September 9, 2024 • 40 mins
Roggin and Rodney talk about the Dodgers latest injuries, the problem with pitching today, USC moving up and the Chargers beat the Raiders.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
All right, let's go to work.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Friend Rogan Rodney peat on five seventy LA Sports, Happy
Monday to you.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's hot, huh Rodney, Yeah, boil it. They said record yesterday, right, yep.
Everybody's talking about the heat. Listen, stay hydrated, stay inside
if you have to. That's it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Last week we talked about heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
And I got an email from one of our listeners,
one of our drivers and delivery people, and they said,
I am so hydrated.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You cannot imagine.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Plenty of water if you're working outside, play of water,
Wear a hat, stay directly out of the sun if
you can.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And even if you don't think about it, and you
don't think, yeah, I'm not thirsty. I just drank something.
You just got to keep forcing yourself to drink. You
really do in this situation, because it's it can come
up on you at any time and all of a sudden,
you don't think you need any water or hydrate and
you pass out, you get woozy. You don't want that
to happen. So the drivers are absolutely right. They know better,
(01:03):
right because they're out there on the road. Yeah, they
are all right.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So let's get started. Dodgers wrap things up with the
Guardians over the weekend. Tiaska Hernand's got hit on the foot.
There was some thought that he might have to go
to the injured list. He's not on the injured list
and that's the good news. So he may be back
in action tonight. It just depends how that foot is.
They took. They took X rays and stuff and negative,
(01:28):
Thank god, because that's one guy you don't want going
on the injured list.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
No, no, no, no, no. As hot as he's been,
inconsistent as he's been all season long, thread, he's definitely
a guy that you don't want him to miss anytime.
Now it's too late. It's too late for him to
miss anytime because there's not enough time to kind of
get your rhythm back if you're off for a week
or two. So we need him to be ready to go.
So it's good that he didn't go on the injured list.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's good and maybe he can pitch because Gavin Stone
won on the injured list. By the way, Jack Flirty
dominated jef ad A good job, yeah, great job yesterday
for Flerty.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
What a terrific what a pickup. At the end of
the day, right eleventh hour pickup. He was a guy. Yeah,
his name was out, but not really like, Okay, this
is this guy we're going to get, going to get Flarerity,
go next thing. You know, you got Flarity, and it's like, whoa,
we got Jack Flarity. That's a good deal. It was
kind of like when you talked about Trey Turner when
(02:23):
everybody was you know, was talking about Surezer and oh
we got we got Max Shirks, we got and you
you kept saying, well, oh, the guy in that deal
is Trey Turner, and everybody forgets about. And I think
that Flarity kind of flew under the radar a little bit.
But he's turning out to be as valuable as anybody,
especially right now going down the stretch, and he's pitched
(02:45):
very well.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, at the deadline, he wasn't the name, right, and
really in the back of your mind when the Dodgers
acquiring you thought, okay, well they got somebody that somebody
turned out to be somebody pretty good. He wasn't the name,
the game changer, that person that you would bring in
and he would be able to turn it all around,
(03:06):
he would be able to become that stopper and let's
just be honest. He's been very good. Do I think
he's the ace of a staff?
Speaker 1 (03:15):
No? But do I think he's exactly what the Dodgers
needed right now? Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Right now, that's exactly what they needed. Consistency, a solid effort,
a bona fide big leaguer, somebody that knows how to pitch.
And they got that guy and Rodney he's just delivered.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah. Oh, he's been consistent and been everything that you
can ask for at a time where the Dodgers absolutely
needed him. Wasn't like he was just you know, icing
on the cake for anything. No, he's the guy they
had to trot out there in critical moments and situations
where we needed to win to stop the bleeding, We
needed to win to keep this thing going. And you know,
(03:55):
he goes out there and would he'd give you yesterday
seven plus innings and shut him out. So he has
been everything that we could hope for and more.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
But Gavin Stone finds himself on the injured list. It
happened just as we got off the air on Friday.
That is another major blow. And we have talked about
this all season long. What is up with Dodger pitching?
What in the world is happening with these guys the river.
Ryan was up here for a cup of coffee and
now he's got to have surgery. Emma Shan pitched last year.
(04:29):
Now he has to have surgery. And I think you
could say that the Dodgers probably have more pitchers, even
those that have come through the system that ended up
having surgery, than any team. Rodney, why do you think
that is?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I don't know, I really don't know. Sometimes it goes
in cycles, but I think it's an overall theme though
Fred of pitchers, and he got to dig deeper than
that that it just I think it goes to the
high school level even before that, where guys are taxed
and overworked, and there's so much emphasis on as hard
(05:08):
as you can throw. This guy throws ninety eight or
this guy throws a hundred, and that's where the you know,
for a young kid, ooh, you know you're twelve thirteen
years old, You're like, oh, I can get it in
the nineties, I can get it. Let me get it
up to the nineties. And you get it up to
the nineties at twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old, that's a
big milestone for you and then people start looking at you.
And then as you go through high school and say
(05:29):
I can get above ninety five, I can get ninety ooh,
and velocity becomes an issue. And I think that the
velocity part of it. And I hear this from so
many people that are, you know, trying to analyze why
this is happening, why there's such a real epidemic in
terms of pictures and Tommy John surgery and injuries, and
(05:50):
most of them, or at least all of them, will
talk about velocity as being one of the reasons why
there's so many injuries with pictures. Yeah, Jack Harris did
this piece. You know.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Since twenty twenty one, the Dodgers have had ninety eight
injured less stints for pitchers, the most in Major League Baseball.
Seven big league pitchers have undergone some version of Tommy
John's surgery. Five pitchers make at least twenty five starts
over the last four seasons combined, the second fewest in MLB.
They've lost a litany of top prospects long term injuries.
(06:25):
Was six long grown players currently on the shelf because
of either major elbow or shoulder surgery. So Andrew Friedman
has been asked about this a number of times, what
is with the pitching, and it really and you alluded
to it, Rodney. It comes down to this, the harder
you throw, the more possibility there is for injury. And
(06:47):
even if you just tick it up two or three
miles an hour, analytics show that can be a difference.
That's a difference between striking somebody out or they're hitting
the ball. So the Dodger pictures from a very early
time are schooled in how to increase velocity and what
(07:08):
they're finding out after talking with doctors and experts, that's
not how the human body is constructed. The body works
as it works. You throw as hard as you throw.
If you start trying to alter that, you're going to
run into problems. And I think that's what's happening here.
(07:29):
And the Dodgers are at the forefront of analytics. They
figure things out long before anybody else does. But it
is concerning now that so many of their pictures and
just for this season here we go to the playoffs.
I mean, think about it. There was a time where
people thought Dustin May could be a pretty good pitcher,
he could be an ace. Not saying he would have been,
(07:50):
but there was a train of vought Rodney Tony Gonslin.
There was a sense he might not be an ace,
but he'd be pretty damn good, and he performed like it.
Let's look at Bobby Miller. Bobby Miller who has struggled
after he had to give him some time himself, some
time off, all of a sudden it's affected him. Walker Buehler,
(08:17):
there's a guy that had to go and have the
procedure a second time. And I think it's somewhat worrisome
here and somehow they're going to have to figure out
a way to even this out. You can't have these guy,
I mean River Ryan just got to the majors. He
(08:39):
had a cup of coffee last year. He had a
cup of coffee last year. But he gets up here,
he looks good done.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I mean Emmitt.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
San he came out of nowhere, pitched in the majors,
looked pretty good done. It's very concerning, and the Dodgers
said during the off season that they are this offseason
going to really evalue wait this and try to figure
it out, because quite honestly, it doesn't do anybody any good.
If you have this young talent, you train them a
(09:09):
certain way you can tell they have what it takes,
and then they get injured immediately. It just doesn't work. Rodney, No,
and it can't work, and it can't work. And I know,
you know, the Dodgers, and we see it firsthand, are
higher on the list than anybody else.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
But it's not just the Dodgers. It's throughout Major League
Baseball and throughout baseball for that matter, that you're seeing
more and more pitchers every single year that go under
the knife. And you know, it's something that we kind
of talked about, and you know, and we have David
vass On from time to time. He talks about it
when he's analyzing and he's talking to other guys about
(09:48):
pitching is learning how to pitch as opposed to just
being a thrower. And there's something to that, because at
some point, you know, you're gonna have to not just
focus on and zero in on velocity. It's gonna have
to be more about pitching than trying to throw one
(10:09):
hundred miles an hour if you want to keep your
arm healthy throughout your career. You know, one of the
things that always fascinated me fit is that as football player,
especially as quarterbacks, we throw the balls just as much
as pitchers do just as much. You go to a
football practice, and you go to you go to a
training camp practice, and this is when we used to
(10:31):
do two a days and a quarterback and you watch
how many times a quarterback throws the football, and you know,
you see a pitcher, he's throwing eighty pitches, ninety pitches.
