January 5, 2026 • 48 mins
Bumper to Bumper with Dan Barreiro!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is You're the inevitability of it all. Leader fan
Fan Radio Network, did you see the game?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And k fan dot Com two minutes eleven seconds past
three o'clock Central Standard time, Welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
It is a Monday edition of the Bumper to Bumper Program.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I probably should have tested my voice still a little
gravelly coming out of whatever crud that I, like a
lot of other people have been battling. But I did
hit some interesting notes I think on that open guardzy
is Brett Blakemore tells me in ann Arbor, Michigan tracking
gold to go for women's basketball. That means Blake Moore
is back in that share and will be until is
(00:41):
it officially six thirty tonight or is it six fifteen?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Do we know? Have we ever determined? Viking season? We
know is over? Is there any vikings rewind? I've got
a full tour, so it is a.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Full tour between now and six thirty, and we have
a lot of a lot of ground to cover as
well between now and the bottom of the six o'clock
bratsch on Brian Cafe in text line will be rebooted
shortly six four, six, eight six, and the guest lineup
I think now is well, it's not totally established because
I have not gotten I don't think I've gotten a
(01:14):
text back officially from Kessler. There will be some bonus
pat Kesler today. I proposed to him five point thirty.
As soon as he is able to confirm, we'll pass
that along to the audience. We do know that Johnny
Athletic is confirmed for the bottom of this hour and
Nacho Lieber is scheduled for four forty seven. What time's
(01:35):
Adam Thielen on? How about theling big catch with the
for the Pittsburgh Steelers from a ride they are advancing.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
He said he wanted to go to a contender. There
they go. There's no arguing with it. One of their
touchdown drives.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
He had a true he had I think the key
catch in on that particular drive. So he lives to
tell about it. After leaving the now dead and buried
sort of Vikings as well, we are going with the
Usually we do Vikings talking points the day after a game,
given the circumstances of the game, the relative meaninglessness of
(02:11):
the game, and my ongoing desire to make life easy
on Brett blakemore in that substitution, share guess what we did.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Guess what we did.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Viking's talking point, There's only one that interests me, quite frankly,
and I'm not going to lie to you, boys and girls.
It's bugging me. It's probably bugging me more than it should,
but it's bugging me. I every time I watch this
particular play, I break out in hives.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I can't fathom exactly why the behavior exhibited on this
play was, but we'll discuss it, and that will be
the single Vikings talking point for today's broadcast. I mentioned
the inevitability of it all. It's always dangerous to attempt
(03:10):
to link a toy department story with an A Section story,
and yet in that sense, the sense of inevitability, I
think they are fair in that way only.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
To link.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
By that, I mean, as we talked in some depth
yesterday on the program on Sermons, I think the Vikings
ultimate delicate condition outside looking in.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
The playoffs.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Was pretty close to inevitable the moment they made the
decision to hand the keys over to this expensive and
ambitious operation. To JJ McCarthy, you can defend it. They
wouldn't be the first team to do it. But as
we've said many times, over the last six months. Generally,
(04:08):
when you turn your team over to the kid quarterback
that you've coveted and is highly drafted, highly thought of,
highly tooted, it's a team that's been struggling for a
number of years, and so there's almost a built in
understanding that, well, this is going to take time, there's
going to be some ups, it's going to be the
inevitable downs, and we're in for the ride. The dilemma
(04:33):
for the Vikings was their record last year fourteen and three.
By doing that, and then by also then being as
ambitious as they did in the offseason in free agency,
they certainly led to the notion that this team thinks
they're good and they should do something quick like right now,
(04:54):
that they should make amends for finishing as badly as
they did at the end of the regular season, lose
that number one seed and then getting killed the next week.
I think we get killed both weeks actually, by the
Lions and then the Rams. And again, I'm not sure
it's fair to expect any quarterback, even ones more highly
(05:15):
touted than JJ McCarthy, to walk in take the keys
to a playoff team and be able to maintain that
or even build on it. So I know, as much
as people want to get excited about the fact that
ultimately we finished allegedly a half game out of a playoff, Burt,
there was an inevitability that this team was not really
(05:41):
giving itself a chance to succeed. It had every right
to make the decision it made to say we're done
waiting it out or putting off the inevitable moment where
we're going to fashion our own franchise quarterback and build
them and have them here for ten years. Every right
to do it, but I think they had no right to, really,
(06:03):
once you get past their hubris to expect that they
could be any better than they were, and let's face it,
they were not. They were in middle of the road,
a football team worse than that until the winning streak
with which they finished the season against largely meaningless competition, or,
in the case of your Green Bay Packers, a team
that made it very clear they had only one interest
(06:25):
getting out alive from the people stadium.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
That I think.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Makes this outcome sitting in the sidelines for wild card
weekend and the playoffs pretty close to inevitable.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Similarly, I think it was inevitable.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
That the governor of the Great State of Minnesota was
going to step aside. I said, at least I want
to say, three weeks ago, maybe four weeks, five weeks.
I didn't exactly call for his head, but I said,
I think he if he's got any decency, he just
he gives up the ghost. He moves on, because the
(07:06):
almost every time he spoke, he sounded way too defensive,
tried to hide behind the well. Joe Thompson says in
the Billions is we don't we don't know that yet, which,
of course, as a couple of people I think have
written out d pieces for the star to beut and
even in fact, I think a couple of lefties have said,
(07:28):
you're kind of missing the forest for the trees.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
If that's going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
The hill you try to die on, the pork chop
hill you try to die on. That was not quite
that much, and so I felt it was inevitable that
sooner or later he would step aside. Now what's interesting
is the timing, because given I spent I did. I
(08:00):
had a nice little bit on what's called News Nation.
It's another cable news outlet that I don't know how
it's doing in the ratings.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I like several of its shows.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I think they try to do a good job, at
least in theory, to be a little less strident politically.
And I was talking to the host about the weird
position I think Republicans are in right now.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
They're taking a victory lab. They're saying we got them.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
He's out, we got we got govern our Walls and
of course they use some other nicknames.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I'm not interested in giving the time of day two,
but it falls into the classification of is this if
you're thinking politically, is.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
This the outcome you wanted? Because this is early enough
that a race that looked, at least in theory winnable
could become loser proof for the Democrats in a way
that it wouldn't as long as the governor was named W. A. L.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Z wallt A lot of rumors already.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
We'll get to this with Kessler at five point thirty,
that Amy Klobashar is going to step in. It's logical.
You can make this, you know, you can make the
argument that she's done what she's done much as she
can do as a US senator. Now again, you got
that's prime real estate.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Man.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
She's got a nice fiefdom as US senator from the
state of Minnesota, and she wasn't going to lose there
get used to that.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But maybe she said to herself, maybe a change wouldn't
be a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
She can come to the rescue. It's not her mess.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And quite frankly, with this announcement, the Republican's chances of
a victory lap election day, I think is dramatically reduced
if indeed she ends up stepping up to the plate
as expected. But again there's I think an inevitability. Now
(10:32):
he not surprisingly tried to play the martyr card, which
he's done before. You know that I don't I don't
want to spend her I can't spend all my time,
you know, defending myself politically. It's it's not even a
matter of defending yourself politically. That sounds like you're, in
(10:53):
a sense trying to be selfless here. Well, you're vulnerable,
you're for a reason, you administration.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You have presided over.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
One of the worst sets of scandals to beset any state.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Ever.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
This isn't just money wasted as usual, money stolen as usual,
and there's plenty of that.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
This clearly goes well beyond that.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
It's breathtaking in its scope, and this administration was way
too defensive too early, never really attempted to hold anybody accountable.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
There's all.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
We've quoted a number of independent sorts auditor types who
have gone to the state Capitol and said had been
warning for a long time, our message of mismanagement and
lack of accountability and follow up is being dismissed. And frankly,
(11:56):
some of that dismissal came from members of this administration.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So I don't know that I had a date in mind.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
There was a part of me that said, well, he
might be feisty enough to say, I'm not gonna let
the terrorists win.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I'm gonna just go. I'm gonna keep going and keep going, and.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I'm gonna go after this thing because I started to
do so, and I'm gonna finish it. But ultimately, I
think it was probably inevitable as well that either somebody
was going to get to him or ultimately he was
going to get to himself and say this is gonna
keep going. It's not gonna go away. Despite the distance
between now an election day, this isn't gonna go away.
