March 19, 2025 • 32 mins
In the second hour, Dick Fain chats with Petros Papadakis about the NCAA Tournament and bracket madness, the Dodgers playing in Japan, and Cooper Kupp coming from the Rams, then we go back and listen to our conversation with Kupp Tuesday at the VMAC.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly conversation with college football analyst
Petros Papa Nakas.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Not that I'm a smart guy, I'm stupid.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Brought to you by Sweet James Accident Attorneys forty one years.
If you're hurt in an accident, called Sweet James right
away at eight hundred, five hundred and fifty two hundred.
Sweet James will be sweet to you, but tough on
insurance companies that will bully you.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I don't know bout.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
With Petros Peer's Dave's softy Muller throwing into.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
The four o'clock hour on a Wednesday, that means one thing,
and one thing only. Our friend Petros Papa dak is
joining us.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Brought to you by.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
The one and only Sweet James, the dense period of
justice he can come through for you. If you've ever
been in a car accident, motorcycle accident, maybe a dog
has bitting you in the nether regions. Whatever's happened, you
can be sure that Sweet James will know what to
do with your issue and get you what you deserve.
Give him a call at eight hundred and nine million.
(01:05):
They have massed over a billion dollars for thousands of
clients over the years eight hundred nine million or sweet
changed dot com.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Oh, Petro's good to talk to.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
It is one of my favorite weeks of the season,
and in fact, this and Master's Week, I think are
my two favorite sports weeks of.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
The entire tournament.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Here.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I am a huge bracket head.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Are you one that will fill out an office pool
or a family pool or get your kids to be
degenerate gamblers like I do?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
No?
Speaker 5 (01:35):
I I when I started working, I never ever did
anything with brackets or anything like that as a young guy.
And then when I started working in the sports media,
you know, it's a real cool thing to do, which
is to fill out your bracket. And some guys fill
out like five brackets and say like, oh, I had drink,
(01:55):
I had cake on my form.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Can't do that. Gotta have one right bracket of integrity
as it were.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
I did it a couple times, and you know whatever,
the middling results, and I just never it's not important
enough to me to get around to, you know, I mean,
and then now it's like, you know, you got to
get it done really early because of the plan and
the whole thing, or you wait till the Playan's over
and then you do it. I don't. I'm not exactly sure,
but either way, No, I've never been a big bracket guy.
(02:25):
I do find the tournament as intriguing as everybody else.
You know, we all have our favorites. It's really fun
to see a lot of the small schools and usually
the weird looking big man like semi bald with goggles
and like weird mustaches and crazy haircuts, and interesting team
nicknames and histories and stuff like that. That part of
(02:47):
it I really enjoy. But the blue blood part and
all that is fine too, UCLA, North Carolina, Doke, Michigan State, Kansas,
all those teams that were used to seeing over the years.
But yeah, I guess I enjoy it as much as
everybody else on the show. Down here in La we
we have UCLA. So we talked to Mick Cronin a lot,
(03:08):
and we have a good relationship with him. He's really
great with the media.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
He's not as crotchety with you as he is with
the national media complaining about Statue of Liberties and that
sort of thing.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
Not at all. No, not with us. He's got great
humor with us. He but he is a snarky man,
there's about it and whatever he said. You know, somebody said,
like he, I mean, it's so funny because you cla,
they're so soft. You know. The university in itself is
just you know, it doesn't when you think, you cla dick,
You don't think, wow.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Hard is great.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You think you think powder blue.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah, you think that.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
And of course you know Bill Walton and Kareem and
they are the greatest college basketball program of all time.
And it's very difficult to argue that modern times, no,
but of all time, all time, yes, and it's not
that long ago. But at the same time, you know,
it's not that loud at Polly Pavilion. It's hard for
(04:03):
whatever reason nowadays to get fans in that building.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Mhm.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
It's in Westwood. It's you gotta it's twenty five minutes.
It's it's like a mile from the freeway, but it
takes you at least a half hour to twenty five
minutes when you get off the freeway to get into
the campus and park your car, which I don't need
to tell you what that's like. So the whole thing
is an experience, and it's not that you know, it's
(04:28):
not like being in hinkle Fieldhouse or whatever. These places
and the rest of the Big Ten. It's not quaint, no,
And uh, you know you can hear Mick Cronan mother
effing the players. So you know, like these these these
these really very sensitive pearl clutching powder blue old timers
(04:49):
who are used to John Wooden, who you know, read
poetry into the guys or something. Uh, they get really
upset sometimes when they hear Mick Cronan screaming and yelling
and the players. And you know, every year new jobs
open up and people talk about, oh, is he going
to go here? Is he going to go there? And
I'm like, well, maybe it'd be better off because those
places are so loud that no one could hear him
(05:12):
mother fing the players, and nobody gets but hurt about it.
It is kind of It is interesting because his style
is not exactly it's a fit at UCLA. I mean
Ben Holland went to three straight Final four at UCLA
and still got fired a couple of years later because
the brand of basketball wasn't exciting and he was a
(05:35):
defensive coach too. Now Mick is a little bit different.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Defense wasn't all that likable, was he Ben Holland.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
No, no, not at all. Yeah, I mean we liked him,
but my imitation of Ben Hollanders turn out, turn out.
You know, they did a three, he'd call a time
out to set up the defense. They were a very
frustrating team to watch, but they had a lot of success.
But it's interesting to see that, you know. And Eric Musselman,
(06:01):
the guy that's at USC, is a really good coach
and really media friendly. And I worked with his wife,
Danielle Sargent at Fox for a long time. So we
have good people here in La coach and the teams.
And then the UCSD University of California, Sandie the Triton Tritons, Yeah,
which is different than the what is it the Terrero's
(06:23):
that are the universe the USD, right, which is where
Musselman coached them to a tournament years ago and then
got those NBA jobs. That's a different San Diego school.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
You see.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
SD is in La Joya, which is constantly harrissed by
a rich surf gang called the Wind and Sea surf Rats.
You're not really Yeah, white boys surf gang.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
White boy summer addictive, you know, it's right, that's right,
Petros Papade gets joined.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I guess as he always does.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
How how fired up was was the Southland for Dodger
baseball at three o'clock in the morning the last two days?
Speaker 5 (07:04):
Well pretty fired up? I mean, uh, A lot of
people went to Japan, not US, of course, but well,
Fox didn't even go to Japan. I didn't expect you
to go to Japan. Oh they didn't.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
The broadcasters did it remotely?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
No.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I think Joe Davis and Eric Carross went. The radio
didn't go. The radio didn't race for whatever reason. The radio, okay,
I think I'm pretty sure. Okay, But then again, yeah, no,
they sent that one broadcast team. I believe they did.
Rodney Pete, who works with us on the radio, was
not working all week, but he got his his fame
(07:41):
by catching the ball about ball today in front of
Max Munsey, and Max Munsey looked a little angry, but
it seemed like it was fair game for Rodney to catch.
But it's a it's remarkable, I mean, just and it's
a lot different than the trip to Korea last year.