You're doing that as a quarterback every single day. So
you're not getting three or four days off in between start.
You're throwing the football, whether it be warming up, individual drills,
(10:52):
into practice seven on seven, all those things. You're throwing
the ball a lot on a daily basis. But yet
you rarely rarely about quarterbacks having Tommy John surgery. Do
they throw as hard? Did you throw as hard? Is
consistently hard? We threw all types of bawl. That's the thing.
You didn't always throw one hundred miles an hour. There
(11:12):
was a variety there. Sometimes they were lives. Sometimes you
put air in it and it was a deep ball.
But you're not throwing it through a barn every time.
But we certainly our arms certainly got there. And I
don't know if it's and we talked about this too
is that the are the pitcher's arms getting in shape
like they used to? We talked about guys going to
(11:33):
distance and going to complete game. Doesn't happen anymore, And
there's so much concern about all only give him fifty
pitches until his arm. Gotta build him up, Gotta build
them up. Are they ever getting built up? You know,
we don't hear you didn't hear about this in the
seventies and eighties about many guys, you know, having the
(11:53):
Tommy John But what you did here is complete games,
guys pitching into the ninth and you don't see that anymore.
It's a big deal if somebody throws a complete game
now in Major League Baseball, where you know, before it
was just a thing. It was a badge of honor,
but it was just a thing to your achievement. Do
(12:14):
you think that back in the day, because I agree
with you one hundred percent. I mean guys like Bob Gibson,
you know, Don Draper, Drysdale, all those guys, Jim Palmer, Sutton.
You know, they threw a bunch of innings and they
were throwing complete games.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Were they throwing as hard? Because I think that's what
the question here is were they throwing his hard back then?
Because there's really something wrong. There is something seriously wrong.
And since we live in Los Angeles and our focus
is the Dodgers, it's the Dodgers, it's their staff. Everybody
(12:52):
has injuries, but like this, and we've talked about it
in the past, I mean, and I'd read Jack Harris's
piece in the Times, you know, after talking to doctors
and stuff. You know, the feeling is, clubs have to
do a good job of watching each person and if
by getting that slightly higher elevation of velocity, they're throwing
(13:15):
a certain way that is not natural for them, they
have to correct that. According to what the experts said,
when you see a guy pitch, one size does not
fit all. Everybody's different. Everybody's different, and you've got to
teach them to throw the way they throw and not
try to adjust that. The doctors believe that will help
(13:40):
control this.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You think guys are trying to, you know, whether it
be emulate somebody else that's throwing much harder than them,
say Okay, I've got to do this. In order to
get my velocity up above ninety seven, I got to
do this. And that's where I want to live, and
they're really that's that's been the point of emphasis, more
so than anything else, as opposed to let me hit
(14:03):
my spots. Let me throw ninety five and it'd be
low and outside, just off the plate is where I
want to be, which is in fact more effective than
throwing one hundred right down the middle.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
You guys want to hear about fastball velocity. Over the
last twenty years or so. Yeah, From two thousand and eight,
the average four seam fastball was ninety one point nine
miles per hour in Major League Baseball to last year
in twenty twenty three, it was up two point three
miles per hour ninety four point two miles per hour,
(14:41):
And as Fred mentioned earlier, that's significant, up two miles
an hour over what an eighteen year period.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That's that's that's what's doing it right here. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
And we just saw a guy throw on six for
the Angels, right, I mean, come on, Eradas Chapman is
still throwing that fast and he's had a rubber arm
for the most part. But most guys don't.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Most guys don't. You're right, you see it, and we'll
you know, we'll we see it now but look up
at this guy forget his name, but look up like
you mentioned that he threw one hundred and sixty the
other night you took up two years from now, is
he gonna still be around or will we see him
on the injured list because that can't be sustainable. Maybe
(15:26):
his body will allow it to be sustainable. Well, I
guess what I'm saying is you can throw as fast
as you can throw. Your body is built a certain way.
Everybody is different. Nolan Ryan could throw faster than other
people when he played. We know that.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So the point is they have to create a way
if they need to increase speed, to make it not
be one size fits all. Here's here's how we pitch.
Everybody do it like this. We know the Volac city
will go on.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
What do you mean make it? Make it? Say so
if somebody's went to study Nolan Ryan, who and to
his forties was high nineties and sometimes over one hundred, Still,
what are they gonna find in Nolan Ryan? I mean
that that can say Ooh, Nolan Ryan through heart and
(16:20):
he tried to throw hard. So what made him stand
out and not have the injuries like a lot of
these other guys? Because Nolan in his time, there were
other guys that threw hard.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Too, maybe because his body just allowed him to do that.
What I'm saying is from the tone of the piece,
what's happening is we can make you throw harder, whether
you really can or not. We're we know how to
do it, and we're going to teach you how to
do that.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
So it's like this, So a mechanic wise, is what
they're teaching kids. If you throw it this way, this
will increase your velocity. Not just a god given gift
you can throw this way, but we're going to teach
you in a way that's going to increase it. However,
at some point you're probably gonna have Tommy John if
(17:11):
not two.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Right, Rodney, you mentioned throwing a football and how hard
you guys would throw it, and how many times, how
repetitive it was in practice. How different is that being
a baseball player too at that time at usc from
throwing it and that same motion when you're trying to
throw it as hard as possible with a baseball.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Well, that's the thing, you know, we wouldn't throw. You know,
in baseball, when guy throws seventy five pitches, he's probably
throwing what fifty fast balls and throwing them hard. You know,
we throw seventy five balls in practice, you're probably throwing
twenty five fastballs. You know, what would be the equivalent
of throwing a football.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
And it's the same motion, whether or.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Not the same same motion. In fact, baseball players will
tell you pitchers they train a lot of them trained
with the football because it's very similar throwing a slider,
and so in order to better their slider. A lot
of guys, a lot of pitchers, I mean in college,
our pitchers used to we used to have footballs in
our baseball locker room because that's what the pitchers would
(18:12):
throw in order to sharpen up their sliders. So it's
very much the same motion. Obviously not you're not pitching,
I mean you're not winding up, but pretty much it's
the same motions as throwing a baseball.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
That's why you get guys like Russell Wilson and Mahomes
throwing off the plate and they were drafted into baseball.
There's so many parallels.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
It's a lot of parallels. And it's Stafford and those
guys throwing side arm throwing, you know, different arm actions,
and you could see a guy. If you can see
a guy that throws and has those different release points
like Mahome, like a Stafford, you could look back and
those guys, those guys definitely play baseball. Oh.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
We saw that Stafford throw last night, which Chris Callsworth
called the throw of the year, so far across his
body as he was about to hit hit ground and
that was almost a wacky side arm. No, look Mahomes
type of pass.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Absolutely absolutely, And you look back, like I said, you go, oh,
that guy definitely played baseball. He has a baseball in it.
And but but again it's just like you're still throwing, right,
You're still throwing that many times. But you don't see
Tommy John surgeries with quarterbacks playing the game, which is
(19:20):
to me really weird. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I just think the feeling is in baseball you are
throwing harder. More of the time, you are throwing harder
you're throwing football, but in baseball. And also because as
we've learned, they're teaching guys to throw a certain way.
What if every quarterback was taught to throw the exact
(19:45):
same way. This is how you'll throw the ball five
yards further, Rodney, do it like this? Okay, your body's
not constructed or you physically you just can't do it
like that.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
But you do, and the ball's five yards further.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Except every time you do it, you are damaging your
body because you're not built that way.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Yeah. No, it makes a lot of sense. It makes
a lot of sense. That's what they're teaching young kids.
