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December 22, 2024 31 mins
Eli is back this week & recaps the college football week 1 playoffs. Eli also talks a little NFL, gives you his picks of the week and reviews the Usyk v Fury boxing fight.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's time for Banter, a sports show that discusses and
debates today's and yesterday's athletes. Who's the greatest boxer, who's
the greatest football player, Who's the greatest baseball player. Let's
talk about that and more going on in the sports
world now on Banter. Here's your host, Eli Winfrey. Hello, folks,

(00:26):
and welcome to Banter.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I am back. It feels good to be back. It
feels like.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
I've been away for weeks and months. We were away
last week because I had some business I had to
take care of regarding my nonprofit. We were outspreading Christmas
cheer as we adopt families in the community, and we
delivered gifts and I read my children's book, which was

(00:56):
an amazing experience. And you can head over to my
social media pages. I'm on Instagram at Eli six two
six blue check mark uh and there's some photos and
videos of that amazing day that we had with families.

(01:16):
And we are officially done for the year as a nonprofit,
and I want to thank my team for the amazing
work that they've They've done and it's been very impactful,
not just to the families, but to us. And I
am not nearly as successful without my teammates, so I

(01:40):
want to shout them out before I start to show.
We do have a packed show for you today. Shout
out to my fabulous producer, Greg Nice. We won't take questions, actually,
what are we gonna do? How do we say we're
gonna do that? Yeah, we are going to Basically all

(02:06):
the questions really pertain to the college football playoffs, and
we're going to discuss that here momentarily, so a lot
of the questions will tie into that. So we won't
be reading you know, your questions this week. Hopefully next
week or midweek. I may do a show Thursday. You know,
we're working on that schedule. But nonetheless a lot of

(02:32):
things to cover this week. NFL picks I'm going to
give you. There are some teams that are peaking at
the right time in the NFL. There are some teams
that just look absolutely awful and you can tell that
they're checking out.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
I wasn't here when.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
The forty nine Ers linebacker just walked off the field
said he wasn't playing anymore. I'm going to discuss that
as well, But first I will continue to get you
caught up on my week, my role as a para
professional for the year has ended and it's been a

(03:14):
good experience thus far. Extremely hard work, folks, but I
do encourage those of you that would like to give
it to try to give it a try. Specifically, males,
we need more males in these classrooms. I think it's
important that we have males in the building. I am, well,

(03:40):
I'm not the only male in the building, but I
think there's three of us and we definitely need a
few more. It would be would be really good and ideal.
But it's been again a continued learning experience and shatter

(04:00):
the teachers and staff at Sunset Elementary. They they continue
to put me in positions to succeed, and I am
grateful for that. Family's doing really well. You know, this
is that time of year where I really like gonna
say I don't care about Christmas, because that wouldn't be
honest and true.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
But I just don't. I don't get up for it
as much as others. And that's okay.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
You know, I still like to see people happy and
joyous around this time.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
You know.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
I've gotten better, you know, with that and going to
go shopping for the family tomorrow. So I am I'm
excited about that. Whenever I can do something for somebody else,
it makes me happy. So all is good on the
home front. I hope you all are doing well too.

(04:58):
The weather here is frightful. I don't like grace, skies
and drizzle, and that's what we're going to have for
the next couple of months. But you know, I'm blessed
to see another day, so I really shouldn't be complaining.
All right, let's get into the show, folks, and let's
start in college football. Now, there's already rumblings about the

(05:29):
college football playoffs and it being a disaster thus far
because none of the games have been competitive, none of them.
And I could have told you that I've seen this.
I saw this coming.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Now.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
I think it's the first year, and I do think
that that does play into it. I think a.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Lot of these schools.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
With the home field advantage, it's a difficult thing for
these teams to go into Ohio State or Texas or
Penn State and expect to be really competitive. Notre Dame
as well. And I've said this before. Home field advantage

(06:30):
in college football is different from home field advantage in
football or basketball. It's more electric in college football there's
more enthusiasm in college football. And you saw.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
It at Ohio State.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
You saw it Notre Dame, you saw it at Penn State,
you saw the Texas, the pageantry. It's intense, and I
think with this being the first year, you're gonna have
a lot of these teams.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
That are shell shocked.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
SMU couldn't get out of their way yesterday against Penn State.
And before you tell me that, you know SMU and Clemson,
Indiana or even Tennessee shouldn't have been in the playoffs,
I'm gonna tell you to pump the brakes on that.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
They earned those.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
Spots, and you know it's unfortunate that they kind of
stall coming out of the gates. But this is the
first year and a lot of these teams are amped up.