(12:33):
It's gonna keep coming out in drips and drabs, and
I'm going to be continually having to answer questions about it.
So maybe that's the sub theme of today's program, the
inevitability of it all. There may be a number of
other examples that apply to Johnny Athletic. As I said
in about fifteen minutes, is it inevitable, for example, that
(12:54):
the Minnesota Timberwolves will drive you insane to the good
but the insane part to the bat that they will,
four weeks at a time, seem to play down to competition,
(13:15):
seemed to be non competitive, seemed to be not disinterested,
as Rudy gobert Is said forget us, and then other times,
most recently where they say, okay, let's get serious, and
they've gotten serious the last two games and played in
the authoritative fashion that we like to think we associate
with this club as well. So inevitability might be a big,
(13:35):
as I said, topic throughout today's program, Bradshawn, Brian Kfe
and text line is open at six four, six, eight six.
We will also get to the one Viking talking point
as well.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Stick never missed your chance to know what the latest
sports news is. Your chance is to win tickets and
knowing what's going on with all your favorite CAFN shows.
Because you can follow KFN one zero zero three on
all of our social channels like Instagram, TikTok, and x
(14:07):
they connected fall the sports Leader kfan.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Let's get to the only Vikings talking point I think
worthy of examination after a meaningless game that wrapped up
the twenty twenty five slash twenty six National Football League
regular season for your Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
First down for the Vikings, first and ten from the
twenty nine McCarthy play action. He's able to get away
from Johnson and he runs right. Then he stiff arms
a packer at the thirty, runs to the twenty five
and he and Keishawn Nixon have some words by the
sideline and a black comes in as JJ McCarthy had
to be restrained by one of his teammates, Jordan Addison.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Five yard game for.
Speaker 7 (14:55):
McCarthy, Paul, you know, just run out of bouncey. You
don't know any of his garbage. Jonte offense number nine.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That's from the start, at the end of the run,
the down cowns second.
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Now yeah, I mean again, it's I understand that you
want to play and everything else, But everything that's going
on this year, especially with your infore me, you know,
four injuries that have caused you to miss time in
two seasons. Just run out of bounce like a pro,
be a professional about.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
It versus just one hundred percent right. I tell you what, man,
I'm watching that play and I'm thinking to myself, are
you twelve?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I know you're young, but are you twelve? Not the number?
I know he's nine?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Alter ego, But that's one of those plays to me,
leaving a side discretion being the greater form of valor
when it comes to, you know, not risking injury.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's one of.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Those plays where you say, how do you do that?
How do you in a season when at times you
have been either historically inept or unavailable that you think
(16:26):
you've already done enough that you're going to play that
macho role. It blew my mind. Then I said, well,
let me watch it again. Maybe you know, maybe I
need to see it more than once. And I got
angrier the more I saw it. How do you go there?
(16:51):
And I know there are people out there who are
just aroused by it and a right, guys, feisty, are
you kidding me? This isn't pop Warner football. You're supposed
to be a professional player, and I would suggest that
(17:13):
even though I never particularly like that level of taunting
which was at and the penalty was one hundred percent deserved,
that was easy. In fact, I would submit to you
that if officials could assign a thirty yard penalty that
went above and beyond the normal taunting penalty, J J.
McCarthy deserved it in that situation. I'm trying to figure
(17:38):
out why you think that is in your interest in
a season that, if nothing else, should have humbled you
and reminded you of just how far you have to go.
You didn't prove anything by it, like, oh, he's right, fearless,
(17:58):
nothing was gain by that nonsense. There's nothing mature about it. Maybe,
like I said, you have five years of brilliance at
the position at this level and then you go, screw it.
I can know whatever I want, and so every once
(18:19):
in a while, I'm gonna cross the line.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
What are you gonna do about it? Okay?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I get that. Then then I guess at that point
you sort of have to accept it. But nothing, nothing's
happened yet, and the text, predictably are coming in from
people who don't get it. They they think this shows
(18:46):
how special he is. The act of costing your team
fifteen yards. Now, albeit I'll grant you in a meaningless
Game nine mentality you wouldn't understand. You've never played the game.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
If you think you know I have done.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I've talked to a lot of professionals over forty years
in this business, and you know what impresses them. Coolness
under fire, leadership that says I'm going to make the
plays that need to be made, and the ability to
understand that the worst thing I can do as a
(19:35):
QB is cost my team fifteen yards needlessly. Forget the
you know the cliches that people mount, you know, offer.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Up about high and go to battle with him.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
They say what they feel like they have to say,
but what they want ain't no question what they want.
I mean, that was a That's one of those moments
where you're I think, if you have any self respect,
you're wincing. Oh God, this is the guy we want
to invest in in the future. This is the guy
(20:12):
we believe in. And here's another good example. Did you
ever have an have you? Did you ever have emotion
about anything? Emotion has nothing to do with it. That's
just a stupid play. Emotions great, but the idea is
(20:39):
to channel the emotions in a way that is advantageous.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
To your club.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Or maybe maybe here here's a thought, maybe you get
on with your career, have a body of work first.
This is even better here it is hold on, No,
(21:04):
that wasn't it. No where they're coming into fast now.
A lot of the uh mac bobo's are very upset
right now.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
On the front. Oh, you're just dan.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
This is from seven six three guy, You're just overly
salty because you have to talk about what a disaster
Walls is at some point today. Well, we already did.
Thanks for joining the show if you'd started from the
beginning seven to six three.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Guy, we've already talked about the governor, and we will again.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
By the way, congratulations to the President of the United States, who,
in the middle of what should be a good moment
for Republicans, finds a way to sully Matters by retweeting grotesque,
(21:58):
insanely made up, stupid rhetoric speculation on who is responsible
for the murder of Melissa Hortman MH. There's two kinds
of Trump derangement syndrome. There are one is nothing he
(22:23):
does can ever be effective or righteous. But there's another
kind of trump deranged st syndrome. It's my guy can
never do wrong?
Speaker 6 (22:35):
Might not?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
My guy can never step over a line. You're creating
these artificial lines as well, so keep let me know
which ones, which, which side of the t d s
you might be in on again, I on on the QB.
I'm aware that there are a number of people aren't
(22:57):
as bothered by it as I am. My job is
to offer my opinion, and my gut reaction to that was, oh,
what a bad look.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
What a.
Speaker 8 (23:12):
To me?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
It's again the look of a child, a kid who
is not close to being ready to being the guy,
if he's ever going to be the guy in the
National Football League. It's just it's in it and again
in a meaningless game, in a season in which, even
after showing some measure of progress, he's going to finish
(23:36):
statistically as one of the worst quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
First year.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
It's just a first year, second year, but first time
he's played quarterbacks in the last twenty five years in
the National Football League as well. We'll see if Johnny
Athletic agrees, we'll get into some other stuff with him.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
He is scheduled next.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Don't forget Ben Lieber today Bonus Kessler at five thirty.
Speaker 8 (23:59):
Fine, now.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
All right, it is indeed time for Johnny Athletic. If
you have questions at the Bradshaw on Brian Cafe in
text line six four six eight six, where was I
trying to get to?
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Here it is.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
So it's interesting how things can break out via X.
Most recent example is a an exchange, an i'mgoing exchange.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
It appears.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Between Kevin Faulness and John Athletic, our next guest. We'll
say hi to Johnny. Johnny, how are you.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Very good? Dana? This is just a belated holiday gift
to you. Is my little exchange with Kavin here because
I do know that you enjoy it and I love it.
So I am here to raise everyone's spirits and get
a chuckle out of people. So you're welcome.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Thank you RBC Wealth Management as well for sponsoring this
fine spot.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
This fine spot.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So I send out as I often do, about fifteen
minutes before the program the lineup today, which noted that
you're on it, Nacho liber is on it, Kessler is
on it, and what Fallness tends to do if I
don't have what he classifies I guess as a hockey
guest is he uses. I don't know how to describe.
How would you describe the emoji? What's the name for
(25:32):
that emoji of Brett Blake? This is brilliant a monocle emoji,
a monica emoji, right, which I guess means I'm looking
looking for a hockey again.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I'm looking through my monocle and I'm not wanting anything. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
At that point, you respond with Wild twenty five wins
in forty three games, Wolves twenty three wins in thirty six.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Games, Falness.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Wild tied for second in the NHL after forty three games,
Wolves ninth in the NBA after thirty six games. Johnny,
that's because your league is filled with mediocrity, Falness. My
league doesn't have schedule losses, Johnny.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
No, your league has so many losses that they have
to count some of them differently than others. It's unbelievable.