Because of evelocity has become such a big thing for
a kid to go. I can go to junior college
and pitch, or if I get three ticks up on
my fastball, I could be a number one pick in
the draft. Right, So, yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
We are giving away to Dodger tickets for the game
tomorrow night against the Cubs, one pair per hour. You
stay with us and you can go to the game
tomorrow night. It's too soon for you to say I
told you so. I'm just telling you that right now, Rodney.
It's too soon. But you're getting close and we'll get
(20:59):
into that.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Man. Oh that's right. It's Monday, it's warm, sunny, shining, Rodney,
P fred Rogan. Let's keep it going, Freddy. All right,
So you said it.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
You're not and I told you so, guy, but you're
getting close to being able to say that two games
in US, he looks pretty good, pretty good beat up
well one one beat LSU, and I would actually argue
the game probably wasn't as close as the score indicated.
USC was a better team. I think, all right, Saturday,
(21:42):
then that was just what you expected. Now Clay Helton
had been coaching, it might be a different story, but
with this group, that's really what you expected. And now
there were eleventh in the national polls. I still love
seeing that Big ten on their jersey that I like.
I think that looks cool.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
You do like that? With all due respect to the
PAC twelve, I think that was pretty cool. Stop it, fred,
I do. I like that. I missed the pack, but
I'm it's growing on me, you know, it's growing on me.
And and what has been cool about it is that,
for the most part, the Big Ten has welcomed the
(22:19):
PAC twelve schools kind of with open arms. Now, individuals
here and there said, well, you know, they'll criticize and
wait till they get to the Big ten and all
that stuff. They're not going to be able to handle
the physicality all those things. But I think from a
conference standpoint, the Big Ten has really embraced the schools
from the pack in a way that it is inclusive,
(22:42):
meaning that when they you know, when SC beat LSU,
it was see what the Big ten can do against
the SEC. It was it was that kind of a
pride and thing. You know, it was like us against
them Big ten, and everybody talks about the SEC, but
we went in there and beat up on a big
time SEC school. So that's been kind of cool to
(23:02):
see the embracing of the packed schools into the Big ten.
But yeah, and I think in the past, even with
Lincoln Riley in the last couple of years, they play
Utah State, they may win, they may put up forty
five points, but it's forty five to thirty, right, it's
Utah State finds a way to score a number of points.
(23:25):
You're looking up, going how did they score thirty points
on us? Whereas this go around and this team, at
least so far defensively, they it was a pride thing
that they shut them out. You know, they'll Sty'll get
me wrong, I'm not saying Utah State is a powerhouse
of a team, but in the past there's been teams
with lesser talent that have come in here are co
(23:48):
into the Coliseum or the US he has played where
USC may have won the game, but now you look
up and go, god, they ran for four hundred yards
on us and they scored thirty points on us. Yeah,
we still one, but man, and we got to clean
up a lot of things. Whereas the first two ball games,
you look, Okay, this looks like more of a complete
team than they've looked in a long time. Well, that's
(24:09):
just a change in defensive coordinator. Yeah. That and I
think mentality as well. I think Lincoln Raley started to
realize that too last year. I think it really hit
him in the face because he was, you know, he
had the same kind of you know, track record at
Oklahoma where they would score a lot of points, but
the other teams would too, and they would lose shootouts.
And I think sometimes your mentality is, you know, as
(24:32):
long as we outscore you, we're gonna win the game.
And I think last year it was a long especially
the way that the the alums kind of vocalized their opinions,
and I think the way that people talked about USC
in a way that the defense was horrible and you
can't really win that way long term or win big
(24:52):
games if you don't have somewhat of a defense. I
think it really hit home with him, and now he
himself is taking more pride in the defense. Well, I
give him credit, I guess for last year, even though
that was horrific defensively in at Oklahoma as well, But
it was his buddy. He took care of his buddy.
He was the defensive coordinator. And actually he made public
(25:14):
statements last year defending his buddy. But then the dam
burst and that was the end of that. Yeah. I
can only defend you for so long. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
And I also think, and you probably know this more
than I, there had to be a conversation. Hey, Lincoln,
you got a minute, let's sit down. We had to
fix this, and we're gonna give you the money to
fix it that we're gonna do. You're not gonna have
to fix it on the cheap. We're gonna give you
the money. But it's got to be fixed and you
(25:45):
need to take care of that. Do you think that
conversation was had.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Oh, yeah, for sure. And I don't think it was
a to be honest with you, I don't think it
was a hard conversation. I think at the end of
the day, reality's reality, I don't care if it's your brother.
Your brother can't get it done, and it's glaring you
in the face even after you've given, you know, opportunities,
because you remember, people wanted people wanted. No itx Grinch
gone the year before, and he kept him around and
(26:11):
defended him, like you said, and then things got worse.
And I don't think it. You know, it was tough
because it's your buddy, but it was a decision that
had to be made. But yeah, those conversations certainly happened.
A man, he got to shure this up. I know
he's your buddy, but we gotta we gotta bring in
some big time and like you said, we're not gonna
do it on the cheap. We're gonna give you the
(26:32):
money to go get the right guy, which they did,
went across town and stole him and got him, and
you know, it's working out so far. And I think,
just attitude wise, I think that they have made the
right choice because you can see it's a it's a
night and day defense. A difference the way the defense
is playing in terms of just being in the right
(26:54):
spot the aggression, you know, looking like they they like
putting it burn blunt for looking like they know what
they're doing. Yeah, they do. That's a big part of it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
See, I love and there are a number of people
against us at the beginning. I was not one of them,
of course, because I'm the person that will try anything.
Anything that shakes something up I'm good with. Let's just
give it a try. And when they went to the
expanded playoff, there were people that said, oh, no, this
is wrong. You're not going to have a true national champ.
The regular season means nothing. I have to tell you.
(27:29):
Everything means more. Now, more teams can be involved, more
teams have a shot. If you're a college football fan,
you look at those polls, every least in the rankings
and you go, oh, all right, well here we are.
We're close, but not close enough. What this does is
expand now the reach of college football. It expands it.
When you give more teams a chance to be in
(27:52):
the playoffs, you've expanded the reach. There are more people
interested on a weekly basis, more schools have an opportunity.
Those games mean as much, if not more, to a
smaller school that somehow would not have been in the
top four.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
I think it's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I mean the SEC right now, top twenty five eight teams.
They have eight teams, the Big ten six teams, the
Big twelve five teams, the ACC has four. There's one
independent Notre Dame, which that was bad. That was pretty bad.
(28:32):
I guess Northern Illinois that was not good. And the
MAC has won. I think it's more exciting. I'm more
interested in college football now, Rodney than I've been in
a long time.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree because those schools that were,
you know, on the fringe in the last few years
of God, they're playing good at the end of the year,
they're a really good team. And oh, but there's four
teams that can make the playoffs. Now those teams are
getting in. You're not gonna hear even though there will
still be those teams that are ranked thirteenth or fourteenth
(29:04):
to fifteenth and go, oh, we were better and so
and so we should have got in, but not like
it was because with four teams there was always three
to four, like you could debate who are the four
best teams, because it's probably there were probably eight teams
that were can consider themselves the best teams. And now
with twelve teams, I think it's gonna really weed itself out.
(29:25):
And it's going to give an opportunity to those teams
that say, LSU gets their stuff together right and they
go on a roll and they start and they play
some big time opponents and which they will in the
SEC and Alabama and Auburn and Georgia and Tennessee, all
those schools that are ranked that you just mentioned. And
LSU goes on a roll, that loss to USC is
(29:46):
not going to hurt them like it would if there
was only four teams.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
It's more fun. It's just more fun. And now, by
the way, if you're fifteen, you still got a shot.
You're fifteen, you still got a shot.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
If you ranked fifteenth nationally last year year, forget it.
I'll see in the Alamo Bowl exactly, no problem. Weed
Eater bawl, got your name all over, Go get them,
knock yourself out.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Good one, join us. Yeah, But that what does that
do to the uh to the Bulls? Fred? Is that
going to just now we're going to see the beginning
of the end? I mean, we're already kind of felt
the beginning of the end of the Bulls, but are
we really now going to start to see the end?
Of the uh of these bowl games. Uh.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Bulls are great for teams, kids that are on the roster,
that get to travel to a nice place, enjoy a
couple of days a week, and then play a game. Yeah,
I mean, bulls work for that. But aside from that,
it's obsolete. They are obsolete now. All it is Are
(30:50):
they going to continue though?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
You think?