(07:56):
I think Clemson was the well, I want to say,
and it was the closest game yesterday, but it wasn't.
It really wasn't. A lot of these games were over
by halftime. I watched all the games, and of all

(08:17):
the winners, I still don't know who's the better team.
Is it Notre Dame, is it Penn State, is it Texas?
Is it Ohio State? Ohio State has a rematch next
week against Oregon. That's going to be a pretty interesting

(08:39):
game because Ohio State hung with Oregon this season and
if not for some minimal mistakes, I think they could
have won that game. But they're gonna get another chance.

(09:01):
I think Notre Dame goes to Georgia, and I think
they beat Georgia simply because Georgia has a quarterback dilemma.
And I am a die hard Georgia Bulldog fan, folks,
but I don't think they're gonna beat not to Day

(09:26):
with a backup quarterback, not this year, and I don't
think they would beat them with Carson back.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
I've just never been a Carson Beck fan.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
I think there was a lot of hype last year
and coming into this year, he's supposed to be the
Heiightstman favorite, and he flopped. He flopped, and now he's hurt.
He's most likely out for the college playoffs.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
I think that's.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
A pretty big shoulder injury that he had, and I
just don't know if Georgia has enough to beat Notre Dame.
I think Indiana. I'm still trying to process that team.

(10:17):
I think they're deserving of being in the playoffs, for sure.
But I just don't think they're as good as we
thought they were. Right all year, the talk was Indiana
hasn't played anybody, and when they did, they were blown out.

(10:45):
And listen, I think their coach, I think he's a
good coach. I'm not with all the the bravado. And yeah,
you know, there was something that happened at midfield after
game with a handshake with the coach Freeman and I
don't know what was said, but you could just see

(11:06):
the Idiota coach just I don't know it.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Just it.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Just looks like he's a me guy, not a wee guy.
I could be wrong, but it sure looked like that
after the game. But I think next year you'll see.
I think it'll be more competitive next year. I really

(11:32):
believe that. I think it'll be much more competitive and
balanced next year, with teams having gone through this now
in the first year. I do think it gets better
it normally does. I thought SMU was I thought they
were overwhelmed early and they never recover. And you know,

(12:02):
as they say, styles make fights, and you saw it
fl lopsided. Penn State was in complete control from the kickoff.
It's good to see SMU in the playoffs and back

(12:22):
on the map. You know, they were served a death
sentence years ago, decades ago, and look at where they
are now. You just hope that you see this continue
to build going into next year, because it would be
a shame if this was it.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
I don't think it is. I think they'll be back.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
I think they'll be a little bit better and a
bit more experienced, and I expect them to be battling
to get back into the college football playoffs. Penn State
look decent again. If Penn State can run the ball
consistently uh and mix in.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
The past.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
Consistently against top tier opponents, they're gonna be a tough out.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
I don't know offhand who they played next week.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
I don't know if it's Boise State, I think maybe
I have to check that. But they looked really good yesterday.
Texas looked decent yesterday. You know, I wasn't I wasn't
a big fan of Clemson getting in. I'll be honest
with you. I didn't think that they were, you know,

(13:38):
really good, and it showed. I can't give Dabbos dabble
Sweeney credit for getting this team to to this point.
They won the ACC Championship so they were deserving. But

(14:00):
outside of that, it's been an up and down season
for them, and you know, don't let their record fool you.
They were not as good as as we thought they were,
and it showed Tennessee. I think the inability to run
the ball yesterday told you everything that you needed to

(14:25):
know about the team. I think when you're asking a
freshman quarterback to, you know, basically try and lead you
to victory, that's hard. That's extremely difficult. But I do

(14:46):
think that they'll get better, they'll be back, they'll be tool.
You know, these teams that nowadays they go into the
portal and grab players. It's astonishing to see how college
football is changing. It is turning more into the NFL

(15:08):
with its off season, and I think at some point
they got to get a handle on this nil stuff
because this is going to continue for a while, the
players jumping from team to team, and look, I'm not
opposed to that. Coaches do it all the time. I know,
two wrongs don't make it right, but coaches do it

(15:32):
all the time. So those are some of my thoughts
as I recap college the college football playoffs. I do
like the format, though, folks, I know they're going to
be people who really slam it.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
You're already starting to hear it. You know, people are
saying like.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
We need to go back to a four team system,
you know, twelve is too many.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
I disagree with that.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
I think these teams were just irving and you got
to let it play out. I do think it's going
to get better over time, you know, but we can't.
We can't be prisoners of the moment. And just because
your team blown out, you know you or your team
didn't get in and you saw these other teams get
blown out, you feel like, well, uh, Alabama would have

(16:21):
would have gaves you know, Ohio State a game.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
We don't know that.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
We'll never know that because Alabama didn't play well enough
to get in. And that's just what it is. But
I like the format. I think moving forward, this is
what they're gonna this is where they're gonna be for
years to come, and I do think you'll.