And there's a few things that jump out to me. Dick,
the the whole Dodgers with Otani marriage has gotta be
(08:05):
one of the most lucrative marriages of all time in
the history of sports. And what really jumps out to
me is, this guy's been playing baseball in town for
seven years, Like he was in spring training correct with
the Angels down the road in Tempe.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
But it's just different.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
And no, I mean it's not like nobody cared. I mean,
the guy was winning MVPs and there was a lot
of talk about Otani. But Otani as a Dodger. What
that means to everybody in Japan apparently because of the
Dodger brand name. What that means to everybody in La
the Japanese market that just comes in buys T shirts
and jerseys alone. I mean, it is unreal. And maybe
(08:50):
they won the championship last year. That brings a lot
into it. The Guggenheim Group and how it seems that
they're so much more progressive and understanding of how to
sort of reinvest the money that they make into the
baseball team and even pay a lot of deferrals and
stuff like that. They are they're pretty damn impressive. And
(09:13):
you know me, I'm no front runner, but it's hard
watching them over the years kind of struggle to build
this and find a team that wasn't just great, but
that had edge in the playoffs to beat people. Feels
like it's finally happened and that perfect storm of money
making seems to be taking place.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Well yeah, and I mean we talked about show hate
to Seattle many many times because the whole etro tie
in and he wanted to stay on the West coast.
And our point was simply this, Hey, whatever you give
Sho heo Tani, you're going to get back to threefold.
I mean, this is just an investment that is a
can't lose investment.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
And of course the Marins.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I didn't even know if the Mariners were even close
to landing show Hayo Tani, but we know that that
they didn't get him. But Petrols Papadak is joining us here. Hey,
we chatted us.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
Not to interrupt you, Dick, but just what is interesting
about that and not so much like, Hey, I wonder
what would have happened if he went to Seattle. I
wonder what would have happened if he went to Toronto.
Can you imagine like seeing him on the Dodgers and
what it means and how it's all come together. Don't
you think he regrets signing a second time with the Angels?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Of course?
Speaker 5 (10:27):
I mean right, I mean looking back on that, it's like, wow,
you could have gotten out of there.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, he could have been a Dodger for fifteen years.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Right or something else. But a very interesting situation. And
we knew Otani on the Dodgers was going to be big.
I don't think anybody could could have foreseen this. No, no,
sorry about that.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
That's all right.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Well, I mean transfers perfectly. We got an La guy
up here now that used to start They used to
play in Washington State. We talked to Softie and I
talked to face to face with the bearded Cooper Cup yesterday.
Had a fantastic conversation with the young man from from Yakama.
He came a boy. He came in rocking the Seattle
look man. He had the nineteen ninety four flannel he
(11:10):
had had backwards.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
He had the pearl jam T shirt and everything.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
I don't know if he was if he was just
sucking up to Seattle or if he just loved all that,
but he was.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
He was absolutely rocking Seattle yes day. A good guy.
He's just is he done?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I mean, do you think he's done based upon what
you've seen from him with the Rams the last couple
of years, and you think he can help us?
Speaker 5 (11:29):
No, I just think the Rams are pragmatic. You know,
they had the Rams found a number one receiver who's
on a rookie contract, a little bit like Cooper Cup
when he when he arrived there as a young player.
They have Pooka Nakua who is a number one guy
and he's on a rookie contract. We know what that means.
You can go pay for something around him and to
(11:51):
have a number two and if you would you rather
have Davante Adams who's been healthy recently and a little
bit more productive, or Cooper Cupp as your number two guy.
I mean it probably.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Adams, yeah, I mean just depends on the money, right,
and you're gonna pay Davonte more.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
But yes, it's probably Devonte Adams.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
And that's where they ended up, which which is understandable.
Let me guess your interview with Cooper Cup was like
thirty questions six minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
No, he was he was okay, Yeah, he was fine.
You know, he was fairly verbose.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
He had a really good, really good answer about when
I asked him about Doug Baldwin and what he took
from Doug Baldwin's game, because he had mentioned him in
the press conference on how he kind of modeled his
game effort. He went on like a minute long wide
receiver breakdown about his footwork and everything. I was like, Oh, cool,
this is pretty, this is pretty. This is like this
is like Hugh Millon breakdown stuff right here.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
He's getting a little better then, because not a great
interview when he first we all know that he's from
a small school Eastern Washington on that great story, big
play VA and then he had an even better year
with a different quarterback, and then get drafted and you
don't know what that guy's going to do translate into
the league, and he was nothing but spectacular in Sean
(13:05):
mcvay's offense. So he's been great. I don't really think
him and his wife needed to throw like a seven
week pity party that they were getting released or traded.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Is that what they did.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
I didn't even of social media, you know, I mean,
like that never happened. I mean it was almost like,
how could they do this to us? Kind of vibe,
which is.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
He's still not happy.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
He was.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
He was clear.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
He made that clear yesterday and very respectful terms, because
I think he wants to respect the Rams and he
doesn't hold any you know, hard to grudges or anything
against the Rams. But he was asked about getting released
and he said, yeah, you know, there really wasn't a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Of clarity about that whole situ. That was the That
was the carefully crafted word he used.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
There wasn't a lot of clarity about why I was released.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
It's like going on to the Bachelor and being like,
I can't believe there's other girls or after this time,
that's what is this? You know, I'm getting jealous. It's like, okay,
you know you're a pro football player, right, Uh. It
doesn't end pretty for anybody in pro football unless you're
Straighthan or maybe Elway.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Tom Brady, Yeah, pretty beat up.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
But what I'm yeah, Tom Brady still pissed off. Everybody
has a grievance and that's fine. But at the same time,
I thought that they laid it on a little thick
leaving town. But other than that, yeah, I think he's
a great receiver and I'm sure he can help Seattle out.
And look, I'm rooting for Sam Darnold and Cooper Cup
and I hope they have a lot of success. I
(14:31):
know the new coach is a really defensive minded guy
and was impressive in spots for you guys last season.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Well, he was impressive at the right time.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
If you want a defense, if you want to coach
whose defense is not very good the first half and
great the second half of the season, or the opposite,
you'll certainly take the coach who takes a bad defense
and turns it into a top ten defense at the
end of the year. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
Develop the identity of the team of what they're going
to be under him and all that. I get it.
So good luck to Cooper Cup. I got nothing against him.
I thought that they laid it on a little thick
here in town. But you know, everybody for the Rams
takes the example of the idiot Staffords, who are ridiculously
terrible when it comes to well because of the wife.
You know, Kelly Stafford is a nightmare. I mean just
(15:16):
a nightmare. I mean Matt Stafford's worth it, but barely.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
So.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
And you know she they're friends, very close friends with
the Cups. They probably take they probably take their marching
orders from those idiots.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
On that note, Great to talk to you, my friend.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Try to sit down and enjoy some you know, enjoy
some basketball over the next four days. Well, I sat
the cocktail maybe with your kids.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
And last night and North Carolina was winning by Ford.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
We smoked them. Yeah, so yep, starts all all tomorrow.
Great to talk to you, my friend.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
We'll talk to you next time.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
All right, Dick, we'll talk to you soon. Have a
great day and go Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
That trust Papa Dakas broad to you by our friend
Sweet James. When we come back, you will hear from
the aforementioned Cooper Cup Softie in my conversation yesterday with
the newest member of the Seattle Seahawks wearing number ten,
just like he did in Los Angeles. Coming up next
on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
You're listening to the exclusive home of the Huskies, the
Kraken and March Madness. Now back to Softie and did
proudly brought to you by Emerald quin Casino on Sports
Radio ninety three point three KJR fil play.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Action from Adams Puffs Fire's team looking for Cooper Cup
touchdown Eastern Washington forty one yards Adams to Cooper Cup.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Well, Cooper Cup when he was at Eastern just torched
the Huskies, the Cougars and the Ducks. And when we
chatted with him yesterday, that's where we started the conversation.
And then Softy asked Cooper, Hey, when you were at Eastern,
were you playing a little extra chip on your shoulder
playing those Pac twelve schools that didn't offer you a scholarship.