Speaker 2 (30:53):
I think they have to because there's money involved, That's
what it's. It's just programming their TV show. Again, they're
just TV shows.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I'm not talking about well, I'm not really talking about
the Rose Bowl because that's going to continue. The Orange
Bowl and the Cotton Bowl, those bulls that are huge
that will go for every like you said, there's so
much money in those. But like you mentioned those the
Weed Eater Bowl or the like or whatever. Yeah, the
Cactus Bowl and all those little bulls. I mean, do
they survive now that there's a twelve team playoff?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Ultimately, if there is money for someone to be made, yes,
but nobody will watch them unless your kids on the
team or you went to that school. Nobody cares. I
guess you could bet on them. That might be interesting
to some people, but no, they're insignificant. They're great if
you went to the school. They're great if you're on
(31:48):
the team. It's a nice reward for a decent season. Yes,
that's nice.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, you're a kid in the Midwest and you get
to invite it to the Holiday Bowl to come out
to San Diego and hang out for a week. That's
it's crazy two degrees in Pennsylvania. Yeah, you get to
come out and do that. It's fantastic for you. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
But I mean overall, they're obsolete. They it doesn't matter anymore.
You don't need them. You haven't needed them for a
while now, you really don't need them. All right, let's
have a word from Jacob.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
That's right. If you're injured in an auto accident of
any kind, you might be wondering, what are some advantages
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someone with twenty five years of experience. But maybe the
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(32:47):
your car fixed, to finding you a doctor in your area.
They will deal with the insurance company on your behalf
and Jacob can immediately get you the medical tension you deserve.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
That's right, Rodney. So if you are in an accident,
will you need an attorney? You want one who was respected?
Call Jacob is the real deal? Call Jacob at eight
four to four to twenty four. Jacob eight four four
to twenty four, Jacob Oh visit called Jacob dot com.
Make sure you're following. Call Jacob on Instagram and Facebook
for prizes, insight and more. Get some Dodger tickets away
(33:23):
you want to do it? Yeah, let's do eight six, six, nine,
eighty seven, two five seventy what call her number?
Speaker 1 (33:28):
You want number five? Caller five.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
You're going to the game tomorrow night. Uh, don't forget.
Top of the Hour one o'clock. Eric Dickerson joins the show.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Oh oh yeah, this selection is stirring it up out there,
stirring it up. Today's afternoon Delight is brought to you
by the twenty twenty five Super Bowl Halftime Show performing
Yeah That's right. Kendrick Lamar with his hit DNA off
the album Damn from twenty seventeen, after it was announced
(33:57):
yesterday that he would be performing in New Orleans next year.
A lot of people are mad about that. You know,
some people in the South a little bit. Some rappers
in the South a little upset about that. But that's okay.
The statement released by k DOT on Sunday. He said
rap music is still the most impactful genre of the date,
and I'll be there to remind you and remind the
(34:18):
world why they got the right one again. Today's afternoon
Delight is DNA by Kendrick Lamar.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
All Right, Rodney jessin Lomarana, what do you congratulations? Hey Jesse,
you are going to the Dodger game tomorrow night. Kind
of people we are. We want you to go and
have the best time possible.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
It's what we do. Don't forget.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
We are giving away tickets next hour and during the
two o'clock hour as well. And uh once we hit
our top of the hour break and come on back.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Ed joins the show. So all bets are off. Here
we go another season of whatever this is called. Why
don't we call it down? I don't know the NFL
Spotlight that's it. It's had like twelve names. Twenty nine okay,
that's right, twenty nine. So Ed joins the show top
(35:08):
of the hour, okay, and we'll getting all the football then.
But I want to get into the Chargers and Raiders yesterday.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Here's the way I saw it. You tell me what
you think. Jim Harball won his first game. Chargers did
what they said they were going to do. I thought
they were unexciting and pretty uninspiring. But a win is
a win in the NFL. Take them when you can
get them, and for the Chargers it'll be a work
in progress. Antonio Pierce, I thought made a serious error
(35:36):
first year full time head coach Raiders the fourth quarter.
Should have gone for it instead of punting. I think
that hurt him and I think he will learn from that.
Gardner Minshew was okay, he was okay. Their offense didn't
move the ball an awful lot. So I don't know
if it was a question of man, no, Chargers, Wow,
we better get behind them right now because they look
pretty damn good. Well, I think they were fine and
(35:59):
the Raiders were work.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, I agree, I think it was so it was
a win. Like he said, a win is a win,
and it's tough to come by in the NFL. I mean,
he got seventeen of them. It's it's everyone's important. But
I wouldn't go to say, oh, the Chargers look great
in their opener against the Raiders. No, I look at it,
(36:21):
like you said. The flip side of that, the Raiders
look like they're on their way to another mediocre season.
They just don't look like they have the horses and
and look, I'm not gonna put it all on on
Antonio Pierce. A lot of coaches go for it on
fourth down, don't go forward on fourth down. It's just
gonna be those decisions that he's going to learn from it,
(36:42):
and we'll decide and see what how he plays it
out the rest of the year. But at least he's
not going to be a Brandon Staley who's gonna go
for it in their own territory and end up costing
his team. Let's just hope not. But yeah, I was.
I was less impressed with the Raiders than I was
impressed with the Chargers. Now, you know, I do believe
(37:02):
the mentality of the Chargers is different and will be
different under Jim Harball. And he wanted to I get it.
He wanted to establish being physical. They're gonna run the football,
They're gonna be physical on both sides of the ball.
That's hism o and and I like that, but I
also believe that you got to let you gotta let
the young quarterback go to You got to open him
(37:23):
up and let him be the superstar that you drafted
him fifth player pick in the draft a few years ago.
You drafted him to be. And you know, as time
goes on, I think they will. But they got to
let him loose Fred because Justin Herbert is I still
believe one of the top ten quarterbacks in the league.
He just got to go out there and play it.
And then obviously they gotta they gotta go deep in
(37:45):
the playoffs. But I just don't want to see them
be too conservative when they've got a quarterback like him.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, and it'll take some time. You know, it's not
often we see it and go, well, the Chargers won,
but it like, yeah, the Chargers won.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Right, that's all you cared about the one.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Yeah, but it's kind of but it'll take some time.
I mean, they have to figure it out. They were solid,
they didn't make mistakes. Uh, and the Raiders are the Raiders.
I was just surprised that the Raiders just didn't offensively,
really didn't have an identity.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, I mean other than DeVante Adams. I mean they
got rid of Jacob's Vick's cousin yesterday the last year
he's in Green Bay. But the DeVante Adams, I mean
it just who do you point to as like they've
got stars on offense? Right? You just can't really point
to him. And you know, yeah, Kobe Myers may maybe
(38:47):
made some place, but is he really a number two receiver?
More like a three or four. But I just don't
see him sharp. And then on top of that, Fred,
if you don't have a in today's football, you got
to have a guy as your quarter You gotta have
a guy. You can't have this. I'm gonna I'm gonna
let him battle it out during training camp and we'll
(39:07):
figure out who the guy is. No disrespect to Gardner Minshew.
And sometimes you know, he could emerge as being something
if he gets a true opportunity, and he kind of
really hasn't had that. He's kind of been that in
that hybrid of a backup a starter or backup a starter.
But I just I don't want to see the Raiders
go through the back and forth with quarterback. They pick Minshew,
(39:29):
let him go, Let him play it out. It's key.
If he doesn't work out, they got to go get
a guy. But they gotta get a guy pulling the trigger.
And until you get that, it's it's gonna be hard
for a team like the Raiders to really win. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Yeah, so they're only one and it's funny in football,
unlike any other sport. Look at USC two games, man,
they're really great. They play two games. It's a long season.
Raiders come out of the blocks and look flat. Didn't
look good. Oh my god, they're done. Boy, they need
a lot of help. It's one gamer.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
You know. The Chargers didn't look really as exciting as
you would think.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
What does that mean. It means it was one game.
It means it's one game. And then we have the
Rams and the Lions to talk about, and we'll do
that when we come back. Ed Eric Dickerson joins the
show on the other side and we begin the Ford
NFL Spotlight
All right, let's go to work.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Friend Rogan Rodney peat on five seventy LA Sports, Happy
Monday to you.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's hot, huh Rodney, Yeah, boil it. They said record yesterday, right, yep.