It just goes on and on. It's so good.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I mean, you know, as our great friend God rest
his soul. Flips Sanders used to say, the truth cannot
be controversial. To set out fact after fact after fact,
and our our good friend Kevin Falness. In my opinion,
that's stepping in it a little bit. But that's all right,
you know, that's that's as you want to do.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Do you see the most recent reports update Falness?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Oh is there another one?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Yeah, he says fondness, Your league star players take games
off because they're sleepy. My league star players would play
through amputations.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Take that.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, this could go on well in the back.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
With another witty one. Right after we get done with
this segment, you're.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Going to have to perhaps you can.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Offer some sense of what's the word I'm looking for here,
restraint that I was unwilling or incapable depending on the day,
offer the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, JJ McCarthy.
I mentioned earlier that usually we have several Vikings talking points,
but given the insignificance of the game, we only had
(27:37):
one Vikings talking point. We've already played it, may play
it again later in the program, and it's the play
that ended with the starting quarterback, the guy who's supposed
to be the heart and soul and the head of
the Minnesota Vikings offense, uses a pretty effective stiff arm
defend off a would be defender third string defender, I
(28:00):
might add, then ends up out of bounds or another
shoulder shimmy or whatever our shoulder tackle applied to him,
and then gets into a taunting exhibition that was so
over the top that one of the officials on the
sidelines actually grabbed him, which I rarely have seen, almost
as if I think to protect himself from himself. I
(28:23):
find it embarrassing. I find it egregious. I find it
so dramatically immature that I'm not sure I.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Will ever look at JJ McCarthy the same.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Now, I'll grant on that last point that might be
a bit of an exaggeration, but I couldn't stand it.
I really didn't. It actually bugged me more than I
thought it would. Now, are you gonna be the voice
of reason or are you gonna pile on?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Let's see here, I understand what you're saying, because here's
what I kind of have settled on. Coming out of
that game area yesterday and watched all that unfold and
going into it, I was really pretty much in the
camp of, look, you've invested in this young quarterback. You
(29:13):
have to give him more time, no matter really what happens.
Barring some major injury in this game, you go into
next season with him as your starter and try to
find a quality veteran backup and then and see what
you have and get one more shot at it. I
will say that watching all of that play out in
(29:35):
the finale did give me a little bit more pause.
Now I don't think I'm quite to your end where
I won't look at him the same. Ever, Again, I
wasn't that offended by the taking penalty and things like that,
but certainly when you couple that little exchange with the
(29:57):
inaccuracy in the game, with the decision vision later in
the game to pull himself out, you know, because you
know he was having trouble gripping the ball, his hand
was hurting. I do think it it eroded my sense
of belief that he should be in the driver's seat
for the starting position next year. Now I do kind
(30:20):
of tend to think a little bit that maybe you
do look at all of your options and if you
can just get a better one, you do that and
you go forward. But I generally am a McCarthy believer.
I think that he deserves a little bit more time,
and I liked a lot what I saw, But but yeah,
there there were certain actions like that, and you know,
(30:41):
listening to Ben Leeber talk about how he viewed, you know,
McCarthy coming out of the game, that really struck me
as well. And so I just have a lot more
questions about him than I even had going into it,
and there were plenty of them.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Well, you know, that's that there's almost like three or
four different conversations all laid out in what you're discussing.
That all I think contribute to the overall view of
what do we do with McCarthy and what do we
make of what McCarthy did in this particular game. And
(31:14):
the injury part or pulling himself from the game is
an interesting one because I don't know how see, I'm
actually not as offended by that one as I am
by the nonsense and the sidelines, because deep down one
would assume that even if he does act like a child,
sometimes he has to know that his currency right now
(31:40):
that he has to take advantage of while he can
is playing, and he's got to know to that extent
he's already in double secret probation right four injuries in
missing as many games as he did, which tells me
that he had to know that leaving that game was
not going to serve him on any level. And does
(32:00):
that mean it's possible that he was just injured enough
that it wasn't going to make any sense for him
to try to throw football, You know what I'm saying.
That's the part that to me is counterintuitive, because he's
got to know that much that the last thing I
can do is get out of here.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Now.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
He tried to put it on the basis as you
know of well, this is a grown man decision where
the old nine would have done the old sleep it.
I just I'm gonna play through everything. And what he's
trying to say is, well, there's a time where being
that exercising that much bravado ends up hurting your own team.
If I literally can't either grip the ball or I
(32:37):
can't you know, even come close to making whatever plays
I might otherwise have made. That's why to me that
that almost feels like a separate conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Yeah, I agree with you, and I will say too, Dan,
that I definitely kind of aired a little bit more
on your side of that discussion coming out of the game,
because I do think that you can argue that, hey,
it's smart if your hand is all of a sudden
swelling up, or if it's if it's gotten to a
point where you know that you cannot make a throw
(33:09):
down the field, that if you try to hang in
there and then you throw a pick six or something
disastrous happened, that looks even worse on you. That said,
I really did take to heart what Lieber was saying
about him not being a big fan of it, because
I think Ben is an incredibly smart analyst, and I
(33:30):
also think that he talks to people within that locker
room as he kind of digests and formulates his own
views on what happens and what and what doesn't. And
so it feels to me like it may have been
more effective for JJ if he had stayed in there
and was taken out by Kevin O'Connell. Now maybe that
(33:53):
wouldn't have happened, or maybe it would have, But I
do think that liber you know, speaking the way that
he did as a former players, as someone with connections
in that locker room, resonated with me on a different level,
you know, on that subject.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Well, we have Lebron in an hour and I'll definitely
talk to about excited out here it live, you know,
to me, what's interesting about the the the taunting penalties.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I didn't get I didn't see anything.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
That indicated me other players were rallying around the QB
or that they were you know, they're going, ah cool,
you know, yeah, that's toughness, that's what we're looking for
from a quarterback. I didn't get that sense at all
after that play, did you.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
I did not either. I will say that just in
talking to his teammates over the course of the season,
I do think they generally like him. I think they
want to see him do well. I think that they
believe that his heart is in the right place, that
his motives are pure, all of those things. And I
(34:53):
have seen them rally around him when he makes a
big play, when he scores a touchdown, and they're happy
for him. They want they want good things for him.
But in that specific instance, no, I didn't see anything
like that. That said. I also, you know, while it
was clear that there was an extended conversation that was happening,
it did get broken up fairly quickly. On the sideline.
(35:16):
He was on the sideline, he was yapping. The referee
got in the middle of it and got him back.
I think Brian O'Neal came over and kind of you know,
tried to calm him down a little bit, and then
that was that, and then there was you know, then
there was a you know, the penalty and the announcement
and all of that. So it didn't really, I think,
have an extra long time for teammates to rush to
(35:37):
his aid or anything like that. But I also just, yeah,
I didn't see a rallying around him, and hey, we're
going to protect our quarterback and and and and get
after our guy in that instance for sure.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
You know, we're chatting with Johnny Athletic some vikings stuff early.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
I have one more vikings question before.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I talked some wolf stuff with you, because I'm not
at a chance to catch up with you in a
while and I feel like a lot has happened there
as well. What's the vibe you're getting regarding Brian Flores?
Is it as simple as well, we're not gonna be
able to keep him if there's a head coaching vacancy
(36:15):
and he is, you know, uh, in demand. I mean
that's a promotion now that we do about that. Is
it as simple as that or do you think there's
any reason to believe even though we've heard good things
about good contract talks are going on, whatever, that there's
more to this story, or that there's a chance that
he might be ready to say, you know, I might
(36:38):
want to try to be, you know, a coordinator someplace else.
I mean, is there is there any chance of that
happening or is it as simple as head coach? Yeah,
we know he's gone, Otherwise there's no reason to think
he's not going to re sign here.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Yeah, I will say Dan for me in the way
that I've looked at it and talked to people about
it over the last several weeks. It has change changed
to me, though, the temperature of the water in a way,
And I'll say it in two ways. One is I
was sort of under the impression that, given Brian Flordes's
lawsuit against the league, and given how things ended in
(37:13):
Miami and the confrontational nature of that, that the chances
of him getting another head coaching job was very minimal,
just give with the way that how the owners operate.