Speaker 7 (17:08):
When you were at Eastern Washington, did you like pull
at Jordan and take that personally, but all those schools
passed on you because you exploded on those schools.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, no, just I think that was just a coincidence
that working out.
Speaker 7 (17:20):
Yeah, well, it's great to see. Welcome back to the
two o six and the state of Washington. And my
friend tell us about this about just being back here.
You got the Pearl jam shirt on, You're doing the
right thing. Everyone's all fired up for that. But tell
me about what this means to you to be back
in the state of Washington playing for the Seahawks as
a pro after eight years in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
That it's really cool. I mean, just a full circle moment.
I think you know, obviously growing up in yak and
Washington playing high school ball there. You know, want a
state championship here during in the Tacoma Dome, YEP, playing
at Eastern Washington and all the football that we played
in the state here, then you'll come back. It's a
it's a really cool thing. And excited about the community
(18:03):
here and the people that we get to you know
know and pour into and it's just a it's a
cool moment.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
How much was that a factor in your decision to
come back. I mean, people say I want to come home,
but there's other factors as well.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
I think a factor was that, you know, it was
a piece of it. It definitely was a piece of it
because you obviously have the football side of things and
making sure that if it's just who I am as
a football player and what I wanted to accomplish and
just being able to be competitive and the things that
are this, you know, this organization's building towards is really
cool to be a part of, and I'm very excited
about that. But also it is the community, and it's
(18:36):
the people. It's the way that the organization's treating players,
it's the way that this is all been set up,
you know, there's there's so many pieces to it, and
you know, I think all those things came together. It's
just a man. We feel good about so much of it.
Speaker 7 (18:48):
You you're not twenty two, but you're not forty two either,
Right at thirty two years old, did you ever think
about just saying enough is enough. I want to spend
my whole career with one team. I want to be
that guy that stays with one team my whole life
and just hang it up and walk away from the game.
How much did you have those conversations in your in
your brain and with your wife in the last maybe
(19:08):
weak or so.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Never That's never crossed my mind. I don't, I don't.
I don't know who started whatever that was. You know,
I'm I I am no way and ready to be
done playing football. I'm very excited about about the football
that I've ahead of me. You know, I still see
myself as an ascending player, and you know, mentally, the
way that I see the game, I can still I'm
(19:32):
I see myself if I couldn't see, if I've enbiioned something,
I'm like, Hey, this is how I want to run
this route, this is how I want to manipulate this
dB and I couldn't do it. I wouldn't be playing
anymore right right, you know, But you know, I'm able
to see the reps that I'm taking in practice, able
to see the off season reps and things that I'm doing,
and man, I feel really good about what I can
put on on field, and I'm looking forward to getting
out there this year.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Well, when you have been on the field, you've been dominant.
You just haven't always been on the field. So talk
about your health. How confident are you that you're gonna
be ready to play seventeen games.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
I'm I'm I go into every season with this, you know,
the confidence, and there's there's Okay, I shouldn't say that,
there's certain seasons where you're coming in you're banged up
and you've got stuff that you're man you didn't have
the off seasons that you wanted to, or there's you know,
there's risks involved in this game. And I've unfortunately, you know,
the last three years had things that you know, they've
been unfortunately. There's you know, they're outside of your control
(20:23):
a lot of ways. You know, you can't handle the
way that you're gonna get tackled sometimes and and that happens.
But you know this is uh, it's one of those
games where you know, I'm it hasn't created any hesitancy
in me to go out there and just play the
best that I can possibly play and give it everything
I've got. You get hurt in this league when you
start slowing down and feeling like you're looking to try
(20:44):
to stay healthy. You know, the way that you play
this game is to be violent, to be the attacker,
be the aggressor. And you know I'm gonna continue to
play this game that way and believe that's when I'm
at my best. And you can't control the things that
are gonna happen outside of your control. So I can
obviously can't promise anything, and no one in this leak
in right, but I'm really excited about being to get
out there and play some really good football.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Well, Cooper Cup is our guest here at the Virginia
Mason Athletics Center, and look, I got to tell you,
first of all of us are jacked up to have
your backpick time. I wanted you in the twenty seventeen
draft to be totally honest with you, So I'm glad
that we finally you know, nine years later were able
to pull this off and get this thing done. But
you mentioned there that you're an a sending player. You
don't often hear that word about thirty two year olds
in the NFL is sending. You hear the decline, but
(21:25):
you don't hear a sending. Why do you think that?
Speaker 5 (21:27):
What does that look like to you?
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Yeah? I think it is kind of what I was
saying here. You know what, I get to see myself
play this game. I get to see every rep. You know,
anyone else gets to see what happens on Sundays. And
you know that's a contingent on a lot of other things.
But in terms of me as a football player and
what I can do, I'm really excited about the football
that I'm playing, really excited about the football that I'm
seeing on tape and the way that I'm preparing and
(21:49):
the things that I can still still do when I'm
giving the opportunity to do it, And I just I
just I'm really excited about that. I honestly am looking
forward to how cooves to set guys up and what
his vision is for things and making those things come
to life, and working with Sam and these guys it's
gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 7 (22:07):
Well, I was talking to Dick before you showed up,
and just hear and you talk right there kind of
cemented it for me. You seem pretty damn motivated right now.
Right for the first time in your life, you've been
let go by a football team. Now, I don't know,
maybe there's a Michael Jordan story. You're cut from your
high school basketball team back in the day as a freshman.
I got no idea, but is this the first time
in your life that you've been let go by a
team period?
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Yeah, I think the I think that would be it. Yea.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
How much does that, for lack of a better word,
how much does that kind of piss you off a
little bit?
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Yeah? I mean there there's obviously frustrations around that, and
you know, no one wants to be in that no
one would choose to be in that position. But at
the end of the day, this is the path that
God's taking us on, and I'm excited for this next
chapter and wherever He's taking us, and I believe there's
an answer for us. You know, there's things that don't
make sense with what has gone on, but I'm really
excited about what's ahead, And all the times when there's
not an answer for something, it's because he's gonna show
(22:56):
it to you down the line, and I'm really excited
about what that's gonna look like. You circle those two dates,
I have I have not circled the dates now.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
When you were when you were talking earlier in the
press conference, you mentioned eighty nine Doug Bald when you
grow up watching dog Ball, which made us feel old
because Doug was like sitting here seemingly last Tuesday talking
to us, just like you're talking to us now. But
what did you appreciate most about Doug and what did
you take from his game and incorporate it in your game?
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, I mean the tenacity, the aggression. I mean, I
think he was always the aggressor, and we talked that
from a mentality standpoint. I've always appreciated that about Doug's game.
From a technique standpoint, one of the best come to
balance releases in the history of the NFL. I mean
it was, it was. It was very daring because sometimes
he was off his feet were off the ground for
(23:45):
a long time. But I mean he I mean he
also just absolutely turned people around the way that he
would come up the ball in the quickness that he'd
play that with, and how he'd counter you know, he'd
be able to run, he'd run drive routes off of that,
but he'd also be able to counter that with you know,
bring a fader out down in the red zone. So
you know the way he pieced us up together. He's
just he's a very very good football player. And you
(24:05):
see him with the pictures on the walls of him,
you know, like flying through the air making all kinds
of different catchers, and it's just, uh, he's a very
impressed FOOTBA player. You know.
Speaker 7 (24:12):
I'm just thinking Cooper Cup is with us. I'm thinking
Dick about it. The all time greated athletes to come
out of Yakama, right, I mean the mayors obviously are
on that list. Dan Dornick is on that list. I
mean Todd Stottlemeyer is on that list. How often do
you go back there?