Everybody's talking about the heat. Listen, stay hydrated, stay inside
if you have to. That's it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Last week we talked about heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
And I got an email from one of our listeners,
one of our drivers and delivery people, and they said,
I am so hydrated.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
You cannot imagine.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Plenty of water if you're working outside, play of water,
Wear a hat, stay directly out of the sun if
you can.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And even if you don't think about it, and you
don't think, yeah, I'm not thirsty. I just drank something.
You just got to keep forcing yourself to drink. You
really do in this situation, because it's it can come
up on you at any time and all of a sudden,
you don't think you need any water or hydrate and
you pass out, you get woozy. You don't want that
to happen. So the drivers are absolutely right. They know better,
(01:03):
right because they're out there on the road. Yeah, they
are all right.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So let's get started. Dodgers wrap things up with the
Guardians over the weekend. Tiaska Hernand's got hit on the foot.
There was some thought that he might have to go
to the injured list. He's not on the injured list
and that's the good news. So he may be back
in action tonight. It just depends how that foot is.
They took. They took X rays and stuff and negative,
(01:28):
Thank god, because that's one guy you don't want going
on the injured list.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
No, no, no, no, no. As hot as he's been,
inconsistent as he's been all season long, thread, he's definitely
a guy that you don't want him to miss anytime.
Now it's too late. It's too late for him to
miss anytime because there's not enough time to kind of
get your rhythm back if you're off for a week
or two. So we need him to be ready to go.
So it's good that he didn't go on the injured list.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's good and maybe he can pitch because Gavin Stone
won on the injured list. By the way, Jack Flirty
dominated jef ad A good job, yeah, great job yesterday
for Flerty.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
What a terrific what a pickup. At the end of
the day, right eleventh hour pickup. He was a guy. Yeah,
his name was out, but not really like, Okay, this
is this guy we're going to get, going to get Flarerity,
go next thing. You know, you got Flarity, and it's like, whoa,
we got Jack Flarity. That's a good deal. It was
kind of like when you talked about Trey Turner when
(02:23):
everybody was you know, was talking about Surezer and oh
we got we got Max Shirks, we got and you
you kept saying, well, oh, the guy in that deal
is Trey Turner, and everybody forgets about. And I think
that Flarity kind of flew under the radar a little bit.
But he's turning out to be as valuable as anybody,
especially right now going down the stretch, and he's pitched
(02:45):
very well.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, at the deadline, he wasn't the name, right, and
really in the back of your mind when the Dodgers
acquiring you thought, okay, well they got somebody that somebody
turned out to be somebody pretty good. He wasn't the name,
the game changer, that person that you would bring in
and he would be able to turn it all around,
(03:06):
he would be able to become that stopper and let's
just be honest. He's been very good. Do I think
he's the ace of a staff?
Speaker 1 (03:15):
No? But do I think he's exactly what the Dodgers
needed right now? Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Right now, that's exactly what they needed. Consistency, a solid effort,
a bona fide big leaguer, somebody that knows how to pitch.
And they got that guy and Rodney he's just delivered.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah. Oh, he's been consistent and been everything that you
can ask for at a time where the Dodgers absolutely
needed him. Wasn't like he was just you know, icing
on the cake for anything. No, he's the guy they
had to trot out there in critical moments and situations
where we needed to win to stop the bleeding, We
needed to win to keep this thing going. And you know,
(03:55):
he goes out there and would he'd give you yesterday
seven plus innings and shut him out. So he has
been everything that we could hope for and more.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
But Gavin Stone finds himself on the injured list. It
happened just as we got off the air on Friday.
That is another major blow. And we have talked about
this all season long. What is up with Dodger pitching?
What in the world is happening with these guys the river.
Ryan was up here for a cup of coffee and
now he's got to have surgery. Emma Shan pitched last year.
(04:29):
Now he has to have surgery. And I think you
could say that the Dodgers probably have more pitchers, even
those that have come through the system that ended up
having surgery, than any team. Rodney, why do you think
that is?
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I don't know, I really don't know. Sometimes it goes
in cycles, but I think it's an overall theme though
Fred of pitchers, and he got to dig deeper than
that that it just I think it goes to the
high school level even before that, where guys are taxed
and overworked, and there's so much emphasis on as hard
(05:08):
as you can throw. This guy throws ninety eight or
this guy throws a hundred, and that's where the you know,
for a young kid, ooh, you know you're twelve thirteen
years old, You're like, oh, I can get it in
the nineties, I can get it. Let me get it
up to the nineties. And you get it up to
the nineties at twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old, that's a
big milestone for you and then people start looking at you.
And then as you go through high school and say
(05:29):
I can get above ninety five, I can get ninety ooh,
and velocity becomes an issue. And I think that the
velocity part of it. And I hear this from so
many people that are, you know, trying to analyze why
this is happening, why there's such a real epidemic in
terms of pictures and Tommy John surgery and injuries, and
(05:50):
most of them, or at least all of them, will
talk about velocity as being one of the reasons why
there's so many injuries with pictures. Yeah, Jack Harris did
this piece. You know.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Since twenty twenty one, the Dodgers have had ninety eight
injured less stints for pitchers, the most in Major League Baseball.
Seven big league pitchers have undergone some version of Tommy
John's surgery. Five pitchers make at least twenty five starts
over the last four seasons combined, the second fewest in MLB.
They've lost a litany of top prospects long term injuries.
(06:25):
Was six long grown players currently on the shelf because
of either major elbow or shoulder surgery. So Andrew Friedman
has been asked about this a number of times, what
is with the pitching, and it really and you alluded
to it, Rodney. It comes down to this, the harder
you throw, the more possibility there is for injury. And
(06:47):
even if you just tick it up two or three
miles an hour, analytics show that can be a difference.
That's a difference between striking somebody out or they're hitting
the ball. So the Dodger pictures from a very early
time are schooled in how to increase velocity and what
(07:08):
they're finding out after talking with doctors and experts, that's
not how the human body is constructed. The body works
as it works. You throw as hard as you throw.
If you start trying to alter that, you're going to
run into problems. And I think that's what's happening here.
(07:29):
And the Dodgers are at the forefront of analytics. They
figure things out long before anybody else does. But it
is concerning now that so many of their pictures and
just for this season here we go to the playoffs.
I mean, think about it. There was a time where
people thought Dustin May could be a pretty good pitcher,
he could be an ace. Not saying he would have been,
(07:50):
but there was a train of vought Rodney Tony Gonslin.
There was a sense he might not be an ace,
but he'd be pretty damn good, and he performed like it.
Let's look at Bobby Miller. Bobby Miller who has struggled
after he had to give him some time himself, some
time off, all of a sudden it's affected him. Walker Buehler,
(08:17):
there's a guy that had to go and have the
procedure a second time. And I think it's somewhat worrisome
here and somehow they're going to have to figure out
a way to even this out. You can't have these guy,
I mean River Ryan just got to the majors. He
(08:39):
had a cup of coffee last year. He had a
cup of coffee last year. But he gets up here,
he looks good done.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I mean Emmitt.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
San he came out of nowhere, pitched in the majors,
looked pretty good done. It's very concerning, and the Dodgers
said during the off season that they are this offseason
going to really evalue wait this and try to figure
it out, because quite honestly, it doesn't do anybody any good.
If you have this young talent, you train them a
(09:09):
certain way you can tell they have what it takes,
and then they get injured immediately. It just doesn't work. Rodney, No,
and it can't work, and it can't work. And I know,
you know, the Dodgers, and we see it firsthand, are
higher on the list than anybody else.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
But it's not just the Dodgers. It's throughout Major League
Baseball and throughout baseball for that matter, that you're seeing
more and more pitchers every single year that go under
the knife. And you know, it's something that we kind
of talked about, and you know, and we have David
vass On from time to time. He talks about it
when he's analyzing and he's talking to other guys about
(09:48):
pitching is learning how to pitch as opposed to just
being a thrower. And there's something to that, because at
some point, you know, you're gonna have to not just
focus on and zero in on velocity. It's gonna have
to be more about pitching than trying to throw one
(10:09):
hundred miles an hour if you want to keep your
arm healthy throughout your career. You know, one of the
things that always fascinated me fit is that as football player,
especially as quarterbacks, we throw the balls just as much
as pitchers do just as much. You go to a
football practice, and you go to you go to a
training camp practice, and this is when we used to
(10:31):
do two a days and a quarterback and you watch
how many times a quarterback throws the football, and you know,
you see a pitcher, he's throwing eighty pitches, ninety pitches.