That said, it does seem like there is a real
momentum toward a job with the Raiders, with Tom Brady
(37:33):
hiring him as a head coach, and maybe Brian Dabole
or someone like that as the offensive coordinator, And so
I think that is more real than than anything that
I expected to be discussed from a head coaching standpoint
at this point. The second part of it, though, to you,
I think what you're getting at here is there does
seem to be some sort of murmurings of discontent of
(37:58):
different of a budding of heads behind the scenes with
other people in the organization that there is some intrigue
about even if he didn't get the Raiders job or
another head coaching job, that there still is a real
possibility that Flores could leave for another defensive coordinator job.
(38:20):
I can't tell you the exact nature of the conflict
or of the you know, kind of drama behind the
scenes that way, but there is something going on that
does leave me to believe that it's at least that
is it is not a foregone conclusion that he would
(38:41):
stay here to be a coordinator, that he could leave
to go else, which I think would be a disaster
vikings and it would be a terrible look. But but yeah,
there is something going on there. Maybe maybe it's a
little bit of negotiating on Flora's part to try and
get every last bit of dollars that that are coming
his way. But there does seem to be some real
(39:03):
talk behind the scenes of you know what, it's not
all hunky dory behind the scenes with Brian Flores and
with this organization, and there are some other things that
they have to navigate before they could get a deal
done with him.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
What is more devastating the notion the prospect of the
Vikings losing b Flow or the Golden Golphers losing Coy Parrish. O, Man,
I think you have to say, Beflow, you're going a
lean bee Flow despite a very good first season, maybe
(39:36):
not so good a second season.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Yes, because I think that Cooy Parrish has made it
clear even from the first days that he came to
campus that he is just trying to get to the
NFL as quickly as possible, like and and you know,
this thought of the hometown boy staying with the Gophers
and doing all that, it wasn't that romantic for Parish.
And good for him if that's the way that he
(39:59):
wants to do it, and you want to maximize his
dollars and and you know, his his marketing and then
and then gets the NFL Okay, go for it. But Flores,
I think is you can argue is the MVP of
the team this year, like the entire team, right with
what he has done with the defense that is under
talented to what it performed on the field. I mean,
(40:23):
there's no Pro bowlers on that roster and he still
made it an absolutely elite defense down the stretch. And
I don't know that there are many coaches that can
do that with that collection of talent. So I think
Flores would be a greater loss, even though it would
be nice to have perish, and you know what he
(40:43):
represents on the Gophers, but they can recover a little
bit easier than the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
What I think, all right, let's get to the walls.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
And this may seem like ancient history given what they've
done the last couple of games, but I I want
to go back to it because I'm trying to understand
the meaning of it all and how it's viewed organizationally.
If if the Anthony Edwards decision to leave the court
is sort of viewed as well, that's at that's ant
(41:12):
being ant. We don't love it, but it's aunt being
ant or whether it's an alarm bell thing for them,
And beyond that, I'm trying to understand why I feel
like nationally there are players who would do that that
would receive it, would it would be a lot bigger
story than I felt like it was, which I don't
(41:34):
completely understand. Despite whatever Ant's history is, and it's a
good one largely in that regard.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
So what am I missing here?
Speaker 2 (41:42):
How do you read the tea leaves about what it
meant and whether the organization gave any thought to any
kind of discipline.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
Yeah, so I'll say, first of all, I am surprised
as well that it wasn't a bigger story nationally, especially
with a national media that is just thirsty for drama
like this is the kind of thing that they feed
on that they could say, well, look, Anthony Edwards has
discontent with the Wolves, maybe they got to look to
(42:11):
move him, and you know, you can get the trade
machine rolling and you can get all of that going.
And so we have seen, you know, similar since instances.
Draymond Green had one earlier this year with the Warriors,
and that was much more ballyhood and much more given
much more attention than this Anthony Edwards one was because
(42:31):
it was not a good look for Anthony Edwards, he
should not be doing that, and it's it goes against
everything that he has been as a teammate here in
his first five and a half seasons. Now, the reason
that I think maybe it was neutralized is because the
Wolves I think made it pretty clear that yes, they
(42:53):
had discover they had talks with Anthony Edwards about it,
but that they did not deem it to be necessary
for punishment or discipline, and they were addressing it and
moving on fairly quickly. Anthony Edwards, you know, they played
very well this weekend in Miami in Washington, and so
it makes it a little bit easier to downplay it.
(43:15):
But in that moment, I was certainly concerned about the
optics of it, and just talking to people within the Wolves.
They did address it with Anthony Edwards, but they didn't
think that it was anything more than real frustration in
that game, in that game alone, especially with it happening
in his hometown, in front of his family and in
(43:36):
front of a lot of people who only get to
see him live once a year, and so they looked
at it more as a one off. But yeah, the
optics of it, Dan, in the moment, I thought were
really bad, and we're not kind to the leader that
Anthony Edwards wants to be and has been for a
lot of his time.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
I mean, how ofesome, Maybe I'm you have a recency
biased thing here. How can you gave me the names
of other players who've done that?
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yeah, I mean it's it's definitely We've seen Draymond Green
do it. I think Damian Lillard did it one one time. Okay,
there's there. There's been a few others, certainly over the
course of years, but it definitely is not a common occurrence.
It's a it is a line that I think most
(44:25):
athletes understand should not be cropped. I mean, we think
back to when Randy Moss did it in Washington and
and and the the rankor that that kind of induced
internally and externally. Rightfully, so I think, you know, there's
there's certainly understandable ways to express your frustrations, but leaving
the bench in the middle of the game is definitely
(44:47):
one of those that is like an unwritten rule that
you do not do. And so we don't see it
that often. Uh, it has happened before, but uh, but yeah,
it's certainly not for a guy like Aunt who tries
to be someone that just lifts his teammates up and
doesn't want to be a distraction.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
And let's face it, I mean even still relatively tender age.
It's his team, you know what I mean? Everybody knows it.
It should be you know. That's what's odd to me
about it. Seven six y three guy wants us quickly
before we wrap up, to go back to what you
had to say about b flow. Here's the text. We
need more on this floor as discontent tease. Is there
(45:27):
more meat on that bone that you can provide us?
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Or yeah?
Speaker 3 (45:32):
I wish. I wish I could give like specific you know,
problems that are happening, and I don't have them. I
can't say it's like definitely a disconnect with O'Connell or
with Quasi or with you know, another coach on the staff,
or or something like that that I'm not I just
can't say because I don't have the specifics of it
(45:55):
nailed down enough to report it and say it with confidence.
What I can just say is that, yes, there have
been conversations around his situation, and just like I don't
know how I'll say the whispers that everything is not
completely right in that world, and it is more than
(46:16):
It's not just as simple that if Brian Flores does
not take a head coaching job, he's absolutely one hundred
percent sure going to lock down here with the Vikings.
There's just more to it, and certainly Alec and I
and others will be looking into that more. But yeah,
it's it's kind of been a talking point around the
team that's circulating for the last ten days or so.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
I think, thank you, Johnny, we'll let chat soon, all right,
Thanks Dan, appreciate you John athletic kind enough to join
us as he often does on a Monday. I don't
think a Viking was made available to us today. As
far as I know, Adam Feeling hasn't returned to her.
Speaker 7 (46:52):
Well.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
I hadn't really tried to call him, although that'd be
fun to have him on is. He's advancing as a
member of the Burgh Steelers and now one of the
favorite receiving targets for the former Packer great Aaron Rodgers. Interesting,
we have Lieber scheduled for about forty five or so
(47:15):
minutes from now. We've got bonus Pat Kessler at five
point thirty. In the wake of the news that broke
earlier today that the governor of the Great State of
Minnesota will not attempt it was not going to stay
in the race for a third term, so all of
that is on the table. There are a couple people
have asked us for more a section material involving one
(47:38):
of our favorite counter terror guests, Martin Michael Hurley, given
what's happening around the world and our decision to pluck
Maduro out of his country and the possibility that what
Greenland might be next, or Cuba, and we will attempt
to before this week is done satisfy all all of
(48:00):
those onlookers, those curiosity seekers wondering what Mike Hurley might
have to say on a number of those subjects, because
I'm rather curious myself.