Speaker 4 (24:25):
And honestly, this.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Is just between the three of us. You're a humble guy,
I know that, But how big of a dealer are
you and Yakama?
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Right, just between the three of us, nobody's listening. It's
just a big a dealer.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Come on, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I don't know. I'm not answering that question.
Speaker 7 (24:41):
How often do you get to go back there and
what does that town mean to you?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Yeah? No, I don't get to go back there a ton.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
We obviously have three boys, we've got family, and we've
got our your off season downs down southern California. When
we used to do our off season in Oregon, we'd
get over there a little bit more, just harder. It's
not super fun traveling with six four and one kind
of playing, you know, So it's like it's we were like,
you guys can come like, my family's still there, I
still have I love our family still there. You guys
(25:09):
can come down whenever you want to, you know what
I mean, But just don't get up there as much.
But uh, it is, I mean I grew up there.
You know, there's where the parks there are where I
grew up playing football with my dad there at Franklin
Park all the time. You know, walk down the street
and it was just, uh, it's a it's a special
place because there's it goes back to what I was
(25:29):
touching on the memories, the experiences that you have and
you know there'll never be anything like your child at home.
You know when you when you grow up there and
all the things that you did with your family, with
my with my brothers, and then with the high school team,
all my friends that were there, you know that you'll
always have the You always have those memories, You always
have that time. So there's a there's there's definitely a
law of value in the time that I spent there.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What did you come to learn about the Seahawks organization?
Playing for the rival of the Seahawks organization? And and
you know what is the thought around the league about
with this organization?
Speaker 4 (26:00):
It's all about Yeah, you know, two things come to mind. One,
you knew you're gonna deal with the twelves, right like,
there's always that you you know, you come to you
come to Seattle, You're gonna be dealing with an unbelievable
environment that you had to you had to prepare for,
and that was a that's a big piece. I'm excited
to be on the other side of that now. You know,
that's gonna be a really cool thing for me, just
(26:22):
from just having that experience, from a having such a
renowned fan base going behind you and being able to
experience that on the officer side. When you have the
quiet and being able to be on the deep, be
on the sideline and watch the defense go out there
and see this stadium erupt. That's gonna be really cool.
So said about that, And I think the other piece
was just a just a little bit in the in
(26:44):
the press conference, but just the belief there's there's always
been a positive energy and belief in this organization. And
when you've got the positive energy, you've got this belief
that you can win any game at any moment, that
you're gonna find a way to win the game. That's
always been felt. It's always been like, man, if you're
playing Seattle, play the whole game. You gotta play the
whole game, because they're gonna keep fighting, They're gonna find
a way to stay in the game and give themselves
(27:06):
a chance to win. And it's just it's Felts continued
with the guys here with the belief in this locker
room and passed down from a lot of the guys
that are from these walls, right from guys have pat come,
come and gone. But then that belief has continued.
Speaker 7 (27:18):
Yeah, well we're completely jacked up to have you here. Man,
We'll just leave you with this. First of all, I
love the way you talk about your hometown. I mean,
I've been here fifty two years, Dick's been here fifty years,
and neither one of us have ever left Seattle. My
flip on the NFL network now Cooper Cup going back
that he's from Seattle. When somebody says that, what's your reaction?
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah, you know, that's it's a tough thing. It's it's not.
It isn't. This isn't where I'm from, right, But but
you say it's that's that's a that's a national thing, Like, hey,
where you're from from Washington? Oh you're from Seattle. No, no,
Seattle from Seattle. But yeah, no, it's it isn't. That's why,
that's why we're figuring out. We got we got we
(27:56):
gotta figure this area out. I'm really excited about it. It's like,
you know, this isn't this isn't home, but it's going
to be, you know, in the community here, and I'm
just so looking forward to what that's going to look like.
Speaker 7 (28:07):
Well, if you need Dick and Ize help finding a house,
he's in Normandy Park. I'm in Des Moines.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
You let us know, Okay, Ibb.
Speaker 7 (28:12):
We got you covered it right man, Good to meet you,
of course, welcome back, buddy. Appreciate this, Cooper.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
The entire city of Yakama is going to try to
get tickets.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
For Blumenfield this year. There's no question about that. I mean, hey,
I like the signing.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I wish there was more certainty about how healthy the
body is.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
How much has he lost off the fastball? I guess
we will find out soon.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
What's interesting about this contract, Jackson's almost the exact same
as his rookie extension, which was three years, forty seven million.
This one three years, forty five million dollars. All right,
my hands are shaking. We got to do some brackets
before this show is over, man. We'll do that coming
up next on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You're listening to the exclusive home of the Huskies, The
Kracking and March Madness now back, proudly brought to you
by Emerald quinc Casino on Sports Radio ninety three point
three KJR fl.
Speaker 7 (29:10):
OH.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The twenty twenty five college basketball National Bracket Contest presented
by the Emerald Queen Casino, brought to you by Twin
Peaks and Higher Construction log in a ninety three point
three kjar dot com.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Fill out your bracket before nine am tomorrow and enter
the EQC Beat the Boys Challenge. All you have to
do is be better than me and Softy.
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
That's how is that? I mean, that's not even a challenge.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
A four year old could fill out this bracket and
be better than me and Softie. There are a few
things though, Jackson's We have a couple of minutes here
to before we chat with Brian Schmetzer, a couple minutes
of talk bracket. What jumps out at me at this
year's college basketball tournament is analytically, and I think eye
test wise as well, but especially analytically. The number one
(29:57):
seeds are easily the strongest ever recorded by analytics.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Oh, I feel good about that having.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
They have been doing this, you know, Ken Balm's been
doing this over twenty five years, like ninety seven. Ninety
eight was the first year he started doing it. He's
not the only one. All the analytics show that the
gap between the number ones and the rest of the
field are much greater than they usually Okay, now, I
mean is that gonna equal four number ones three number ones?
(30:26):
I hope so, because I have three number ones. You
hope so because you have three number ones, But I
would say the chances, well.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Just put it this way, the chances at least of a.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Number one going down early are less than the chances
they have been in years past.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Now, don't get mad at.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Me and tweet you said number ones weren't gonna go
down early. No, I said, the chances of number ones
going down early are less this year than they have
been in the last couple of years. In fact, a
number two at Tennessee Tennessee would have been in the
top two in the field analytically in fifteen to last
(31:03):
twenty eight tourneys. Wow, and they're five in this field.
That's how good the four number ones are. Duke's net
rating of their team this year number two all time.
The only team better was the nineteen ninety nine Duke team.
They've been taking these analytics for twenty seven to twenty
eight years. Duke's nineteen ninety nineteen What's interesting about that
(31:25):
team is they had a freshman of the year Julia Okofer.
This team has a freshman of the year Coople Flag.
That team had three freshman starters. This team has three
freshmen starting you have Duke over Florida in the final,
and I have Duke over Florida final. I had a
tough time deciding Duke or Florida. What got me there
(31:47):
was not only Cooper Flag. I'm just assuming he's going
to be healthy by then. Obviously all bets are off,
as if he tweaks that ankle again, all bets are off.
But Duke, I think, is the best team in college basketball.
Florida is the best quote unquote veteran team in college basketball.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
I have winning it all. They've got Todd Golden as
a head coach. He's never been there, never done it now.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
John Schneier's John Shire hasn't been around for a while
a while either, So we're kind of banking on two
coaches that have no resumes whatsoever down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
So it's it's gonna be really, really, really really fun.
