

Speaker 4 (19:36):
Sure?

Speaker 3 (19:36):
Absolutely, And I mean that's something that the Astros are
hoping they can get sooner rather than later.

Speaker 4 (19:41):
Let's we's in Billy here. Who wants to weigh in? Billy?
What's going on? Hey, good morning, guys.

Speaker 9 (19:47):
It's been a while and like a bad Penny baseball
season comes around and Billy shows up.

Speaker 7 (19:53):
Uh.

Speaker 9 (19:53):
You know, I I am a little concerned about the hitting,
because you're right, it is like it was last year.
But U A bigger concern here of mine is we're
still continuing to do the same thing. I don't know
how nice of a guy alec Centron is, I don't
know how good of a coach he actually is, but
it's not working. His message is not getting through whatever

(20:15):
that message is, and it just doesn't seem to be
impacting these guys and I don't know if the man
wants to be a coach or not. But you got
Uncle Mike right down the road. He's I believe he
still lives in Houston. And is he being brought in
to talk to the hitters, to watch the mechanics to
see if there's something just off a little bit that

(20:36):
maybe Centron's not going to pick up on. I don't know,
but they've got to try something different. And I get
the idea of getting runners in motion and getting action
on the fields anything like that, but we've already seen
the result of that. When you're not hitting, well, what
do you got? Strike him out, throw them out? Double play.
So that's fine if it works, but if it doesn't work,
you just gave the picture a double play. So I

(21:01):
believe this team was going to hit. The pedigree is there.
I'm not overly concerned about it right now, but you know,
come June, if they're still averaging three and a half
runs a game and nothing changes somewhere, I'm gonna start
questioning Dana Brown, to be honest, And I know he
can only do so much. He's got to use the

(21:21):
players he's got, But he got these players, and so
there they just need to make some changes early. I
just think the voice is not being heard or has
the lack or excuse me be the amount of talent
that they've lost over this last several years starting to
take its toll on this team mentally and physically. And

(21:41):
I think at some point you just got to do
something different. And maybe I like Alexandrom, but maybe he's
got to Maybe he's got to be the head that rolls,
so this team will wake up and there'll be a
different voice that they hear. Thanks, guys, that's my rant.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
I appreciate it from Billy and Billy said average three
and a half runs a game by June. Hell, you'd
kill for three and a half runs a game right now,
not literally killed, but you're doing right. Stand in line
for it, and three and a half runs a game.
It'd be great right now. Obviously you want more than that,

(22:16):
but yeah, listen, if you keep doing the same thing
getting the same result, we know what that definition is,
so are expecting something different to happen. But I think
that we're in that danger of history, and history shows
that they'll come out of it.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
But how long do you rely?

Speaker 1 (22:33):
I mean, you can't every year eventually history is no
longer hey, I mean the player. We could say that
about Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers no longer at thirty seven
different than he is at forty one. It's actual history.
It's what you were, it's not what you are. Yeah,
and please, we don't want to hear the back of
the baseball card where we don't want that that's to start.

(22:55):
But Dana will approach it properly and in truth. If
these guys who are do you know what Christian Walker
brings or you know what these guys bring and if
they fail I don't think that's on Dana Brown now
because all of us. I don't think I didn't hear
one person in this city complaining about getting Christian Walker
to be starting first basement.

Speaker 4 (23:14):
Not one of the people.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
I mean, maybe somebody loved John Singleton or what have
you wanted something, But I didn't hear anybody complain about that.
So inevitably the general manager and the manager tied to
the hip. And then you know the players they bring in.
But listen, if pain he doesn't hit, that ain't a
Dana Brown problem. That that that's a how do you
like you said, whether it's centron or somebody else that's

(23:38):
a that then that becomes a pain your problem of Okay,
is this who he is? And I don't think what
you're seeing to who he is. I think he's more
towards spring. The guy works and has put his time in,
so I listen. It's a in a team game, there's
a lot of people. There's a lot of place to fingerpoint,
just like there's a lot of compliments to give when
you're winning five games. It's only been five, but you

(23:59):
can't love what you're seeing optics wise, if you're Joe Spotter,
this team or the players themselves. The players know they
know what already the buzz is because what they've got
to guard against is allowed to mentally whip their ass
because this is exactly who they were last year. There's
just a few different there's just a few different bodies
in the Rapper now, but the Rappers are the same

(24:19):
right now. And that means leaving people in running a
scoring position and not being able to push runs across
in clutch moments.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
A man who knows a lot about situations like this
former major league manager of Clint Hurdle, he joins us
right here. Sean Salisbury's show that's coming up.

Speaker 6 (24:35):
The Sewn Salisbury Show continues.

Speaker 4 (24:40):
I get to talk to him twice in two days.
What a treat this is.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
And Clint Hurdle, former Pittsburgh Pirate, take them the playoffs
hadn't been in two decades as the manager, longtime player
in Major League Baseball and obviously took the Colorado Rockies
twenty one to twenty two back in two thousand and
seven to get them to the World Series. Joins us
now and we're grateful to have him on and we'll
discuss his new book.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
Clint, great to have you on. Brother.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Let me let me start real quick. This Astros team,
let's hit this one first. They've had a hell of
a run the last seven or eight years of you know,
dominating divisions and putting themselves in position. People are already
starting to panic because they're averaging a run, running a
half a game, and they're not driving and runs leaving
people in scoring position. What do you say to somebody
five games in do we use the it's early or

(25:23):
is it the optics from last year to this year
seem too obvious and too much the same.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
How how quickly do you know that?

Speaker 10 (25:30):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (25:31):
We got to change something. When you're a manager of
a team that's struggling offensively.

Speaker 10 (25:36):
On Good Morning, Sean, it's a great question, it's a
good baseball question, and it's fair, and I think that's
when it comes down to, you know, the general manager's
feel and the manager's feel, the conversations they're having, what
they're seeing. Sometimes, as we've learned through a lot of
the analytics that have been brought to the table, what
we perceive that we see with our eyes may not

(25:58):
be happening the same way when the numbers are presented
to us. The fact that it's a short sample size
is something to be taken into consideration. At the same time,
you just mentioned if it's the same existing challenges that
we're being manifested to the last season, all right, did
our adjustments play out over the season? Did we undercorrect?

(26:18):
Do we overcorrect? Normally we would we would look at
the season in twenty game increments at least the places
I've been and total evaluation a quarter of the way through.
So after twenty games is when we would sit down
the general manager, myself, his posse, and the coaching staff
and say, Okay.

Speaker 7 (26:39):
What are we doing well?

Speaker 10 (26:40):
What are we not doing well? What do we need
more of? What do we need less of?

Speaker 5 (26:43):
And go from there.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
Clint, you know this early in the season, you know,
manager in his second year, Joe spot of people are
trying to make an impact. New players, a new right
fielder in Camp Smith, a'l two base move, a lot
of changes that we'll get to about this Astros team.
But when you're just five games in, is a tendency
or should you as a manager do you micro it
or do you say let's let it breathe for that

(27:06):
twenty game increment and then we'll adjust. How do you
from immersing yourself too much into it and letting the
players think, oh my manager started to panic as well?

Speaker 11 (27:16):
Well?

Speaker 10 (27:16):
This is where this is where the elite coaches and
managers that they make the difference. It's where Andy Reid
makes a difference.

Speaker 11 (27:24):
You know, It's where.

Speaker 10 (27:26):
Joe Tory, Bobby Cox used to make a difference. It's
where right now you know we talked yesterday, but Dave
Robertson makes a difference. It's that touch and feel of
do you go all inclusive. If you're going to give
a message, do you give it to the team not
holding a team meeting, but maybe it's something you prep
before your scout meeting. Hey, here's some observations. I want

(27:48):
you guys to think about these. Give me some feedback.
Do you go one on one? Do you deploy your
coaches in their areas to have a couple of conversations
with maybe a couple individuals. One of the things that
helped our process along the way, especially in Pittsburgh, as
we put together what I called it was a you know,
as a player leadership council team whatever. I had the

(28:09):
players pick like five guys on the team that would
represent the team during challenges and opportunities, and we would
meet try me twice a month, and this would be
a time where I still wouldn't I still wouln't push
too many buttons out five games, then I'd give it.
I'd give it some time. I'd give it two weeks

(28:29):
and then maybe pull in some of these veteran players
and say, what do you see, what are you feeling?
What's the noise out there? You don't want to be
roaming the halls, you don't want to be in the
clubhouse all the time. You got to give these guys
space and time to breathe.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Clint Hurdle, former manager. He'd been to the World Series,
longtime manager, was once labeled the phenom when he was
came up with Kansas City Royals and seeing a lot
of great baseball and his obviously got his new book out.
Hurdleisms went in Wisdom from a lifetime in baseball. Why
write this book? What was the motivation and the expectations

(29:04):
of it?

Speaker 10 (29:04):
My man, Well, the motivation, you know, I was number one.
It's to try and help. It's gonna be a helper.
I spent ten years in nine years in Pittsburgh, and
the fingerprints of Fred Rogers are all over that city.
And I'm old enough to have watched the show. And
I'm not trying to be sat here sentimental, but Fred

(29:26):
Rogers did a crazy number of things really well. He
was all inclusive back when most people weren't. He was
kind all the time when most people weren't. And I thought,
my sharing my experiences, my struggles, my challenges, my you know,
my mountains and my valleys, that maybe I can provide

(29:48):
some help to somebody else on a similar journey. That
was the reason for the book. And now the feedback
I'm getting it is I'm glad I wrote the book.
There are people that are reaching out. Male female, young old.
I went and maled some stuff at the post office
here on the island yesterday, and the young female behind

(30:11):
the message the counter goes, I'm sixty pages into your
book and I'm like, I didn't. How do you know
I wrote a book? You know, this is my way.
She goes, well, you've been mailing them out the last
two weeks, you know the people. And she goes, I
just decided to buy one and read it. She goes,
this is really really good. I've learning so much about you.
I didn't know. She goes, Clint, I'm glad you wrote

(30:33):
the book. That's just you know, that's from nowhere.

Speaker 4 (30:36):
Right when they opened the book.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
I mean, I've got to be great satisfaction, maybe cathartic
for you too, in a great feeling of getting this out.
I know that, hell, you're sober. Now, what's it been
twenty five years, Clint, twenty five years sober?

Speaker 10 (30:46):
Yeah, twenty five years.

Speaker 4 (30:48):
Twenty six years.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
So when we open this book for somebody who may
not know your past or doesn't know where you're going
in the future, and they open this book, if you
could say there's one thing I want them to learn.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
What would it be?

Speaker 7 (31:01):
Ask for help?

Speaker 10 (31:04):
Ask for help? You know, we we see there's images
that are created in our daily life, and you know,
in the sports scene the images. You see a lot
of images at the end where somebody's holding a Super
Bowl trophy, somebody's holding a World Series trophy, and those
are good, but not everybody can identify with those. I
can't even identify with one of those. And then the
three World Series, we've finished second three times. I never

(31:27):
get to hold the trophy up. But what people can
I believe, identify with and relate to is authentic challenges,
real disappointments, maybe some hard times along the way, some failures,
and then to see somebody that's gotten through them. Because
I went from a guy, as we talked about yesterday,
I had two divorces, I have two DUIs and tenures.

(31:48):
And I'm not bragging, I'm just following myself out. There
wasn't a lot of trust there there was you know,
this was a guy that well, you know, you catch
him on a good day. Later on, I have two
major league organizations put me in charge of billion dollar
operations to run the team, from the dudhout and they're
not just gonna do that unless they see something in

(32:08):
somebody that's there's influence, there's integrity, there's positivity, you know,
there's honesty. So I had to re I had to
change myself. I had to change from the inside out.
And I think that's my hope, along with you know,
the sharing of the experiences for other people to know
that it's never too late to start a new beginning

(32:28):
without what's con has gone.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Right with all the players you've been around and not
only played, but coached and managed and led all the
situations you've been in. Is transparency an overwhelming trait to
being I guess close to Whether it's the players in
the seventies or players that times have changed as we
well know, is transparency important still or are players even

(32:51):
looking past that now?

Speaker 10 (32:54):
I think it's still. I think it's a superpower. I
think it's probably more more necessary now than ever before
because there's so many distractions. The world's a hard place
to live in. You know, you look at your upbringing.
We can get on a bike, we could ride down
on a park. We could play from nine till five.
We could pack about you know about brown bag lunch.

(33:15):
You could do things that really are hard, much harder
to do today. And that being said, the authenticity of
you being you in front of these people and being
vulnerable for day Brown. I've read every one of her books,
and who would have thought so, We would have told me,
a female is going to crack your shield like you've
never had a crack. By reading her books, this woman

(33:38):
has cracked my shield about vulnerability, and I think that's
a superpower as well. There's no game, there's no leverage,
there's no you're not trying to win anything. You're actually
just trying to help that person in front of you,
who's the most important person in the world. Right then to.

Speaker 11 (33:53):
Put them in a position where they can have some success,
where they can have some fun.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
And find joy in that hurdle. Hurdle Ism is the
book Wit and Wisdom from a lifetime in baseball. Longtime
manager player in Major League Baseball, been around it for
about four or five decades. Joins us here for a
couple more minutes. Some baseball stuff is analytics. Do we
use it too much?

Speaker 4 (34:12):
Now? Have we lost some of the feel for baseball?

Speaker 10 (34:16):
Yes, sir, I would say not everywhere, but some places, Yes,
And I think one of the situations I think we
all probably picked up on probably five years ago. It
was in my ind my last year in Pittsburgh. We
were on the cutting edge. Initially in the analytics in
eleven and twelve we were front runners with a RAIS,
but then everybody caught up, and then people with more

(34:39):
assets can obviously do more things, right yep. So everybody's
got the same information where you were finding ways to
win on the margins, whether the strength to your coaching staff,
the intelligence your coaching staff, your gut feel of your players,
your catcher positioning, all those things that has all been
shrunk down where everybody can get the same information. Now,
it's how you filter it down to your coaches and

(35:01):
then finding coaches that can filter it and make it,
you know, in small bites for the players, it can
be overwhelming. We've taken the heart out of some situations.
I believe we don't talk about the art of hitting,
the art of pitching anymore. It's it's it's velocity, it's
it's rock throwing, and it's spinning, you know, skipping rocks
looking for spin. Adding. A guy made a comment the

(35:25):
other day, you know, there's times when you need to
back off hitting the ball out of the park and
look for a little less. I mean when that kind
of comment now that becomes revolutionary, that shows you the
swing we've made in our game from an offense. That's
just common sense, right. You only get three strikes. If
you got two in a situation needs a ball in play,
you need to do something to put the ball in play.

(35:47):
So we have used them. I think some teams have
used them better than others. Some teams are using them
better than us, and I think some teams are still
in that vacuum where it's a short space and it's
a screen and you're just cutting the heart out of
the game and the player.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
Okay, so I walk up to you and I say,
this torpedo bat, what the hell's going on? What's your answer?

Speaker 10 (36:08):
I would say, give it a try. One thing I
always we every year, Shan, we have bat companies that
come through the clubhouse. And I saw these guys this
spring and the guy grabbed me. He goes, hey, you've
always been one to ask questions. He goes, want you
to look at our bat. I said, I've heard about
the bat. I've never grabbed one so I felt that,
and he goes, you know, here's the design. There was

(36:28):
a young physicist. He's now a coach with the Yankees.
He told me the whole story, and he goes, we're
just trying to find a way to pack more wood
in the area where the player individually hits the ball
must And I go, what a concept. Yeah, you know,
it's one thing we've never changed with the bat, really
is the barrel. We changed knobs, all different kind of

(36:50):
knobs available, but we've done much with the bat other
than maybe the barrel's a little slender, it's a little thicker.
But this is revolutionary. He told me. The reason why
I go down. That's interesting, And I encouraged some of
our guys that were there in the Major League clubhouse.

Speaker 7 (37:04):
May grab some of those bets.

Speaker 10 (37:05):
See me getr hand, give it a shot, just trying
to get none to lose. Right, here's the hard part. Vision,
I mean, tradition can be a vision killer. When I
picked it up, it was different. Okay, a matter of fact,
you know, ten years ago I said that this is weird.
Weird isn't the good word us. This is different because
of the distribution of the weight. Even I think Bellinger

(37:25):
said the more weight there was more weight towards closer
the barrel, so the bat felt lighter, which in my
mind makes it better. The bat feels lighter, I can
get a few zone quicker. There's been a lot of
comments made. The specifications are all major league, you know regulated,
they're fine. I also still believe give this time to
play out. The numbers are kind of crazy hot coming out.

(37:49):
But Pat Murphy, the master of the Brewers, the guy
that I love, I guy that I you know, I
can identify with. He says, look, I don't care what
kind of wand you got. It's the magition that makes
the wand work. So there's got to be some hit ability.
These guys that are doing some things now they've shown
me believe the best. But it's an interesting concept. I

(38:09):
tipped my hat to the young man that came up
with a start for the Yankees are putting them in play,
and now some of the other teams giving a shot.