Speaker 1 (48:08):
So it might have be today, But stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
We're back, and it's a long week, and now that
the Vikings are removed from further competition, there is all
kinds of time to get to all of it.
This is You're the inevitability of it all. Leader fan
Fan Radio Network, did you see the game?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And k fan dot Com two minutes eleven seconds past
three o'clock Central Standard time, Welcome back.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
It is a Monday edition of the Bumper to Bumper Program.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I probably should have tested my voice still a little
gravelly coming out of whatever crud that I, like a
lot of other people have been battling. But I did
hit some interesting notes I think on that open guardzy
is Brett Blakemore tells me in ann Arbor, Michigan tracking
gold to go for women's basketball. That means Blake Moore
is back in that share and will be until is
(00:41):
it officially six thirty tonight or is it six fifteen?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Do we know? Have we ever determined? Viking season? We
know is over? Is there any vikings rewind? I've got
a full tour, so it is a.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Full tour between now and six thirty, and we have
a lot of a lot of ground to cover as
well between now and the bottom of the six o'clock
bratsch on Brian Cafe in text line will be rebooted
shortly six four, six, eight six, and the guest lineup
I think now is well, it's not totally established because
I have not gotten I don't think I've gotten a
(01:14):
text back officially from Kessler. There will be some bonus
pat Kesler today. I proposed to him five point thirty.
As soon as he is able to confirm, we'll pass
that along to the audience. We do know that Johnny
Athletic is confirmed for the bottom of this hour and
Nacho Lieber is scheduled for four forty seven. What time's
(01:35):
Adam Thielen on? How about theling big catch with the
for the Pittsburgh Steelers from a ride they are advancing.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
He said he wanted to go to a contender. There
they go. There's no arguing with it. One of their
touchdown drives.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
He had a true he had I think the key
catch in on that particular drive. So he lives to
tell about it. After leaving the now dead and buried
sort of Vikings as well, we are going with the
Usually we do Vikings talking points the day after a game,
given the circumstances of the game, the relative meaninglessness of
(02:11):
the game, and my ongoing desire to make life easy
on Brett blakemore in that substitution, share guess what we did.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Guess what we did.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Viking's talking point, There's only one that interests me, quite frankly,
and I'm not going to lie to you, boys and girls.
It's bugging me. It's probably bugging me more than it should,
but it's bugging me. I every time I watch this
particular play, I break out in hives.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I can't fathom exactly why the behavior exhibited on this
play was, but we'll discuss it, and that will be
the single Vikings talking point for today's broadcast. I mentioned
the inevitability of it all. It's always dangerous to attempt
(03:10):
to link a toy department story with an A Section story,
and yet in that sense, the sense of inevitability, I
think they are fair in that way only.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
To link.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
By that, I mean, as we talked in some depth
yesterday on the program on Sermons, I think the Vikings
ultimate delicate condition outside looking in.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
The playoffs.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Was pretty close to inevitable the moment they made the
decision to hand the keys over to this expensive and
ambitious operation. To JJ McCarthy, you can defend it. They
wouldn't be the first team to do it. But as
we've said many times, over the last six months. Generally,
(04:08):
when you turn your team over to the kid quarterback
that you've coveted and is highly drafted, highly thought of,
highly tooted, it's a team that's been struggling for a
number of years, and so there's almost a built in
understanding that, well, this is going to take time, there's
going to be some ups, it's going to be the
inevitable downs, and we're in for the ride. The dilemma
(04:33):
for the Vikings was their record last year fourteen and three.
By doing that, and then by also then being as
ambitious as they did in the offseason in free agency,
they certainly led to the notion that this team thinks
they're good and they should do something quick like right now,
(04:54):
that they should make amends for finishing as badly as
they did at the end of the regular season, lose
that number one seed and then getting killed the next week.
I think we get killed both weeks actually, by the
Lions and then the Rams. And again, I'm not sure
it's fair to expect any quarterback, even ones more highly
(05:15):
touted than JJ McCarthy, to walk in take the keys
to a playoff team and be able to maintain that
or even build on it. So I know, as much
as people want to get excited about the fact that
ultimately we finished allegedly a half game out of a playoff, Burt,
there was an inevitability that this team was not really
(05:41):
giving itself a chance to succeed. It had every right
to make the decision it made to say we're done
waiting it out or putting off the inevitable moment where
we're going to fashion our own franchise quarterback and build
them and have them here for ten years. Every right
to do it, but I think they had no right to, really,
(06:03):
once you get past their hubris to expect that they
could be any better than they were, and let's face it,
they were not. They were in middle of the road,
a football team worse than that until the winning streak
with which they finished the season against largely meaningless competition, or,
in the case of your Green Bay Packers, a team
that made it very clear they had only one interest
(06:25):
getting out alive from the people stadium.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
That I think.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Makes this outcome sitting in the sidelines for wild card
weekend and the playoffs pretty close to inevitable.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Similarly, I think it was inevitable.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
That the governor of the Great State of Minnesota was
going to step aside. I said, at least I want
to say, three weeks ago, maybe four weeks, five weeks.
I didn't exactly call for his head, but I said,
I think he if he's got any decency, he just
he gives up the ghost. He moves on, because the
(07:06):
almost every time he spoke, he sounded way too defensive,
tried to hide behind the well. Joe Thompson says in
the Billions is we don't we don't know that yet, which,
of course, as a couple of people I think have
written out d pieces for the star to beut and
even in fact, I think a couple of lefties have said,
(07:28):
you're kind of missing the forest for the trees.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
If that's going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
The hill you try to die on, the pork chop
hill you try to die on. That was not quite
that much, and so I felt it was inevitable that
sooner or later he would step aside. Now what's interesting
is the timing, because given I spent I did. I
(08:00):
had a nice little bit on what's called News Nation.
It's another cable news outlet that I don't know how
it's doing in the ratings.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I like several of its shows.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I think they try to do a good job, at
least in theory, to be a little less strident politically.
And I was talking to the host about the weird
position I think Republicans are in right now.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
They're taking a victory lab. They're saying we got them.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
He's out, we got we got govern our Walls and
of course they use some other nicknames.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I'm not interested in giving the time of day two,
but it falls into the classification of is this if
you're thinking politically, is.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
This the outcome you wanted? Because this is early enough
that a race that looked, at least in theory winnable
could become loser proof for the Democrats in a way
that it wouldn't as long as the governor was named W. A. L.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Z wallt A lot of rumors already.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
We'll get to this with Kessler at five point thirty,
that Amy Klobashar is going to step in. It's logical.
You can make this, you know, you can make the
argument that she's done what she's done much as she
can do as a US senator. Now again, you got
that's prime real estate.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Man.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
She's got a nice fiefdom as US senator from the
state of Minnesota, and she wasn't going to lose there
get used to that.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But maybe she said to herself, maybe a change wouldn't
be a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
She can come to the rescue. It's not her mess.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And quite frankly, with this announcement, the Republican's chances of
a victory lap election day, I think is dramatically reduced
if indeed she ends up stepping up to the plate
as expected. But again there's I think an inevitability. Now
(10:32):
he not surprisingly tried to play the martyr card, which
he's done before. You know that I don't I don't
want to spend her I can't spend all my time,
you know, defending myself politically. It's it's not even a
matter of defending yourself politically. That sounds like you're, in
(10:53):
a sense trying to be selfless here. Well, you're vulnerable,
you're for a reason, you administration.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
You have presided over.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
One of the worst sets of scandals to beset any state.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Ever.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
This isn't just money wasted as usual, money stolen as usual,
and there's plenty of that.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
This clearly goes well beyond that.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
It's breathtaking in its scope, and this administration was way
too defensive too early, never really attempted to hold anybody accountable.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
There's all.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
We've quoted a number of independent sorts auditor types who
have gone to the state Capitol and said had been
warning for a long time, our message of mismanagement and
lack of accountability and follow up is being dismissed. And frankly,
(11:56):
some of that dismissal came from members of this administration.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
So I don't know that I had a date in mind.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
There was a part of me that said, well, he
might be feisty enough to say, I'm not gonna let
the terrorists win.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I'm gonna just go. I'm gonna keep going and keep going, and.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I'm gonna go after this thing because I started to
do so, and I'm gonna finish it. But ultimately, I
think it was probably inevitable as well that either somebody
was going to get to him or ultimately he was
going to get to himself and say this is gonna
keep going. It's not gonna go away. Despite the distance
between now an election day, this isn't gonna go away.