You're doing that as a quarterback every single day. So
you're not getting three or four days off in between start.
You're throwing the football, whether it be warming up, individual drills,
(10:52):
into practice seven on seven, all those things. You're throwing
the ball a lot on a daily basis. But yet
you rarely rarely about quarterbacks having Tommy John surgery. Do
they throw as hard? Did you throw as hard? Is
consistently hard? We threw all types of bawl. That's the thing.
You didn't always throw one hundred miles an hour. There
(11:12):
was a variety there. Sometimes they were lives. Sometimes you
put air in it and it was a deep ball.
But you're not throwing it through a barn every time.
But we certainly our arms certainly got there. And I
don't know if it's and we talked about this too
is that the are the pitcher's arms getting in shape
like they used to? We talked about guys going to
(11:33):
distance and going to complete game. Doesn't happen anymore, And
there's so much concern about all only give him fifty
pitches until his arm. Gotta build him up, Gotta build
them up. Are they ever getting built up? You know,
we don't hear you didn't hear about this in the
seventies and eighties about many guys, you know, having the
(11:53):
Tommy John But what you did here is complete games,
guys pitching into the ninth and you don't see that anymore.
It's a big deal if somebody throws a complete game
now in Major League Baseball, where you know, before it
was just a thing. It was a badge of honor,
but it was just a thing to your achievement. Do
(12:14):
you think that back in the day, because I agree
with you one hundred percent. I mean guys like Bob Gibson,
you know, Don Draper, Drysdale, all those guys, Jim Palmer, Sutton.
You know, they threw a bunch of innings and they
were throwing complete games.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Were they throwing as hard? Because I think that's what
the question here is were they throwing his hard back then?
Because there's really something wrong. There is something seriously wrong.
And since we live in Los Angeles and our focus
is the Dodgers, it's the Dodgers, it's their staff. Everybody
(12:52):
has injuries, but like this, and we've talked about it
in the past, I mean, and I'd read Jack Harris's
piece in the Times, you know, after talking to doctors
and stuff. You know, the feeling is, clubs have to
do a good job of watching each person and if
by getting that slightly higher elevation of velocity, they're throwing
(13:15):
a certain way that is not natural for them, they
have to correct that. According to what the experts said,
when you see a guy pitch, one size does not
fit all. Everybody's different. Everybody's different, and you've got to
teach them to throw the way they throw and not
try to adjust that. The doctors believe that will help
(13:40):
control this.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You think guys are trying to, you know, whether it
be emulate somebody else that's throwing much harder than them,
say Okay, I've got to do this. In order to
get my velocity up above ninety seven, I got to
do this. And that's where I want to live, and
they're really that's that's been the point of emphasis, more
so than anything else, as opposed to let me hit
(14:03):
my spots. Let me throw ninety five and it'd be
low and outside, just off the plate is where I
want to be, which is in fact more effective than
throwing one hundred right down the middle.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
You guys want to hear about fastball velocity. Over the
last twenty years or so. Yeah, From two thousand and eight,
the average four seam fastball was ninety one point nine
miles per hour in Major League Baseball to last year
in twenty twenty three, it was up two point three
miles per hour ninety four point two miles per hour,
(14:41):
And as Fred mentioned earlier, that's significant, up two miles
an hour over what an eighteen year period.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That's that's that's what's doing it right here. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
And we just saw a guy throw on six for
the Angels, right, I mean, come on, Eradas Chapman is
still throwing that fast and he's had a rubber arm
for the most part. But most guys don't.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Most guys don't. You're right, you see it, and we'll
you know, we'll we see it now but look up
at this guy forget his name, but look up like
you mentioned that he threw one hundred and sixty the
other night you took up two years from now, is
he gonna still be around or will we see him
on the injured list because that can't be sustainable. Maybe
(15:26):
his body will allow it to be sustainable. Well, I
guess what I'm saying is you can throw as fast
as you can throw. Your body is built a certain way.
Everybody is different. Nolan Ryan could throw faster than other
people when he played. We know that.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So the point is they have to create a way
if they need to increase speed, to make it not
be one size fits all. Here's here's how we pitch.
Everybody do it like this. We know the Volac city
will go on.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
What do you mean make it? Make it? Say so
if somebody's went to study Nolan Ryan, who and to
his forties was high nineties and sometimes over one hundred, Still,
what are they gonna find in Nolan Ryan? I mean
that that can say Ooh, Nolan Ryan through heart and
(16:20):
he tried to throw hard. So what made him stand
out and not have the injuries like a lot of
these other guys? Because Nolan in his time, there were
other guys that threw hard.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Too, maybe because his body just allowed him to do that.
What I'm saying is from the tone of the piece,
what's happening is we can make you throw harder, whether
you really can or not. We're we know how to
do it, and we're going to teach you how to
do that.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
So it's like this, So a mechanic wise, is what
they're teaching kids. If you throw it this way, this
will increase your velocity. Not just a god given gift
you can throw this way, but we're going to teach
you in a way that's going to increase it. However,
at some point you're probably gonna have Tommy John if
(17:11):
not two.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Right, Rodney, you mentioned throwing a football and how hard
you guys would throw it, and how many times, how
repetitive it was in practice. How different is that being
a baseball player too at that time at usc from
throwing it and that same motion when you're trying to
throw it as hard as possible with a baseball.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Well, that's the thing, you know, we wouldn't throw. You know,
in baseball, when guy throws seventy five pitches, he's probably
throwing what fifty fast balls and throwing them hard. You know,
we throw seventy five balls in practice, you're probably throwing
twenty five fastballs. You know, what would be the equivalent
of throwing a football.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
And it's the same motion, whether or.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Not the same same motion. In fact, baseball players will
tell you pitchers they train a lot of them trained
with the football because it's very similar throwing a slider,
and so in order to better their slider. A lot
of guys, a lot of pitchers, I mean in college,
our pitchers used to we used to have footballs in
our baseball locker room because that's what the pitchers would
(18:12):
throw in order to sharpen up their sliders. So it's
very much the same motion. Obviously not you're not pitching,
I mean you're not winding up, but pretty much it's
the same motions as throwing a baseball.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
That's why you get guys like Russell Wilson and Mahomes
throwing off the plate and they were drafted into baseball.
There's so many parallels.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
It's a lot of parallels. And it's Stafford and those
guys throwing side arm throwing, you know, different arm actions,
and you could see a guy. If you can see
a guy that throws and has those different release points
like Mahome, like a Stafford, you could look back and
those guys, those guys definitely play baseball. Oh.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
We saw that Stafford throw last night, which Chris Callsworth
called the throw of the year, so far across his
body as he was about to hit hit ground and
that was almost a wacky side arm. No, look Mahomes
type of pass.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Absolutely absolutely, And you look back, like I said, you go, oh,
that guy definitely played baseball. He has a baseball in it.
And but but again it's just like you're still throwing, right,
You're still throwing that many times. But you don't see
Tommy John surgeries with quarterbacks playing the game, which is
(19:20):
to me really weird. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
I just think the feeling is in baseball you are
throwing harder. More of the time, you are throwing harder
you're throwing football, but in baseball. And also because as
we've learned, they're teaching guys to throw a certain way.
What if every quarterback was taught to throw the exact
(19:45):
same way. This is how you'll throw the ball five
yards further, Rodney, do it like this? Okay, your body's
not constructed or you physically you just can't do it
like that.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
But you do, and the ball's five yards further.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Except every time you do it, you are damaging your
body because you're not built that way.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Yeah. No, it makes a lot of sense. It makes
a lot of sense. That's what they're teaching young kids.
Because of evelocity has become such a big thing for
a kid to go. I can go to junior college
and pitch, or if I get three ticks up on
my fastball, I could be a number one pick in
the draft. Right, So, yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
We are giving away to Dodger tickets for the game
tomorrow night against the Cubs, one pair per hour. You
stay with us and you can go to the game
tomorrow night. It's too soon for you to say I
told you so. I'm just telling you that right now, Rodney.