It can't wait.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
It's gonna be right here on ninety three point three
KJRFM for the next four days you can listen to
the tournament.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
I'm gonna sit back and listen and have a good time.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Speaking of good time, we always have a good time
with Brian Schweitzer, and he's coming up next Talking Sounders
on ninety three point three KJRFM,
It's time for our weekly conversation with college football analyst
Petros Papa Nakas.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Not that I'm a smart guy, I'm stupid.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
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If you're hurt in an accident, called Sweet James right
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Speaker 3 (00:23):
I don't know bout.
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Now.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
With Petros Peer's Dave's softy Muller throwing into.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
The four o'clock hour on a Wednesday, that means one thing,
and one thing only. Our friend Petros Papa dak is
joining us.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Brought to you by.
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Give him a call at eight hundred and nine million.
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They have massed over a billion dollars for thousands of
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changed dot com.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Oh, Petro's good to talk to.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
It is one of my favorite weeks of the season,
and in fact, this and Master's Week, I think are
my two favorite sports weeks of.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
The entire tournament.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Here.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I am a huge bracket head.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Are you one that will fill out an office pool
or a family pool or get your kids to be
degenerate gamblers like I do?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
No?
Speaker 5 (01:35):
I I when I started working, I never ever did
anything with brackets or anything like that as a young guy.
And then when I started working in the sports media,
you know, it's a real cool thing to do, which
is to fill out your bracket. And some guys fill
out like five brackets and say like, oh, I had drink,
(01:55):
I had cake on my form.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Can't do that. Gotta have one right bracket of integrity
as it were.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
I did it a couple times, and you know whatever,
the middling results, and I just never it's not important
enough to me to get around to, you know, I mean,
and then now it's like, you know, you got to
get it done really early because of the plan and
the whole thing, or you wait till the Playan's over
and then you do it. I don't. I'm not exactly sure,
but either way, No, I've never been a big bracket guy.
(02:25):
I do find the tournament as intriguing as everybody else.
You know, we all have our favorites. It's really fun
to see a lot of the small schools and usually
the weird looking big man like semi bald with goggles
and like weird mustaches and crazy haircuts, and interesting team
nicknames and histories and stuff like that. That part of
(02:47):
it I really enjoy. But the blue blood part and
all that is fine too, UCLA, North Carolina, Doke, Michigan State, Kansas,
all those teams that were used to seeing over the years.
But yeah, I guess I enjoy it as much as
everybody else on the show. Down here in La we
we have UCLA. So we talked to Mick Cronin a lot,
(03:08):
and we have a good relationship with him. He's really
great with the media.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
He's not as crotchety with you as he is with
the national media complaining about Statue of Liberties and that
sort of thing.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
Not at all. No, not with us. He's got great
humor with us. He but he is a snarky man,
there's about it and whatever he said. You know, somebody said,
like he, I mean, it's so funny because you cla,
they're so soft. You know. The university in itself is
just you know, it doesn't when you think, you cla dick,
You don't think, wow.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Hard is great.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You think you think powder blue.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Yeah, you think that.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
And of course you know Bill Walton and Kareem and
they are the greatest college basketball program of all time.
And it's very difficult to argue that modern times, no,
but of all time, all time, yes, and it's not
that long ago. But at the same time, you know,
it's not that loud at Polly Pavilion. It's hard for
(04:03):
whatever reason nowadays to get fans in that building.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Mhm.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
It's in Westwood. It's you gotta it's twenty five minutes.
It's it's like a mile from the freeway, but it
takes you at least a half hour to twenty five
minutes when you get off the freeway to get into
the campus and park your car, which I don't need
to tell you what that's like. So the whole thing
is an experience, and it's not that you know, it's
(04:28):
not like being in hinkle Fieldhouse or whatever. These places
and the rest of the Big Ten. It's not quaint, no,
And uh, you know you can hear Mick Cronan mother
effing the players. So you know, like these these these
these really very sensitive pearl clutching powder blue old timers
(04:49):
who are used to John Wooden, who you know, read
poetry into the guys or something. Uh, they get really
upset sometimes when they hear Mick Cronan screaming and yelling
and the players. And you know, every year new jobs
open up and people talk about, oh, is he going
to go here? Is he going to go there? And
I'm like, well, maybe it'd be better off because those
places are so loud that no one could hear him
(05:12):
mother fing the players, and nobody gets but hurt about it.
It is kind of It is interesting because his style
is not exactly it's a fit at UCLA. I mean
Ben Holland went to three straight Final four at UCLA
and still got fired a couple of years later because
the brand of basketball wasn't exciting and he was a
(05:35):
defensive coach too. Now Mick is a little bit different.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Defense wasn't all that likable, was he Ben Holland.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
No, no, not at all. Yeah, I mean we liked him,
but my imitation of Ben Hollanders turn out, turn out.
You know, they did a three, he'd call a time
out to set up the defense. They were a very
frustrating team to watch, but they had a lot of success.
But it's interesting to see that, you know. And Eric Musselman,
(06:01):
the guy that's at USC, is a really good coach
and really media friendly. And I worked with his wife,
Danielle Sargent at Fox for a long time. So we
have good people here in La coach and the teams.
And then the UCSD University of California, Sandie the Triton Tritons, Yeah,
which is different than the what is it the Terrero's
(06:23):
that are the universe the USD, right, which is where
Musselman coached them to a tournament years ago and then
got those NBA jobs. That's a different San Diego school.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
You see.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
SD is in La Joya, which is constantly harrissed by
a rich surf gang called the Wind and Sea surf Rats.
You're not really Yeah, white boys surf gang.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
White boy summer addictive, you know, it's right, that's right,
Petros Papade gets joined.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I guess as he always does.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
How how fired up was was the Southland for Dodger
baseball at three o'clock in the morning the last two days?
Speaker 5 (07:04):
Well pretty fired up? I mean, uh, A lot of
people went to Japan, not US, of course, but well,
Fox didn't even go to Japan. I didn't expect you
to go to Japan. Oh they didn't.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
The broadcasters did it remotely?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
No.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I think Joe Davis and Eric Carross went. The radio
didn't go. The radio didn't race for whatever reason. The radio, okay,
I think I'm pretty sure. Okay, But then again, yeah, no,
they sent that one broadcast team. I believe they did.
Rodney Pete, who works with us on the radio, was
not working all week, but he got his his fame
(07:41):
by catching the ball about ball today in front of
Max Munsey, and Max Munsey looked a little angry, but
it seemed like it was fair game for Rodney to catch.
But it's a it's remarkable, I mean, just and it's
a lot different than the trip to Korea last year.
And there's a few things that jump out to me. Dick,
the the whole Dodgers with Otani marriage has gotta be
(08:05):
one of the most lucrative marriages of all time in
the history of sports. And what really jumps out to
me is, this guy's been playing baseball in town for
seven years, Like he was in spring training correct with
the Angels down the road in Tempe.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
But it's just different.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
And no, I mean it's not like nobody cared. I mean,
the guy was winning MVPs and there was a lot
of talk about Otani. But Otani as a Dodger. What
that means to everybody in Japan apparently because of the
Dodger brand name. What that means to everybody in La
the Japanese market that just comes in buys T shirts
and jerseys alone. I mean, it is unreal. And maybe
(08:50):
they won the championship last year. That brings a lot
into it. The Guggenheim Group and how it seems that
they're so much more progressive and understanding of how to
sort of reinvest the money that they make into the
baseball team and even pay a lot of deferrals and
stuff like that. They are they're pretty damn impressive. And
(09:13):
you know me, I'm no front runner, but it's hard
watching them over the years kind of struggle to build
this and find a team that wasn't just great, but
that had edge in the playoffs to beat people. Feels
like it's finally happened and that perfect storm of money
making seems to be taking place.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Well yeah, and I mean we talked about show hate
to Seattle many many times because the whole etro tie
in and he wanted to stay on the West coast.