Speaker 2 (16:45):
See better competition.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
You just have to be patient and let this thing
play itself out like it always does.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
We did this, uh in.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
The beginning with the you know, two teams being it
have it being bold orient it. Then it went to
a four team system, which was really dominated by the
SEC and now we have, you know, this twelve team
format and I'm excited because I like it. Now it's

(17:15):
taxing on some of these players who have to continue
to play into the new year.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
How beneficial that is in the long run, but right
now I think they're benefiting from it. And again with
the NIL, a lot of these players are making this money.
You just hope that they're saving it, you know, because
it won't last. And how many of them are being

(17:45):
paid an astronomical amount of money. How many of these
athletes are being paid that much money. That's another story
for another day. All Right, I'm gonna pivot to the NFL.
A lot of these teams, These teams are jockeying for positions.

(18:06):
Three games left. Kansas City wins against the Texans yesterday.
I figured when Patrick Mahomes was gonna play that the
Chiefs will probably win this game. And it was a
close game. But again, you know, I think as long
as the Chiefs are winning these types of games, they
don't really have fear of.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
Losing in any situation.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
They haven't blown any teams out this year, and they
did this last year. They kind of limped into the
playoffs and they had to go on the road, and
they did that and they won the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
Is the pressure mounting though? For them? The three peat?
It's a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
I think them having home feel advantage will be vital,
absolutely vital. And if they can hang on and make
that happen, I think they're gonna be the team to beat.
I would pick them to reach the Super Bowl winning it.
I'm not sure, but I do see a path for

(19:17):
them getting there. The Ravens beat the Steelers. It was
a much needed win for the Ravens. I think they
needed this game, not saying that Pittsburgh didn't, but I
think here's what I'm gonna say. Yeh, I'm just not.

(19:43):
I'm not a big Russell Wilson fan as a person,
absolutely lovely guy as a player. I'm just not.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
I'm not as convinced as everybody else steal a nation.
I'm not.

Speaker 1 (19:59):
I think some of you are also scratching your heads.
He didn't play terrible, but he didn't play great. To me,
I think Baltimore, you know, made the plays they needed
to make. They got a key pick six and again
I don't know why he threw that ball to I

(20:21):
don't know why Russell Wilson threw that ball to the inside.
You gotta you gotta, you gotta throw the outside, and
he knows that terrible throw. I think it's been all
about their defense this year, but unfortunately, the Ravens were
the better team last night and.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
It showed.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
I think for the Ravens, if they can continue to
establish Derrick Henry in the run game, it just opens
everything up for Lamar. When they go away from that,
you see them struggle. You see Lamar trying to force
things down the field. Do I think he's the best

(21:04):
quarterback in the league. I don't know if he's the
best quarterback in the league. I think he's one of
the most dynamic quarterbacks in the league outside of Josh Allen.
I think, you know, those two are very dangerous, very dangerous.
But I think you gotta have a running game as

(21:25):
we head into these cold months, and a lot of
these teams want to run the ball. I think I
think if they can run the ball consistently, they're gonna
be they too, will be a tough out. Here's the
thing with the Ravens, though they're really really good, really

(21:50):
good in the regular season. The playoffs is when it's
gonna count. And Lamar hasn't shown me that he can
win in the biggest moments on the biggest stage. And

(22:11):
until he does that, you know, he'll be considered a
Jim Kelly. You know, no pun intended. I think Jim
Kelly is a Hall of Famer. But he didn't win
the big game. He had four opportunities to and he didn't. Well,

(22:32):
ELI is a team game, I know that, But who
do they praise when the teams win? Who gets the
most praised. It's the quarterback who gets to blame. It's
the quarterback and the coach, but the quarterback for sure.