It's too soon. But you're getting close and we'll get
(20:59):
into that.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Man. Oh that's right. It's Monday, it's warm, sunny, shining, Rodney,
P fred Rogan. Let's keep it going, Freddy. All right,
So you said it.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
You're not and I told you so, guy, but you're
getting close to being able to say that two games
in US, he looks pretty good, pretty good beat up
well one one beat LSU, and I would actually argue
the game probably wasn't as close as the score indicated.
USC was a better team. I think, all right, Saturday,
(21:42):
then that was just what you expected. Now Clay Helton
had been coaching, it might be a different story, but
with this group, that's really what you expected. And now
there were eleventh in the national polls. I still love
seeing that Big ten on their jersey that I like.
I think that looks cool.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
You do like that? With all due respect to the
PAC twelve, I think that was pretty cool. Stop it, fred,
I do. I like that. I missed the pack, but
I'm it's growing on me, you know, it's growing on me.
And and what has been cool about it is that,
for the most part, the Big Ten has welcomed the
(22:19):
PAC twelve schools kind of with open arms. Now, individuals
here and there said, well, you know, they'll criticize and
wait till they get to the Big ten and all
that stuff. They're not going to be able to handle
the physicality all those things. But I think from a
conference standpoint, the Big Ten has really embraced the schools
from the pack in a way that it is inclusive,
(22:42):
meaning that when they you know, when SC beat LSU,
it was see what the Big ten can do against
the SEC. It was it was that kind of a
pride and thing. You know, it was like us against
them Big ten, and everybody talks about the SEC, but
we went in there and beat up on a big
time SEC school. So that's been kind of cool to
(23:02):
see the embracing of the packed schools into the Big ten.
But yeah, and I think in the past, even with
Lincoln Riley in the last couple of years, they play
Utah State, they may win, they may put up forty
five points, but it's forty five to thirty, right, it's
Utah State finds a way to score a number of points.
(23:25):
You're looking up, going how did they score thirty points
on us? Whereas this go around and this team, at
least so far defensively, they it was a pride thing
that they shut them out. You know, they'll Sty'll get
me wrong, I'm not saying Utah State is a powerhouse
of a team, but in the past there's been teams
with lesser talent that have come in here are co
(23:48):
into the Coliseum or the US he has played where
USC may have won the game, but now you look
up and go, god, they ran for four hundred yards
on us and they scored thirty points on us. Yeah,
we still one, but man, and we got to clean
up a lot of things. Whereas the first two ball games,
you look, Okay, this looks like more of a complete
team than they've looked in a long time. Well, that's
(24:09):
just a change in defensive coordinator. Yeah. That and I
think mentality as well. I think Lincoln Raley started to
realize that too last year. I think it really hit
him in the face because he was, you know, he
had the same kind of you know, track record at
Oklahoma where they would score a lot of points, but
the other teams would too, and they would lose shootouts.
And I think sometimes your mentality is, you know, as
(24:32):
long as we outscore you, we're gonna win the game.
And I think last year it was a long especially
the way that the the alums kind of vocalized their opinions,
and I think the way that people talked about USC
in a way that the defense was horrible and you
can't really win that way long term or win big
(24:52):
games if you don't have somewhat of a defense. I
think it really hit home with him, and now he
himself is taking more pride in the defense. Well, I
give him credit, I guess for last year, even though
that was horrific defensively in at Oklahoma as well, But
it was his buddy. He took care of his buddy.
He was the defensive coordinator. And actually he made public
(25:14):
statements last year defending his buddy. But then the dam
burst and that was the end of that. Yeah. I
can only defend you for so long. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
And I also think, and you probably know this more
than I, there had to be a conversation. Hey, Lincoln,
you got a minute, let's sit down. We had to
fix this, and we're gonna give you the money to
fix it that we're gonna do. You're not gonna have
to fix it on the cheap. We're gonna give you
the money. But it's got to be fixed and you
(25:45):
need to take care of that. Do you think that
conversation was had.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Oh, yeah, for sure. And I don't think it was
a to be honest with you, I don't think it
was a hard conversation. I think at the end of
the day, reality's reality, I don't care if it's your brother.
Your brother can't get it done, and it's glaring you
in the face even after you've given, you know, opportunities,
because you remember, people wanted people wanted. No itx Grinch
gone the year before, and he kept him around and
(26:11):
defended him, like you said, and then things got worse.
And I don't think it. You know, it was tough
because it's your buddy, but it was a decision that
had to be made. But yeah, those conversations certainly happened.
A man, he got to shure this up. I know
he's your buddy, but we gotta we gotta bring in
some big time and like you said, we're not gonna
do it on the cheap. We're gonna give you the
(26:32):
money to go get the right guy, which they did,
went across town and stole him and got him, and
you know, it's working out so far. And I think,
just attitude wise, I think that they have made the
right choice because you can see it's a it's a
night and day defense. A difference the way the defense
is playing in terms of just being in the right
(26:54):
spot the aggression, you know, looking like they they like
putting it burn blunt for looking like they know what
they're doing. Yeah, they do. That's a big part of it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
See, I love and there are a number of people
against us at the beginning. I was not one of them,
of course, because I'm the person that will try anything.
Anything that shakes something up I'm good with. Let's just
give it a try. And when they went to the
expanded playoff, there were people that said, oh, no, this
is wrong. You're not going to have a true national champ.
The regular season means nothing. I have to tell you.
(27:29):
Everything means more. Now, more teams can be involved, more
teams have a shot. If you're a college football fan,
you look at those polls, every least in the rankings
and you go, oh, all right, well here we are.
We're close, but not close enough. What this does is
expand now the reach of college football. It expands it.
When you give more teams a chance to be in
(27:52):
the playoffs, you've expanded the reach. There are more people
interested on a weekly basis, more schools have an opportunity.
Those games mean as much, if not more, to a
smaller school that somehow would not have been in the
top four.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
I think it's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
I mean the SEC right now, top twenty five eight teams.
They have eight teams, the Big ten six teams, the
Big twelve five teams, the ACC has four. There's one
independent Notre Dame, which that was bad. That was pretty bad.
(28:32):
I guess Northern Illinois that was not good. And the
MAC has won. I think it's more exciting. I'm more
interested in college football now, Rodney than I've been in
a long time.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree because those schools that were,
you know, on the fringe in the last few years
of God, they're playing good at the end of the year,
they're a really good team. And oh, but there's four
teams that can make the playoffs. Now those teams are
getting in. You're not gonna hear even though there will
still be those teams that are ranked thirteenth or fourteenth
(29:04):
to fifteenth and go, oh, we were better and so
and so we should have got in, but not like
it was because with four teams there was always three
to four, like you could debate who are the four
best teams, because it's probably there were probably eight teams
that were can consider themselves the best teams. And now
with twelve teams, I think it's gonna really weed itself out.
(29:25):
And it's going to give an opportunity to those teams
that say, LSU gets their stuff together right and they
go on a roll and they start and they play
some big time opponents and which they will in the
SEC and Alabama and Auburn and Georgia and Tennessee, all
those schools that are ranked that you just mentioned. And
LSU goes on a roll, that loss to USC is
(29:46):
not going to hurt them like it would if there
was only four teams.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
It's more fun. It's just more fun. And now, by
the way, if you're fifteen, you still got a shot.
You're fifteen, you still got a shot.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
If you ranked fifteenth nationally last year year, forget it.
I'll see in the Alamo Bowl exactly, no problem. Weed
Eater bawl, got your name all over, Go get them,
knock yourself out.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Good one, join us. Yeah, But that what does that
do to the uh to the Bulls? Fred? Is that
going to just now we're going to see the beginning
of the end? I mean, we're already kind of felt
the beginning of the end of the Bulls, but are
we really now going to start to see the end?
Of the uh of these bowl games. Uh.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Bulls are great for teams, kids that are on the roster,
that get to travel to a nice place, enjoy a
couple of days a week, and then play a game. Yeah,
I mean, bulls work for that. But aside from that,
it's obsolete. They are obsolete now. All it is Are
(30:50):
they going to continue though?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
You think?