(12:33):
It's gonna keep coming out in drips and drabs, and
I'm going to be continually having to answer questions about it.
So maybe that's the sub theme of today's program, the
inevitability of it all. There may be a number of
other examples that apply to Johnny Athletic. As I said
in about fifteen minutes, is it inevitable, for example, that
(12:54):
the Minnesota Timberwolves will drive you insane to the good
but the insane part to the bat that they will,
four weeks at a time, seem to play down to competition,
(13:15):
seemed to be non competitive, seemed to be not disinterested,
as Rudy gobert Is said forget us, and then other times,
most recently where they say, okay, let's get serious, and
they've gotten serious the last two games and played in
the authoritative fashion that we like to think we associate
with this club as well. So inevitability might be a big,
(13:35):
as I said, topic throughout today's program, Bradshawn, Brian Kfe
and text line is open at six four, six, eight six.
We will also get to the one Viking talking point
as well.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Stick never missed your chance to know what the latest
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Because you can follow KFN one zero zero three on
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(14:07):
they connected fall the sports Leader kfan.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Let's get to the only Vikings talking point I think
worthy of examination after a meaningless game that wrapped up
the twenty twenty five slash twenty six National Football League
regular season for your Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
First down for the Vikings, first and ten from the
twenty nine McCarthy play action. He's able to get away
from Johnson and he runs right. Then he stiff arms
a packer at the thirty, runs to the twenty five
and he and Keishawn Nixon have some words by the
sideline and a black comes in as JJ McCarthy had
to be restrained by one of his teammates, Jordan Addison.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Five yard game for.
Speaker 7 (14:55):
McCarthy, Paul, you know, just run out of bouncey. You
don't know any of his garbage. Jonte offense number nine.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That's from the start, at the end of the run,
the down cowns second.
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Now yeah, I mean again, it's I understand that you
want to play and everything else, But everything that's going
on this year, especially with your infore me, you know,
four injuries that have caused you to miss time in
two seasons. Just run out of bounce like a pro,
be a professional about.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
It versus just one hundred percent right. I tell you what, man,
I'm watching that play and I'm thinking to myself, are
you twelve?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I know you're young, but are you twelve? Not the number?
I know he's nine?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Alter ego, But that's one of those plays to me,
leaving a side discretion being the greater form of valor
when it comes to, you know, not risking injury.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That's one of.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Those plays where you say, how do you do that?
How do you in a season when at times you
have been either historically inept or unavailable that you think
(16:26):
you've already done enough that you're going to play that
macho role. It blew my mind. Then I said, well,
let me watch it again. Maybe you know, maybe I
need to see it more than once. And I got
angrier the more I saw it. How do you go there?
(16:51):
And I know there are people out there who are
just aroused by it and a right, guys, feisty, are
you kidding me? This isn't pop Warner football. You're supposed
to be a professional player, and I would suggest that
(17:13):
even though I never particularly like that level of taunting
which was at and the penalty was one hundred percent deserved,
that was easy. In fact, I would submit to you
that if officials could assign a thirty yard penalty that
went above and beyond the normal taunting penalty, J J.
McCarthy deserved it in that situation. I'm trying to figure
(17:38):
out why you think that is in your interest in
a season that, if nothing else, should have humbled you
and reminded you of just how far you have to go.
You didn't prove anything by it, like, oh, he's right, fearless,
(17:58):
nothing was gain by that nonsense. There's nothing mature about it. Maybe,
like I said, you have five years of brilliance at
the position at this level and then you go, screw it.
I can know whatever I want, and so every once
(18:19):
in a while, I'm gonna cross the line.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
What are you gonna do about it? Okay?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I get that. Then then I guess at that point
you sort of have to accept it. But nothing, nothing's
happened yet, and the text, predictably are coming in from
people who don't get it. They they think this shows
(18:46):
how special he is. The act of costing your team
fifteen yards. Now, albeit I'll grant you in a meaningless
Game nine mentality you wouldn't understand. You've never played the game.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
If you think you know I have done.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I've talked to a lot of professionals over forty years
in this business, and you know what impresses them. Coolness
under fire, leadership that says I'm going to make the
plays that need to be made, and the ability to
understand that the worst thing I can do as a
(19:35):
QB is cost my team fifteen yards needlessly. Forget the
you know the cliches that people mount, you know, offer.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Up about high and go to battle with him.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
They say what they feel like they have to say,
but what they want ain't no question what they want.
I mean, that was a That's one of those moments
where you're I think, if you have any self respect,
you're wincing. Oh God, this is the guy we want
to invest in in the future. This is the guy
(20:12):
we believe in. And here's another good example. Did you
ever have an have you? Did you ever have emotion
about anything? Emotion has nothing to do with it. That's
just a stupid play. Emotions great, but the idea is
(20:39):
to channel the emotions in a way that is advantageous.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
To your club.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Or maybe maybe here here's a thought, maybe you get
on with your career, have a body of work first.
This is even better here it is hold on, No,
(21:04):
that wasn't it. No where they're coming into fast now.
A lot of the uh mac bobo's are very upset
right now.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
On the front. Oh, you're just dan.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
This is from seven six three guy, You're just overly
salty because you have to talk about what a disaster
Walls is at some point today. Well, we already did.
Thanks for joining the show if you'd started from the
beginning seven to six three.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Guy, we've already talked about the governor, and we will again.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
By the way, congratulations to the President of the United States, who,
in the middle of what should be a good moment
for Republicans, finds a way to sully Matters by retweeting grotesque,
(21:58):
insanely made up, stupid rhetoric speculation on who is responsible
for the murder of Melissa Hortman MH. There's two kinds
of Trump derangement syndrome. There are one is nothing he
(22:23):
does can ever be effective or righteous. But there's another
kind of trump deranged st syndrome. It's my guy can
never do wrong?
Speaker 6 (22:35):
Might not?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
My guy can never step over a line. You're creating
these artificial lines as well, so keep let me know
which ones, which, which side of the t d s
you might be in on again, I on on the QB.
I'm aware that there are a number of people aren't
(22:57):
as bothered by it as I am. My job is
to offer my opinion, and my gut reaction to that was, oh,
what a bad look.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
What a.
Speaker 8 (23:12):
To me?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
It's again the look of a child, a kid who
is not close to being ready to being the guy,
if he's ever going to be the guy in the
National Football League. It's just it's in it and again
in a meaningless game, in a season in which, even
after showing some measure of progress, he's going to finish
(23:36):
statistically as one of the worst quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
First year.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
It's just a first year, second year, but first time
he's played quarterbacks in the last twenty five years in
the National Football League as well. We'll see if Johnny
Athletic agrees, we'll get into some other stuff with him.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
He is scheduled next.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Don't forget Ben Lieber today Bonus Kessler at five thirty.
Speaker 8 (23:59):
Fine, now.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
All right, it is indeed time for Johnny Athletic. If
you have questions at the Bradshaw on Brian Cafe in
text line six four six eight six, where was I
trying to get to?
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Here it is.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
So it's interesting how things can break out via X.
Most recent example is a an exchange, an i'mgoing exchange.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
It appears.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Between Kevin Faulness and John Athletic, our next guest. We'll
say hi to Johnny. Johnny, how are you.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Very good? Dana? This is just a belated holiday gift
to you. Is my little exchange with Kavin here because
I do know that you enjoy it and I love it.
So I am here to raise everyone's spirits and get
a chuckle out of people. So you're welcome.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Thank you RBC Wealth Management as well for sponsoring this
fine spot.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
This fine spot.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
So I send out as I often do, about fifteen
minutes before the program the lineup today, which noted that
you're on it, Nacho liber is on it, Kessler is
on it, and what Fallness tends to do if I
don't have what he classifies I guess as a hockey
guest is he uses. I don't know how to describe.
How would you describe the emoji? What's the name for
(25:32):
that emoji of Brett Blake? This is brilliant a monocle emoji,
a monica emoji, right, which I guess means I'm looking
looking for a hockey again.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I'm looking through my monocle and I'm not wanting anything. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
At that point, you respond with Wild twenty five wins
in forty three games, Wolves twenty three wins in thirty six.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Games, Falness.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Wild tied for second in the NHL after forty three games,
Wolves ninth in the NBA after thirty six games. Johnny,
that's because your league is filled with mediocrity, Falness. My
league doesn't have schedule losses, Johnny.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
No, your league has so many losses that they have
to count some of them differently than others. It's unbelievable.