And our point was simply this, Hey, whatever you give
Sho heo Tani, you're going to get back to threefold.
I mean, this is just an investment that is a
can't lose investment.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
And of course the Marins.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I didn't even know if the Mariners were even close
to landing show Hayo Tani, but we know that that
they didn't get him. But Petrols Papadak is joining us here. Hey,
we chatted us.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
Not to interrupt you, Dick, but just what is interesting
about that and not so much like, Hey, I wonder
what would have happened if he went to Seattle. I
wonder what would have happened if he went to Toronto.
Can you imagine like seeing him on the Dodgers and
what it means and how it's all come together. Don't
you think he regrets signing a second time with the Angels?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Of course?
Speaker 5 (10:27):
I mean right, I mean looking back on that, it's like, wow,
you could have gotten out of there.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, he could have been a Dodger for fifteen years.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Right or something else. But a very interesting situation. And
we knew Otani on the Dodgers was going to be big.
I don't think anybody could could have foreseen this. No, no,
sorry about that.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
That's all right.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Well, I mean transfers perfectly. We got an La guy
up here now that used to start They used to
play in Washington State. We talked to Softie and I
talked to face to face with the bearded Cooper Cup yesterday.
Had a fantastic conversation with the young man from from Yakama.
He came a boy. He came in rocking the Seattle
look man. He had the nineteen ninety four flannel he
(11:10):
had had backwards.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
He had the pearl jam T shirt and everything.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
I don't know if he was if he was just
sucking up to Seattle or if he just loved all that,
but he was.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
He was absolutely rocking Seattle yes day. A good guy.
He's just is he done?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I mean, do you think he's done based upon what
you've seen from him with the Rams the last couple
of years, and you think he can help us?
Speaker 5 (11:29):
No, I just think the Rams are pragmatic. You know,
they had the Rams found a number one receiver who's
on a rookie contract, a little bit like Cooper Cup
when he when he arrived there as a young player.
They have Pooka Nakua who is a number one guy
and he's on a rookie contract. We know what that means.
You can go pay for something around him and to
(11:51):
have a number two and if you would you rather
have Davante Adams who's been healthy recently and a little
bit more productive, or Cooper Cupp as your number two guy.
I mean it probably.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Adams, yeah, I mean just depends on the money, right,
and you're gonna pay Davonte more.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
But yes, it's probably Devonte Adams.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
And that's where they ended up, which which is understandable.
Let me guess your interview with Cooper Cup was like
thirty questions six minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
No, he was he was okay, Yeah, he was fine.
You know, he was fairly verbose.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
He had a really good, really good answer about when
I asked him about Doug Baldwin and what he took
from Doug Baldwin's game, because he had mentioned him in
the press conference on how he kind of modeled his
game effort. He went on like a minute long wide
receiver breakdown about his footwork and everything. I was like, Oh, cool,
this is pretty, this is pretty. This is like this
is like Hugh Millon breakdown stuff right here.
Speaker 5 (12:42):
He's getting a little better then, because not a great
interview when he first we all know that he's from
a small school Eastern Washington on that great story, big
play VA and then he had an even better year
with a different quarterback, and then get drafted and you
don't know what that guy's going to do translate into
the league, and he was nothing but spectacular in Sean
(13:05):
mcvay's offense. So he's been great. I don't really think
him and his wife needed to throw like a seven
week pity party that they were getting released or traded.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Is that what they did.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
I didn't even of social media, you know, I mean,
like that never happened. I mean it was almost like,
how could they do this to us? Kind of vibe,
which is.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
He's still not happy.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
He was.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
He was clear.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
He made that clear yesterday and very respectful terms, because
I think he wants to respect the Rams and he
doesn't hold any you know, hard to grudges or anything
against the Rams. But he was asked about getting released
and he said, yeah, you know, there really wasn't a lot.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Of clarity about that whole situ. That was the That
was the carefully crafted word he used.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
There wasn't a lot of clarity about why I was released.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
It's like going on to the Bachelor and being like,
I can't believe there's other girls or after this time,
that's what is this? You know, I'm getting jealous. It's like, okay,
you know you're a pro football player, right, Uh. It
doesn't end pretty for anybody in pro football unless you're
Straighthan or maybe Elway.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Tom Brady, Yeah, pretty beat up.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
But what I'm yeah, Tom Brady still pissed off. Everybody
has a grievance and that's fine. But at the same time,
I thought that they laid it on a little thick
leaving town. But other than that, yeah, I think he's
a great receiver and I'm sure he can help Seattle out.
And look, I'm rooting for Sam Darnold and Cooper Cup
and I hope they have a lot of success. I
(14:31):
know the new coach is a really defensive minded guy
and was impressive in spots for you guys last season.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Well, he was impressive at the right time.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
If you want a defense, if you want to coach
whose defense is not very good the first half and
great the second half of the season, or the opposite,
you'll certainly take the coach who takes a bad defense
and turns it into a top ten defense at the
end of the year. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
Develop the identity of the team of what they're going
to be under him and all that. I get it.
So good luck to Cooper Cup. I got nothing against him.
I thought that they laid it on a little thick
here in town. But you know, everybody for the Rams
takes the example of the idiot Staffords, who are ridiculously
terrible when it comes to well because of the wife.
You know, Kelly Stafford is a nightmare. I mean just
(15:16):
a nightmare. I mean Matt Stafford's worth it, but barely.
Speaker 6 (15:23):
So.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
And you know she they're friends, very close friends with
the Cups. They probably take they probably take their marching
orders from those idiots.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
On that note, Great to talk to you, my friend.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Try to sit down and enjoy some you know, enjoy
some basketball over the next four days. Well, I sat
the cocktail maybe with your kids.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
And last night and North Carolina was winning by Ford.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
We smoked them. Yeah, so yep, starts all all tomorrow.
Great to talk to you, my friend.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
We'll talk to you next time.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
All right, Dick, we'll talk to you soon. Have a
great day and go Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
That trust Papa Dakas broad to you by our friend
Sweet James. When we come back, you will hear from
the aforementioned Cooper Cup Softie in my conversation yesterday with
the newest member of the Seattle Seahawks wearing number ten,
just like he did in Los Angeles. Coming up next
on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
You're listening to the exclusive home of the Huskies, the
Kraken and March Madness. Now back to Softie and did
proudly brought to you by Emerald quin Casino on Sports
Radio ninety three point three KJR fil play.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Action from Adams Puffs Fire's team looking for Cooper Cup
touchdown Eastern Washington forty one yards Adams to Cooper Cup.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Well, Cooper Cup when he was at Eastern just torched
the Huskies, the Cougars and the Ducks. And when we
chatted with him yesterday, that's where we started the conversation.
And then Softy asked Cooper, Hey, when you were at Eastern,
were you playing a little extra chip on your shoulder
playing those Pac twelve schools that didn't offer you a scholarship.
Speaker 7 (17:08):
When you were at Eastern Washington, did you like pull
at Jordan and take that personally, but all those schools
passed on you because you exploded on those schools.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, no, just I think that was just a coincidence
that working out.
Speaker 7 (17:20):
Yeah, well, it's great to see. Welcome back to the
two o six and the state of Washington. And my
friend tell us about this about just being back here.