(22:54):
So I'm hoping that Lamar finally gets over that hurdle.
But we'll see, we shall see.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
All right.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
I'm gonna give you my picks this week, folks, before
I pivot to boxing. I got the Browns excuse me, correction,
I got the Beagles over the Browns this week. I
have the Panthers upsetting the Cardinals, have the Falcons over
the Giants. I have the Commanders upsetting the Eagles. Yep,

(23:25):
I said it. I said it. The Commanders upsetting the Eagles.
I have the Lions over the Bears. I have the
Jets over the Rams and an upset. I have the
Vikings beating the Seahawks. I have the Coats beating the Titans.
I have the Dolphins beating the forty nine Ers. The
forty nine ers are just decimated with injuries desde it

(23:48):
I have. I have the Jaguars over the Raiders. I
just think the Raiders. I'm not gonna say they're catching
it in because I don't want to say that about
any team, but it sure looks like it. They want
that number one pick. They want your door, Sanders. So
I think the Jaguars will win that game. I think
the Bills will beat the Patriots, and I think the

(24:10):
Buccaneers would beat the Cowboys. Those are my picks, folks.
And is there a Monday night game? What's the Monday
night game? Saints and Packers? I got the Packers over
the Saints. Those are my picks. What are yours? Hit

(24:31):
me up on social media, d m me let me
know who you got winning this week?

Speaker 2 (24:38):
All right?

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Before I close the show, I want to pivot to boxing.
And I saw the Usik Tyson Fury fight and I'm
gonna say this, folks, and I I just I don't.

(25:01):
I just don't like sore losers. Tyson Fury left the
ring very frustrated, angry. They're all mad at the judges,
and I get it. I get it. I'd be upset
at the judges too. Some of these scores were ridiculous.

(25:23):
So I try to hold, you know, judgment on that,
but then you know, you get to the press conference
and you just act a certain way.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
I just who am I to judge?

Speaker 1 (25:34):
Though?

Speaker 2 (25:34):
Right?

Speaker 1 (25:36):
We all respond to things differently. I'm sure when I
was younger, I was, I was that way, but they're
not young.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
These are older guys. I thought.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
I thought Alexander Usik, I thought he did enough to
win the fight. He either won the fight or it
was a draw. Fury didn't win the fight, folks. He didn't.
He didn't move forward, he didn't impose his size. I
think Usik's power bothered him. And I think also that

(26:16):
was another reason why Fury wouldn't shade that.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
Beer that they were complaining about.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
Husick's team was complaining that Fury should trim down his
beer because it's a buffer, it's a cushion, you know, and.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
I would have to agree.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
I remember there's a fight with Adrian Broner and many
pack yow where they had Adrian Broner shave his beard.
Still in all, I thought it was a competitive fight.
It was a really good fight. Tyson Fury had moments,

(26:57):
Husak just had more. And I do think you hurt
Fury a little bit. I think Usik will go down
as one of the best heavyweights of all time. You
can look at his resume. In my opinion, doesn't get

(27:23):
any better than that. So I'm I'm extremely happy for Usik.
I think he talked about moving back down the cruisewaight,
but I do think he's gonna take a fight. He's
gonna take another fight at heavyweight. You already got, you know,
opponents jumping in the ring calling him out, and he's

(27:43):
there for it. Just what I like about Usak. He's
not running from anything. And I don't know where Tyson
Fury goes from here. You know, in boxing or in
most sports in general, every there's always a team or

(28:04):
an opponent that has your number and you can't solve
that mystery. And I think that's what Tyson Fury is.
I just feel like Usik's power bothered him. Otherwise I
think he would have walked him down in the later rounds.

(28:25):
You saw him try to, you know, muddy the waters
a little bit, try to smother Usik, which is something
he should have done in the early rounds. I don't
know if it's conditioning played a part. It looked like
it did at times because it looked like, you know,
Tyson took Tyson Fury took a few rounds off to recover.

(28:48):
But congratulations to Alexander Ussik, really good performance. He really
has nothing left to prove now in the division. The
division is not very very good, and you know, there
are really no big names outside of Tyson Fury. You
can say Anthony Joshua Joshua, but U six beat him

(29:08):
twice already, and I don't see him, you know, fighting
him a third time for what doesn't make sense. I
see Tyson Fury now maybe circling back and fighting Anthony Joshua.
That would be a big fight.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
I would favor Fury in that fight.

Speaker 1 (29:26):
Styles make fights, and I would favor Tyson Fury. He's
not known to be a kno got artist, but I
think he has a better chance than Anthony Joshua and
he's a better box, so we'll have to wait and see.

(29:47):
All right, folks, that is it for the show today.
I want to thank you all for tuning in. We
will do one more show, one more show before the
the year, and we will be moving to fan Base.
It's a social media platform company that I have equity

(30:10):
in and I will take a lot of my content there,
so be on the lookout for live shows there where
you can actually see me. I am excited about that.
I hope that all of you have a really, really
great holiday. Make sure you're getting out in your communities

(30:33):
and you're checking in on your family and friends. Put
a smile on someone's face. Remember it doesn't take a
lot of energy to do that at all. Thank you
for listening to Banter. Please be sure to download this
show whatever you download your favorite.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
Podcast Till next week. Take care, not blessed. I'm out
that
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