Speaker 4 (38:16):
And that one that they use.

Speaker 1 (38:19):
If you got a pitcher that's got pressed to digitation
a little slide of hand, it's tough to put the
battle the ball.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
If Maddox's well, we're going to find out.

Speaker 10 (38:26):
We're going to find this week schemes. I hope will
pitch against the Yankees, yep and Pittsburgh. That will be
a high end litmus test.

Speaker 5 (38:34):
Okay, right, we'll.

Speaker 4 (38:35):
See what happens to that on both sides, no doubt
about it.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
Before I let you go, my man, what if what
if somebody calls you up fifty games in and wants
you to go manage? Are you is that door closed
or you still open to it? Because you have been
a fixer and hugely impactful on teams you've been with.
Is the ship sailed or is it still open? Like Tito,

(38:58):
like Bruce? Are you open to it the ship?

Speaker 10 (39:01):
The ship hasn't sailed. I would never say never. I've
just learned in my life experiences that you know the
next opportunity.

Speaker 12 (39:12):
You know.

Speaker 10 (39:12):
Kelly McGregor, we talked about Kelly right, yep, yesterday. Kelly
mcgrave was a president of Rockies. He told me one thing.
When I set in the manager's desk the first time
he goes plan as lung. As God wants you in
that chair, no man can move you out. And when
God doesn't like you that cheer, no man can keep
you there. So I'm wide open shop the phone range
and it doesn't. I'm pretty good right here. I'm loving life.
But I would I would.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
Answer the call so I can stand on a mountaintop
and say, Clint, Hurdles available. So that's a good thing.
Edie can still write books. Will there be a second book?

Speaker 4 (39:38):
Clint? You thinking about working on number two?

Speaker 10 (39:41):
I've already just started scribbling again. We'll see.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
Well that means there'll be a number two, and we
can't wait. Brother keep sending those emails and keeps sending
that motivation and You're always welcome here, my man. Enjoy
your day. Appreciate you going back to back with me,
and we'll do it plenty more times.

Speaker 4 (39:54):
Thanks, my man.

Speaker 1 (39:54):
The book is Hurdleisms, wit and wisdom from a lifetime
in baseball. You get it on Amazon dot com or
wherever you find your books, and it is awesome.

Speaker 4 (40:02):
I appreciate your brother.

Speaker 10 (40:03):
Thank you, Thank you, Sean.

Speaker 4 (40:06):
I'll go with you two.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
One of my favorite dudes on the planet, similar stories
in different ways.

Speaker 4 (40:10):
He is special man.

Speaker 1 (40:12):
I know it was long, but you got to get
and he's right about this torpedo bat If it's legal,
what does it hurt now? In spring training would have
been a good time to try it. But we'll go
find out. Because if you could throw strikes and they
can't barrel it up or label it up, it's really
hard to put it in play. He's a great I
listen if you want to fix her. We see in
movies this dude, he's got it, and now even more

(40:34):
after he's been through it, the unique ability to reach people.
And he said to me yesterday, said Sean, when I
was in Colorado, I had a strength and conditioning coach
come up to me and say, let these kids do
their thing.

Speaker 4 (40:46):
Back off and get in the backseat of the car.
Let them drive it. And he did. They went on
one twenty two, twenty one to twenty two and.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
Made the World Series, but they were worn down and
the Red Sox were playing well when they got swept
in the series. But tells a great storyteller too. If
we had two hours with him, you'd love it for sure.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
To argue with the results in Clint Hurtle's case a
couple of different places that he has done it all right.
Coming up next, get back into the Astros conversation. The concerns,
maybe even optimism, that's all ahead right here.

Speaker 4 (41:12):
Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 13 (41:15):
Let the celebration start war Sean Salisbury is Sewn Salisbury show.

Speaker 3 (41:23):
You're only going to go as far as those guys
take you. And it's a handful of guys that usually
are the special ones that kind of steer the group
along with you.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
You've got to be able to discern in talking to him,
and like I said, I've known him a long time
and I've one of he's one of us. He's he's
a guy you want to sit around with and talk
because he's got such great old school field, but new
school understands what goes on in baseball with a young player.

Speaker 4 (41:46):
He just does.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
I spent an hour and ten minutes an hour with
him yesterday and today because the local wise they needed
to hear it, and plus the you know, the astro
stuff and the slow start. He gets it. But the
hard part when you're a manager, ego does get in
the way. But when you're willing to empower somebody else,
and he finds and he said, and part of this

(42:08):
book was there's some things and they're talking about finding
joy in other people's success. And you know, if you
have your team wins, everybody has success. Ever biggest to
write a book. Everybody gets paid, but his approach to it.
And when I said to you about the the strength
and conditioning coach, who was with him and took him
aside and said that, I mean, think about your strength

(42:29):
and conditioning coach who is one of the biggest hires now.
And even for them in Colorado, the strength and conditioning
coaches probably I know they like their coordinators, but it's
one of the first hires a head coach in football
will make it any level, and they're getting paid, some
of them in the seven figures.

Speaker 4 (42:43):
You spend as much time with them, maybe even more. Well.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
They also are every day to start your day. That's
the first guy you check with on is your team
getting into the weight room on time?

Speaker 4 (42:53):
Is everybody doing their thing?

Speaker 1 (42:55):
And in a sport and sports that physicality and long
evidence sustaining staying in shape and well conditioned and staying
healthy is basically whether you're getting an extension as a
coach and whether you're getting fired.

Speaker 4 (43:08):
So that guy's important.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
And he leaned on him and when when his team
was rolling or you know, up and down, and he said,
to have somebody tell you it's time to get in
the back seat. Like I said, now, imagine that you
got to go and you're like, well wait, whoa, whoa, whoa,
wait a second here. Now the strength of the Gandini
coach you do your thing, but to be able to say,
you know what, you're right and then to stay there

(43:30):
and let them play through some really tough times and
do it.

Speaker 4 (43:34):
And they were.

Speaker 1 (43:34):
They had some good veterans. I mean, we're talking yesterday
about Larry Walker and Todd Helton. They had some players. Now, yeah,
Matt Holliday, damn right now is a coach.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
And even before that, Ellis Burks guys like that, and
and you know, the last into the latter part of
what Tulo was there for him. But going through that
and being able to sit back and say, okay, let's
let these guys do their thing. Well, it turned out
like you said, twenty one to twenty two, thirteen or fourteen,
and then twenty one to twenty two to get in
the playoffs. And I asked him yesterday, did you breathe

(44:03):
too big a sigh? He goes as Sean, We were.
I mean, you exert a lot of energy, happened to win,
which we talk about fast starts you don't want to
put that pressure on yourself. In September, they did, but
when they ran into a hot Red Sox team, in truth,
it was overwhelming, just because they were beat down and
the Red Sox were on a roll. You know, one
was on the ascent, the other was like, damn, how
do you win twenty one to twenty two late.

Speaker 4 (44:24):
And get your way in?

Speaker 1 (44:25):
So there's that pressure, but his ability to fix, and
not that he's trying to fix, but his ability to
go in there and create comfort without creating the comfort
level but not being taken it for granted. There is
a fine line, and the great leaders do it. That's
what he is, especially at this stage of his life.
You can tell he's still got a young exuberance. And

(44:45):
we were on the zoom part of yesterday, so he
looks great and he's he's got a different perspective and
that can help. And I think guys like Bochie and
guys like Tito Francono walk away realize this keeps me young.

Speaker 4 (44:58):
I like it.

Speaker 1 (44:59):
I still got some to offer and both of them win.
So this is another one you get. You gotta have
good players, but you also have guys that got to
be able to reach. I say it all the time, Dan,
I said, up with Brian here for three years, and
I'll say it, there's buy in and.

Speaker 4 (45:13):
Everything that we do, or there's not.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
And I don't care how good your team is or
how talented your team is, or if your manager is
a Hall of Famer, if you do not get buy
in from the majority of your guys, and then a
leadership part of the team taking the guys who haven't
bought in and grabbing them by the jersey and saying
this is how we're doing it. Where the manager doesn't
have to police it like you heard him say, hanging
around the clubhouse every day like you're micro managing and

(45:37):
looking over them where they can't even relax. There is
a fine line and know when to kick somebody in
the ass and when to say, my mighty leaders will
handle this leadership council. And he has a great ability.
He's the perfect manager for a team that's got some
good veterans with some influx of young players that is
on the cusp that maybe the other guy didn't work

(45:57):
out or he left and he said or interim and
then you hire in full time. We say I need
somebody to bring this together. Clint Hurdles top shelf and
but he gets the player and he gets buy in.
And when you get buy in, people will overachieve.

Speaker 3 (46:11):
Buy in, strength and conditioning, all those things the key
to you of vacious success. We'll talk about that start
seven o'clock hour here Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (46:20):
A Houston, Houston and iHeart Radio station.

Speaker 13 (46:26):
And the Rocket Sports Talk seven ninety your home for
your home teams from the Parsons Imagine Next Studios, Oby Houston.

Speaker 4 (46:44):
Okay, let's do this.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
Sean Salisbury to USC Trouphs, longtime friend Shawn Salisbury.

Speaker 6 (46:51):
Dan Matthews.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
Use, this is the Sean Salisbury Show. Rockets looking to
get back on the winning track. Jazz in Town. That's
gonna be over on news radio seven forty K t
r Age and you of Aged sleeping for San Antonio
today to get ready for Saturday against Duke in the
final four. Speaking of you of h John, you know

(47:15):
we were talking about it with Clint Hurdle. It's we'll
have that up on the website here shortly. And also
to on the free, new and improved iHeartRadio app, which
we know you got us pre set number one on there.
But if you don't sports Talk seven ninety put us
right there pre set number.

Speaker 4 (47:29):
We want to go. We want to jump into the
top three in the country. Damn right, we do.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
We're about five away. So five you did to listen
and get on there. Set that preset on the iHeart
radio app, and uh, we'll catapult because you know what
we want bragging rights. Yeah, damn right, because you know
Chase in Minnesota too. Yeah, Like, I'll tell you right
now who's at the top of that list. So we
got it. We got a few steps to climb, but
it won't be the first time we climbed him and
got to the to the to the platform. So let's go,

(47:53):
and we need our people to do it. It's actable,
it's attainable.

Speaker 4 (47:57):
Well it's it's it's within striking distance.

Speaker 3 (47:58):
And then you know, you know, you avoid you avoid
the friends and family and even people sending you dms hey,
you know, trying to find you guys. Well you know
that's that's the way that you don't have to get
those messages is because you have us Preset number.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
One, right, and it is, honestly, it is so easy
and simple to use. It'll take you a minute to
go take care of it. Get it up there, get
that iHeartRadio, the free iHeartRadio app up there, and set
that preset right here to us, and you won't be sorry.
Plus sometimes you go through you know you can't hear
it locally on radio. You pop that in it is
clear and people love it. So jump on in there,

(48:34):
and it is. It's been pretty epic. So we're charging
and we want to we want to bypass a couple
that maybe had a head start in front of us.

Speaker 4 (48:41):
We're gonna catch them though.

Speaker 3 (48:42):
And we know there's a lot of you out there
in the audience that you love us, so show us
you love us.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
Even more so even if you listen locally, but they
are heard, it'll come in handy. Yeah, at some point.
So let's say if we get twenty people to do it,
guess what, we jump a spot. I like it. There
you go, I like it. Help us out. We very
much appreciate that. Man, it's not even begging. It's kind
of in a good way. Sure, sure, but we're offer
them a value. It's value for that. Yeah, there's no questions.

(49:08):
It's good for you, it's good for me.

Speaker 3 (49:10):
You know, everybody wins here, you know, it's it's more
or less kind of like what Clint Hurdle was talking
about of Hey, you know thinking about this, what do
you think about it?

Speaker 4 (49:18):
This way? You know we're helping you, you're helping us
this way. Certain things you try and you say, why
didn't I do this sooner? This is wonderful? There you go.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
You know, iHeartRadio app and preset that right here to
our Sports Talk seven ninety Sean.

Speaker 4 (49:31):
I don't think either me or you.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
I mean, I don't want to talk about your fitness level,
but I don't think either of us are going to
be running a mile in five minutes, in nineteen seconds.

Speaker 1 (49:40):
I'm not even going to attempt to do it. But
I guess if we trained, we could. But I'm not
going to do it right now.

Speaker 3 (49:45):
Why because a viral video has been making its way
around that U of H had shared, and I think
that more than anything, it was kind of what I
was talking about championship teams when they win, what do
they go back to when they're holding up the trophy
all those summer workouts. Well, it was of a summer
workout last year of you of age, and it's showing
the fitness level of these guys that they went out

(50:06):
for a mile run on the track that day and
people are impressed with man. The entire team finished with
an average of five minutes and nineteen seconds.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
How many times have you seen sporting like when they
go through their testing. How many times have you seen
guys you know there's some will come out in football
it's like, didn't pass the you know, fitness test. So
he's got to go run his ten forties again with
thirty seconds rest in between, which was we did back
in the day. He'd run it, get back up line,
and it had to be within a certain if you

(50:36):
run four six on your last one on your first one,
you couldn't run five to eight on your last one
and you had like twenty to thirty seconds resting between
you run ten, get back down, go. So they wanted
to that fitness where you can sustain playing at a
high level and you know, within close range. And so
this Houston Cougar's team, and I I'll argue this anywhere basketball.

(50:58):
You got a knock down shots, all the things that
go with the x's and osa basketball. But I'm just
telling you teams that aren't as physically well trained as
they are and their commitment to it. We talk about buying.
Is there any team that buys into defense more.

Speaker 4 (51:12):
Than they bludgeon you?

Speaker 1 (51:14):
And I can't wait to talk, you know, with Thomas
Hill obviously, who's going to join this one. Where Duke
Gard who's got two rings from national championships in the nineties.
But just as we roll along the listay and watching
and seeing how they do it. Of all the teams left,
you're concerned about Cooper Flag And you know what Florida
brings to the table.

Speaker 4 (51:32):
How hot they've been.

Speaker 1 (51:33):
Bruce Pearl's team's been number one a lot this year
and they're the number one seed in the tournament. But
I promise you all those eyes in San Antonio will
go right to conditioning, relentless defense, contest shots because you
can shoot average, but if you keep teams down, you
will be in it. If you shoot good and don't
play defense, you still may not win. Matter of fact,

(51:55):
there's a chance you get your ass handed to you.
So I love the conditioning. Because I've said it earlier
in the week, I'll say it again. In my life
and people I've been around, when you're physically not conditioned
or don't have buy into how important it is.

Speaker 4 (52:11):
You will eventually late in the season wear out. You
just will.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
And what happens when you're physically not in the condition
you want, Especially the way they play, their physical conditioning
matches what they do on the court, and all those
guys getting it under six minutes and past that tells
you mean, I know they're young, but some guys you know,
running ninety feet ninety is a lot different than running
a mile and happen to get it, but there their

(52:35):
physical condition and buy into what coach Sampson's teaching.

Speaker 4 (52:38):
But you and you have to. It sustains you. It
just does.

Speaker 1 (52:43):
And I'm if I'm those other three teams, I'm more
concerned about how am I going to win a game
in the fifties or sixties as opposed to the seventies
or eighties when I go get them. And I've said this,
but I am completely believed that when you physically take
care of it, that your mind relaxed little more. It's
like going into a te still prepared if you haven't studied,
and you say, I know that they're going to ask

(53:04):
me the things that I didn't prepare for, and inevitably
it finds you and you end up not getting what
you want done. It's the same thing here. You can't
do what they do and be semi conditioned. And there
is no better condition team in the country than them,
And that's that. That's bore itself out. You got to
knock down shots, which will be which will be important,
especially in a bigger arena. With the eye the visuals

(53:26):
of a basketball player, it's not cozy confines. There's a
little more distance of depth perception that we see. But
the one thing I know is that you will exhaust
a team when you play defense like this team does.
So that conditioning, all those when you're cussing the coach out,
you can't believe you're doing it. And now you're looking
at and saying, there's no team in this tournament. Now
all four of obviously you know how to get up

(53:47):
and down the floor. There's no team in this tournament.

Speaker 4 (53:49):
Though.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
That is that when the temperature of the game goes up,
that they wilt, then this team does not. It will
not be because if they lose, it will not be
because of defensive effort and buy in and conditioning. It
will be because they missed a free throw, didn't get
to the offensive glass, something uncharacteristic or didn't knock down
threes when three of their best players are shooting beyond

(54:11):
above forty percent.

Speaker 4 (54:13):
So that's what it'll be. It isn't going to be.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Now somebody else may lose because they couldn't keep up
with the conditioning, Houston. That may very well be the case.
I'm convinced of it. In any sport, well conditioned teams
are mentally tougher than most, and this team's as mentally
tough as any team in America.

Speaker 3 (54:28):
We'll get back into the Koug's conversation, but coming up next, Sean,
I want to take you back to your single days.
Because you might say that she's just a friend. I'll
explain that right here. Sports Talk seven to ninety.