You got the Pearl jam shirt on, You're doing the
right thing. Everyone's all fired up for that. But tell
me about what this means to you to be back
in the state of Washington playing for the Seahawks as
a pro after eight years in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
That it's really cool. I mean, just a full circle moment.
I think you know, obviously growing up in yak and
Washington playing high school ball there. You know, want a
state championship here during in the Tacoma Dome, YEP, playing
at Eastern Washington and all the football that we played
in the state here, then you'll come back. It's a
it's a really cool thing. And excited about the community
(18:03):
here and the people that we get to you know
know and pour into and it's just a it's a
cool moment.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
How much was that a factor in your decision to
come back. I mean, people say I want to come home,
but there's other factors as well.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
I think a factor was that, you know, it was
a piece of it. It definitely was a piece of it
because you obviously have the football side of things and
making sure that if it's just who I am as
a football player and what I wanted to accomplish and
just being able to be competitive and the things that
are this, you know, this organization's building towards is really
cool to be a part of, and I'm very excited
about that. But also it is the community, and it's
(18:36):
the people. It's the way that the organization's treating players,
it's the way that this is all been set up,
you know, there's there's so many pieces to it, and
you know, I think all those things came together. It's
just a man. We feel good about so much of it.
Speaker 7 (18:48):
You you're not twenty two, but you're not forty two either,
Right at thirty two years old, did you ever think
about just saying enough is enough. I want to spend
my whole career with one team. I want to be
that guy that stays with one team my whole life
and just hang it up and walk away from the game.
How much did you have those conversations in your in
your brain and with your wife in the last maybe
(19:08):
weak or so.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Never That's never crossed my mind. I don't, I don't.
I don't know who started whatever that was. You know,
I'm I I am no way and ready to be
done playing football. I'm very excited about about the football
that I've ahead of me. You know, I still see
myself as an ascending player, and you know, mentally, the
way that I see the game, I can still I'm
(19:32):
I see myself if I couldn't see, if I've enbiioned something,
I'm like, Hey, this is how I want to run
this route, this is how I want to manipulate this
dB and I couldn't do it. I wouldn't be playing
anymore right right, you know, But you know, I'm able
to see the reps that I'm taking in practice, able
to see the off season reps and things that I'm doing,
and man, I feel really good about what I can
put on on field, and I'm looking forward to getting
out there this year.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Well, when you have been on the field, you've been dominant.
You just haven't always been on the field. So talk
about your health. How confident are you that you're gonna
be ready to play seventeen games.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
I'm I'm I go into every season with this, you know,
the confidence, and there's there's Okay, I shouldn't say that,
there's certain seasons where you're coming in you're banged up
and you've got stuff that you're man you didn't have
the off seasons that you wanted to, or there's you know,
there's risks involved in this game. And I've unfortunately, you know,
the last three years had things that you know, they've
been unfortunately. There's you know, they're outside of your control
(20:23):
a lot of ways. You know, you can't handle the
way that you're gonna get tackled sometimes and and that happens.
But you know this is uh, it's one of those
games where you know, I'm it hasn't created any hesitancy
in me to go out there and just play the
best that I can possibly play and give it everything
I've got. You get hurt in this league when you
start slowing down and feeling like you're looking to try
(20:44):
to stay healthy. You know, the way that you play
this game is to be violent, to be the attacker,
be the aggressor. And you know I'm gonna continue to
play this game that way and believe that's when I'm
at my best. And you can't control the things that
are gonna happen outside of your control. So I can
obviously can't promise anything, and no one in this leak
in right, but I'm really excited about being to get
out there and play some really good football.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Well, Cooper Cup is our guest here at the Virginia
Mason Athletics Center, and look, I got to tell you,
first of all of us are jacked up to have
your backpick time. I wanted you in the twenty seventeen
draft to be totally honest with you, So I'm glad
that we finally you know, nine years later were able
to pull this off and get this thing done. But
you mentioned there that you're an a sending player. You
don't often hear that word about thirty two year olds
in the NFL is sending. You hear the decline, but
(21:25):
you don't hear a sending. Why do you think that?
Speaker 5 (21:27):
What does that look like to you?
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Yeah? I think it is kind of what I was
saying here. You know what, I get to see myself
play this game. I get to see every rep. You know,
anyone else gets to see what happens on Sundays. And
you know that's a contingent on a lot of other things.
But in terms of me as a football player and
what I can do, I'm really excited about the football
that I'm playing, really excited about the football that I'm
seeing on tape and the way that I'm preparing and
(21:49):
the things that I can still still do when I'm
giving the opportunity to do it, And I just I
just I'm really excited about that. I honestly am looking
forward to how cooves to set guys up and what
his vision is for things and making those things come
to life, and working with Sam and these guys it's
gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 7 (22:07):
Well, I was talking to Dick before you showed up,
and just hear and you talk right there kind of
cemented it for me. You seem pretty damn motivated right now.
Right for the first time in your life, you've been
let go by a football team. Now, I don't know,
maybe there's a Michael Jordan story. You're cut from your
high school basketball team back in the day as a freshman.
I got no idea, but is this the first time
in your life that you've been let go by a
team period?
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Yeah, I think the I think that would be it. Yea.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
How much does that, for lack of a better word,
how much does that kind of piss you off a
little bit?
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Yeah? I mean there there's obviously frustrations around that, and
you know, no one wants to be in that no
one would choose to be in that position. But at
the end of the day, this is the path that
God's taking us on, and I'm excited for this next
chapter and wherever He's taking us, and I believe there's
an answer for us. You know, there's things that don't
make sense with what has gone on, but I'm really
excited about what's ahead, And all the times when there's
not an answer for something, it's because he's gonna show
(22:56):
it to you down the line, and I'm really excited
about what that's gonna look like. You circle those two dates,
I have I have not circled the dates now.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
When you were when you were talking earlier in the
press conference, you mentioned eighty nine Doug Bald when you
grow up watching dog Ball, which made us feel old
because Doug was like sitting here seemingly last Tuesday talking
to us, just like you're talking to us now. But
what did you appreciate most about Doug and what did
you take from his game and incorporate it in your game?
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, I mean the tenacity, the aggression. I mean, I
think he was always the aggressor, and we talked that
from a mentality standpoint. I've always appreciated that about Doug's game.
From a technique standpoint, one of the best come to
balance releases in the history of the NFL. I mean
it was, it was. It was very daring because sometimes
he was off his feet were off the ground for
(23:45):
a long time. But I mean he I mean he
also just absolutely turned people around the way that he
would come up the ball in the quickness that he'd
play that with, and how he'd counter you know, he'd
be able to run, he'd run drive routes off of that,
but he'd also be able to counter that with you know,
bring a fader out down in the red zone. So
you know the way he pieced us up together. He's
just he's a very very good football player. And you
(24:05):
see him with the pictures on the walls of him,
you know, like flying through the air making all kinds
of different catchers, and it's just, uh, he's a very
impressed FOOTBA player. You know.
Speaker 7 (24:12):
I'm just thinking Cooper Cup is with us. I'm thinking
Dick about it. The all time greated athletes to come
out of Yakama, right, I mean the mayors obviously are
on that list. Dan Dornick is on that list. I
mean Todd Stottlemeyer is on that list. How often do
you go back there?
Speaker 4 (24:25):
And honestly, this.
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Is just between the three of us. You're a humble guy,
I know that, But how big of a dealer are
you and Yakama?
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Right, just between the three of us, nobody's listening. It's
just a big a dealer.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Come on, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I don't know. I'm not answering that question.