It just goes on and on. It's so good.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I mean, you know, as our great friend God rest
his soul. Flips Sanders used to say, the truth cannot
be controversial. To set out fact after fact after fact,
and our our good friend Kevin Falness. In my opinion,
that's stepping in it a little bit. But that's all right,
you know, that's that's as you want to do.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Do you see the most recent reports update Falness?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Oh is there another one?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Yeah, he says fondness, Your league star players take games
off because they're sleepy. My league star players would play
through amputations.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Take that.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, this could go on well in the back.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
With another witty one. Right after we get done with
this segment, you're.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Going to have to perhaps you can.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Offer some sense of what's the word I'm looking for here,
restraint that I was unwilling or incapable depending on the day,
offer the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, JJ McCarthy.
I mentioned earlier that usually we have several Vikings talking points,
but given the insignificance of the game, we only had
(27:37):
one Vikings talking point. We've already played it, may play
it again later in the program, and it's the play
that ended with the starting quarterback, the guy who's supposed
to be the heart and soul and the head of
the Minnesota Vikings offense, uses a pretty effective stiff arm
defend off a would be defender third string defender, I
(28:00):
might add, then ends up out of bounds or another
shoulder shimmy or whatever our shoulder tackle applied to him,
and then gets into a taunting exhibition that was so
over the top that one of the officials on the
sidelines actually grabbed him, which I rarely have seen, almost
as if I think to protect himself from himself. I
(28:23):
find it embarrassing. I find it egregious. I find it
so dramatically immature that I'm not sure I.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Will ever look at JJ McCarthy the same.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Now, I'll grant on that last point that might be
a bit of an exaggeration, but I couldn't stand it.
I really didn't. It actually bugged me more than I
thought it would. Now, are you gonna be the voice
of reason or are you gonna pile on?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Let's see here, I understand what you're saying, because here's
what I kind of have settled on. Coming out of
that game area yesterday and watched all that unfold and
going into it, I was really pretty much in the
camp of, look, you've invested in this young quarterback. You
(29:13):
have to give him more time, no matter really what happens.
Barring some major injury in this game, you go into
next season with him as your starter and try to
find a quality veteran backup and then and see what
you have and get one more shot at it. I
will say that watching all of that play out in
(29:35):
the finale did give me a little bit more pause.
Now I don't think I'm quite to your end where
I won't look at him the same. Ever, Again, I
wasn't that offended by the taking penalty and things like that,
but certainly when you couple that little exchange with the
(29:57):
inaccuracy in the game, with the decision vision later in
the game to pull himself out, you know, because you
know he was having trouble gripping the ball, his hand
was hurting. I do think it it eroded my sense
of belief that he should be in the driver's seat
for the starting position next year. Now I do kind
(30:20):
of tend to think a little bit that maybe you
do look at all of your options and if you
can just get a better one, you do that and
you go forward. But I generally am a McCarthy believer.
I think that he deserves a little bit more time,
and I liked a lot what I saw, But but yeah,
there there were certain actions like that, and you know,
(30:41):
listening to Ben Leeber talk about how he viewed, you know,
McCarthy coming out of the game, that really struck me
as well. And so I just have a lot more
questions about him than I even had going into it,
and there were plenty of them.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Well, you know, that's that there's almost like three or
four different conversations all laid out in what you're discussing.
That all I think contribute to the overall view of
what do we do with McCarthy and what do we
make of what McCarthy did in this particular game. And
(31:14):
the injury part or pulling himself from the game is
an interesting one because I don't know how see, I'm
actually not as offended by that one as I am
by the nonsense and the sidelines, because deep down one
would assume that even if he does act like a child,
sometimes he has to know that his currency right now
(31:40):
that he has to take advantage of while he can
is playing, and he's got to know to that extent
he's already in double secret probation right four injuries in
missing as many games as he did, which tells me
that he had to know that leaving that game was
not going to serve him on any level. And does
(32:00):
that mean it's possible that he was just injured enough
that it wasn't going to make any sense for him
to try to throw football, You know what I'm saying.
That's the part that to me is counterintuitive, because he's
got to know that much that the last thing I
can do is get out of here.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Now.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
He tried to put it on the basis as you
know of well, this is a grown man decision where
the old nine would have done the old sleep it.
I just I'm gonna play through everything. And what he's
trying to say is, well, there's a time where being
that exercising that much bravado ends up hurting your own team.
If I literally can't either grip the ball or I
(32:37):
can't you know, even come close to making whatever plays
I might otherwise have made. That's why to me that
that almost feels like a separate conversation.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Yeah, I agree with you, and I will say too, Dan,
that I definitely kind of aired a little bit more
on your side of that discussion coming out of the game,
because I do think that you can argue that, hey,
it's smart if your hand is all of a sudden
swelling up, or if it's if it's gotten to a
point where you know that you cannot make a throw
(33:09):
down the field, that if you try to hang in
there and then you throw a pick six or something
disastrous happened, that looks even worse on you. That said,
I really did take to heart what Lieber was saying
about him not being a big fan of it, because
I think Ben is an incredibly smart analyst, and I
(33:30):
also think that he talks to people within that locker
room as he kind of digests and formulates his own
views on what happens and what and what doesn't. And
so it feels to me like it may have been
more effective for JJ if he had stayed in there
and was taken out by Kevin O'Connell. Now maybe that
(33:53):
wouldn't have happened, or maybe it would have, But I
do think that liber you know, speaking the way that
he did as a former players, as someone with connections
in that locker room, resonated with me on a different level,
you know, on that subject.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Well, we have Lebron in an hour and I'll definitely
talk to about excited out here it live, you know,
to me, what's interesting about the the the taunting penalties.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I didn't get I didn't see anything.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
That indicated me other players were rallying around the QB
or that they were you know, they're going, ah cool,
you know, yeah, that's toughness, that's what we're looking for
from a quarterback. I didn't get that sense at all
after that play, did you.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
I did not either. I will say that just in
talking to his teammates over the course of the season,
I do think they generally like him. I think they
want to see him do well. I think that they
believe that his heart is in the right place, that
his motives are pure, all of those things. And I
(34:53):
have seen them rally around him when he makes a
big play, when he scores a touchdown, and they're happy
for him. They want they want good things for him.
But in that specific instance, no, I didn't see anything
like that. That said. I also, you know, while it
was clear that there was an extended conversation that was happening,
it did get broken up fairly quickly. On the sideline.
(35:16):
He was on the sideline, he was yapping. The referee
got in the middle of it and got him back.
I think Brian O'Neal came over and kind of you know,
tried to calm him down a little bit, and then
that was that, and then there was you know, then
there was a you know, the penalty and the announcement
and all of that. So it didn't really, I think,
have an extra long time for teammates to rush to
(35:37):
his aid or anything like that. But I also just, yeah,
I didn't see a rallying around him, and hey, we're
going to protect our quarterback and and and and get
after our guy in that instance for sure.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
You know, we're chatting with Johnny Athletic some vikings stuff early.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
I have one more vikings question before.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I talked some wolf stuff with you, because I'm not
at a chance to catch up with you in a
while and I feel like a lot has happened there
as well. What's the vibe you're getting regarding Brian Flores?
Is it as simple as well, we're not gonna be
able to keep him if there's a head coaching vacancy
(36:15):
and he is, you know, uh, in demand. I mean
that's a promotion now that we do about that. Is
it as simple as that or do you think there's
any reason to believe even though we've heard good things
about good contract talks are going on, whatever, that there's
more to this story, or that there's a chance that
he might be ready to say, you know, I might
(36:38):
want to try to be, you know, a coordinator someplace else.
I mean, is there is there any chance of that
happening or is it as simple as head coach? Yeah,
we know he's gone, Otherwise there's no reason to think
he's not going to re sign here.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
Yeah, I will say Dan for me in the way
that I've looked at it and talked to people about
it over the last several weeks. It has change changed
to me, though, the temperature of the water in a way,
And I'll say it in two ways. One is I
was sort of under the impression that, given Brian Flordes's
lawsuit against the league, and given how things ended in
(37:13):
Miami and the confrontational nature of that, that the chances
of him getting another head coaching job was very minimal,
just give with the way that how the owners operate.