Speaker 6 (54:41):
More Sean Salisbury, get in, strap in and write in.
All right, Sean, what are you hearing out there now?

Speaker 2 (54:54):
The Salsbury's takeout Salsif Takeout on the.

Speaker 3 (54:59):
Shawn's Salisbury Show Sports Talk seven ninety It is a
Sean Salisbury show. Astros lose three to one last night
to the Giants two and three. Now on this season,
Rockets gets Jazz tonight at Toyota Center and Texas A
and M loses Buzz Williams to take the Maryland job,
so A and m looking for a new college basketball coach.

(55:21):
All right, Sean, so as I mentioned, I'm gonna take
you back to the single days here and when you're
somebody the age of Glenn Powell, even Sydney Sweeney. Well,
you know you're gonna have people asking questions, Hey, what's
happening with you two? Because the genesis of all of
this got started.

Speaker 4 (55:39):
Who's Sidney Sweeney again?

Speaker 3 (55:40):
You I showed you who Sidney Swaene Okay that the actress, yes,
and who's the dude? Glenn Powell is the guy that
was in Top Gun Maverick, the big He's a really
he's a massive Texas Longhorns fan. He's from Austin. I
think he went to West Lake. Okay, what part did
he play? He was the guy that was based the
New Age iceman. Okay, the little smart mouth, yeah, the

(56:04):
brash kid.

Speaker 4 (56:05):
Yeah, always messing with Bill Pullman's son.

Speaker 3 (56:07):
Yeah, all of that, you know, and Miles Teller kind
of had to be the go between. But so there's
been people because they both were in the movie. Anyone
but you and the on screen chemistry.

Speaker 4 (56:21):
You didn't see it.

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Well I haven't either, But anyway, I'm just going off
of what people say is that the on screen chemistry.
People were like, oh, there's something there, kind of like,
what was it not A Star Is Born? What was
the movie with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and everybody thought, oh, man,
there there's Stars Born.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
Yeah, Star is Born. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
It was the second version of it from Chris Christopherson
and Barbara Streisson back in the day.

Speaker 4 (56:46):
And in the New Age.

Speaker 3 (56:47):
When they did the duet at the Academy Awards, people
are like, that's that's that's more than just they're really
on the same page. They can sing the duet and
then go their separate ways, like there's something going on there. Well,
it took another step forward because it was twofold.

Speaker 4 (57:02):
Number one.

Speaker 3 (57:03):
Sidney Sweeney and her fiance apparently have broken off their engagements.
She's single now, So moving on. I see Tripoli holding
up his arms in celebration. I was gonna say, it
seems like there's a lot of dudes that are doing
that right now. But Powell's sister got married over the
weekend and Sydney was there, and a lot of people

(57:25):
are saying, well, why would she be at the wedding
unless they're just friends? And that's what Powell's mom says,
is Powell's mom.

Speaker 4 (57:33):
Says supporting a co star.

Speaker 3 (57:35):
Sure, but how many let's just say this, of the
opposite gender, how many weddings did you go to because
you are just a good friend?

Speaker 1 (57:48):
I would say most of the Well, since it was not,
you mean, so of somebody's sibling, go to this, Like
if it's the girl you're dating, go to the sibling.
I don't like to go to many of them anyway.
For me, I'm trying to think, would it leave me
to believe, ooh, they got something going on, she's there

(58:08):
to support him, and that they're going to leave afterwards
and go have some fun. It's kind of now that
she's not engaged her guy anymore, I think that all
the arrows point to, well, maybe they got something more
than a friendship.

Speaker 4 (58:21):
But I've gone to.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
Weddings to support friends back in years and years ago,
to support married or single friends, I mean married they're
getting married, or a friend's sister or a friend's brother
to go and support. But yeah, normally you go to
a wedding when you're tight with one of the two sides, right,
you're not. There's a support system to the brother of

(58:43):
one of the two sides or the sister of one
of the two sides. So I would imagine it's probably
it will not shock me if in two months they're saying, oh,
they've been dating and seen out at dinner, of course
that's probably coming down the pike and you could see
the chemistry. I guess I haven't seen it, but sure
it's there. But or she's just a good friend, well

(59:04):
it's the old or they're banging.

Speaker 4 (59:05):
They're smoked if you really want to get it, or
they're banging.

Speaker 3 (59:08):
Well, some people are pretty good about, you know, keeping
it under wraps. And then all of a sudden it's
the conversation of do we tell people I don't.

Speaker 1 (59:15):
Know, Well, if you're trying to keep it under wraps,
if you're trying to be you know, private about it,
then then she probably just not showing up at a wedding.
I mean, it's one of those it's like everything, Hey man,
I don't want the publicity. I don't I don't want
people to notice me. And then you walk through the
biggest crowd at the tailgate and wonder why people notice you.

(59:35):
It's the same thing here. Well, we want to keep
a private keep private. And then you're either seen making
out in a restaurant by yourselves at a dinner, or
you're supporting somebody at a thing and maybe you guys
are dancing slow when all the group gets out. I
don't know, but I get why they're doing it. My
guess is that they probably are buddies times too, if
that makes sense. But there is that outlier. I know

(59:58):
people say, can a guy just be good friends with,
you know, an attractive woman or something? And I think
you can, But most people saying no, you can't. But
I think you can as I think as you good.
I think you can. I do because it's just I mean,
that happens just because and there's plenty of good look
at people out there that you wouldn't want.

Speaker 4 (01:00:16):
To date because it's just like we don't hit it off.
But she's my friend, sure, or he's my friend. Yeah.
So I don't.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
I don't know, but my guess is you're I think
you're leaning towards are they developing something? And I would
say you're probably right. See it's the long game here.
I think it is because well, who doesn't want the
long game. Well, I mean I think most people. I
mean I've never won met a girl that or I
don't think we've ever heard anybody say, hey, I'm in
this for the short game in more ways than one. Okay, yeah,

(01:00:44):
it's not only short, it's thin too. And oh, by
the way, we're not we're not going to be doing
this for very long. We don't like length. See how
you can apply it to both. Yeah, yeah, we're in
it for the short term. It's just a just to bangfast.
But hey, it's not only short, it's thin too. A
parent maybe that maybe that's the which is not a
good double whammy.

Speaker 3 (01:01:01):
Well, I mean, look, everybody has their preference, as Shanna,
I'm not here to judge.

Speaker 1 (01:01:05):
Yeah, well, I don't think a field mouse is most
people's judgment.

Speaker 4 (01:01:07):
But maybe it isn't their case.

Speaker 1 (01:01:09):
But hey, like I said, I don't know anybody say
I'm in this for the short term, just the short term.
So you're exactly what this might be the marathon, not
the sprint for them.

Speaker 4 (01:01:19):
Maybe some of the.

Speaker 3 (01:01:19):
Best relationships, like for example, you know, got a really
good friend that he and now his wife of ten years,
that they were really good friend for you.

Speaker 4 (01:01:28):
As this is asking for a friend to that type
of commy.

Speaker 3 (01:01:30):
Yah. Yeah, in all of these years, you know it was, Hey,
they're really good friends, and then all of a sudden
you are dating.

Speaker 4 (01:01:35):
When did this happen twenty years later?

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
Or you'll see people that went to high school together
and then don't, and all of a sudden, thirty years later,
you know, they see each other somehow someway, and all
of a sudden, the friendship leads them and they're happily
ever after. I guess, So, I guess it does happen.
But maybe the chemistry. That's another thing. Have you ever
thought about this for a second though, Like how actors
and when they say they can compartmentalize.

Speaker 4 (01:01:58):
Let let's put it this way.

Speaker 1 (01:02:00):
Okay, let's just say, okay, pick a girl that you
thinks hot in Hollywood, not name her.

Speaker 4 (01:02:07):
Going out?

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
Okay, thank you, Scar Show Scojo, Scar Joe. Okay, you're
an actor. I'dn't saying you're single and or she's single,
or you're both got a significant other. Just play the
game with me. I know you've got a gal and
the rest of it, But all of a sudden you're
in a movie scene. Then as you guys laying in
bed like eight times during the movie and she's half

(01:02:30):
dressed and below the covers who knows, but you're in there,
and all of a sudden you start making out and
you start, as we used to call it growing up,
you started frenching. Okay, you started freaking. I mean, what
do you take. First of all, there's a double whammy.
You don't want the girl to think, well, this guy's
this guy's got no game down there because you took
something to keep you soft. Okay, if you really want

(01:02:53):
to get to or is it just a normal I
mean I understand that you're hey, it's just work.

Speaker 4 (01:02:58):
There's forty five people watching you.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
But it's still I mean, I can imagine that why
some of these relationship and you're doing is cut cut,
play the scene over again. Sean, you gotta act like
that when when you when you're dry docking, that you
and her are tight, that you love her.

Speaker 4 (01:03:18):
What's the motivation?

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
Yeah, So my point is that you know, you see
what I'm saying. So you if you go in saying no, no, no, no, no,
and then she walks away in so this guy's bringing
anything to the table, or are you going saying damn?

Speaker 4 (01:03:31):
Then you're like, well, are.

Speaker 1 (01:03:32):
We developing too much chemistry because I got to go
home to mama? Or are you thinking about your gal?
I don't know, but I can see how six you're
away at three months on a site away from home,
and the smart ones, you know what they do. They
make sure their wife and kids or their wife their
every friggin scene like that that they have. But how

(01:03:54):
then you go to a movie if you haven't been there,
and you're sitting at the premiere, if you're the wife
of the husband of each one not saying you're jealous,
but wouldn't it just be normal to say, man, Margot,
Robbie and and you know whoever else is the you
give me a guy, Margo, Robbie and and uh DiCaprio
or people.

Speaker 4 (01:04:12):
Yeah, man, they look like they got chemistry.

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
For seven straight months and you're the wife sitting next
to him. Doesn't there got to be a little bit
of or a husband's sitting next of They enjoyed that
too much?

Speaker 4 (01:04:24):
Oh they're just acting.

Speaker 1 (01:04:26):
Yeah, I'm sure somewhat have jumped out and say, let
me see how you're feeling right now?

Speaker 4 (01:04:30):
After this?

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
So I don't know, man, I would imagine it's caused
some trouble. But those ones that can compartmentalize and keep
their relationship all the way through and understand if they're
both in the business, maybe it's easier. But you know
some of them that you know put their wife into
Sandler's wife's and use him as an example. So incredibly
loyal and doesn't get into the paparazzi stuff, but his

(01:04:51):
wife's and all his movies around and those things are
important because you just can't let it creep in here.
I am given marital advice or love making advice on
a movie set, but I would imagine it's got to
be tough on the people who are watching from a
distance and the actor who's doing it, because you don't want.

Speaker 4 (01:05:07):
Your co star to say, man, did you eat onions beforehand?

Speaker 1 (01:05:10):
Or man, you don't get turned on by me, and
then the other side is, well, you get turned on
too much by me, and then your wife's like, well, oh,
how was that scene?

Speaker 14 (01:05:16):
Right?

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
Oh it sucked, honey? Oh did it literally or figuratively?

Speaker 4 (01:05:21):
Yeah? See.

Speaker 1 (01:05:21):
So I don't know, it's got to be tough to
be to be in that situation where they got to
do it, and that's their livelihood. You know what I'm saying.
Livelihood got to be tough on both parties. Yeah, it's
the old adage. It's a job anyway. Oh yeah, you
shake it. Yeah, yeah, it's a job that will pour them. Hey,
twenty five million dollars. Know by the way you guys
are making out, you're making out with Bradley Cooper. I'm

(01:05:42):
sure that's a bummer for them.

Speaker 3 (01:05:43):
The wise Philosopher's faith no more, once said Sean. It's
a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

Speaker 4 (01:05:49):
Yeah, dirty being the keyword.

Speaker 3 (01:05:51):
There you go, there you go, So best of luck
to both Sydney and to Glenn.

Speaker 1 (01:05:56):
All right, coming up next, Sydney and Glenn. Like your
first name basis Sydney Glenn. No, I was guy saying
money and said that's it. I got you it. Yeah,
you know we're tight like that.

Speaker 4 (01:06:03):
All right?

Speaker 3 (01:06:04):
Coming up next, the NFL making some changes, one of
them seemingly long overdue, also to Conrad James. So you
want to get into the Kougs, we'll fit you into
the conversation as we continue here on the Sean Salisbury Show.

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
J Barr and Barbecue twenty two to oh one Leland.
I'm guaranteeing you they're going to be fired up. It'll
be a good place for you to go to watch
the Coogs in the Final four.

Speaker 4 (01:06:28):
It will.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
They got the Kelvin Samson plate there too, Hall of
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and see what they like when you order off that
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Great parking lot. And when I say that, you say, well, Sean,
what's a big deal down there? A good parking lot
is it's lined and you have a really good place

(01:06:50):
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You're done. The food is off the charts, Hafey and
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It's phenomenal and at this time of year, you guys
know it's incredible. But I also judge, you know, I

(01:07:12):
think everybody does a restaurant. Do people go there when
there's not a baseball game or a basketball game or
an event.

Speaker 4 (01:07:17):
Yes they do.

Speaker 1 (01:07:18):
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and looked at the menu, you're gonna love the look
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(01:07:40):
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(01:08:01):
M Barbecue.

Speaker 3 (01:08:03):
And with the Seawan Salisbury show continued, Conrad James wants
to weigh in on some coogs.

Speaker 4 (01:08:12):
Conra, what's going on, buddy.

Speaker 15 (01:08:15):
Yes, good morning. I need some clinical information that I do.
Want to say some friends of mine other man, we
cried when the Cougars won, uh the other night. Now
moving forward, I see on YouTube, I'm hearing Duke this,
Duke that crier six to one.

Speaker 16 (01:08:37):
Their guards are six five, they'll be all over here.
Blah blah blah blah blah. I'm used to it. How
does Samson win this game? And shut everybody up? And
I'll listen to your response, Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:08:50):
Appreciate the call. Well, for me, the first the first
way to do it is to keep the game in
the sixties, sixty the threshold of seventies. Now they can.
The higher the scoring that the game goes, the more
advantage it goes to Duke in this one. Not that

(01:09:10):
Houston can't keep up, but that would get out of
what they've done all year long. They're used to playing
I call them football mutters or whatever you want to
call it. They're used to playing in one of those
Well they may look pretty at times doing it, but
they're used to playing in that.

Speaker 4 (01:09:24):
You know, I punch you, you punch back.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Just we punched twice on defense and you missshots and
then eventually we just wear you out. And so for me,
we keep talking about Duke, and rightfully so loaded roster
well coached a superstar who's a freshman. I mean, they've
got everything you want, but one thing they have not seen,
and they've seen. Listen, they see good defense, but you

(01:09:46):
haven't seen quite what you're about to see with this team.
So I kind of reverse it. It's not what Duke,
I mean what Houston has to worry about Duke, and
they do. I also think that the other teams better
take notice about who they're about to get into here
and what they're about to get into. I fully expect
Houston to play their best basketball against Duke, but the

(01:10:07):
Keys to look for a faster You saw when they
put Tennessee and gave him sixteen points in the first half,
regardless of the run that they were on. That can
be overwhelming. You go into a log and saying, nobody's
ever done this to us. Hell, no, nobody does this
in the tournament. Sixteen points in the first half. So
now you're in that Chase Modell. It's like going down
twelve and twenty four to start your season in baseball.
Now you got to Chase the whole time, and you

(01:10:29):
got to hit threes will they're knocking down twos, and
so I think for this game and just the Duke thing,
you can't let Flag take over the game. Obviously, they're
good enough to have other people as we've seen. If
he doesn't get thirty, still win or they wouldn't be
in this position. But stay out of foul trouble and

(01:10:51):
just do what you do defensively. They'll knock down enough shots.
I would imagine, keep your bigs from foul trouble because
while they can get to the bench, you don't want
to have to spend a whole lot of time there.
You've got to make sure that Flag's not killing you
on the low block. He's bringing you out and going
to the rim. You're getting cheap fouls, no cheapies, and
they're not going to give Duke any cheap baskets either.
They just won't do it.

Speaker 4 (01:11:12):
For the most part, I like Houston in the game.

Speaker 1 (01:11:15):
It's basically a home game from them now after they
dealt with two of them in Indiana. But more importantly defense.
If this game's in the sixties, gimme Houston all day.
If this game gets towards seven, mid seventies towards the eighties.
Then I would say the tempo getting up and down
the floor is on Duke. And you know that there's
may not be any better half court offense or defense

(01:11:36):
in the country than what Houston brings to the table.
They want to play in the half court and we'll
see what that does to Duke in their approach.

Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
Now, the switch is the double teams, all of those things, defense,
short in the game. Yeah, that's the way that you
of h has been able to find success. All right,
we'll continue. You can weave in some of your coop
thoughts if you want to do that. We've also gotten
into some astros both of those fair games. But coming
up right here on the Sean Salisbury Show, the NFL
looks like they finally got it right. We'll talk about

(01:12:07):
that right here. Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 6 (01:12:12):
The Jean Salisbury Show continues.