Speaker 7 (24:41):
How often do you get to go back there and
what does that town mean to you?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Yeah? No, I don't get to go back there a ton.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
We obviously have three boys, we've got family, and we've
got our your off season downs down southern California. When
we used to do our off season in Oregon, we'd
get over there a little bit more, just harder. It's
not super fun traveling with six four and one kind
of playing, you know, So it's like it's we were like,
you guys can come like, my family's still there, I
still have I love our family still there. You guys
(25:09):
can come down whenever you want to, you know what
I mean, But just don't get up there as much.
But uh, it is, I mean I grew up there.
You know, there's where the parks there are where I
grew up playing football with my dad there at Franklin
Park all the time. You know, walk down the street
and it was just, uh, it's a it's a special
place because there's it goes back to what I was
(25:29):
touching on the memories, the experiences that you have and
you know there'll never be anything like your child at home.
You know when you when you grow up there and
all the things that you did with your family, with
my with my brothers, and then with the high school team,
all my friends that were there, you know that you'll
always have the You always have those memories, You always
have that time. So there's a there's there's definitely a
law of value in the time that I spent there.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
What did you come to learn about the Seahawks organization?
Playing for the rival of the Seahawks organization? And and
you know what is the thought around the league about
with this organization?
Speaker 4 (26:00):
It's all about Yeah, you know, two things come to mind. One,
you knew you're gonna deal with the twelves, right like,
there's always that you you know, you come to you
come to Seattle, You're gonna be dealing with an unbelievable
environment that you had to you had to prepare for,
and that was a that's a big piece. I'm excited
to be on the other side of that now. You know,
that's gonna be a really cool thing for me, just
(26:22):
from just having that experience, from a having such a
renowned fan base going behind you and being able to
experience that on the officer side. When you have the
quiet and being able to be on the deep, be
on the sideline and watch the defense go out there
and see this stadium erupt. That's gonna be really cool.
So said about that, And I think the other piece
was just a just a little bit in the in
(26:44):
the press conference, but just the belief there's there's always
been a positive energy and belief in this organization. And
when you've got the positive energy, you've got this belief
that you can win any game at any moment, that
you're gonna find a way to win the game. That's
always been felt. It's always been like, man, if you're
playing Seattle, play the whole game. You gotta play the
whole game, because they're gonna keep fighting, They're gonna find
a way to stay in the game and give themselves
(27:06):
a chance to win. And it's just it's Felts continued
with the guys here with the belief in this locker
room and passed down from a lot of the guys
that are from these walls, right from guys have pat come,
come and gone. But then that belief has continued.
Speaker 7 (27:18):
Yeah, well we're completely jacked up to have you here. Man,
We'll just leave you with this. First of all, I
love the way you talk about your hometown. I mean,
I've been here fifty two years, Dick's been here fifty years,
and neither one of us have ever left Seattle. My
flip on the NFL network now Cooper Cup going back
that he's from Seattle. When somebody says that, what's your reaction?
Speaker 4 (27:35):
Yeah, you know, that's it's a tough thing. It's it's not.
It isn't. This isn't where I'm from, right, But but
you say it's that's that's a that's a national thing, Like, hey,
where you're from from Washington? Oh you're from Seattle. No, no,
Seattle from Seattle. But yeah, no, it's it isn't. That's why,
that's why we're figuring out. We got we got we
(27:56):
gotta figure this area out. I'm really excited about it. It's like,
you know, this isn't this isn't home, but it's going
to be, you know, in the community here, and I'm
just so looking forward to what that's going to look like.
Speaker 7 (28:07):
Well, if you need Dick and Ize help finding a house,
he's in Normandy Park. I'm in Des Moines.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
You let us know, Okay, Ibb.
Speaker 7 (28:12):
We got you covered it right man, Good to meet you,
of course, welcome back, buddy. Appreciate this, Cooper.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
The entire city of Yakama is going to try to
get tickets.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
For Blumenfield this year. There's no question about that. I mean, hey,
I like the signing.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I wish there was more certainty about how healthy the
body is.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
How much has he lost off the fastball? I guess
we will find out soon.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
What's interesting about this contract, Jackson's almost the exact same
as his rookie extension, which was three years, forty seven million.
This one three years, forty five million dollars. All right,
my hands are shaking. We got to do some brackets
before this show is over, man. We'll do that coming
up next on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
You're listening to the exclusive home of the Huskies, The
Kracking and March Madness now back, proudly brought to you
by Emerald quinc Casino on Sports Radio ninety three point
three KJR fl.
Speaker 7 (29:10):
OH.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The twenty twenty five college basketball National Bracket Contest presented
by the Emerald Queen Casino, brought to you by Twin
Peaks and Higher Construction log in a ninety three point
three kjar dot com.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Fill out your bracket before nine am tomorrow and enter
the EQC Beat the Boys Challenge. All you have to
do is be better than me and Softy.
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
That's how is that? I mean, that's not even a challenge.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
A four year old could fill out this bracket and
be better than me and Softie. There are a few
things though, Jackson's We have a couple of minutes here
to before we chat with Brian Schmetzer, a couple minutes
of talk bracket. What jumps out at me at this
year's college basketball tournament is analytically, and I think eye
test wise as well, but especially analytically. The number one
(29:57):
seeds are easily the strongest ever recorded by analytics.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Oh, I feel good about that having.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
They have been doing this, you know, Ken Balm's been
doing this over twenty five years, like ninety seven. Ninety
eight was the first year he started doing it. He's
not the only one. All the analytics show that the
gap between the number ones and the rest of the
field are much greater than they usually Okay, now, I
mean is that gonna equal four number ones three number ones?
(30:26):
I hope so, because I have three number ones. You
hope so because you have three number ones, But I
would say the chances, well.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Just put it this way, the chances at least of a.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Number one going down early are less than the chances
they have been in years past.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Now, don't get mad at.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Me and tweet you said number ones weren't gonna go
down early. No, I said, the chances of number ones
going down early are less this year than they have
been in the last couple of years. In fact, a
number two at Tennessee Tennessee would have been in the
top two in the field analytically in fifteen to last
(31:03):
twenty eight tourneys. Wow, and they're five in this field.
That's how good the four number ones are. Duke's net
rating of their team this year number two all time.
The only team better was the nineteen ninety nine Duke team.
They've been taking these analytics for twenty seven to twenty
eight years. Duke's nineteen ninety nineteen What's interesting about that
(31:25):
team is they had a freshman of the year Julia Okofer.
This team has a freshman of the year Coople Flag.
That team had three freshman starters. This team has three
freshmen starting you have Duke over Florida in the final,
and I have Duke over Florida final. I had a
tough time deciding Duke or Florida. What got me there
(31:47):
was not only Cooper Flag. I'm just assuming he's going
to be healthy by then. Obviously all bets are off,
as if he tweaks that ankle again, all bets are off.
But Duke, I think, is the best team in college basketball.
Florida is the best quote unquote veteran team in college basketball.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
I have winning it all. They've got Todd Golden as
a head coach. He's never been there, never done it now.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
John Schneier's John Shire hasn't been around for a while
a while either, So we're kind of banking on two
coaches that have no resumes whatsoever down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
So it's it's gonna be really, really, really really fun.
It can't wait.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
It's gonna be right here on ninety three point three
KJRFM for the next four days you can listen to
the tournament.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
I'm gonna sit back and listen and have a good time.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Speaking of good time, we always have a good time
with Brian Schweitzer, and he's coming up next Talking Sounders
on ninety three point three KJRFM,
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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