Speaker 2 (30:53):
I think they have to because there's money involved, That's
what it's. It's just programming their TV show. Again, they're
just TV shows.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I'm not talking about well, I'm not really talking about
the Rose Bowl because that's going to continue. The Orange
Bowl and the Cotton Bowl, those bulls that are huge
that will go for every like you said, there's so
much money in those. But like you mentioned those the
Weed Eater Bowl or the like or whatever. Yeah, the
Cactus Bowl and all those little bulls. I mean, do
they survive now that there's a twelve team playoff?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Ultimately, if there is money for someone to be made, yes,
but nobody will watch them unless your kids on the
team or you went to that school. Nobody cares. I
guess you could bet on them. That might be interesting
to some people, but no, they're insignificant. They're great if
you went to the school. They're great if you're on
(31:48):
the team. It's a nice reward for a decent season. Yes,
that's nice.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Yeah, you're a kid in the Midwest and you get
to invite it to the Holiday Bowl to come out
to San Diego and hang out for a week. That's
it's crazy two degrees in Pennsylvania. Yeah, you get to
come out and do that. It's fantastic for you. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
But I mean overall, they're obsolete. They it doesn't matter anymore.
You don't need them. You haven't needed them for a
while now, you really don't need them. All right, let's
have a word from Jacob.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
That's right. If you're injured in an auto accident of
any kind, you might be wondering, what are some advantages
to hiring our friend Jacob. First of all, you're hiring
someone with twenty five years of experience. But maybe the
simplest answer is Jacob and this team will hold your
hand throughout the entire process. Jacob will handle everything from
the phone calls to the rental car to get in
(32:47):
your car fixed, to finding you a doctor in your area.
They will deal with the insurance company on your behalf
and Jacob can immediately get you the medical tension you deserve.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
That's right, Rodney. So if you are in an accident,
will you need an attorney? You want one who was respected?
Call Jacob is the real deal? Call Jacob at eight
four to four to twenty four. Jacob eight four four
to twenty four, Jacob Oh visit called Jacob dot com.
Make sure you're following. Call Jacob on Instagram and Facebook
for prizes, insight and more. Get some Dodger tickets away
(33:23):
you want to do it? Yeah, let's do eight six, six, nine,
eighty seven, two five seventy what call her number?
Speaker 1 (33:28):
You want number five? Caller five.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
You're going to the game tomorrow night. Uh, don't forget.
Top of the Hour one o'clock. Eric Dickerson joins the show.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Oh oh yeah, this selection is stirring it up out there,
stirring it up. Today's afternoon Delight is brought to you
by the twenty twenty five Super Bowl Halftime Show performing
Yeah That's right. Kendrick Lamar with his hit DNA off
the album Damn from twenty seventeen, after it was announced
(33:57):
yesterday that he would be performing in New Orleans next year.
A lot of people are mad about that. You know,
some people in the South a little bit. Some rappers
in the South a little upset about that. But that's okay.
The statement released by k DOT on Sunday. He said
rap music is still the most impactful genre of the date,
and I'll be there to remind you and remind the
(34:18):
world why they got the right one again. Today's afternoon
Delight is DNA by Kendrick Lamar.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
All Right, Rodney jessin Lomarana, what do you congratulations? Hey Jesse,
you are going to the Dodger game tomorrow night. Kind
of people we are. We want you to go and
have the best time possible.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
It's what we do. Don't forget.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
We are giving away tickets next hour and during the
two o'clock hour as well. And uh once we hit
our top of the hour break and come on back.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Ed joins the show. So all bets are off. Here
we go another season of whatever this is called. Why
don't we call it down? I don't know the NFL
Spotlight that's it. It's had like twelve names. Twenty nine okay,
that's right, twenty nine. So Ed joins the show top
(35:08):
of the hour, okay, and we'll getting all the football then.
But I want to get into the Chargers and Raiders yesterday.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Here's the way I saw it. You tell me what
you think. Jim Harball won his first game. Chargers did
what they said they were going to do. I thought
they were unexciting and pretty uninspiring. But a win is
a win in the NFL. Take them when you can
get them, and for the Chargers it'll be a work
in progress. Antonio Pierce, I thought made a serious error
(35:36):
first year full time head coach Raiders the fourth quarter.
Should have gone for it instead of punting. I think
that hurt him and I think he will learn from that.
Gardner Minshew was okay, he was okay. Their offense didn't
move the ball an awful lot. So I don't know
if it was a question of man, no, Chargers, Wow,
we better get behind them right now because they look
pretty damn good. Well, I think they were fine and
(35:59):
the Raiders were work.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, I agree, I think it was so it was
a win. Like he said, a win is a win,
and it's tough to come by in the NFL. I mean,
he got seventeen of them. It's it's everyone's important. But
I wouldn't go to say, oh, the Chargers look great
in their opener against the Raiders. No, I look at it,
(36:21):
like you said. The flip side of that, the Raiders
look like they're on their way to another mediocre season.
They just don't look like they have the horses and
and look, I'm not gonna put it all on on
Antonio Pierce. A lot of coaches go for it on
fourth down, don't go forward on fourth down. It's just
gonna be those decisions that he's going to learn from it,
(36:42):
and we'll decide and see what how he plays it
out the rest of the year. But at least he's
not going to be a Brandon Staley who's gonna go
for it in their own territory and end up costing
his team. Let's just hope not. But yeah, I was.
I was less impressed with the Raiders than I was
impressed with the Chargers. Now, you know, I do believe
(37:02):
the mentality of the Chargers is different and will be
different under Jim Harball. And he wanted to I get it.
He wanted to establish being physical. They're gonna run the football,
They're gonna be physical on both sides of the ball.
That's hism o and and I like that, but I
also believe that you got to let you gotta let
the young quarterback go to You got to open him
(37:23):
up and let him be the superstar that you drafted
him fifth player pick in the draft a few years ago.
You drafted him to be. And you know, as time
goes on, I think they will. But they got to
let him loose Fred because Justin Herbert is I still
believe one of the top ten quarterbacks in the league.
He just got to go out there and play it.
And then obviously they gotta they gotta go deep in
(37:45):
the playoffs. But I just don't want to see them
be too conservative when they've got a quarterback like him.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah, and it'll take some time. You know, it's not
often we see it and go, well, the Chargers won,
but it like, yeah, the Chargers won.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Right, that's all you cared about the one.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Yeah, but it's kind of but it'll take some time.
I mean, they have to figure it out. They were solid,
they didn't make mistakes. Uh, and the Raiders are the Raiders.
I was just surprised that the Raiders just didn't offensively,
really didn't have an identity.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Yeah, I mean other than DeVante Adams. I mean they
got rid of Jacob's Vick's cousin yesterday the last year
he's in Green Bay. But the DeVante Adams, I mean
it just who do you point to as like they've
got stars on offense? Right? You just can't really point
to him. And you know, yeah, Kobe Myers may maybe
(38:47):
made some place, but is he really a number two receiver?
More like a three or four. But I just don't
see him sharp. And then on top of that, Fred,
if you don't have a in today's football, you got
to have a guy as your quarter You gotta have
a guy. You can't have this. I'm gonna I'm gonna
let him battle it out during training camp and we'll
(39:07):
figure out who the guy is. No disrespect to Gardner Minshew.
And sometimes you know, he could emerge as being something
if he gets a true opportunity, and he kind of
really hasn't had that. He's kind of been that in
that hybrid of a backup a starter or backup a starter.
But I just I don't want to see the Raiders
go through the back and forth with quarterback. They pick Minshew,
(39:29):
let him go, Let him play it out. It's key.
If he doesn't work out, they got to go get
a guy. But they gotta get a guy pulling the trigger.
And until you get that, it's it's gonna be hard
for a team like the Raiders to really win. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Yeah, so they're only one and it's funny in football,
unlike any other sport. Look at USC two games, man,
they're really great. They play two games. It's a long season.
Raiders come out of the blocks and look flat. Didn't
look good. Oh my god, they're done. Boy, they need
a lot of help. It's one gamer.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
You know. The Chargers didn't look really as exciting as
you would think.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
What does that mean. It means it was one game.
It means it's one game. And then we have the
Rams and the Lions to talk about, and we'll do
that when we come back. Ed Eric Dickerson joins the
show on the other side and we begin the Ford
NFL Spotlight
Roggin And Rodney News
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