Speaker 3 (01:12:15):
And this has been something in the NFL that I
think people had really been pining for. Of Come on, man,
it's twenty twenty let's through out a year twenty twenty three.
It's twenty twenty three. We've got technology. Why are we
still doing this? Why are we still doing the Hey,
did he get it? Does gene sterotor have to put
the index card down to see if the ball is

(01:12:36):
touching the in line there? I mean, you know, just
all of these different things that we've seen that. I mean,
it was people calling for do we put micro chips
in the football?

Speaker 4 (01:12:46):
How do we figure this out?

Speaker 3 (01:12:47):
Well, they finally did, with the NFL announcing yesterday Sony's
Hawkeye technology is going to be used as the primary
method to measure the line of gain and it's going
to begin as soon as this season.

Speaker 4 (01:12:59):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:00):
We're still going to keep the chain gang down there
just to mark the ball for visual right for the
ten yards so you can see it visually, and then
the laser kicks in till you can it's spotted.

Speaker 4 (01:13:10):
Right. This is what We're never going back to manual stuff.
We're just not.

Speaker 1 (01:13:18):
Hopefully those guys that hold the chains and do that
on a Saturday still get there keep their jobs, but
that they're not reliable. And I've always wondered, even when
I played Guy from the Naked Eye Run and all
of a sudden, guy gets tackled and the one guy's oh,
it's right here, and those six eight inches are the
difference that you punting or turning the ball over. And

(01:13:39):
so you say, okay, we got people on the moon,
we got stuff that can we can do a little
bit far reaching. How do we not have something that
knows exactly where that ball was down first? And I
think it's I think it's important. I love it, and
I just I like the human people getting involved in
keeping their jobs. But you want to strike zone, then

(01:14:02):
final laser that calls it right. You want to the
first down where it's not a problem, where we can
eliminate more of this. Well, this is the spot fair
or foul. Well, guess what the spot right or wrong?
Then this will do it. And it feels like they've
had this technology for a while and we've just been
afraid to introduce it because I would imagine these smart
people out there have been thinking about this for all.

Speaker 4 (01:14:23):
How do we do that? What do we do?

Speaker 1 (01:14:24):
Where do we put lasers on the sidelines? How the
hawkeye above where it goes? And it'll be good for football,
and it'll speed the game, even though you know, speed
it up, but also more importantly get it right. I'll
watch a game for fifteen extra minutes if it's done.
I don't care about that. When you're watching your team play,
you're not odds two hours and fifty seven minutes. I

(01:14:47):
love my team. We're up six. Yeah, this game's gone
on too long. Or in baseball that's two hours and
twenty minutes. Man alive. Now you may see a picture
like too laboring and changes and walks and and all that.
But for the most part, if your team's in a
game and it's a thriller, you're not watching the clock.
You're watching the scoreboard. Big difference. It's same football. I

(01:15:09):
can't remember the time now in a game that's not yours,
and it's boring, and officials got it. It's forty seven to three,
and these guys are still broadcasting it, like stop it.
It's an ass whoop, and there's two minutes to go
cut to another game, or just stop it. Kneel down.
You're not winning. There's no get out of this game.
That's when you notice how long it is. Other than
that you want it right. More games have been affected

(01:15:31):
by it not being right than it being too long. Okay,
so get it right, as long as I just don't
want it where everything's computerized, where human people don't have
a job, and we're seeing that a lot, and I'd
like them to keep their job, but take less pressure
off them and let the laser.

Speaker 4 (01:15:47):
Make the decision.

Speaker 3 (01:15:47):
Well, it's I mean, let's be fair here, because you
do see a lot of oh, there's no way that
ball spotted right there, and then replay will show it
and you're like, actually, jeez.

Speaker 4 (01:15:57):
They got it right. They get it right more often
than not. Sure.

Speaker 3 (01:16:00):
Sure, but that's just it, though, Sean, is that you
leave a little bit of that margin of error right there.
Where again, yeah, it does cost somebody to win. It
does cost somebody a chance to know, maybe be able
to flip a game with being able to have a
fresh set of downs as opposed to punting the football away.
And then you look at the scoreboard at the end
of the game and you say, we lost by one score.

Speaker 1 (01:16:20):
Well, whether it's your salary or your taxes or your
donations or whatever it is, the comma in the wrong
place is not a good thing now, or it's a
really good thing, depending on where it is. Right, it's
the same thing here. Well the comma and comma replaces
getting it right. You're my tax account and you miss
and all of a sudden you look at me, say,

(01:16:41):
oh that you owe fifty. When they tell you you're
getting fifty back, you're like, Okay, if you miss, that's
a good thing. But if you got it wrong, that's
the problem. It's the same thing here is Oh my gosh,
we got to write eighty four percent of the time,
but that's sixteen percent a big problem. So whatever the
percentage is. And I wouldn't want to be an official.
And the way they do it, god bless them, but
they need help. They just do just like, why do

(01:17:04):
you think we added a third referee to basketball years
ago because two wasn't enough that this guy's are two
athletic can't keep up. Hell, I'm not so sure. And
we don't want more chefs in the kitchen. I'm not
so sure that we don't need more officials, honest to god.
The problem is more that just equals more guys standing
at midfield trying to figure out And now there's twenty
of them trying to figure out what the twelve of
them or however many we have right now you can't

(01:17:25):
even keep up with the decisions they make. But more
eyes on it, which with this hawkeye and doing this,
you get the proper eye on it, and that's really
what you want to get done.

Speaker 3 (01:17:35):
Six hawkeye cameras eight K cameras are going to be
used for tracking of the football. The onfield officials is
going to be notified of the measurement outcome and the
process said to take around thirty seconds, saving up to
forty seconds for measurement with the chain chain gang, as
you mentioned, still going to be there. They're going to
be a backup though it's more or less just optics.

Speaker 4 (01:17:57):
So here's here's my thing.

Speaker 1 (01:17:59):
First quarter, you're driving, guy makes a throw and he
catches it at the twenty and falls forward to the eighteen,
but you mark him at the at the at the nineteen.
We're not going to visualize that one, are we. It's
only when when you need the change to come out,
because what if that yard ends up being the difference

(01:18:19):
in my point is you're not doing this every play.
You're only doing it on measurement when you want to
bring the sticks out right. Yet, the measurement it's not
just on third or fourth down getting the free or
second down whenever you get the first down.

Speaker 4 (01:18:32):
It's where the balls spotted on a big play.

Speaker 1 (01:18:34):
Oh yeah, what if he's at the nineteen and they
just spot him. His knee went down at twenty one.
Nobody replayed it because it's early in a game. You
don't want to waste the time a replay, and it's
two yards of difference, and then the guy you take
a couple peneties, move back, and all of a sudden
you kick a fifty yard instead of fifty two yard
and the guy hits it or misses it. I know
that's a lot of what ifs, but I want the
spot right all the time because that extra yard does

(01:18:56):
matter in your play calling or with his field goal.

Speaker 4 (01:18:58):
It does matter.

Speaker 1 (01:18:59):
So but if it takes thirty seconds, guess what, we're
not going to do every spot. You're going to have
to still trust that the officials on a non measurement
play get it close to right.

Speaker 3 (01:19:09):
Just get it right. That's really what it comes down to, Sean.
Just get it right. And I appreciate that the NFL.
I mean, it'd be refreshing if other leagues said, oh, hey,
there's technology out there to fix things like you mean,
we don't have to have like last night in the astroscheme,
you know, pitches two or three inches off the outside
corner called for strikes.

Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
Yep, oh, that's refreshed. That's going to change. That's going
to change eventually too, as you and I both know it.
Then the tush push obviously they tabled that. The kickoff
is now if you kick it into the end zone,
they're going to move it out to the thirty five,
not the thirty trying to encourage more returns, which is
a novel concept. I got an idea move back to
the twenty five kickoff from there and we'll get plenty

(01:19:47):
of returns. Well, the guys are going to get injured, no,
just don't let them block below the waist and you
can't form a wedge and go play football. That's actually
what football is. It's a physical game. And it's more
than physical. It's actually a violent game. And unfortunate people
get hurt on plays. You hope they don't, but they do.
Bring the kickoff back or Devin Hester is not a
Hall of Famer now you think about that. And it's
the same with all this stuff as you want to write.

(01:20:09):
And also, so the kickoff we're getting rid of part
of a gimmick. It's still a gimmick, is it overtime?
It's about damn time. I don't know why it took
this long for a bunch of grown ass people to
sit in a room and say, I got a novel
concept that during the regular season, if the game's tied
at the end of regulation, we're going to play.

Speaker 4 (01:20:28):
It should be fifteen minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:20:29):
We're gonna play ten minutes, but both teams get an
opportunity to possess the ball. If you score a touchdown.
It used to be whether you're done. And then you'd
hear people say, well, get a stop. All right, I
got an idea for you. Then let's reverse it when
you score. I mean, now you have to get a
stop to prove to me your defense. A football game
is offense, defense, special teams.

Speaker 4 (01:20:48):
Period. In the old overtime, you didn't play all three.

Speaker 1 (01:20:52):
In this one, you play all three, both offenses, both defenses,
both special teams. That's the way it should be. And
then you play sudden death. Both teams possess it. Now
we're playing sudden death, and in truth, you probably could
just say, let's just play a full quarter, and whoever's
won at the end of the quarter, we went because
I hate ties anyway, but at least a step in
the right direction. Wyatt took so long to say, And

(01:21:13):
if you're doing in the postseason, why aren't you doing
it in the regular season. It's the dumbest thing, the
logic of some of these rules makers and the rules
that they chase the wrong ghost and you finally, oh,
you mean both teams get to use their offense, defense
and special teams and save your argument, Well, get a stop. Okay,
So Mahomes takes it down on three plays, gets to stop,

(01:21:34):
and you're the defense and you didn't stop him. Well,
oh okay, now I will can't city to get a stop,
So get a stop, go score, and then play sudden death.
This is finally. It only took them how long to
get this right. They took a rule and screwed the
pooch forever, and now we finally don't worry about a
coin toss. Now you're going to take the ball second

(01:21:57):
instead of first because you want to know what you need.
It's ludicrous how they there's other rules that need changed
and fixed, and they focus on the wrong thing. I
think they just like to do busy work to make
it seem like they're getting something done. It's about damn time.

Speaker 3 (01:22:10):
Yeah, I mean you would like to have at least
something that is targeted towards a goal. And it does
seem like this time they finally got it right. So
for that folly, good on you, Park Avenue. All right,
coming up next, a cause for concern with this Astro
we'll discuss here as we start the eight o'clock hour
on the Sean Salisbury Show.

Speaker 13 (01:22:29):
KB Houston ADHD two Houston, my heart radio station.

Speaker 2 (01:22:33):
The Astros, the Rockets, Rockets Basketball, your home for your
home teams.

Speaker 4 (01:22:40):
This is Sports Talk.

Speaker 13 (01:22:41):
Seven ninety from the Parsons that match next studios.

Speaker 4 (01:22:49):
Say Houston. Okay, let's do this.

Speaker 2 (01:22:55):
Sean Salisbury, US longtime friend shown Salisbury.

Speaker 3 (01:23:01):
Dan matthewscues. This is the Sean Sells Very Show.

Speaker 4 (01:23:10):
Seven R H U of H.

Speaker 3 (01:23:12):
Gonna leave today for San Antonio to get ready for
Saturday against Duke in the Final four. Get back into
the Astros conversation in just a second. But fresh off
of what we were just talking about, Sean Dennis wants
away in here on Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (01:23:27):
Dennis, what's up.

Speaker 12 (01:23:29):
Good morning, fellas Hey. Quick question for you about the
Toush push and the new overtime rule. Technically, isn't the
toush push and illegal play because isn't there a rule
stating that the runner cannot be assisted by either being
pushed or pulled by another play?

Speaker 1 (01:23:43):
Now that's changed. They are allowed to do that. Now
that used to be a rule where you couldn't. You couldn't.
They are, They are allowed to. You see it all
the time. Guys standing at the one or two yard line.
People come up and just unload on you know, in
an open field run and you'll get alignment, come down
and push him from the back.

Speaker 4 (01:23:58):
Yeah, you're allowed to do that now, So it's allowed.

Speaker 12 (01:24:00):
Okay, okay, got it. And then the overtime rule. If
both teams are supposed to have possession of the ball,
what if Team A who gets the ball first runs
out the clock with let's say you're just running down
the field, just wasting time on the clock. They kick
the game, They kick a winning lead field goal with
five seconds left, and then they kick it off the

(01:24:22):
other team.

Speaker 7 (01:24:22):
And that's it.

Speaker 4 (01:24:23):
That's exactly what they get.

Speaker 1 (01:24:25):
If you're good enough to handle to have a nine
minute and some have in football during a regular you know,
during the four quarters, if you're good enough to go
on a nine minute, fifty seven nine minute, fifty seven
second drive and you score with three seconds to go,
they're not extending the game an extra five minutes. If
you've wanted it fifteen, now it's ten and you get

(01:24:47):
three seconds to kick off, that's when you said, man,
my defense should have gone off the field.

Speaker 4 (01:24:51):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (01:24:52):
So yeah, if you can go on a sustained drive
and you've used up eight and a half minutes and
nine minutes and there's forty seven seconds left and you score,
they get forty seven seconds forty seven seconds to respond.
And in truth, if you go and hold it for
nine minutes fifty seven seconds and kick a walk off
field goal, they don't get a shot. That's when that

(01:25:13):
that's when that rule they're not going to extend the game.
Which seems odd to me because if you're telling me
they do get a shot, my thought process would be,
and maybe it is. I'd have to look at the
deep dive into it. Maybe if you were able to
have a ten minute drive and in the game with
a walk off that under the rule, they get one

(01:25:33):
pozsent I mean they get an offensive possession on it
with zero with with zero clock right like like you
can't end on a defensive penalty. So maybe that I'm
going to look into. That's a great point because my
first thought as well, the team rewarded they had a
nine minute, fifty seven second drive and gave you three seconds,
and that's all you get, or is there regardless of it?

(01:25:55):
Then we're playing with zeros other than the play clock,
and you get one drive, whether it's five first downs,
whatever it takes to go match, and if you don't score,
then the game's over. I wonder how that is that
you automatically regardless of time, even if the first quarter,
that that extra quarter runs out and you haven't had
your series yet, do you get that series to go score?

(01:26:20):
And then obviously if you knew that you got to
play it this way. Let's say you go down and
score and the other team kicked the extra point as well,
they're up seven. Now you've got to ask yourself after
all this, do I still want to kick the extra
point for a tie?

Speaker 4 (01:26:32):
Or do I want to go for two for the win?
And you'll face that.

Speaker 1 (01:26:35):
So maybe, and I'm gonna look into that, because this
the new rule just passed last night. Didn't think about
it that if the game does end and the team
kept the ball the entire quarter in one with a
walk off sixteen play drive and ten minutes, do you
at least get in that no time possession where you
get an untimed drive other than the play clock to

(01:26:56):
have a chance to go tie it or win it
if you want to go for two, if they can,
then extra point. I think that you probably should, don't you. Well,
I mean people are going to say defense needs to
get off the field and rarely are you going to
face ten minute drive. But what if you did appreciate
the college tennis, Yeah, good stuff. Don't but I mean
it's to your point that you brought up about the
three phases of the game and how much important it
is time is.

Speaker 3 (01:27:17):
Also it's kind of the fourth phase. Time matters because
if you're going to do the on time down all
that kind of stuff you know. Of well, I mean,
we still got to give the other guys a chance.
Then go to the college football rule short in the
field and give both teams a chance. I mean, I'm
not saying go basically football's version of penalty kicks here
of hey, we're going for two from here on out,
But that's basically what you do.

Speaker 4 (01:27:38):
You want to eliminate it, get rid of the ties.
These guys get.

Speaker 1 (01:27:43):
Paid enough money to play an extra quarter or two.
They just do and games usually don't last six quarters.
But let's say that scenario happened and they used up
the clock. If in fact you went by that, you
just go kick into the second overtime period. They get

(01:28:05):
their chance if they don't match the games over. If
they do score in the first three minutes of the
second overtime period, now it's just sudden death.

Speaker 4 (01:28:14):
I hate ties.

Speaker 1 (01:28:16):
I don't want to what's the reason we don't And
if you tell me more injuries happen in the second overtime, well,
we don't see many second over time. We have it
for a long time because we're not allowed to but postseason.
But please please spare me the self righteous crap about
oh yeah, well, we don't want the running back to
get hurt because now it's an extra Well you better

(01:28:37):
have depth and you better deal with it. I don't
want the guy to get hurt either, But to tell
me that's your reason and then you'll allow them to
go play a game three and a half days later,
save it, to just save it. Most players hate ties. Anyway,
I say you play until you find a winner.

Speaker 4 (01:28:53):
I just do.