That said, it does seem like there is a real
momentum toward a job with the Raiders, with Tom Brady
(37:33):
hiring him as a head coach, and maybe Brian Dabole
or someone like that as the offensive coordinator, And so
I think that is more real than than anything that
I expected to be discussed from a head coaching standpoint
at this point. The second part of it, though, to you,
I think what you're getting at here is there does
seem to be some sort of murmurings of discontent of
(37:58):
different of a budding of heads behind the scenes with
other people in the organization that there is some intrigue
about even if he didn't get the Raiders job or
another head coaching job, that there still is a real
possibility that Flores could leave for another defensive coordinator job.
(38:20):
I can't tell you the exact nature of the conflict
or of the you know, kind of drama behind the
scenes that way, but there is something going on that
does leave me to believe that it's at least that
is it is not a foregone conclusion that he would
(38:41):
stay here to be a coordinator, that he could leave
to go else, which I think would be a disaster
vikings and it would be a terrible look. But but yeah,
there is something going on there. Maybe maybe it's a
little bit of negotiating on Flora's part to try and
get every last bit of dollars that that are coming
his way. But there does seem to be some real
(39:03):
talk behind the scenes of you know what, it's not
all hunky dory behind the scenes with Brian Flores and
with this organization, and there are some other things that
they have to navigate before they could get a deal
done with him.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
What is more devastating the notion the prospect of the
Vikings losing b Flow or the Golden Golphers losing Coy Parrish. O, Man,
I think you have to say, Beflow, you're going a
lean bee Flow despite a very good first season, maybe
(39:36):
not so good a second season.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Yes, because I think that Cooy Parrish has made it
clear even from the first days that he came to
campus that he is just trying to get to the
NFL as quickly as possible, like and and you know,
this thought of the hometown boy staying with the Gophers
and doing all that, it wasn't that romantic for Parish.
And good for him if that's the way that he
(39:59):
wants to do it, and you want to maximize his
dollars and and you know, his his marketing and then
and then gets the NFL Okay, go for it. But Flores,
I think is you can argue is the MVP of
the team this year, like the entire team, right with
what he has done with the defense that is under
talented to what it performed on the field. I mean,
(40:23):
there's no Pro bowlers on that roster and he still
made it an absolutely elite defense down the stretch. And
I don't know that there are many coaches that can
do that with that collection of talent. So I think
Flores would be a greater loss, even though it would
be nice to have perish, and you know what he
(40:43):
represents on the Gophers, but they can recover a little
bit easier than the Vikings.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
What I think, all right, let's get to the walls.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
And this may seem like ancient history given what they've
done the last couple of games, but I I want
to go back to it because I'm trying to understand
the meaning of it all and how it's viewed organizationally.
If if the Anthony Edwards decision to leave the court
is sort of viewed as well, that's at that's ant
(41:12):
being ant. We don't love it, but it's aunt being
ant or whether it's an alarm bell thing for them,
And beyond that, I'm trying to understand why I feel
like nationally there are players who would do that that
would receive it, would it would be a lot bigger
story than I felt like it was, which I don't
(41:34):
completely understand. Despite whatever Ant's history is, and it's a
good one largely in that regard.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
So what am I missing here?
Speaker 2 (41:42):
How do you read the tea leaves about what it
meant and whether the organization gave any thought to any
kind of discipline.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
Yeah, so I'll say, first of all, I am surprised
as well that it wasn't a bigger story nationally, especially
with a national media that is just thirsty for drama
like this is the kind of thing that they feed
on that they could say, well, look, Anthony Edwards has
discontent with the Wolves, maybe they got to look to
(42:11):
move him, and you know, you can get the trade
machine rolling and you can get all of that going.
And so we have seen, you know, similar since instances.
Draymond Green had one earlier this year with the Warriors,
and that was much more ballyhood and much more given
much more attention than this Anthony Edwards one was because
(42:31):
it was not a good look for Anthony Edwards, he
should not be doing that, and it's it goes against
everything that he has been as a teammate here in
his first five and a half seasons. Now, the reason
that I think maybe it was neutralized is because the
Wolves I think made it pretty clear that yes, they
(42:53):
had discover they had talks with Anthony Edwards about it,
but that they did not deem it to be necessary
for punishment or discipline, and they were addressing it and
moving on fairly quickly. Anthony Edwards, you know, they played
very well this weekend in Miami in Washington, and so
it makes it a little bit easier to downplay it.
(43:15):
But in that moment, I was certainly concerned about the
optics of it, and just talking to people within the Wolves.
They did address it with Anthony Edwards, but they didn't
think that it was anything more than real frustration in
that game, in that game alone, especially with it happening
in his hometown, in front of his family and in
(43:36):
front of a lot of people who only get to
see him live once a year, and so they looked
at it more as a one off. But yeah, the
optics of it, Dan, in the moment, I thought were
really bad, and we're not kind to the leader that
Anthony Edwards wants to be and has been for a
lot of his time.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
I mean, how ofesome, Maybe I'm you have a recency
biased thing here. How can you gave me the names
of other players who've done that?
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yeah, I mean it's it's definitely We've seen Draymond Green
do it. I think Damian Lillard did it one one time. Okay,
there's there. There's been a few others, certainly over the
course of years, but it definitely is not a common occurrence.
It's a it is a line that I think most
(44:25):
athletes understand should not be cropped. I mean, we think
back to when Randy Moss did it in Washington and
and and the the rankor that that kind of induced
internally and externally. Rightfully, so I think, you know, there's
there's certainly understandable ways to express your frustrations, but leaving
the bench in the middle of the game is definitely
(44:47):
one of those that is like an unwritten rule that
you do not do. And so we don't see it
that often. Uh, it has happened before, but uh, but yeah,
it's certainly not for a guy like Aunt who tries
to be someone that just lifts his teammates up and
doesn't want to be a distraction.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
And let's face it, I mean even still relatively tender age.
It's his team, you know what I mean? Everybody knows it.
It should be you know. That's what's odd to me
about it. Seven six y three guy wants us quickly
before we wrap up, to go back to what you
had to say about b flow. Here's the text. We
need more on this floor as discontent tease. Is there
(45:27):
more meat on that bone that you can provide us?
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Or yeah?
Speaker 3 (45:32):
I wish. I wish I could give like specific you know,
problems that are happening, and I don't have them. I
can't say it's like definitely a disconnect with O'Connell or
with Quasi or with you know, another coach on the staff,
or or something like that that I'm not I just
can't say because I don't have the specifics of it
(45:55):
nailed down enough to report it and say it with confidence.
What I can just say is that, yes, there have
been conversations around his situation, and just like I don't
know how I'll say the whispers that everything is not
completely right in that world, and it is more than
(46:16):
It's not just as simple that if Brian Flores does
not take a head coaching job, he's absolutely one hundred
percent sure going to lock down here with the Vikings.
There's just more to it, and certainly Alec and I
and others will be looking into that more. But yeah,
it's it's kind of been a talking point around the
team that's circulating for the last ten days or so.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
I think, thank you, Johnny, we'll let chat soon, all right,
Thanks Dan, appreciate you John athletic kind enough to join
us as he often does on a Monday. I don't
think a Viking was made available to us today. As
far as I know, Adam Feeling hasn't returned to her.
Speaker 7 (46:52):
Well.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
I hadn't really tried to call him, although that'd be
fun to have him on is. He's advancing as a
member of the Burgh Steelers and now one of the
favorite receiving targets for the former Packer great Aaron Rodgers. Interesting,
we have Lieber scheduled for about forty five or so
(47:15):
minutes from now. We've got bonus Pat Kessler at five
point thirty. In the wake of the news that broke
earlier today that the governor of the Great State of
Minnesota will not attempt it was not going to stay
in the race for a third term, so all of
that is on the table. There are a couple people
have asked us for more a section material involving one
(47:38):
of our favorite counter terror guests, Martin Michael Hurley, given
what's happening around the world and our decision to pluck
Maduro out of his country and the possibility that what
Greenland might be next, or Cuba, and we will attempt
to before this week is done satisfy all all of
(48:00):
those onlookers, those curiosity seekers wondering what Mike Hurley might
have to say on a number of those subjects, because
I'm rather curious myself.
Speaker 1 (48:08):
So it might have be today, But stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
We're back, and it's a long week, and now that
the Vikings are removed from further competition, there is all
kinds of time to get to all of it.
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