Speaker 1 (01:28:54):
That would eliminate that time thing, because now you'd go
to the next one, you'd get your possession. If you
tie it now it's sudden death, the team goes down
with the next mansion, kicks a field, go ball, game over.
And if you want to say, well, we'll play two
extra periods at twelve minutes or ten minutes like they
have it now, then a tie, I'll even take that,
because if nobody's gone ahead in two extra quarters. I

(01:29:14):
get where the exhaustion and hyper I mean the cramping
and all that.

Speaker 4 (01:29:19):
Stuff, and recovery time. I do get that part of it.

Speaker 1 (01:29:22):
But ten minutes, one extra quarter, and you're paying guys
fifty five million dollars a year.

Speaker 4 (01:29:27):
I don't feel sorry for the player.

Speaker 1 (01:29:29):
Play an extra quarter, play an extra series, play an
extra down, find me a winner.

Speaker 4 (01:29:32):
Tye suck.

Speaker 1 (01:29:33):
They just flat ass suck for teams and for fans.
I would like to see him play longer. But at
least we got this right. Most of the time, both
teams are going to get a possession, and I don't
know if it's going to be an untimed series at
the end of the first quarter. If somebody uses an
entire clock on a drive.

Speaker 4 (01:29:50):
Well, it takes what it takes.

Speaker 3 (01:29:51):
I mean, I think that it's kind of you know,
we'll use the baseball example here.

Speaker 4 (01:29:56):
It cracks me up.

Speaker 3 (01:29:56):
How you do the runner on second and the tenth
inning in the regular season, but then you don't do
it in the postseason. It's the complete opposite in the NFL.
Why not just have the rules be consistent all the
way across the board. If you're gonna do it, just
do it. I don't get it. That's why I said
with the overtime, why everything?

Speaker 1 (01:30:12):
Because Game three matters as much as the first playoff
game now one single elimination. But if you don't win
Game three and you miss out by a game, it mattered.
I don't So you're telling me the postseason they're a
little more. What are you telling me by not doing
uniformity in the regular season postseason that the regular season
is not as important as you want it to be.
It's made for TV event, but the postseason is more important.

(01:30:36):
I just don't get it. We shouldn't have a runner
on second next innings. These guys make enough to play
twelve fourteen to fifteen innings or earn the this. We're
not playing on a Saturday morning with our buddies where
you give him second base automatically, like you're playing with
your buddies, right, move him over automatically unless he's forced out.

Speaker 4 (01:30:55):
I just I don't I.

Speaker 1 (01:30:56):
Don't understand the gimmicks of certain things don't need to change.
And if I'm a pitcher and you put me in here,
you're already in a high leverage situation where the game's tied,
and now you throw a guy out in second base.
Once again, pitching defense always is at a disadvantage in
every sport. So it makes no sense to me. So
what are we gonna start doing in the NBA? Three

(01:31:16):
pointers don't only matter in the postseason. They don't count
in the regular season. Or you can't dunk during the
regular game regular season. But because we want layups and
we're gonna see if you're really good and can't dunk,
can't dominate, but will allow you to dunk in the postseason,
doesn't it sound stupid?

Speaker 4 (01:31:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:31:30):
Putting a runner on seconds as big a gimmick as
there is. Okay, what's next, what's next? We put him
on third, So now you have a chance to sacrifice
fly early and he doesn't have to even earn third base.
Oh all this crazy ass stuff's coming. Whatever happened to
Just you know, you earn the run. You don't earn
the run with a guy on second, You just don't.
You just don't get him on move him over because

(01:31:52):
some teams can't do it. And I just think defense
and pitching and defense and football, and I'm an offensive guy.
They get hose all the time. We, like I said,
we chase a ghost in the wrong way in pro
sports when it comes to some of these rules that
seems that a bunch of fourth graders could have handled
in about fifteen minutes. I just and and and the

(01:32:14):
fact that I have to look back to COVID for
the reason we got a guy on second base. Stick
Fauci out there and let us throw a bunch of
baseballs at him. Hey, that'd be a better opportunity.

Speaker 3 (01:32:24):
And it takes you back to a kid ghost runner
on second because right, Johnny's got to hit.

Speaker 4 (01:32:29):
Right or my dinners in ten minutes, somebody's got to win.
There you go.

Speaker 1 (01:32:32):
We you know, they said we'd be home by five
or lunch, you gotta go home with your mom's gonna
be mad. Then then no, save it. They make enough
money to play extra. Let me ask you this, when
your street corner needs fixed, or they're doing construction on
a road near you, and do they say, you know what,
we got a kind of and let's change the gimmick.
We'll just let this one stay dirt road and the
one next to it says pavement because well, we don't

(01:32:53):
want something to hit. It's it's just we're working too long. No,
they got to get it done, or you don't drive.

Speaker 4 (01:32:59):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:32:59):
I know it's life, but in baseball, I don't know everything.
You getting paid more and doing less in pro sports,
and I just don't get the concept. I just don't.
I just don't throw me five innings. I'll pay you
forty million a year. It's it's a lucrative career if
you can get it. Deadlines make deal. Sean, Yeah, well
some of the deadlines were should have been bypassed.

Speaker 4 (01:33:21):
This is some of the rules we have in sports.
In the NFL is no different.

Speaker 1 (01:33:24):
At least they're getting it right, but they're going back
to getting it right, which should have been right a
decade ago.

Speaker 4 (01:33:28):
Or longer.

Speaker 1 (01:33:29):
It's just sometimes they embarrass themselves and well, it's good
stuff and it's great. They make a simple game so
complex they just do, no doubt about it. Andy s
you want to get in on this conversation will squeeze
you in also to time to be concerned the panic
meter with this guy on the astros.

Speaker 3 (01:33:49):
We'll talk about that right here. Sean Salisbury Show, The
Seawan Salisbury Show continues.

Speaker 4 (01:33:55):
They need to know no now you.

Speaker 1 (01:33:58):
Know after you asked me this during a commercial break. Obviously,
Tombstones at the top of the list. He was phenomenal.
He was great in Top Gun as the other guy, right,
you're dangerous matter no question.

Speaker 4 (01:34:13):
And Heat.

Speaker 1 (01:34:15):
I actually think Heat's a phenomenal movie. It is I mean,
great cast and I freaking loved and the way the
movie ended, I mean just was a great movie. And
Val Kilmer was a big part of that. But he
to me, I mean, there's some other ones. There's a
movie with Elizabeth Shoe that's right underrated movie Tis He's

(01:34:40):
really good there. He's been in so many good movies,
and a big reason why they're good is he was
so versatile and really good at it at what he
did in different ways and could play a bunch of
different characters. It's a bummer at sixty five men. Wait,
he had a bunch of good work left in him
before all the you know, the change cancers. Yeah, it's

(01:35:01):
exactly right. And you know for Tom Cruise to put
him in that last in the scene in Maverick, Whi's
huge and that was in a moment. I mean, I
mean that was and that was real life stuff, right,
And I would imagine the emotion in that scene couldn't
have been fake. That's one where you don't need to
muster up emotion. That had to be that had to

(01:35:22):
hit hard. But I just think Valkilmer is spectacular and
it's a bummer. You know saw him Radio and a
lot of these guys. I hate to see anybody go
but early right and when when they're still good work
in front of them, and val Kilmer will go down
as one of the andy. You know, he's always put
it this way. He could he could steal a movie

(01:35:44):
or get close to as the supporting actor.

Speaker 4 (01:35:46):
And that's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (01:35:48):
They sure as hell did so big fan, and uh,
I hate to see this happen. And you know, obviously
the immune system with pneumonia, when you have when you're
going through all the medication he's got to with the
throat cancer and stuff. It's a it's a bummer ending
at sixty five years old. And the older you get,
you realize he's sixty five is not old.

Speaker 4 (01:36:05):
You know, it's crazy.

Speaker 3 (01:36:06):
Well, I mean especially to you know your parents get
a little older. I mean you start seeing stuff like this,
You're like, man, take advaility, take take advantage of those holidays. Man,
take advantage of as much time as you can. Cause uh,
you know, it's kind of like the Lady Gaga song,
always remember us the way we were. Yeah, I mean
that's that's kind of those thoughts come into mind. He
was batman for.

Speaker 1 (01:36:26):
And a legend, and he was a damn good batman too.
He's just the voice everything.

Speaker 4 (01:36:30):
He's a legend.

Speaker 2 (01:36:30):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:36:31):
He was a I don't even know if we can
say underrated. I think we all knew how good he was, right,
I just think we wanted more of it.

Speaker 3 (01:36:37):
Well, you mentioned heat and I found this out the
other day, the great ass scene from Al Pacino with
Hank Kazaria. You know that was improv So Hank Kazaria's
reaction was legitimate when it happened in the moment because
Pacino literally scared him with the you know, yelling right
in his face when he's got it right. Yeah, oh,
no doubt.

Speaker 1 (01:36:55):
And well does it surprise you that Pacino was involved
in something that out of nowhere? And it just hit
you know, because I was speaking of legends. So that
cast was frigging outstanding. What a great movie. So now
what happens is we go back. You'll go and turn
on TV and there'll be a bunch of Valcaumra movies,
which is okay with me. Yeah, I just would have

(01:37:15):
loved to have more of a miss too bad.

Speaker 3 (01:37:17):
Absolutely so Iceman at the age of sixty five someone
three two one two five seven ninety Andy once to
get in on the NFL rules conversation.

Speaker 4 (01:37:26):
Andy, what's up?

Speaker 5 (01:37:28):
Yeah, any any sport that finishes a game, that finishes
a game in overtime, that is the way they play it.

Speaker 10 (01:37:39):
During the regular time.

Speaker 5 (01:37:41):
It's a joke. It's like soccer and all these oh
penalty kicks, give me a break, that's a joke. Putting
the man on second base, that's a joke. NFL play
the damn game play a quarter. Whoever wins, wins if
not play another quarter like you used to, I don't
care how long it takes, play the game the way

(01:38:02):
you play it in regular time to find a winner. Now, shigned,
I'm gonna tell you something that's been on my nerves
a long time about about sports. Professional sports. Get rid
of these damn divisions and comcasses. Don't we want the
best teams to make the playoffs?

Speaker 1 (01:38:24):
Yeah, of course we do. Do you think it's too
watered down?

Speaker 4 (01:38:27):
Correct?

Speaker 5 (01:38:29):
Well, it's stupid. Here's the here's I went back to
twenty ten, twenty ten, you know that year, But I
went back all the way to twenty ten. Were nine
teams with better records than the worst team that made
the playoffs. So those nine teams, you had a better record,
and two of those teams had three more wins than

(01:38:52):
the team that made the playoffs. That's Seattle. There were
seven to nine. You had two teams, and I believe
the Patriots were both ten and six that year and
they missed the playoff.

Speaker 4 (01:39:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:39:05):
That was the year Brady was hurt and and Matt
Castle played quarterback.

Speaker 5 (01:39:10):
Yeah, and then he made all kinds of money that
one year. And then he sucked every after that one year.
It's ridiculous.

Speaker 10 (01:39:19):
We don't.

Speaker 5 (01:39:20):
Indeed every year in sports only out of those fifteen years,
only three years every the best teams made the playoffs
only three times out of fifteen the last fifteen years.
And you'd see that in the NBA.

Speaker 11 (01:39:37):
You see people in the each make it.

Speaker 1 (01:39:39):
The better records, seven best records in the AFC, seven
best records in the NFC is what you want?

Speaker 4 (01:39:44):
You want him to divisionally play.

Speaker 5 (01:39:48):
I don't want, I don't want I don't want the East,
I don't want the West. I want one through thirty two.

Speaker 1 (01:39:52):
So you basically if if nine teams from the from
what would be the AFC are the best you want,
and so you're basically saying, then you don't want an
NFCAFC super Bowl, you want the two best teams playing it.

Speaker 10 (01:40:06):
That's right.

Speaker 4 (01:40:08):
So you and the fourteen best records go to the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (01:40:12):
And if you're playing if the Ravens are playing the
Chiefs in the super Bowl, get rid of to break
that tradition and let's just go play the two best teams.
I you know what, normally on the surface would have said,
you're you're out of your mind.

Speaker 4 (01:40:23):
With that because of tradition.

Speaker 1 (01:40:25):
But the truth is, we got so many things falling
by the wayside on tradition. Why not have the two
best teams in football play against each other? Novel concept.
I don't hate it.

Speaker 5 (01:40:35):
Yeah, people freaked out when they said, oh A and
m ut ankle bear play football again. I didn't care
if that. We didn't play A and M every year.
I didn't give the rats. But about that, And look,
here's another thing that was solved because guess what, they're
going to go to eighteen games.

Speaker 4 (01:40:51):
That's again, that's a guarantee.

Speaker 5 (01:40:53):
That's a guarantee. So once you had last year the
Chiefs the last two games, the last two games of
the year, the Chiefs got to rest all their starters,
right because they had such a big lead. Well, guess
what the way I do it? You know what the
tie breakers are. The time breakers are one, how many
wins you have against teams with above five hundred records,

(01:41:16):
and then if you have to have another, if there's
still a tie, then you go to the margin of
those wins of teams over five hundred. So you're automatically
taking the best teams to the playoffs. That's all that matters.

Speaker 3 (01:41:32):
And yeah, Andy, Andy, we got we got to keep
it moving. Man, appreciate the call. I mean, we get
your point.

Speaker 1 (01:41:39):
If you could just break tradition, if if you get
out of the old school thing, not you, anybody. It
makes sense now how you schedule it for the know
how you would schedule you get the worst record. But
the truth of the matter is, do you, deep down
once it was in, do you care break tradition for
a second? Do you care that an AFC and two

(01:42:02):
AFC teams win the Super Bowl?

Speaker 3 (01:42:04):
I do appreciate the latter. I do appreciate the process.
I mean I do appreciate. Hey, we want our division.
We gave ourselves a chance. Hey we want our conference.
Now we've got a chance. I mean, like, I do
think that that is valuable. And I also think that
you do have to have some mystique of the championship game.
I like it when hey, these teams didn't play all
season long. All right, good, we get to see what
they have now.

Speaker 4 (01:42:25):
Would you be.

Speaker 1 (01:42:25):
Four, though, two teams playing that played in this Well
it'd be no longer the same conference.

Speaker 4 (01:42:30):
But what was a conference.

Speaker 1 (01:42:31):
That the Colts could play or the Ravens could play
the Chiefs or the Bills could play the Chiefs in
a Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (01:42:38):
I like incremental goals and I also like too, I
mean the Arizona Cardinals that year they played the Steelers, were.

Speaker 4 (01:42:43):
They not nine and eight? Eight and nine?

Speaker 3 (01:42:45):
And they and they went on that run. I mean,
I think that mystique kind of goes out the window, too, man.

Speaker 1 (01:42:49):
And I don't like that Green Bay was I think
nine and seven when Rogers won his Super Bowl and
they had to go on the road the entire time
and they had like ten starters hurt and they went
on and won a Super Bowl. So there's you know,
in the year that Seattle hosted New Orleans and they
were sub five hundred and ended up I think winning
that game. Yeah, so I you know, I get what

(01:43:10):
he's saying. I'd listen more. It doesn't it's that doesn't hurt.
Thirty two teams, fourteen best, and if ten of them
happened to be in the AFC, well what was the AFC,
then then the other dudes better get better. But then
you do the schedule and then there's you know, point
differential and plus five hundred teams, you would get the

(01:43:30):
fourteen best and that's not a bad thing.

Speaker 4 (01:43:33):
It's just you'd have to break from the old school
tradition of AFC versus NFC.

Speaker 1 (01:43:37):
Wow, if they're doing that everywhere else, and now all
hey in conferences in college football right were when we realignment,
we got a team playing in California, has to fly
a couple teams in California. You gotta fly and play
in the Big ten country regularly across country. So we
broke tradition with everything. I actually think that Andy's point
would be listenable at a committee meeting.

Speaker 4 (01:44:00):
Like Calan Stanford playing in the ACC sounds weird. It does.

Speaker 3 (01:44:05):
It does on the surface incredibly All right, coming up next,
we'll get back into the astros conversation. Something I saw
last night that was incredibly concerning. We'll discuss that right here.
Sean Salisbury show.

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Speaker 6 (01:45:42):
And we're Valor for the Sean Salisbury show continues.

Speaker 3 (01:45:47):
And know some of you want to get in on
that conversation. We'll get you in on me and Sean's
conversation if you want to, but you're on Alvarez. It
was about the seventh inning, I think it was last night,
and the East ocparatus leads off the ending. He hits
a sharp single that Matt Chapman was not able to

(01:46:08):
bring in, which that doesn't happen very often. So it's
a all right, a little bit of a break there.
Let's see if we can make something happen. Jordan gets
it to a full count, gets a slider in on
him and swings over the top of it, which would
have been ball four. And he went back to the
dugout and Space City Home Network showed him in the dugout,
put his bat back in the rack, all that kind

(01:46:28):
of stuff that you do whenever you're disappointed, but you
don't want to, you know, have a flare up, you
show too much emotion. It was after that that stood
out to me, he basically sat on like the little
shelving they have right there, with his helmet still on,
kind of looking out into the distance with like a
thousand yards stare like, what the hell is going on?
And again early five games in? But isn't that a

(01:46:52):
little worrisome that a guy that is as good as
he is starts to kind of have that reaction that
you're a little worried of. You know, hey, can I
still do this kind of you know, fitting in? And
I know that that's extreme, but I don't want to
see that out of that guy. A lot of guys
can do that, not that guy, and you rarely see
him get I mean, he's really good at keeping things

(01:47:16):
away from us, knowing how he's feeling. Oh, I always
say emotionally in the rest of it, but regardless of
the optics of it. I mean, listen, you can be
even the most calm and poised of them when things
aren't going the way that you want him to go.

Speaker 1 (01:47:32):
It'll wear on you and hard. That's why I always
believe starting faster, because think about now, even five games in,
do you not think that they're gripping the bat a
little harder?

Speaker 10 (01:47:44):
Now?

Speaker 4 (01:47:45):
Even five games in. I know they'll tell you we
all do.

Speaker 1 (01:47:48):
Oh, he's got to stay the course, take a one
game at a time, take it one at bad time.

Speaker 4 (01:47:52):
And that's true.

Speaker 1 (01:47:54):
But frustration, like anything, you start fast and all of
a sudden, you hit a slump.

Speaker 4 (01:47:58):
If you expect that, that's the way it works in baseball.

Speaker 1 (01:48:00):
But when you start slow, just like us, human nature
is We're back to this again.

Speaker 4 (01:48:07):
That's human nature of a player.

Speaker 1 (01:48:09):
It is, especially if you're one of the guys that
struggled with runners in scoring position or chasing bad pitches
and all of a sudden, five games in, the habit continues,
and so your initial thought is no, no, no, And
at times you'll even as a player, make a knee
jerk decision or reaction because you know that the public

(01:48:29):
is going to as well. It's really, I'm telling you man,
the mental side of that part. That's why it winning. Obviously,
we know covers up a lot of woes that you
may have, but it also starting fast may even cover up.
And the truth is, even if a couple players were struggling,
but they were scoring five and six runs, we'd kind
of say, ow five games that he'll get hot, like
we did for Bregman regularly. Now it's starting to wear

(01:48:51):
on you last years, like, dude, how many times this
is longer than normal? But now that he's not here,
so and I think it's also heightened because of all
the bodies and in different positions. It's a different look
team and all of a sudden saying is did it work?
Did our off season work? Well, let's slow down. It's
working on a mound. But is it working at the
play right now? No, but there's a lot of teams

(01:49:13):
in baseball right now that it's not working at the plate.
But I don't think this is one you want to say, oh,
it's early, and then fifteen twenty twenty five games in
you're like, okay, now now we're eight games back, or
for six games under five hundred and the same results happening,
Then it'll be easy to creep back into revisionist history
of look what happened in the past. And I don't

(01:49:35):
think you want to revisit last year's runners in scoring
position and lackluster offense five games in. But it's something
that I would imagine you're not going to as you
heard Clint Hurtle say earlier, they did theirs in twenty
game increments before you started to think that you needed
decisions to make. We're fifteen away from that. So if
they're doing it in increments, Dana Brown, I'm sure we'll

(01:49:55):
stress that it's early, but we only got five games
to judge. So I'm anxious if this was a full
season and you just ended and this was what it
looked like, But it's not what would what would your
thought process be? And that's the only way we can
approach it from our vantage point because we're not in
the locker room at a clubhouse.

Speaker 4 (01:50:12):
Plan.

Speaker 3 (01:50:13):
Yeah, and you mentioned Dana Brown. We'll talk with him
in about forty five minutes. But I mean, you know,
it is kind of some of that urge that does
fit in your brain, a little bit of you know, man,
I want it now, I want it now. And it
goes back to the conversation I mentioned I had with
Aj Perzenski last year. He was like, these guys will
hit if they were doing this in June or July,
nobody would bat deny. It's just small sample size. That's

(01:50:35):
why you know people start to freak out a little
bit about it. So well, keep this conversation going to
see that Roger, Joe Jay, you guys want to get
in on the conversation. Also to former Duke guard Thomas Hill.
Going to join us in about fifteen minutes here on
the Sean Salisbury Show.

Speaker 6 (01:50:58):
Now back to Sean sounds very join.

Speaker 3 (01:51:01):
Us here on the show in about ten minutes, and
then our weekly visit at nine thirty with Astros general
manager Dana Brown. Coming your way, someone three, two and
two five seven ninety is the number to get in
on the conversation and Roger on the northwest side has
been waiting the longest.

Speaker 4 (01:51:16):
Roger, what's going on?

Speaker 17 (01:51:19):
Good morning fellas?

Speaker 11 (01:51:20):
Yeah, r I p val Man.

Speaker 17 (01:51:21):
One of my favorite movies with was The Ghost of
the Darkness with him and Michael Douglas.

Speaker 11 (01:51:27):
I was pretty good. That was pretty good.

Speaker 17 (01:51:29):
Man also supposed to be a true story about this clients. Also,
his older stuff was real genius.

Speaker 11 (01:51:39):
That was okay.

Speaker 17 (01:51:40):
I mean yeah, maybe just coming out party. Why are
shooting with the afters right now?

Speaker 11 (01:51:45):
Is I'm hoping they'll be okay.

Speaker 17 (01:51:47):
I'm I'm pretty sure by the trackway this should be fine,
But I just wish I could way, you know.

Speaker 11 (01:51:53):
And two A is the man. Let me just get
this straight right now too. Ay is the guy.

Speaker 17 (01:51:58):
He's a legendary, he's a good view, he's a legend,
and he'll always be that guy. But you know, like
the way he's like the way great athletes and great
super superstar change it changed at the time, he's able
to go from infield infield and go to the outfield.
Maybe he needs a tweak, is a his approach at
the plate at certain times, you know, read read the situation,

(01:52:20):
and maybe maybe he's not swinging so many bad pitches,
you know, early an account, maybe he could have you know,
maybe they could have knocked you know, a couple of
guys with a double or that's mat or something. Just
maybe because it's were few and far between, and maybe
the situation you can just pack a level office.

Speaker 11 (01:52:35):
That's a bit and that's all I had.

Speaker 4 (01:52:37):
I appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate the call. Roger.

Speaker 3 (01:52:40):
If there's one guy in this lineup right now, Sean,
I'm not going to tweak, it's gonna be that guy,
because you don't have an offense right now without him.
The Astros as a team with guys not named jose
L two, they have fourteen hits.

Speaker 1 (01:52:51):
Yeah, he's got seven of them, and how many of
them are extra base hits all but one four?

Speaker 4 (01:52:56):
I think two.

Speaker 1 (01:52:57):
Yeah, the home runs I'm talking about that, but extra
it's what less than five? Right overall? Yeah, it's right now,
it's not enough and the result is showing, and it
isn't the losses two and three yet, so you don't.
Eventually it is about the wins and losses, but early
on it's how you're getting to them. And it's eerily

(01:53:17):
similar to the way that they played last year offensively.

Speaker 4 (01:53:21):
And that's the problem.

Speaker 3 (01:53:22):
I mean, we kind of started to see shades of
this a little bit in twenty three, but they hit
enough late in the season to be able to get
into the postseason and then get past the Twins, get
the LCS, all of that. But I mean, I guess
there's kind of credence to where I'm going with this, Sean,
is that you can win a game now that some
of the things you did in that will lose a
game for you later.

Speaker 4 (01:53:42):
But then it's vice versa.

Speaker 3 (01:53:43):
You can also lose a game that you're like, hey,
you know what, we get that chance again. We actually
we know we can take that situation, right, So that's
what the Astros are hoping they can set themselves up
for Let's get Joe in on the conversation.

Speaker 4 (01:53:55):
Joe, what's going on, Hey guys, good morning.

Speaker 14 (01:53:59):
Hey listen, I think the the torpedo bats definitely is
not the solution for the ashes right now. I can
I can definitely guarantee that. Just the other day they
asked Joe Spotta about that and he comment about, you know,
he's not gonna talk about a baseball back. He has
never seen or or actually seen him person, so he
wasn't gonna comment in regards to torpedo bats on the DH.

(01:54:22):
The DH is a position that not all players are
meant to d H, you know. And then definitely Jordan
Alvarez is not that player.

Speaker 7 (01:54:31):
I think what's.

Speaker 14 (01:54:32):
Affecting Alvarez is that he's not playing consistently, you know.
And if you put Jordan out of it is back
on the left field as his scheduled to be there
for today's game, you know, then Joe Spotta has a problem.
What I mean by that is that if you put
Jordan's Alvarez back on left field twenty four to seven,

(01:54:56):
then you put hoosel to it back in second base.
Now you have Rogers playing a great defense game on
second base. Now the problem is what are you gonna
do with all the other players. So I have not
seen we have not seen kry Kenny play DH as

(01:55:16):
he did last season, and he did really, really great
on the DH. But I think I shouldn't be worried
about the Astros starting not how we wanted them.

Speaker 11 (01:55:27):
I know last year they started zero to.

Speaker 14 (01:55:28):
Four, and I'll give it probably probably till the end
of April. If they're not doing or performing well, you know,
then we should start worrying. But right now, the Astros
are you know, they gotta they gotta warm.

Speaker 7 (01:55:42):
Up those bats and backs you guys, thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:55:44):
Yeah, I appreciate the call, Joe. It is worth noting though, Sean.
As Joe was talking right there, You're on a career
hitter when he is out in left field three twenty
five with a OPS of over one thousand, and I
get why you don't have him out there. You're trying
to prolong his effectiveness for as long as you can
during the season and you want to limit injury chances.

(01:56:07):
But I mean, maybe right now, to get him going,
you think about putting him out there a little bit
more uh yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:56:15):
And if it pays off and he rakes like he
has when he's been out there, why would you keep
him out of that strength?

Speaker 4 (01:56:24):
Are we?

Speaker 1 (01:56:25):
I mean, listen, I get while two beys. I get
what the thought process was, But are we always going
to guard against having a guy who's a better left fielder,
probably than Jose al Tuve He's I mean he, I
mean I would say so, and he moves pretty damn
well and he's got an accurate arm. I got to
say alto Ba can't be but he's played it more right.
It's not that's exactly right. But if somebody it's affected.

(01:56:52):
Rafael Devers I used to use him and he's playing
DH and he's he's over nineteen, struck out fifteen times.
So what if they put him third base and move
Bregman a second for a game or two. Endeavors goes
four for five four for five or four for four
four for four, should you say, well, he's more comfortable
and he's right, Big Poppy loved it. Some guys want
to play now. Jordin I don't think refuses to play

(01:57:14):
left it. I think he likes it, and he hits
when he's out there. I understand the injury, but at
what point in time is it, well we got we
gotta worry because ten years from now, if he runs
the outfield, he might get hurt. Are we really worried
about the Big fellow going into the corner and getting hurt?

Speaker 4 (01:57:27):
I guess you do. That's why you wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (01:57:29):
But if you're a better team with him, do you
worry about the injuries or do you play for the victories?

Speaker 4 (01:57:35):
Well, it's also as a d H.

Speaker 3 (01:57:36):
I would say that when you're struggling, that is exacerbated
even more because double time, because you don't get anything
to right wipe it off. That's it, because you just
sit in the dugout. You're stewing on it. In your
thought process, there is well, I'm supposed to hit and
I'm not hitting, as opposed to if he's out there,
well I got other things to a you know, kind
of concervative.

Speaker 1 (01:57:54):
Compartmentalize, you got play left field. It becomes a secondary
thought for you.

Speaker 4 (01:57:58):
So I under stand.

Speaker 1 (01:58:00):
But at some point in time, if you're the Big
Fellow and you say it, don't you suggest now unless
they won AL two v there for one hundred and
forty five games and maybe they do at least that's
what the indication that he's their left fielder.

Speaker 4 (01:58:13):
But I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:58:15):
I don't think you want to take the bat out
of the big fellow's hands. And if just being a
DH polishing, but yet he's also when he's been the DH,
so the one thing he's raked as well. It's not
like he hits one seventy five as a DH. He
started slow now, but the majority of his career he
hasn't been playing left field every day.

Speaker 4 (01:58:34):
He hits when he's out there.

Speaker 1 (01:58:35):
But so is this an aberration probably with him because
he's been successful and left field, he's been successful as
a DH. He just knows how to hit, and right
now we were looking for something to say, well, here's
why I'll put him in left field, you'll hit. Now
the irony of it, he's probably but he will probably
have one of those days and he probably could have
done the same thing at DH. But it is that

(01:58:56):
there is that feeling of I got to go down
to the cage and hit more.

Speaker 4 (01:59:00):
All those things that drive you crazy.

Speaker 3 (01:59:02):
We'll get back into the Astros conversation at the nine
o'clock hour, but I'm gonna get into some Koogs and
Duke in the final four. Former Duke Blue Devil guard
Thomas Hill going to join us here on the Seawan
Salisbury Show.

Speaker 6 (01:59:15):
Kd E Houston, k t V HD two Houston. My
heart radio station.

Speaker 4 (01:59:22):
Has a rocket.

Speaker 7 (01:59:25):
This is Sports.

Speaker 6 (01:59:26):
Talk seven ninety your home for your home.

Speaker 13 (01:59:28):
Teams from the Parsons that mention next Studios, Saulsbury, Houston.

Speaker 4 (01:59:41):
Okay, let's do this.

Speaker 2 (01:59:43):
Sewn Salisbury to usc trop longtime friend Shawn Salisbury.

Speaker 3 (01:59:49):
Dan Matthews House. This is the Sewan Salisbury Show. Astros
general manager Dana Brown into us in thirty minutes. But
Uh and Duke taking on each other in the Final
four on Saturday. And a man who knows a lot
about playing and winning in these games, his former Blue

(02:00:10):
Devil guard at Thomas Hill, he joins us.

Speaker 4 (02:00:12):
Now, yeah, he sure does, and we're grateful.

Speaker 1 (02:00:13):
Now, if I go through his resume, it's going to
take a while, right, He's saying, just twenty twenty three
director of basketball operations and head coach at Saint Andrews
Episcopal in Austin, and they proceed to go in two
league championships. He's been a three final fours at Duke
two national championships. He was drafted in the second round,
played what eight years in a league. Everything he do

(02:00:34):
does just the trophies keep piling up. And we got
him today and I'm sure he's hoping here in Houston.
And Sandy told you that that Duke team puts another
one on the board, but we'll try to we'll try
to combat that with this Houston Cougars. Thomas, great to
have you on, my friend, and we sure appreciate your
time today.

Speaker 7 (02:00:50):
How you doing, I'm great, Man, appreciate having me. Man,
good to be at the show.

Speaker 1 (02:00:55):
Okay, let me go back to those times before we
hit this current Duke team. Do you remember the feeling
of going into the final four, how you felt about
your club going in, your your your your school, and
your team's preparation going into the final for the nerves.

Speaker 7 (02:01:14):
Of it, absolutely absolutely, you know. I was fortunate to
do it three times, so there were three different kind
of vibes each year. But the year going into our
second run, when into a second time, we were super confident,
like we were number one in the country and and

(02:01:35):
knew we were the best team in college basketball, and
it was just a matter of you know, just staying focused,
not letting the distractions get you. You know, we're a
veteran team, and just handling your business, you know, just
taking care of what you know you need to take
care of, play the right way, play together, and finish,
you know, finish. That was a big thing for us

(02:01:55):
that year.

Speaker 1 (02:01:56):
Aside from great talent, which is, you know, you got
to have to go win these things and you got
to be hot. Was there one common thread, like one
trait that made your team. You mentioned confidence on one
of the teams. But of the three years you went
and the two years you wanted, what was the one
trait that all three teams had?

Speaker 7 (02:02:16):
Unselfishness? I think you know, we had, you know, twelve
thirteen guys that were the best players coming from their states.
So you know, everyone had an ego. Everyone knew they
were really good, and it was just a matter of
understanding that individually we're not going to accomplish anything great

(02:02:36):
or you know, what we're trying to do as far
as winning championships, and you know, we you know, the
theme was just be unselfish and play together and let
your talent show.

Speaker 10 (02:02:46):
You know.

Speaker 7 (02:02:46):
I think one of the things about at least my
time at Duke, which was great. Was you know, no
one on our team was jealous or you know, envious
of other guys. We were happy for guys, So you know,
it was just a unique time for our group for sure.

Speaker 1 (02:03:04):
Thomas Hill He's been two national championship teams, three Final
four teams at Duke, also as director of basketball and
head coach of Saint Andrew's Episcopal in Austin.

Speaker 4 (02:03:12):
He knows what winning's all about.

Speaker 1 (02:03:13):
Was the second round pick in the NBA as well
as being an All Conference player. Looking back to those teams,
and it seems like it's every year at Thomas. I'm
sure I'm not telling you that you don't know, but
you guys were a villain a lot, right, the guys
who were in Heckey, you got you villain a lot.
Do you have to embrace a villain role in order
for it to work for you?

Speaker 4 (02:03:33):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (02:03:34):
You don't want to discount it was it kind of
you guys against the world. Even though Duke is a
blue blood program, it felt like even then when we're
watching it back then, that it was it's and it
always seems to even now that man Duke was easy
to dislike because they were good, but they knew how
to get under your skin. Did you guys embrace the role?

Speaker 7 (02:03:56):
We loved it. I think that that's one of the
rates that made us really good, is that we loved
going on the road, getting booed, people not liking us,
and the whole nine. You know, we loved it.

Speaker 11 (02:04:11):
You know.

Speaker 7 (02:04:12):
My my little personal takes was I think my sophomore year,
we took a team picture and it was a cowboy
thing and I distinctly remember wanting to go get the
black hat. I wanted black hat and be that guy.
So yeah, I think our team embraced it, you know.
I mean, you know the story Christian Ladner and you know,

(02:04:35):
his his take on things, and it was all of us.
You know, even though we kind of looked like the
clean cut, preppy guys whatever that is, there were dogs.
There were dogs in that locker room. So you know,
we loved it.

Speaker 4 (02:04:50):
Pretty hard.

Speaker 1 (02:04:50):
Pretty hard to win titles without having dogs on your team,
isn't it, Thomas? And you know, from high school to
college to pro you got to have him or you
end up getting left behind.

Speaker 4 (02:04:58):
So so let's go to this year. Now.

Speaker 1 (02:05:00):
First off, will you be in the building in San
Antonio or your TV guy watching on TV.

Speaker 7 (02:05:04):
I will be there, you know, when Duke make the
final four, life is great. I will be there.

Speaker 1 (02:05:10):
Okay, So they're coming down in to talk. Oh, Duke's
coming to town University of Houston. You know obviously we
know who they are. Let me start with Cooper Flag.
You've played with some great ones, young ones and veterans.
You guys at that point in time, guys were staying
in school most of the time until you know they're
four years or so.

Speaker 4 (02:05:27):
We're up.

Speaker 1 (02:05:28):
We're just from your visual in watching him and maybe
talking to people at the program break him down for
us and where he ranks in just your visual of
freshmen that have played there, let alone veterans.

Speaker 7 (02:05:41):
Yeah, no, I say as a freshman. I was telling
someone this the other day. He is by far the
best freshman to ever play at Dude.

Speaker 4 (02:05:49):
And that's Ben Carroll included, right, any of them?

Speaker 7 (02:05:53):
Oh absolutely, So there was a situation. You know, I
didn't catch a lot of games this year, but I
caught the first Carolina game and just watching it, it
was like a ten minute stretch where the kid makes
the right basketball play every time like that you don't
see that. You don't and you know he's seventeen, eighteen
years old, and you know you can see that he

(02:06:15):
is different. You know, if you have a back of eye,
you can just the way he moves, how he thinks
the game. You know, my opinion, he's the best freshman
to ever play a dude, So you know that that's
you know, And I've been around a lot of great ones.
I've seen a lot of great We've all seen them.
So you know that's my take on. You know he's
special for sure.

Speaker 1 (02:06:34):
You've played on special teams and got rings to show
for it. You've coached, obviously and still do special teams
high school kids. So let me ask you. You're I've
come to you, and I say, draw me up a
game plan how to attack the University of Houston Because
we know without saying that this team thrives on contesting
every shot, physically getting on the floor, all the dirty work,

(02:06:56):
and they got some guys that can knock down shots.
So how do we If you I'm your assistant, you're
my coach, design me a game plan to attack this
unbelievable and relentless defense of the Cougars.

Speaker 7 (02:07:08):
Yeah, I think the attack is on both ends. So offensively,
I think sharing the ball, you know, although they don't
move without the ball the way I would like, you know,
moving without the ball, making the defense move, not take
bad shots, you know, always take bad shots and try
to get in the paint and use your side, you know,
I think I think we're a little bigger than them

(02:07:30):
in most of the positions, so you know, using our
size to our advantage. But I think, you know, taking
good shots, sharing the ball and absolutely crashing the glass,
like make them foul us you know.

Speaker 1 (02:07:46):
Yeah, trouble, foul trouble could be a problem for Houston
and this if that happens right with their bigs.

Speaker 7 (02:07:51):
Right right, you know, put pressure on their bigs and
on the defensive end, keep them in front, you know,
be ready to help. You got to rebound, you know,
you got a rebound play without falin, you know, you know,
And that that's my take without knowing that the real
specifics of each group, like I really don't watch them
that that closely, but you know, just fundamentally, those are

(02:08:13):
the things that I think once you get to that level,
that stage, you know, if you're doing those things, you
have a great chance.

Speaker 1 (02:08:20):
Thomas Hill, former Duke guard's been on two National Championship
three Final four teams at Duke. Former NBA player second
round pick, also coaches and as director of basketball at St.
Andrew's Episcopal School in Austin, and we'll be in San
Antonio watching his Duke team play. Obviously, the calling card
for Houston is that they you know, they've got some
really good shooters, but they play defense and they get

(02:08:41):
on both ends of the glasses you were talking about.
So so my thing is if I said to you,
knowing that they can test every shot, this game's in
the sixties, who's it favor?

Speaker 4 (02:08:55):
Uh? You know, you do you think Duke can play
in a mutter?

Speaker 1 (02:08:59):
You know in one of those games it's ugly that
if you're missing shots getting on one of those ugly games.
And I'm sure they can, but that's where Houston lives.
So I said, if it's in the upper seventies, give
me the Duke's going to be They're tough. But if
this game's in where Houston usually lives, in the upper
fifties sixties, defensively, does it favor the Houston Cougars in

(02:09:19):
that one? A low scoring game? More in Houston's favor.

Speaker 7 (02:09:22):
Sure, sure, no, they you know, Houston is a great
defensive team. You know, I definitely watched watch over the year.
They get after defensively, I think to the deep their
pressure is to attack them, right, don't settle jump. So
you know, if you if you get in a situation
and then it's a low scoring game, if you're a duke,

(02:09:43):
you know, you got to really think about attacking them,
putting pressure on them, making them value to kind of
you know, you're getting easy shots, you're getting to the line,
that's how you're scoring. Uh, you know, you know, kind
of stay in that in that you know, low scoring,
you know, rain as far as you know, just just
being in the game, you know, and not not necessarily

(02:10:06):
sell them for Jonpotts.

Speaker 1 (02:10:08):
Yeah, passive aggressive wouldn't worry. So you want to attack
aggressive with aggressive and not let them set the temple
of the game. I know on offense they like to
play in the half court, meaning Houston. But the defensive,
you know you're going to get pressure, but you want
to take it to them right now instead of play
into their hands and slow it down.

Speaker 7 (02:10:24):
Yeah, I want to I would want to get into
bed get like they get big than Foulow. Just get
them in thout trow because they are aggressive defensively. You know,
I think an issue we could have is if we
hit a few shots, we get comfortable with that, we
want to continue to do that. So you know, I
think adjustments are going to be huge. You know who

(02:10:45):
makes the upper adjustments when things aren't going the way
you plan? Well, we'll definitely have a say in the game.

Speaker 1 (02:10:53):
Thomas, when did uh when did we become guard centric
that good guard play wins national titles? I mean, I
know it's nice to have a guy six nine guy
like Flag or back in the day when Al Sendor
was playing, or Bill Walt the UCLA, But when did
we transfer to where it's perimeter? I don't know if
it's just a three point shot, But why now when

(02:11:13):
we look at college basketball and you're a guard, why
do we why is it so guard centric now? Were
the big man's kind of secondary?

Speaker 7 (02:11:22):
Yeah, it's the influence of the European philosophy. But then
you know, there was probably a stretch in the early
two thousands that you know, you may not have had
a lot of quality big so you know you've got to,
you know, play with the best players and it turns
into you know, all of a sudden, if the Steph

(02:11:43):
Curry Clay Thompson are having kind of success they're having
at the highest level, everyone's trying to you know, So
you know, I don't necessarily buy into it. I think,
you know, you could have all the guards and three's
all you want. They still got a guard and you
can get them in pouch trouble if that's all they
want to do is shoot three. So you know, I

(02:12:04):
you know, it's part of EUSH. I think it's good
for some people. I don't think it's for all people
but all teams. But it is what it is.

Speaker 4 (02:12:13):
Thomas.

Speaker 1 (02:12:14):
I'll let you go on this before I get a
prediction from me, and who you think. I know Duke's
going to be played on Monday night as opposed to Saturday.
In a unique perspective, you played at a time when
the transfer you only transferred when you were hurt and
got beat out, or you know, back in the nineties
when people just didn't do it, you stayed around. Now
you're coaching and part of basketball for the high school kid,

(02:12:34):
So find me common ground. If you were in charge
of the NIL transfer portal, does it need fixed, and
how would you fix it?

Speaker 7 (02:12:44):
Well, I think it. I think the the system or
the ability to leave situations for the player is good.
To be honest with you, and I'm a coach, I
think the coaches have to do a better job of
evaluating who they're bringing into their programs. So you have
a lot of coaches that want the quick things because

(02:13:06):
the job's on the line or whatever that is, and
they're not really doing the due diligence on these kids
they're bringing in. So when they get there and the kid,
you know, he already has this track record of leaving places.
You know, Now he gets to a situation where he
thinks it be better but it's not, then he decides
to leave. Well, the coach, you've got to understand that
that's part of it. Like, can't cry about that. You

(02:13:29):
know that that's what you're branding. So I think it's
a two way street with it that the coaches have
to do a better job of evaluating and just understand
that I'm telling the kids that don't stay anywhere. So
whatever the characteristic come with that, you got to understand
that's what it is. Then on the play side, I
think it's great because you know, you can get in
a situation. You know, I'm a coach now and was

(02:13:52):
a Coaches don't tell the truth there's all the time, right,
so they get somewhere and you know the coach didn't
it was like it, so you know, but you know,
I'm not a you know, as a high school coach,
and it's happened at on my level where you know,
kids just they're not mentally tough to handle adversity, and
that that's a bigger issue.

Speaker 1 (02:14:12):
That's a yeah, we don't let him fail anymore, right, Thomas,
we we we don't let these kids fail and fight
their way through it. We want to save them from everything.

Speaker 7 (02:14:21):
Right, right, And that's that's a whole nother queue. But
you know, in the terms of college. But I think
it's great. You know, it's evolving system. So you know,
we're just in the early stages of it. Eventually it
will clean up, you know, eventually, but I think it
starts with the coaches and the adults in the situation
of making better decisions with certain kids.

Speaker 4 (02:14:44):
Yeah, it's a great point.

Speaker 1 (02:14:45):
Transfers three times, there may be a good chance you're
going to get a fourth transfer, So being be alert
for the guy you go after and recruit and then
bitch about if you see him leave your program. All right,
give me give me a prediction on Saturday. And then
who you I'm assuming you're taking your your due Blue Devils, who.

Speaker 4 (02:15:00):
You playing Monday?

Speaker 1 (02:15:02):
Who you're playing on Monday if you win this game,
so give me a score for this one, and who
you like to play on Monday.

Speaker 7 (02:15:07):
I'm saying, Duke, we'd beat Houston by ten on Saturday
and on Monday, it really doesn't matter. We win by ten.

Speaker 1 (02:15:17):
So you're double double digit wins on both and it
won't matter who you play on Monday because they basically
you're saying this, you get through this one, Monday's a
stone cold lock.

Speaker 4 (02:15:27):
That's how you feel.

Speaker 7 (02:15:29):
Well, it's not a lot, we have to earn it.
But I actually I think where you know, once we
get to the championship game with this group, you know
we're we're talented and of and I think John does
a great job of keeping them focused that you know,
you know we'll finish, and and and people don't really
understand coach. My coach is still behind the scenes.

Speaker 4 (02:15:51):
Oh you know, yeah he is.

Speaker 1 (02:15:53):
His imprint is still there and and really valid, isn't it?

Speaker 7 (02:15:56):
Coach k exactly. This is his time and I know
he's going to share things that others don't have, so
it will motivate our game.

Speaker 1 (02:16:04):
That's awesome, Thomas. I can't thank you enough for spending
time with us and good luck. Enjoy the visit to
San Antoni. I think we're in for one hell of
a Final four and I can't wait to see it.
And thanks for sharing some of the experiences in your
good insight.

Speaker 16 (02:16:16):
Man.

Speaker 4 (02:16:16):
Appreciate you, Appreciate you.

Speaker 7 (02:16:19):
Thanks Sean, thank you.

Speaker 1 (02:16:20):
That's great Thomas Hill. What a career he's had. Everywhere
he's been he wins, and but I like it. He
didn't just say it. Is it by ten? And both
got great confidence and team and enjoy it because you've
got two games of college basketball left with Cooper Flagg
before he's the first pick in the NBA draft. Regardless
of what they say about coming back. I don't see it.
You and I wouldn't encourage it, and I'm sure his

(02:16:40):
coach would say, dude, we'd love to have you, but
you got to go like his I like his his boldness.
I don't think anybody wins by ten in either one
of these games. I think it's a lot closer than that.
Does seem like we are in for an exciting Saturday. Yeah, wait,
hopefully that is the case. Going to have four good
teams trying to whittle it down the two. Dana Brown
gonna be joining us here in about ten minutes, as

(02:17:01):
we can squeeze back into the Astros conversation. If you
want someone three two one two five seven ninety We
continue here on the Sean Salisbury Show.

Speaker 6 (02:17:09):
Buckle up. The Sean Salisbury Show continues.

Speaker 10 (02:17:14):
It's gonna be a hell.

Speaker 3 (02:17:17):
See a couple of you want to get in on
the Astros conversation. Brandon here on the Seawan Salisbury Show.
What's up, Buddy?

Speaker 4 (02:17:27):
Branding?

Speaker 3 (02:17:27):
You there, Buddy? All right, we'll get to you a second.

Speaker 4 (02:17:33):
Buddy.

Speaker 3 (02:17:34):
Let's go to John on the Beltway here on the
Salisbury Show.

Speaker 4 (02:17:37):
John, what's up?

Speaker 18 (02:17:39):
Hey, good morning guys. I just had a quick question
about clubhouse leadership. I mean, I know it's it's too
early to hit the panic button, but without Korea or
Maldonado or Bregman in the clubhouse anymore, do we have
kind of a leader who can huddle every boy up

(02:18:00):
and say Hey, I know it's a slow start, but
things will be okay. I just I remember that kind
of being a little bit of an issue last year
where Bregman had kind of stepped up, but without him,
I mean, who's in charge in the clubhouse, who's telling
everybody it's okay?

Speaker 4 (02:18:19):
All right? Personally? John think that's a hell of a point.

Speaker 1 (02:18:23):
I always wonder, like during a course of a long season,
when the leadership part, how important it is on a
day to day basis. You don't want to micro manage leadership.
You want to be natural, right, and you don't want
to force some guy who's not a verbal guy. I
don't feel like Jordan's a big verbal guy. Al Tuovay's
presence in his good mood and happiness can be though

(02:18:45):
it's a west wait. I mean he can permeate through
a team. It's contagious though. Yeah, No, there's no doubt,
and that's okay. He's he's earned the right to do that,
and he's been in a league a long time, probably
had some players get into him at some point in
time as well, early in his career or even later
in his career. You can't have a sensitive team, which
I doubt this team has, but I do think it's valid.

(02:19:06):
Leader after leader after leader, and then it comes to
a point what you don't want. You want your team
to take on the personality of your manager, especially if
you're Texas Rangers. You want to trust that Bochi's got
it handled, or fran Cone in Cincinnati, or when Dusty
was here, or when aj Hinch and Detroit and when
he was here, and now Joe Spot in year two
and they've known him a while, so that you obviously

(02:19:27):
want that guy to lead right and buy into that
and that he is uh that you're that that that's
your guy. But I don't think you want your number
one leader to be the manager because they don't spend
all that time sitting in a clubhouse with these guys
that they want that to be their time.

Speaker 4 (02:19:44):
I don't know who it is.

Speaker 1 (02:19:45):
I think that we want to make it that there's
I think Victor Carrattini has the voice, that has the ear.
I don't know how verbal he is in the locker room.
I think that Christian Walker brings some of it, but
he's new, so how much of it does he you know,
if he's not an overly verbal guy, just lead by example,
is it? Is it al Tuva? Even though I don't
think he's that day to day guy, he's the day

(02:20:06):
to day guy that you just play off his energy.

Speaker 4 (02:20:08):
Is it paina year three stepping in there? Do you
want that? Do we focus on baseball? Who is it?

Speaker 1 (02:20:14):
And you know what, I don't think that there's a.

Speaker 4 (02:20:18):
A real legit.

Speaker 1 (02:20:19):
When I say legitimate, there's I don't think there's an
answer that says that's a no brainer. I think they're
I think they're searching for whoever it is. At least
from my vantage point, I'm just trying to figure a
lot of guys get caught up. I got to get
my game right before I can worry about everybody else's game.
And the truth of the matter is the great leader,
whoever it is, and they may have one right now,
we just don't know enough about it. Because Bregman was

(02:20:41):
he talked it and we've seen it in Korea the
same way, But is I'm not sure who it is?
And you can lead in different ways. But sometimes when
you're caught up in that, you're so caught up and
it you forget you got to take care of your
own day job. But in the same process that you
got to be able to get out of here, like
when you're over twelve, you still got to find joy

(02:21:02):
in your other guy's succeeding, right, That's part of the
team thing. So I actually don't know and I'm not sure,
And maybe Dana Brown has the answer. To go into
that clubhouse, who when you walk in is the guy
that is going to make sure that heads roll win
necessary and arms around him win necessary.

Speaker 4 (02:21:22):
I don't know who that is. You know what you
just did. That's a segue right there. There you go.
But that's why we got him coming on. He's the expert.

Speaker 3 (02:21:28):
Bingo Astro's general manager, Dana Brown. Next right here Sean
Salisbury Show.

Speaker 6 (02:21:34):
The Shawn Salisbury Show continues.

Speaker 1 (02:21:39):
As he does every Wednesday at nine thirty during the season. Offseason,
too long, man, we got you back? How you first off,
just how are you feeling about the overall of we'll
get to the games in the first five. How'd you
feel overall about spring training and the overall gets you
had to go get this off season including trade and
Kyle Tucker.

Speaker 11 (02:22:00):
H Yeah, I mean so spring training I thought, really well,
this year we came in with a lot of energy. Uh,
you know, the guys worked their tails off to get ready,
you know for this season. Uh, you know, Joe ran
a tight ship down there. Uh, you know, our coaches followed,
and so, you know, I felt like, you know, spring

(02:22:20):
training was you know, really really productive.

Speaker 8 (02:22:23):
Uh.

Speaker 11 (02:22:23):
You know, when it comes as it relates to the
off season, you know, we you know, we were focused
on building you know, for the future and also winning
in the present. And you know, so we made a
few moves in relation to that, and we feel really
good about those moves, and you know, we're excited about
the season.

Speaker 1 (02:22:42):
Hey, was there ever a time data this offseason that
you felt Bregman was going to be an Astro again?

Speaker 10 (02:22:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 11 (02:22:49):
I mean, look, these players, man, they play their careers
and they you know, it's their prerogative when they become
free agents, and you have to respect that. So you know,
I know, we you know, we we wanted to sign him.
Uh you know, I didn't get done, and you know,
we feel good about you know where we are today
with the updates and the you know, the changes we made.

Speaker 1 (02:23:14):
Dana Brown Astros GM each week and Wednesday at nine thirty.
Great to have him here. Two and three to start.
Dana and I know you you've always said, and it
seems to work that it's early and on the first
half of it's early, and it is only five games in.
But you know, fans and media, we want to know
why they're not hitting our wife runners in scoring positions.
So let's just say that this was what we were talking about.

(02:23:34):
Forty games in, what you've seen. Give me your overall
evaluation on the offensive side from your club right now.

Speaker 11 (02:23:43):
Yeah, I mean it's tough to get into the hypotheticals
forty games in, we're only five games in. But look,
make no mistake, this is a really good offense. I
think everyone knows that.

Speaker 7 (02:23:54):
And you know, look, we.

Speaker 11 (02:23:56):
Got some guys that are out of the gate a
little slow, but we're only five games in. But you
know we got all two boy and these roads going
the bat well. I think you know, the other guys
will come through. I think you know, we facing really
good arms early here. Uh you know, Hicks was electric
the other night. Uh you know, that was a tough one.

(02:24:16):
Holmes was really good at the gate too. McGill was tough,
Web was tough last night. So look, we're facing some
pretty good arms, right and this is what it's all
about early in the season. You know, sometimes these bats
start off slow. You're coming out of spring training and uh,
you know these guys are up to one hundred. Uh, well,
we'll get our timing right and things are going to
be all right.

Speaker 4 (02:24:37):
With some new changes.

Speaker 1 (02:24:38):
We'll get to Cam in the segment in right field,
Altuve and leftfield, but still got the bat corner infielders
different this year, but have a history of being some
pretty good players. So when you say these guys will
be fine and we're gonna we're gonna thrive offensively, and
a fan says how why, Well, well tell a fan
that doesn't know about the corner infielders or why you

(02:24:58):
think this offense will be explosive.

Speaker 11 (02:25:02):
Yeah, I mean you look at Walker at first base.
You know, go glove, really good bat. You know, average
is over twenty twenty to twenty five a year. I'm
not worried at it. I mean, I think this guy
is gonna be you know, Peretis is an All Star
at third base. You know, Uh, as I mentioned the

(02:25:24):
corner outfield our two days already hit, I think Cam
is gonna be uh, you know, a really good player
down the road. And it's a chance to be an
All Star at some point in his career. And so
you know, look where we're gonna be pretty good. We've
got ds behind the plate. You know, our middle is
strong with uh you know, you've got guys like pen

(02:25:45):
your up the middle. You've got all star, uh ex
all Star at second base and Rogers, look go go
Glove and Rogers. Uh look, we we we this is
a good team. And so I think five games, then
you're two and three and uh, you know you've got

(02:26:06):
you've got a good team that you've had good starting pitching,
got starting pitchers or you know, got a two eight
Ernie so far. And you know we've only had one
bad game in the bullpen. And so look this is early.
And so you guys you got me every Wednesday, and
I'm excited talk to the fans and you know, as
I always do, we'll talk through this the whole way.

(02:26:28):
But make no mistake, this is a really good team.

Speaker 6 (02:26:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:26:31):
And on the on the flip side, you mentioned pitching,
Dana Man, you got to be I know it's only
five games. You're not putting anybody in the Hall of Fame,
but you're getting some you know from or getting to seven,
Eric Getty getting to his depth and six and you know,
we was Nesky showed some stuff and we know that
Renewe Blanco's I mean, you start to looking hunter Brown
is going to be a frigging bulldog. This pitching staff

(02:26:55):
again is strength and then obviously figuring out the bullpen
as it rolls along. I mean, you've got to be
fairly ecstatic by what you've seen and especially the distance
that they're going for the most part here in the
first five games.

Speaker 11 (02:27:07):
Yeah, I'm very static. You know, wes Nesky last night
was up to ninety seven. You know, we got this
guy in the trade. I think he's gonna be pretty good.
He walked those two guys at the bottom of the order.
You know, he pitched to the top of the order
very well. He walked those two guys in the bottom
of the order, and you know that's just early jitters.
But look, ultimately, I think he's gonna be a really

(02:27:29):
good piece. We know what Brown and Valdez are. You know,
those two guys are pillars. You know, Raic Getty is
really coming into his own and and Blanco has been
the steady main piece. Like last year when we went
the wall of the struggles in the rotation. He was
the steady piece that held things together for us. So

(02:27:50):
this is a really good rotation and you know, as
far as the pen, you know, we're trying to iron
out some of the guys in the middle, but our
back end is really good, and so this is going
to be a fun team to watch. It's going to
be a fun team to watch him. So, you know,
with two and three right now, got a chance to
you know, be three and three tonight, get back to
five hundred and had to head on a road trip.

Speaker 1 (02:28:12):
Astro's gm daan a round every Wednesday here on Sports
Talk seven ninety Sean Salisbury Show at nine thirty. A
couple more minutes with Dana Uh, Well, are you with
Cam Smith? When did you know, truthfully that you said,
did this guy's a big league? When did you know
he was going to be on the big league roster?

Speaker 10 (02:28:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 11 (02:28:34):
You know, I scouted Cam last spring. You know, I
try to go out and see our first round pick,
and I kind of got a sneak pick, a sneak
peek on Cam and before last year's draft, I mean
I saw him in the ACC tournament. I thought he
was a pretty good player. Of course, he he was
going to go much higher than our pick. And so
it was one of those things where you saw him

(02:28:55):
and you were like, hey, this guy's pretty good. You'd
like to have him, but you know, he's going to
go high. And then this spring we brought we invited
him into camp and he came in, uh, you know,
like Gamebusters. I mean, this guy was really hit the
ball all over the place, looking pretty good at third base,
very athletic because of you know what he was doing
with the bat. He said, look, it'd be nice to

(02:29:16):
have this guy in our lineup. Let's put him in
right field because of his athleticism. He could run, he
can throw, he can hit, he's got power, and so
he's very easy to like. And uh, I think this
guy is going to have a really good career here.
I think the fans are going to love him. And look,
you know, he's having good at bats right now. He's

(02:29:36):
you know, he's got a couple of hits, but he's
having a really quality at pass. He's not afraid to
take his walk, and uh, you know, this guy's got
a chance to be a pretty good player. I think
the Astro fans are gonna be excited about him this
year and years to come up.

Speaker 1 (02:29:49):
Did did was he must in the peed with the
deal with Tucker? Did that have to happen For that
deal to happen, you had to have camp Smith in
that deal with you know, with Wesnsky and rate us
as well.

Speaker 10 (02:30:02):
Well.

Speaker 11 (02:30:02):
Look, we were locked in on a few guys and
you know Cam was part of those guys. And and
so you know, ultimately, if you can get this type
of return back from a trade, you know, you trade
one year of Tucker for fourteen years of control of
these players. I think you know, you want to be
competitive in the future and you want to continue to

(02:30:23):
win and in the present. And so that was the
thought process, and we feel like Cam's going to be
a big part of that.

Speaker 1 (02:30:29):
Will you, guys, you and Joe and the powers that be?
Will you, especially you, Dana. You're in the position with
this personnel to do this as well as Joe. Will
you let him Cam Smith? That is play through. If
there's prolonged slumps, allow him to work it out at
the big league level and just play right through it.

Speaker 11 (02:30:49):
Look, we don't expect him to fall into any type
of slumps. We really feel good about you know, his
approach at the plate. He takes close pitches you know
that are off the plate. You know, he's not really
much of a guy that chase you know, strikeouts to
be a part of the game. I think this guy
will really hit and get to some power. So hopefully
we don't see any long, prolonged, you know, hypothetical you know, slumps,

(02:31:15):
although we know that's part of the game, it can happen.
I think depending on what it looks like, if he
goes through a slump, you know, we'll make that decision
when we get there. But right now, we we anticipate
this guy to get hot and be a real, pretty
good force in this lineup. We we are going to
try to protect him some, you know, because we do

(02:31:36):
realize he's a rookie and he's young. But look, make
no mistake, we feel like this guy could be a
big piece and what we're doing this year.

Speaker 1 (02:31:44):
And Danny, he's mentally tough enough to handle the success
and the failures that go with this, right. I mean,
that's got to be that had to be part of
your process correct to bring him to the big league
level that he can handle that absolutely.

Speaker 11 (02:31:57):
I've been on record saying, I think he's got a
great combination of humility and confidence. And I've been around
a lot of young players, and you know, when you
look at this guy, he's he's a very humble guy,
but very confident and sure about his ability in the box.

(02:32:17):
And you know, has really developed well in less than
a month in right field. I mean think about he's
been there less than a month and and look, he
looks really athletic out there, and so this is what
the good young players look like. I think he's an
exciting piece that we have here in Houston. And so look,

(02:32:38):
we're hoping that he really turns the corner and be
what we think he could beat.

Speaker 1 (02:32:42):
Hey updates on mccullor's and Whitley where we are with
them and expectations.

Speaker 11 (02:32:49):
Yeah, so what you know, mccollors is going to throw
you know, this Saturday and Corpus and he's developed very well.
I went out to sugar Land on Sunday to watch
him throw. He was, you know, up to ninety four
and he looked pretty good. Two breaking balls. The delivery

(02:33:10):
was good, he was it was clean, he was very athletic,
and so he looked really really good. I mean as
you can imagine. This is really the first time I
was able to see him compete in the game since
I've been here, and so he looked really good. So,
you know, hats off to mccolors. He's worked his tailoff
and you know, he's in a good, good space right now,

(02:33:33):
and we hope he continues to develop and build up
and hopefully we'll get him back here at some point soon. Look,
in terms of Whitley, Whitley should be you know, back
somewhere between April fifteenth and April twentieth. You know he's
been up to ninety sixth and he's throwing the ball. Well,

(02:33:53):
we could use him in our bullpen right now, you know,
with him in ORC being sideline the spring train and
and you know those guys were uh, you know, slated
to be part of our middle middle relief corps. Uh
and they're both doing well right now.

Speaker 4 (02:34:10):
Well, we'll leave you with this.

Speaker 1 (02:34:11):
We were asked a question by one of our callers,
and I think we mulled this over because I know
how leadership matters to you, not not Joe, not you.
In that clubhouse when somebody walks in, there are the
team walks in and something needs to be said, whether
it's on the good style side or puts your arm
around somebody, you know, put a cleat in therear in
what guy on this roster is that guy?

Speaker 11 (02:34:34):
Look, I think we still have really good leadership down
there in our clubhouse. You know, you take a guy
like how Tuvey, who's been a pillar here in this organization.
I think he's more of a quiet leader, but I
think you know, he's not afraid to, you know, pull
a player aside and talk to any of these players.
He has great relationships with these guys, and and that's

(02:34:56):
a big part of what we're doing. You Know, we
got Walker, He's been in the big leagues for a while.
He's got really good pedigree. He's played on some really
good ball clubs in Arizona. Uh, he's got really good
leadership skills. I think Penia is developing into his own.
You know, he's he's got some pretty good leader skills.
Took the leadership skills. You know, you got the Dubond

(02:35:18):
who's like a utility player. You know, sometimes you don't
always have uh leadership from you know, your guys that
are stars. Sometimes it's your utility guys that could fill
multiple roles and he can play a lot of positions.

Speaker 10 (02:35:32):
You know.

Speaker 11 (02:35:32):
Uh, you know he's got he's got some leadership skills.
And you know, we got Tarantini who's played on some
really good teams. So look, we got some guys.

Speaker 4 (02:35:40):
It's a group of guys, right yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 11 (02:35:44):
A good group of guys that have playoff pedigree and uh,
these guys have some leadership skills and so uh we're
not void of leadership. I promise you that.

Speaker 4 (02:35:53):
In twenty seconds. How many games are we going to
see l TV?

Speaker 11 (02:35:56):
Is he?

Speaker 4 (02:35:57):
Is he the left fielder? And are you pleased so far?

Speaker 11 (02:36:02):
Yes, very pleased with all Tuesday and left He is
gonna steal place. Uh, gonna play some games at second
base because we're trying to, you know, just get a
little bit more flexibility in our lineup to get more offense.
But very pleased at what he's been doing, uh running
down balls in the gap.

Speaker 10 (02:36:20):
Uh.

Speaker 11 (02:36:20):
You know, he's taken to this very well, and so
uh he's excited about it. I've said early on that
you know, he's been like a little kid out there
and he's loving it. It's for some joy, uh, you know,
to to him on the field and and uh, you know,
he's also getting the opportunity to play second. If we
can we can get some bats in our lineup, we'll

(02:36:40):
give him some days that the d H spot. And
so just to make sure that you know, we we
it's a long season, so we want to make sure
that we give guys proper rests and we're going to
be strong all the way down the stretch. But uh,
you know, Al Tuvey has been really good and left
and I would assume that he's going to continue to

(02:37:01):
grow and get better.

Speaker 4 (02:37:03):
Great to be with you. It's been too long.

Speaker 1 (02:37:05):
Look forward to our Wednesday visits and uh look forward
to these bats erupt and we appreciate you.

Speaker 4 (02:37:09):
We'll talk to you next Wednesday. My friend.

Speaker 11 (02:37:12):
Absolutely, Hey astro fans, I'm back and I'm looking forward
to a successful season.

Speaker 4 (02:37:17):
Uh, let's get going there you go, it's Dana Brown.

Speaker 1 (02:37:19):
We'll come back and finish it up real quick and
discuss and this is we got some stuff to discuss
all week with this Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 3 (02:37:27):
And the Sewn Salsbury Show continued on track for maybe
a may return.

Speaker 1 (02:37:34):
Yeah, I'm anxious to see how that turns out because
they could use depth in that bullpen by both of
those arms.

Speaker 4 (02:37:40):
Absolutely, it'd be nice.

Speaker 1 (02:37:41):
Yeah, and then you don't not taxed to the way
the starting pitching is going. It's been a pretty good
start for them, even better than pretty good. It's just
it gets clouded because the offense hasn't produced. And I
fully expect it to get better, but it would be
better sooner than later.

Speaker 3 (02:37:55):
Today'd be a good time to start. Absolutely well. Today
was a good one all the way around. Appreciate Clint Hurdle,
Thomas Hill, and also Dana Brown for joining us. Hey,
Sean Tripoli, Emanuel Elmore, Dan Matthews. We'll talk to you
in twenty hours right here Sports Talk seven ninety